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My Reviewer's Philosophy: I believe that every film has its audience. One man’s Citizen Kane is another man’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My purpose is to help you spend your entertainment dollars wisely. A bad review never kept me from going to a film I wanted to see, but a good review will sometimes get me to a film I never considered. As a movie lover I want you to go to the movies. When more people go to the movies, the more movies get made. But, I also believe that if you enjoy the films you see, you naturally will be inclined to go more often. So join me in supporting our film industry by going to a movie today. Hopefully I can steer you towards a good one. See you at the movies. Melanie Wilson

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Straw Dogs

There are many reasons to do a remake, but when one does it is more satisfying when the film is given a fresh take. In Straw Dogs (2011) the film has been moved to the American South instead of a small remote English village. And in contrast to Dustin Hoffman’s mathematician the main character is now a screen writer played by James Marsden. His wife (Kate Bosworth) grew up in this backwater town and to quote her ex-lover Charlie she’s had the bus schedule memorized since she was fifteen.

David Sumner (Marsden) never questions why his television star wife wasn’t keen to move back to her hometown. All he knows is that her childhood home has been left to them and it would provide a remote, quiet place for him to finish his latest historical film. At first Amy Sumner is a big celebrity returning home. Everyone wishes her well, welcomes her back and offers condolences on the cancelation of her series. But it is only a matter of time before her husband sees who the real town celebrities are, the ex-winning football coach (James Woods) who is now a drunk and his star team who is still reaping the glory of their championship season.

In the south, football rules and Amy was a cheerleader and Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard) was the quarterback. All these years he’s never forgotten about her but she has found a different kind of man to warm her bed. She loves her husband very much, but in this culture he is not considered much of a man. His khaki pants, oxford shirts and shoes without laces are a source of amusement to the men. For them if you don’t drink, hunt, and play football you might as well be wearing a dress.

Without consulting his wife, David hires her ex-boyfriend to fix their roof but he’s so wrapped up in his book research that he’s not aware of the signs. His wife is distressed and there is obviously some history going on other than the book that David is writing. Charlie is clearly lusting after Amy and his crew is equally disrespectful. When Amy asks David to defend her honor he demurely plays it off. Amy is mad because David just doesn’t get it. In this culture you need to protect what is yours.

David’s apparently weak nature and non-confrontational ways lead him into a tragic mistake. When this mistake escalates to disaster, we find what kind of man David truly is. Straw Dogs examines the definition of manliness, and the dynamic between husbands and wives. Things have changed a lot since the first film in 1971 but these are issues still worth examining.
 
It was really nice to see James Marsden given an opportunity to exercise his dramatic chops. It was also satisfying to see James Woods in an unlikable character role. I was also impressed with Alexander Skarsgard. His performance is multi-layered which keeps him from playing a stereotypical role. I like the change of setting for this film. I think the south was a good choice and added a lot of interesting elements. If you are going to do a remake, make it fresh. I believe that Straw Dogs has met that goal.

Rating: First Run A fresh look on what it means to be a man

Drive

Drive is a visceral treat where lighting, pace and sound combine to place you into the head of a Hollywood stunt driver. We know nothing of this man (Ryan Gosling) except for the fact that he showed up one day at the auto shop of a man named Shannon (Bryan Cranston) and asked for a job. Shannon has been exploiting him ever since. Not only is “Driver” a good mechanic but he’s an excellent driver as well. Shannon has a side business providing cars for motion pictures and his protégé fits right in. He’s game for anything and executes his stunts with precision, skill and fearlessness. Shannon, naturally, takes a cut on all his jobs.
 
Driver lives a lean existence in a high rise apartment overlooking the city of Los Angeles. Not much of a sleeper he will often roam the city at night with only his music for company. Without explanation we learn that he is sometimes a wheelman for petty criminals and thieves. He has a meticulous process and a code and always calls his own shots. He is very good at what he does and he has no intention of getting caught. The man is unflappable and has nerves of steel.
 
Down the hall from him lives a pretty woman (Carey Mulligan) who is raising her son alone because her husband is away in prison. They begin a chaste relationship but there is an obvious affection there. He helps her out with a car problem and becomes attached to her son. He soon becomes very protective of them and enjoys their company. It is the first time we ever see him smile or open up.
 
When Irene’s husband is released from prison the driver steps out of the picture and respects the husbands place. Even the husband, no matter what his suspicions, can see that he is an honorable man. He is happy that someone was looking out for his wife and kid no matter what the attraction. But unfortunately Standard (Oscar Isaac) brings home a lot of baggage with him from prison. He is being pressured to perform a robbery in order to pay off a prison debt. To protect Irene and Benicio from further threats the driver offers to help him pay off his obligation to get keep Benicio and Irene safe. He becomes a wheelman for a robbery one more time.
 
This film is so stylish and Gosling is the epitome of cool. I could easily see this as a franchise character for him. The movie has that European feel where violence is not only shown, but felt and Carey and Ryan have a nice palatable chemistry. I also enjoyed seeing a different side of Los Angeles. Downtown can be both beautiful and dilapidated. It all depends on where you look; the director, Nicolas Winding Refn shows us both sides.

One surprising performance is when Albert Brooks drops his funny man image and displays his dark side as a brutal ex- Hollywood producer with a very nasty business partner (Ron Perlman). Albert Brooks makes an excellent villain and shows the amoral callousness of a man who only loves money. This film may open up a whole new world for him. I especially was impressed with his final scene with Bryan Cranston. I’ll never forget the emotional notes played in that scene ranging from savageness to compassion. Albert Brooks really stands out in this role.

I liked this film, especially the way it used lighting to convey the driver’s emotions. The directing is to be commended for it’s mastery of timing and tone. Ryan Gosling says little in the film so these clues tell us what we need to know. Whether it’s speeding up or slowing down, the style of the film tells us what Gosling’s blue eyes do not. There is so much more to learn about him. I’d love to see a sequel to this film.

Rating: First Run Style and substance

Moneyball

“There’s something romantic about baseball”, quotes Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A’s. But later he answers to a colleague, “Adapt or die!” This is his dilemma. Managing the team with the smallest budget in the American League Billy Beane is sick and tired of having his players snatched out from under him and losing to teams with deeper pockets. In order to solve his problem and forced to stay within his budgetary constraints, Beane has decided to put his career on the line and try something new, Sabermetrics.

Moneyball is the true story of Billy Beane who had the courage to stand up to 150 years of baseball tradition in order to apply a mathematical theory to the recruiting and signing of baseball players. His assistant (Jonah Hill) provides the analysis and Beane provides the clout to do it his way. He incurs the wrath of his scouting team, his manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and most importantly the fans. But he knows that if he commits to the idea fully and it works, he’ll be changing the game of baseball forever.

Sabermetrics was created by a statistician and baseball historian by the name of Bill James. He named his abstract Sabermetrics after the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR). But the beauty of this film is that the math doesn’t matter. The film is so smartly written and entertaining that the statistical analysis is in the background and the people are brought to the front. This is a story about human nature, resisting change, and courage in the face of opposition. It is more than a baseball movie; it is more than dry statistics. It is about seeing players with new eyes and finding value in the under-appreciated.

Brad Pitt is excellent as Billy Beane. His character is so fascinating that you are constantly watching his face to see what he is thinking. He looks completely natural in this setting and when surrounded by his scouts and managers you feel like you are sitting in a real recruiting session. When I first saw Philip Seymour Hoffman I barely recognized him. He looks like a hundred managers you’ve seen before and when he opposes Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane you just want to go up and smack him. He represents tradition and the way things have always been done and Jonah Hill’s character represents new ideas and a way of leveling the playing field. The chemistry between Hill and Pitt is outstanding. They are these quirky little Davids standing up to Goliath.

It is unusual for Hollywood to make a film about math but after the success of last year’s The Social Network, it only goes to show that a good story is a good story. If a film is well cast, passionately acted, expertly directed and begins with a good script, then even statistical analysis can be interesting and fun. Moneyball is an excellent film with lots of laughs, insight and a memorable performance by Pitt. Not only does it get you in the locker room, but behind the scenes and in the front office too. I loved this insider’s look into the game of baseball and even if you are not a fan there is much here to love.

Rating: Must See Even if you are not a fan of baseball, there is much here to love

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Contagion

Watching Contagion is a clinical experience. It reminded me of The Andromeda Strain or those disaster movies of the seventies that were jammed packed with Hollywood stars. The movie follows the course of a disease while health workers and scientists try to determine how the virus spreads, how it kills and where it came from. By tracing the virus back to its origin and how it transmits, the outbreak can be contained and eventually eradicated.

I’m not sure it was a good idea casting Laurence Fishburne in this film. As soon as I saw him in a white lab coat he reminded me of CSI and completely took me out of the film. Add to that all the shots of offices, clipboards, labs and slide presentations I felt like I had signed up for science class. I thought it was interesting for the camera to focus on all the ways that humans pass germs and make contact throughout the day, but after a while it slowed things down and as a result the movie lost some of its momentum.

I am a huge fan of the 1971 movie The Andromeda Strain.  I loved how the film focused on two patients and the handful of scientists who worked around the clock to solve the mystery of why these two people were still alive. In contrast, Contagion goes global. The backdrop is international with so many people participating that it is hard to get attached to any of them. You’d think that Matt Damon would play a larger role but as soon as he has his big encounter at the hospital he is sent home to remain in isolation with his daughter. Kate Winslet comes in and out of the movie as an investigator and then is left lying on a cot, and Marion Cotillard gets kidnapped and doesn’t reappear again until the end of the film. This story is so busy with so many players it is difficult to feel empathy for any of them.

In another unusual turn for this movie, Gwyneth Paltrow begins the film by dying. No need for a spoiler alert because anyone who has seen the previews or the movie poster knows she is going to die. The rest of the film follows her in photos and video surveillance. Luckily for us she contracted the disease in a casino with lots of cameras. Otherwise we’d be left with people talking about where she had been and that would be very boring.

Today more people are afraid of disease and germs than ever before. Companies fuel our fears by alarmist ads and articles and then turn around and sell us hand sanitizer, face masks and air purifiers. In this film Jude Law represents the opportunists of society. Unfortunately there are too many like him in real life. But the scariest part of this film is that when it comes to disease and biowarfare is hard to fight an enemy you can’t see and even harder to get people to take the right precautions. I remember how freaked out I was in college while taking a zoology course. After discovering all the animals that feed on our dead skin cells and actually live on our bodies I’ll never be the same again.

We are a big complicated inter-connected world and there are billions of organisms that share our planet. Plagues are scary, outbreaks are tragic, but it is also comforting to know that there are men and women who think viruses are cool and will continue to isolate and study them. They are our only defense in this microscopic world. Let’s hope that this film will excite some budding scientists. Our last frontier is under the microscope.

Rating: Bargain Matinee This film was a clinical experience

Monday, September 5, 2011

Saving Private Perez

Summer is coming to a close and if you want to end it with a silly, humorous, action flick try Mexico’s Saving Private Perez. Julian Perez (Miguel Rodarte) is the most powerful man in the country with criminal ties all over the world, but in the eyes of his mother he doesn’t exist because he had dedicated his life to dishonest pursuits. Her good son, Private Perez, has just gone missing in Iraq. The Army has listed him missing in action but Mama Perez reaches out to her wayward son. “Go get your brother” she commands. “Go to Iraq and bring him back alive.”

Using all his criminal ties Don Perez assembles an elite team, a la’ The Dirty Dozen and flies them to Turkey in his private jet. Once there they are joined by a Russian contact who will smuggle them into Iraq using their gun running and drug routes. For Perez his wealth and influence have purchased him the best in guns, supplies and intelligence, but out of his native Mexico he and his gang are a comic sight running around the country in silk shirts, cowboy hats, gold chains and rattlesnake boots. Since this is a comedic action film, things in Iraq do not go well as our extraction team encounters foreign cultures, alien ways, and are a target for both the Iraqis and the Americans. It is only their mustached macho persistence that causes them to prevail.

Saving Private Perez is funnier is you are familiar with Mexican archetypes. My favorite bit is when their Russian guide serves the men some kind of Russian goulash and one of the men instantly whips out his hot sauce. Soon the other men are all begging for a chance to add in the precious chili. Later this little red bottle is used as a device of torture. It’s funny because it’s true.

I was amused by this movie. The parody is subtle and the more you know of Mexican culture, the funnier it gets. It is fairly light weight, some of the sets and costumes are a bit cheesy but there is enough heart here to keep you connected to the story. If enough people see this film I can see it developing a cult status. It has that campy quality. But I may be overestimating the movie going public. It hard to get Americans to see Mexican films. But it would be nice if you give this one a chance.

Rating: Bargain Matinee A Mexican gang takes on terrorists in Iraq