Pieta

Controversial filmmaker Kim Ki-duk's latest film, Pieta, recently beat Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece The Master to the Venice Film Festival's top prize, the Golden Lion. Did the film deserve it? It certainly wasn't better than The Master, but it did deserve it. Pieta is not a pleasant film to watch, it is very disturbing. But the incredibly underrated South Korean director does manage to draw some grand emotion. It's not on a very large scale, and on an obviously small budget, but that doesn't stop it's brilliantly crafted brutality from consuming you. The story is that of a young man who works for loan sharks, brutally threatening debtors into paying back. One day, a woman appears and begins to follow him, claiming to be his long lost mother. He at first treats her with contempt and disgust, but her motherly love touches him, and his heart begins to soften for this woman who he doesn't entirely trust. The highlight is the two leading performances, with the ruthless protagonist Kang-do portrayed brilliantly by Lee Jung-jin, and his potential mother acted lovingly by Jo Min-su. They have incredible chemistry together, the likes of which I have not seen for quite some time. They project their emotions at each other and at the audience very well, playing very human and very real characters. The most brilliant aspect of the film, however, is the disturbing nature, which is achieved by not showing the violence graphically. Most other movies with similar violent situations such as Saw show it too graphically, which does not scare, it simply disgusts. The way the camera pans away or just isn't in the same room at these moments adds a sort of intense ferocity to it, something which those other films are sorely missing. Another great aspect is the absence of music throughout most of the film, which adds to the intense atmosphere. Overall, an incredibly crafted film with some great performances. I just wish it would get a wider release, that's all.

9/10

Oblivion

A science fiction film about a post apocalyptic world starring Tom Cruise directed by the guy who directed Disney's Tron: Legacy. Doesn't sound very enticing on paper now, does it? When I saw the list of cast and crew, I was very disheartened. Then I saw the trailer. The trailer gave me hope for this film. It promised that Oblivion would be a visual odyssey through a gorgeously designed science fiction world, similar in style to the great science fiction films of the past, such as 2001 or Blade Runner. So how did it actually turn out? Visually, it's gorgeous. So much care was  taken with every single shot and effect. The CGI is probably even better than Avatar. Every destroyed building, every wrecked monument looks very real. I highly regret not seeing this in IMAX. These are the kind of movies that they should shoot in IMAX, not films like The Dark Knight Rises. Sure, that was visually interesting, but there was nothing really amazing in it that would make me want to see it on a huge six story screen. Oblivion, on the other hand, is very impressive in that respect, particularly in the last couple minutes, when the audience gets to glimpse inside the triangular mother ship that is constantly floating in the sky. The plot is also a strongpoint of the movie, being very original and at the same time paying homage to old classics. Throughout the film, many references are scattered to classic science fiction films, particularly to Star Wars and 2001. Those were employed very subtly and very cleverly. The director also did a nice job of creating a distinct tone. The film isn't without problems, however. The screenplay is not the best, and some of the actors are miscast. Morgan Freeman in particular doesn't fit the role, and accordingly gives what I would consider a bad performance. Also, a lot more is given away in the advertising than I would have liked. Don't worry, there are still plenty of surprises in store, but it just would have been that much better if they didn't give away anything. Tom Cruise is actually alright in this, giving what is probably his only good performance since Eyes Wide Shut. Overall, I would highly recommend seeing this.

8/10

The Place Beyond the Pines

Spanning several generations and almost three decades, The Place Beyond the Pines is a cinematic achievement of epic proportions. The film follows a motorcycle stuntman turned bank robber trying to provide for his newfound family (played by Ryan Gosling), an honest hero cop trying to deal with a corrupt police department (played by Bradley Cooper), and later focuses on their sons (played by Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen). This familial saga is about the sins of the fathers haunting the next generations of the family. As you've probably already guessed, I liked the movie. I liked it a lot. It's refreshing after some of the crap we've been getting in theaters lately. Director Derek Cianfrance sets a mood that feels very surreal or even hallucinatory, and he does this very well. Here is a director that knows what he is doing. I look forward to his future work. He also draws some very good performances from the more than capable ensemble of actors. Ryan Gosling gives an oscar worthy performance as a passionate father who would do almost anything to help his son have a better life, and Cooper is also particularly effective as a much less passionate father. Eva Mendes, playing Ramona, Gosling's character's ex lover and the mother of his newborn son, is a very caring mother indeed, trying simply to make a good life for her son. Newcomers Emory Cohen and Dane Dehaan prove themselves worthy of standing next to actors of the stature of Gosling and Cooper, Cohen's performance resembling that of Joaquin Phoenix's in The Master. The musical score is mesmerizing, cinematography looks fine, and it is written very well. Overall, a job well done.

9/10

42

The highly anticipated Jackie Robinson biopic is finally out. Does it live up to the high expectations? No. Is it a decent, entertaining sports film that families will enjoy? Sure. It is very well written, with some lines that I'm sure I'll hear people quoting soon enough. The acting is also pretty good, with what is probably the best performance of Harrison Ford's career. Definitely not his most memorable, but most likely his most convincing. Chadwick Boseman also does well as number 42 himself. However, where this movie suffers is the plot. Throughout the film, no real major conflict is introduced. Yes, Jackie has to combat racism and racial prejudices, but to me that part of the film seemed rather weak. Also, it did not seem like the major conflict. The plot is basically this; Robinson joins the MLB, people are racist towards him, he tries not to get mad, then wins the World Series. There is no resolution at the end, because there was nothing to resolve. Apart from the plot, the musical score was painful to listen to. It was incredibly cliched and sounded like it was written by a John Williams wannabe. Thank God it's use in the film was limited. That part of the movie was pathetically executed. However, the cinematography was nice, and it was overall a a very pleasant experience. If you're a fan of baseball movies, then you definitely will enjoy this.

6.5/10

The Call

After winning her Oscar, Halle Berry has made some of the worst career choices she could possibly make. In everything from Catwoman to Movie 43, she proved that she could just as easily win a Razzie as well as an Oscar. Now, hoping to regain A-list status, she agrees to star in The Call. This intense drama is made from the point of view of a 911 operative, and focuses on a case where a girl was kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of a car. Strangely enough, the kidnapper doesn't take her cell phone, and she manages to call 911. Over the course of the movie, Halle Berry and the cops attempt to locate her while trying to discover who exactly is behind this heinous crime. So is it any good? Not really. I mean, it starts off rather well. The director was able to keep tension, and there was some interesting insight into how 911 operators work. Some of the writing was a bit cheesy, but nothing too bad. The first two thirds or so were decent, and Halle Berry was surprisingly good. Nothing Oscar-worthy, and she definitely has a lot of work ahead of her if she wants to become an A-lister again, but she has started the climb up toward to redemption. I must also commend Michael Ekland who did very well as the kidnapper. The script does not give him a lot to work from, and he did very well with what he had to work with. However, the movie greatly suffers towards the end. When the conclusion starts approaching, the film blatantly rips off the last scenes in the serial killer's house from The Silence of the Lambs, which doesn't make any sense in this movie. In Silence, Clarice was an FBI agent, so of course she would go investigate by herself. But in this movie, Berry is a 911 operative, someone who would not go around investigating. And the ending was complete bullshit. The Call is mostly a decent thriller, but has a shitty third act and some bad writing. The Call gets a...

5.5/10

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counsellor

The creator of the Madea character has created, with Temptation, one of the worst dramas in years. He attempts to make a modern day Anna Karenina, a proposition which I have nothing against. In fact, I would be quite curious as to how that would turn out. The films' horrific screenplay adapts the play "The Marriage Counsellor", about a woman cheating on her husband and then realizing how wrong she was, which was also written by Perry. I have never seen the actual play, but have read that the film is much darker in tone. However, the film fails miserably in that respect. People laughed more during this than most comedies that come out nowadays.Scenes of revelation that are meant to be climactic turned out hilarious. Scenes that were intended to be especially emotional for the characters had the audience roaring with laughter. This is mostly the actors fault. Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Robbie Jones are particularly bad as the cheating couple, Judith and Harley. However, in the last half an hour or so, Lance Gross proves himself to be the worst of the lot, playing the cheating wife's loyal husband, who really does love her, and shows it in a puny range of emotions, either showing almost none, or overdoing it completely, throwing Harley through a glass window action movie style, screaming like Ricki Oh, to get revenge for beating his wife. Tyler Perry is awful at directing serious dramas, the acting ensemble is sure to get many a Razzie nomination, and none of the music in the movie fits the theme. The attempt at fitting in some religious themes is terribly executed. And I almost forgot! Ella Joyce has to be commended for her portrayal of Judith's religiously crazed mother, which reached all new levels of bad acting. Do not be tempted to see this travesty of a film. I give it a...

1/10

The Deer Hunter

So after much contemplation, I finally decided to start a blog on which I write reviews of contemporary and classic films. And what better way to start off than the Vietnam War classic, The Deer Hunter. This film is an emotionally devastating experience and features some of the most accurate depictions of the Vietnam War in film. The plot is fairly simple; a trio of Russian-American friends, Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steven (John Savage), join the U.S. Army in the midst of the Vietnam War, and are captured by the Viet Cong. They are then forced to play Russian Roulette by their captors. The Russian Roulette scene is probably the most intense sequence in cinema history. I found that during the course of this scene, I was immobilized. I sat staring at the screen in anticipation, afraid of what might happen next. The reason for the intensity is that the movie spends the first hour and a half getting to know these characters. We are introduced to their families and their lovers, and to their way of life, so by the time the scenes of imprisonment come by, we know these people as if they were our own close friends, and that makes it a particularly painful. The film is very well photographed, and despite some strange editing choices in the beggining, still comes across as a very personal statement about friendship and war. The acting is all first rate. John Savage is effective as the wounded soldier Steven, Christopher Walken gives a riveting performance worthy of the Oscar it won, and Robert De Niro is great as the war-torn leader of their "clan". Meryl Streep appears in the film as well as Nick's emotionally battered lover, and gives an Oscar worthy performance. I also must commend director Michael Cimino, who not only crafted one of the greatest anti-war films ever made, but also portrayed the Russian-American culture very realistically. I was raised in that culture, and I can safely say, this is the most accurate portrayal of Russian culture on film. The man definitely did his homework. So for these reasons, I will give The Deer Hunter a...

10/10