Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I'm Not There

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**** Stars

I'm Not There is an exhilarating, appropriately exhausting trip of enigmatic existence. What I didn't understand tested me and what I understood moved me. Director Todd Haynes chronicles Bob Dylan's path of life through six different actors with no direction home.

Christian Bale: Jack Rollins
Cate Blanchett: Jude Quinn
Heath Ledger: Robbie Clark
Richard Gere: Billy the Kid
Marcus Carl Franklin: Woody Guthrie
Ben Whishaw: Arthur Rimbaud

ALL ARE BOB DYLAN. All six play different aspects of one of the most influential musicians in history. From his fictional childhood (Franklin) to the stages of adulthood (Whishaw), to activating in politics (Bale), to the progression of his own sounds (Blanchett), to acting in a movie within a movie (Ledger), and to his post-motorcycle accident stage (Gere), this is a daring attempt of a biography. Unlike Ray or Walk the Line, Haynes is not focusing on a straight forward telling. Because did Dylan really lead a straight forward life? Hell no. His life was exactly how I'm Not There is displayed; full of hallucinations, heartbreak, love, songs that redefined an era, and an examination of pop culture inside one man's mind. It’s supposed to confuse you, baffle you, and give you no explanation as to why these characters are connected. Why is Dylan's child played by an African American? Maybe because he posed as someone else as a child. Maybe he thought that's who he was. Maybe the director has the balls to really make your head trip.

Blanchett is mind-blowing. Maybe she doesn't have the voice box to match Dylan's, but you forget it's Blanchett (one of the beautiful actresses in the world) the second she walks on and ignites the screen. If she hadn't already been in the Oscar spotlight for the past few years, this once again would have been her year to take home the statue. She and the collaboration of the five other actors in this film give us something we have never seen before. I'm Not There tests the mind and soul that few films this year ever could.



Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Very Solid Thanksgiving Break




Over Thanksgiving break, I went to three films, all of which are successful in its own terms. Beowulf is the 3-D epic, Enchanted is the box-office champ, and No Country for Old Men is one of the best films of the year. Here's the breakdown of the three.



Beowulf (*** Stars)
Is it any good?: Well, even though at sometimes it looks like a cousin of the Final Fantasy series, the action is still wicked fun to watch.

Plot:
Based on the famous book by an unknown author, Beowulf's (Ray Winstone) is King Leonidas mixed in a blender with Mr. Wolf. He is a warrior who comes in to take care of business and then gets the hell out. He comes in to fight the evil demon Grendel, kills him, then sleeps with his mother. O, I forgot to add that he is a nymphomaniac. When he marries the queen, he still has sex with a young blonde. But still, when he takes over Anthony Hopkins thrown, he tries to lead his people over their enemies and pass the fact that he slept with the creator of the monster who slaughtered half their village. Good for him.

Why See It: Same groundbreaking animation as The Polar Express, only this time the action disguises the underwritten characters.

Review in a nutshell: For those who miss 300 and need a friendly reminder.


Enchanted: (*** Stars)
Is it any good?: It actually is. This is a big, pleasant surprise and proves that movie trailers can be completely hearsay.

Plot: A stereotypical princess from a 2-D animated world is thrown into present day New York. She meets McDreamy (who else would she meet) and together they realize that they may be right for eachother.

Why See It?: Amy Adams. Amy Adams. Amy Adams. Amy Adams.

Review in a Nutshell: AMY ADAMS MAKES THIS MOVIE, PURE AND SIMPLE.



No Country For Old Men: (**** Stars)

Is it any good?:
Damn right it's good. The Coen Brothers newest collaboration is an Oscar-worthy feat, one that cannot be ignored.

Plot: The plot is not the brilliance of this movie. It is a simple story of a drug deal gone wrong, with a random guy finding the money and the hitman looking for his score. It's not the outline of the film that will get you pumped up, but the moments spent with these characters. All are scared and helpless, and are doing everything they can to either protect themselves or a loved one. There are parts of this film with no dialogue for an excessive amount of time and it's more engaging than almost any other scene in films this year, including the ending. You will be shaken.

Why See It?:
Because the Coen Brothers are masterful story tellers. The scenes between
Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem's) and Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) are absolutely exhilarating, down to the very core of your bones. The tension in this movie is so direct that the chills down your spine won't stop. The entire cast is electric. Tommy Lee Jones is brilliantly funny and utterly heartbreaking as a man who loses touch with the world's fast pace and current violent culture. The title, No Country For Old Men is based around his character, Ed Tom Bell, clearly explaining that the times are not the way they were when he was young. All of the lead performances in this film are Oscar-worthy.

Review in a nutshell: To praise this film isn't enough, you have to see this masterpiece to believe it.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Sicko

Writer/director Michael Moore explores America's health care system in The Weinstein Company's Sicko**** Stars

From general motors, to gun control, to the President of the United States, Michael Moore may be overweight, but his heart and courage is as strong as anyone. In Sicko, he tackles America's health care and how it is destroying the American dream. This film is not about those who don't have health insurance, but those who do, and still suffer when HMO's and hospital bills put families into turmoil. A mother and father have to move in with their child, several mothers lose their babies to disease and accidents, one gets charged for an ambulance bill because she didn't prepay before her car accident, 9/11 rescuers are denied treatment for their injuries on the day they saved lives, and a woman got denied a transplant because she had a yeast infection once in her life. Michael Moore then goes outside the U.S to explore other countries health care systems, which seem to be going much smoother than ours.

I can't really tell you more about the film because it has to be seen to believe. And if you see this film and don't believe that this country has a serious issue, then I have nothing to say to you. Sicko is another Oscar-Worthy selection form Michael Moore.

P.S: You may disagree with Moore's opinions, but no one can make fun of him for paying $12,000 dollars for a medical treatment for the wife of the creator of a Michael Moore hate site. That is how much he believes in this cause.


Lions for Lambs


**** Stars

Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise pull out all the stops and tackle several important issues in a world full of confusion, concern, and consternation. Through a series of sharp and complex debates, Lions for Lambs uniquely captures exactly what America is discussing...Who are we as a nation? I'll never understand why critics are being so harsh on this film. This is a refreshing, original approach towards a country in a very vulnerable state.

I love this new film genre that's being created. Like Crash and Babel, Lions for Lambs has several storylines connecting to one another, where a characters decision effects someone else in the story they've never met. Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) works at the University of California and is lecturing a brilliant student on the importance of using his knowledge towards something good, rather than wasting time complaining about the country's problems and partying with his fraternity. He tells the young man about two students he had (Derek Luke and Michael Pena) who volunteered for military involvement in the War on Iraq. While in Iraq, the two soldiers are affected by a political move made by Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise). He gives his story to journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) who tries to understand Irving's decision.

The Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep debate in particular is hard to take your eyes off of. The Senator has no dark secrets, no ghosts in his closet, but only a man who is doing what he believes to win the war on terror. The journalist has different views and only wants to know the intentions of him and whether or not he is making the right choices for the country. The last scenes in this film are truly riveting.

Whether you are an elephant of donkey, you can't deny that Lions for Lambs message has the right intentions. What can one American do to change the country? The film is not asking for everyone to become a G.I Joe or Mother Teresa, but only to do the right thing involving an important decision in your life.