Sundance Reviews -- Features
Grade: C+
-Trade
A Mexican girl, Adriana, is taken from the streets and forced into sex trafficking. Her brother, Jorge, does what he can to rescue her. Featuring mostly strong performances and moments of heart-breaking emotion, Trade was a well-done, powerful film.
What I found problematic with the film was the script’s inconsistencies. When the French woman commits suicide, supposedly creating a beautiful, yet heart-drenching moment in the film, I felt it was completely out of character. All this time, she had been growing closer with Adriana, getting to the point of sacrificing herself for her. Then suddenly, she selfishly leaves her. Prior to this moment, the girls escaped and managed to get to a town where a parade was going on. For some reason, they had to go to the payphone closest to the road and furthest from the crowd. Then with the van of the kidnappers visible a mile away, they stay at the payphone as the French woman yells at disbelief into the phone until they are both captured again. Why didn’t they run away?!
Though the movie dealt with a heavy subject, it tried to balance it with moments of comic relief with Jorge (Cesar Ramos) and Ray (Kevin Kline) and their obvious cultural differences. I did not feel this worked very well. I thought that Jorge’s performance was weaker here, and the conversations felt forced. In addition, Ray’s relationship with his wife was underdeveloped, and the scene where he recounts his history to Jorge was straight-up dialogue. It was weak.
There were moments in the film that touched on the spirituality of the Mexican culture, and it seemed to have provided a ray of hope for the girls who were being taken to New Jersey to be sold online, as well as Adriana’s mother back home. And though the film could have ended happily, the filmmaker chose to end it on a more realistic note, boosting the impact of the film.
All throughout, the characters keep you engaged, as well as the primary relationships in it. The desires of the characters are apparent, and you share it with them. Obstacle after obstacle must be overcome and the tensions run high as they become more and more desperate.
There are some shortcomings to this film, but the subject is powerful, and the film is done in a well enough way that they can be forgiven. Truly emotional moments echo into your hearts and helps you realize the urgency of the issue at hand.
Grade: B+
-Longford
Based on the true relationship between a priest (Longford) and his visits to Myra Hindley, one of the most hated convicts in British history, played by a vulnerable Samantha Morton, this touching and insightful film tells an unfamiliar story to American audiences from an unfamiliar perspective.
Jim Broadbent does a fantastic job playing the pious Longford, who, though strived to do the right thing, obviously had his faults. Lindsay Duncan also turns in a wonderful performance as the initially supremely skeptical Lady Longford. Andy Serkis is a chilly Ian Brady (Hindley’s cohort and lover). Great performances all around bring this powerful story to life.
Longford touches on the humanity in all of us, and forces us to ask ourselves how far grace really goes? When does someone, if ever, become “unforgivable’?
A particularly powerful moment in the film comes when many years later, after it had been revealed that Hindley had lied to Longford early on, resulting in further harm of Longford’s reputation, Longford is asked by a caller while on a radio interview if he regrets the time he spent with Hindley. After a beat, Longford says no, citing the relationship he developed and the lessons he learned as the reason why.
This film offers an in-depth glimpse into the lives of the notorious and humanizes them, wrenching the audience in its emotions and powerful performances.
Grade: A
-If I Had Known I Was a Genius
This story tells of Michael (Markus Redmond, who also wrote the script), a black man with a high IQ, who struggles through his upbringing and life because of his dysfunctional family.
It started out halfway entertaining. Very quickly, however, the film became so self-absorbed, long, pointless, and unfunny that it was very difficult to sit through. Though some people turn in some nice, fun performances (at least for their first few minutes-Sharon Stone as the eccentric drama teacher, Whoopi Goldberg as the apathetically disapproving mother, Keith David as the endearing father), the movie becomes so obsessed with how funny these characters (and every character, for that matter) seem that everything, especially the story, stops completely to display this.
The film loses direction quickly when Michael gets into high school and decides he wants to become an actor. Ironically, this is where the story’s supposed to start.
A cool idea they might have had something with is having Redmond playing his younger self. However, it seems to serve no point and was not effective due to Redmond’s uncharismatic and humorless performance.
The film spends way too much time on its boring jokes and not enough time on the story, which only becomes somewhat apparent in the last five minutes.
I’ve never checked my watch so many times during a movie.
Grade: D
-Black Snake Moan
Craig Brewer’s follow-up to Hustle and Flow is a surprisingly spiritual and stylishly entertaining tale that takes place in the hot, bluesy city of Memphis. Brewer, who wrote the screenplay as well, delivers a solid, intriguing, original story abounding with strong performances and some excellent blues.
Samuel L. Jackson gets down and dirty to play Lazarus, a troubled, God-fearing bluesman, who finds Rae (Ricci) bruised, drugged-up, and half-naked on the side of the road and tends to her. The two develop a symbiotic relationship; Rae learns some self-control, learning not to depend on sex to be fulfilled, while Lazarus is able to give a pure, gentle love, something he lacked with his cheating ex-wife. Jackson and Ricci deliver solid performances, not going overboard, but going far enough to be believable. The scene this is most apparent in is when Lazarus plays the title song (Jackson learned guitar for this role, and sang as well) for Rae in the midst of a thunderstorm. The scene is a powerful visual representation of where the two characters are in their arc.
The film does a wonderful job of telling the story without the dialogue being too telling, leaving much of the exposition to be told visually. For example, Rae’s past (and really, the psychological reason behind her troubles) is flashed, quite literally, to reveal that she had been sexually abused as a child.
Justin Timberlake as Ronnie, Rae’s army boyfriend is the only sub-par performance, his eyebrows seemingly frozen in their furrow.
The story preaches the change possible in people when they have something to hold onto, which Brewer admitted after the screening was God. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Brewer mentioned how much influence came from the Bible (it is the South, after all) and it’s apparent in this film, ultimately about redemption.
Grade: A
-Weapons
This teen drama has just about everything to do with teens today. Violence, sex, drugs, insecurities. Its portrayal is visceral, using handhelds almost exclusively. Long shots on characters staring off to nowhere force you to get into the heads of these kids. There are long tracking shots just following the characters as they idly go from place to place. It works, for the most part, along with the rancid rap music, to show their lives really going nowhere fast.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a script, the characters are realistic with their laughable (assuming it intentional) dialogue.
The story is told backwards, for whatever reason, focusing on a particular character in each segment. This structure seems pointless; it feels as if it should be revealing plot points as it brings you back to the previous days, however, nothing is. Instead, we get to see what we heard about in other people’s views (one of the times being shot quite interestingly on a handy-cam, selling a character’s POV, as he is going around recording), which isn’t exactly necessary.
The performances are decent, and the pace is bearable. Though the moral seems to be that violence doesn’t solve anything and that the current state of youth is desperately sad, the director said otherwise. It is a kind of social commentary that, for the most part, does its job. The music sucks, though.
Grade: C
-The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun
This charming documentary tells of a lovable 82 year-old bachelor who transforms his castle he’s owned for decades into a monastery, and brings nuns in to occupy it.
Really, it’s a love story between two fascinating opposites. Mr. Vig, who has a strangely amusing obsession with noses, moves at an entirely different pace from Sister Amvrosija, who, forty years his junior, works to keep the castle from falling apart. Their highly contrasted personalities cause for hilarious interactions of misunderstandings and disagreements, especially given their limits with technology (especially Vig). Through all this, however, their platonic love becomes more apparent when the two are separated for a period of time and then reunited. Their joy is heartwarmingly visible.
The castle serves as a metaphor as it begins broken and falling apart, but as the two work to keep it, it is restored and becomes beautiful once again. There are segments slower than others, and there isn’t quite a clear story until part way through the film.
No matter how different we may be from others, we can always learn from one another. The film speaks volumes about who people really are and how being in another’s company can bring people to life.
Grade: B
-Everything’s Cool
This documentary about Global Warming doesn’t do much that The Inconvenient Truth didn’t. It mostly talked about the divide between the ignorant of GW and those trying to urge us to take action. It was mostly an attack on all the politics that take place to try to pass GW off as a theory. The documentary, though mildly interesting, did not do much to present facts or new information.
Instead it focused on an uninteresting couple key figures in bringing GW to light. These figures mostly talk about what other people have talked about.
Between these figures, the doc cuts to a man trying to make biodiesel to fuel his car. It takes him forever and it proves very difficult. This doesn’t necessarily spell encouragement for doing something about GW. Furthermore, the subjects sometimes contradict their own claims. Not to mention all the time they spent on The Day After Tomorrow, a movie, and not a fact.
Other than it being a pointless film, much less a pointless documentary, its energy kept it afloat. However, it couldn’t save it from melting under its own futile heat.
Grade: C+
-The Island
I don’t recall seeing many, if any, Russian films. But I’ll be sure that I have the energy and the caffeine to the next time. The film starts out excitingly, with an inadvertent murder, an explosion and Russian soldiers. Soon, the film dives into the mysterious life of Father Anatoli, who seems to be a sort of holy man. Furthermore, he is known by his fellow monastery members as a clown, confusing them with his bizarre behavior. They weren’t the only one. The film is extremely subtle in between his moments of outrageous behavior… too subtle. Nothing really happens. The story has no clear direction-that is, at least not until the last thirty minutes, when a possessed woman comes with the very man he ostensibly shot decades before arrives to the island to be healed. Anatoli takes her to a smaller island where he exorcises the demon from her. The scene, though subtle, is tense and spellbinding.
Afterward, Anatoli confesses to the other man, asking for forgiveness. Once this is completed, Anatoli feels complete, letting himself pass onto the next life. It FADES TO WHITE (as Craig so emphasized), which is rare in films. The transcendence in the film is apparent and undeniably moving. Not to mention the film looks absolutely beautiful, accenting the crisp, cool white of the snow and the reflective blue of the water in the day, the fires at night leaping off the screen. It’s shot as if angels should be watching.
Though the majority of the film is slow and lacking in action, the final half-hour makes up for it with its compellingly quiet intensity and the transcendence it speaks of.
Grade: B
-The Go-Getter
This film was love-at-first-sight. From start to finish it held me to it, toying with my emotions, going up and down, left and right, making me laugh, making me want to cry, but most of all, making me want to know what happens next.
The relationship that Mercer (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Kate (Zooey Deschanel) develop quickly becomes the focus and the most intriguing aspect of this road movie. It is a mysterious relationship that expresses itself visually (Mercer imagines different faces moving their mouths to the voice he hears on the phone; they are often in the same location while on the phone, but not facing each other as they talk-very creative!) and left me hungry for more. Pucci endearingly plays an innocent teen who, with each adventure, eventually finds himself, while looking for his long-lost half-brother after his mother dies. Pucci plays him to just the right pitch, not going over the top, or being too subtle, making the audience empathize with him.
Throughout the film, the idea of fate vs. coincidence faintly recurs, hinting at, yet leaving open to the audience what it is that binds people together and the events that shape us. The film also seems to tell of how others can tell us a lot about ourselves.
The music in this film was fantastic, being telling yet not explanatory and adding a wonderful life to it.
This film was wonderful in all aspects; funny, poignant, alive, and gripping.
Grade: A
-Year of the Dog
This Mike White comedy, in the vain of Wes Anderson, features a cute Molly Shannon as Peggy, a woman whose life changes after her dog, the love-of-her-life, dies.
The characters are fairly one-dimensional, and it shows with the flat straight-on angles on every bit of dialogue. Though the characters display emotion and bend in different ways, they all seem to be stuck in their mold.
The story was simple, perhaps too simple. It wasn’t clear where it was going for the middle forty minutes or so, leaving me to wonder what’s going to happen next, in the “something happen, already!” sense. It was entertaining and amusing, but a little flat. There weren’t any true moments of hilarity, and there isn’t a wealth of character to hold onto. Peggy seems to go crazy, embezzling money in the name of animal rights, accusing people of things we’re not sure of, and taking into adoption over a dozen dogs; though I laughed, I didn’t really care.
It was cute in all its canine goodness, but its dry human aspect was in need of some licking.
Grade: B-
-Expiration Date
Why milk trucks? That was my main concern after viewing this mediocre comedy. With actors trying a little too hard and a contrived plot, this film, despite tasting fine, expires by the end of the film.
The story was original: Charlie Silvercloud III (Robert A. Guthrie) is cursed-his father and grandfather before him both died by milk truck on their 25th birthday. With eight days remaining, Charlie decides to accept his fate. However, Bessie (Sascha Knopf), a girl with seemingly the same fate begins to change his morbid outlook. This is, of course, a story within the story, being that an Indian (Native American) fogy is telling a young Indian the importance of heritage. Though this theme pops up in Charlie’s story, it seems to be left in the backburner of the barely believable love story.
Charlie and Bessie’s story is awfully similar to Zach Braff and Natalie Portman’s in Garden State. On top of that, it seemed forced. Their intimate moments aren’t terribly romantic, mostly because of their lack of chemistry. Knopf also seems to want to coyly smile the screen apart in every scene.
Many of the jokes were ones we heard before and really didn’t help the story: the ex-girlfriend who thinks Charlie broke up with her because her thighs are too fat, Charlie’s overbearing mother pushing the idea of children quite explicitly. They were still kind of funny, but nothing rather new.
The movie seemed to be communicating the importance of identity and the acceptance of that, which is indeed important in life. However, it seemed to try a little too hard to get there. Nothing particularly memorable.
Grade: B-
-La Misma Luna (The Same Moon)
Carlito (Adrian Alonso) embarks on an unlikely hero’s journey from Mexico to L.A. to catch up with his illegally immigrated mother in this delightful Mexican film; oh yes, and he’s only 8!
Alonso is adorable and fantastic as the determined, independent Carlito. His journey to his single unknowing mother, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), who is working two jobs to get enough money to bring Carlito to L.A. with her, is filled with obstacles and trials galore, the main issue being the immigration police looking to deport any suspicious Mexican.
There are moments of tension, joyous humor, and scenes that wrench the heart. I really wanted Carlito to get back to his mama, and I wanted Enrique, the reluctant helper (they got off to a bad start) to be there with him. I was afraid that Carlito was going to get caught. I didn’t want Rosario to find out he was gone and get worried and look for him. I wanted exactly what the story wanted me to.
The relationships in the film feel real and I got attached to them. The little guy was uncommonly mature for his age and it was cute as heck. He had to get home!
Near the end of the second act of the film, Carlito and Enrique (Eugenio Derbez), a man at least twenty years his senior, get into a singing duel with a well-known Mexico song that perfectly characterizes their relationship and the point they’re at within it, too. It’s just an entertaining, lovely scene.
This is the kind of film that will give you the warm fuzzies and pull on every emotional string on the way too, effortlessly buying your love with its strong performances, lush visuals, and highly motivated story. Not to mention the lovable 8 year-old hero!
Grade: A
-For the Bible Tells Me So
The controversial one! This documentary explores the point of tension between religion and homosexuality in the United States.
Firstly, this documentary is extremely important today and it is one that every American and even every Christian should see. However, they should be cautioned first. It takes the truth and bends it to tell their specific outlook. It is told from a completely biased point of view, selling it as the truth.
The greater message, and the greatest one, it pushes is that a person, regardless of their preferences, should be accepted and loved by Christians. The film does a great job of illustrating this with a number of testimonies coming from families that have grown to do just that, despite their initial disapproval of the homosexual lifestyle. It certainly is convincing, milking the drama and pressing on the inspirations these homosexual children have become, preaching love and acceptance. It’s easy to buy into, especially with a slightly offensive cartoon implanted in the middle of the doc. This cartoon depicts the average Christian as ignorant and insensitive, as well as below the homosexuals, who “truly” understand their nature and the issues.
The main matter that conflicted with myself is the fact that they were justifying their homosexuality, denying the last couple millenniums of religious history that based its teachings against homosexuality in the Bible, simply stating that those against it have quoted it out of context, and that the translations are unreliable. This cannot be excused.
However, its ultimate message is one all should embrace, and the justification of homosexuality is not worth fighting for in favor of this message.
This film certainly accomplishes what it set out to do.
Grade: B
-51 Birch Street
Who is your family? This surprisingly powerful documentary forced me to ask that question over and over.
Centering around the unveiling of the truth behind filmmaker Doug Block’s parents’ marriage, this doc provides tremendous insight into how little one may truly know the stories of those closest to them.
Given the story unfolded as Block went about shooting everything as it was, the film was not the most well-shot, some of the interviews looking terrible, and visually, there wasn’t anything to write home about. However, the content is strong and intriguing enough that it more than compensates.
Block interviews in a very probing and sensitive way, drawing his subjects (mostly his family) out in a natural, yet at times unexpected way. The interviews are mostly after-the-fact, while the rest of the footage includes family footage (before he learned of anything), diaries, and sometimes even perceptive dialogue between Block and his wife.
Block guides the doc smoothly, revealing bit after bit of the sometimes-shocking past. He takes you through the social customs and changing times over 50 years, and how his family was affected. What Block gathers from his investigations becomes evident as he digs deeper into the people closest to him, which prompted me to ask those questions myself.
This is a powerfully engaging film, important for anyone with a family to see.
Grade: A-
-Trade
A Mexican girl, Adriana, is taken from the streets and forced into sex trafficking. Her brother, Jorge, does what he can to rescue her. Featuring mostly strong performances and moments of heart-breaking emotion, Trade was a well-done, powerful film.
What I found problematic with the film was the script’s inconsistencies. When the French woman commits suicide, supposedly creating a beautiful, yet heart-drenching moment in the film, I felt it was completely out of character. All this time, she had been growing closer with Adriana, getting to the point of sacrificing herself for her. Then suddenly, she selfishly leaves her. Prior to this moment, the girls escaped and managed to get to a town where a parade was going on. For some reason, they had to go to the payphone closest to the road and furthest from the crowd. Then with the van of the kidnappers visible a mile away, they stay at the payphone as the French woman yells at disbelief into the phone until they are both captured again. Why didn’t they run away?!
Though the movie dealt with a heavy subject, it tried to balance it with moments of comic relief with Jorge (Cesar Ramos) and Ray (Kevin Kline) and their obvious cultural differences. I did not feel this worked very well. I thought that Jorge’s performance was weaker here, and the conversations felt forced. In addition, Ray’s relationship with his wife was underdeveloped, and the scene where he recounts his history to Jorge was straight-up dialogue. It was weak.
There were moments in the film that touched on the spirituality of the Mexican culture, and it seemed to have provided a ray of hope for the girls who were being taken to New Jersey to be sold online, as well as Adriana’s mother back home. And though the film could have ended happily, the filmmaker chose to end it on a more realistic note, boosting the impact of the film.
All throughout, the characters keep you engaged, as well as the primary relationships in it. The desires of the characters are apparent, and you share it with them. Obstacle after obstacle must be overcome and the tensions run high as they become more and more desperate.
There are some shortcomings to this film, but the subject is powerful, and the film is done in a well enough way that they can be forgiven. Truly emotional moments echo into your hearts and helps you realize the urgency of the issue at hand.
Grade: B+
-Longford
Based on the true relationship between a priest (Longford) and his visits to Myra Hindley, one of the most hated convicts in British history, played by a vulnerable Samantha Morton, this touching and insightful film tells an unfamiliar story to American audiences from an unfamiliar perspective.
Jim Broadbent does a fantastic job playing the pious Longford, who, though strived to do the right thing, obviously had his faults. Lindsay Duncan also turns in a wonderful performance as the initially supremely skeptical Lady Longford. Andy Serkis is a chilly Ian Brady (Hindley’s cohort and lover). Great performances all around bring this powerful story to life.
Longford touches on the humanity in all of us, and forces us to ask ourselves how far grace really goes? When does someone, if ever, become “unforgivable’?
A particularly powerful moment in the film comes when many years later, after it had been revealed that Hindley had lied to Longford early on, resulting in further harm of Longford’s reputation, Longford is asked by a caller while on a radio interview if he regrets the time he spent with Hindley. After a beat, Longford says no, citing the relationship he developed and the lessons he learned as the reason why.
This film offers an in-depth glimpse into the lives of the notorious and humanizes them, wrenching the audience in its emotions and powerful performances.
Grade: A
-If I Had Known I Was a Genius
This story tells of Michael (Markus Redmond, who also wrote the script), a black man with a high IQ, who struggles through his upbringing and life because of his dysfunctional family.
It started out halfway entertaining. Very quickly, however, the film became so self-absorbed, long, pointless, and unfunny that it was very difficult to sit through. Though some people turn in some nice, fun performances (at least for their first few minutes-Sharon Stone as the eccentric drama teacher, Whoopi Goldberg as the apathetically disapproving mother, Keith David as the endearing father), the movie becomes so obsessed with how funny these characters (and every character, for that matter) seem that everything, especially the story, stops completely to display this.
The film loses direction quickly when Michael gets into high school and decides he wants to become an actor. Ironically, this is where the story’s supposed to start.
A cool idea they might have had something with is having Redmond playing his younger self. However, it seems to serve no point and was not effective due to Redmond’s uncharismatic and humorless performance.
The film spends way too much time on its boring jokes and not enough time on the story, which only becomes somewhat apparent in the last five minutes.
I’ve never checked my watch so many times during a movie.
Grade: D
-Black Snake Moan
Craig Brewer’s follow-up to Hustle and Flow is a surprisingly spiritual and stylishly entertaining tale that takes place in the hot, bluesy city of Memphis. Brewer, who wrote the screenplay as well, delivers a solid, intriguing, original story abounding with strong performances and some excellent blues.
Samuel L. Jackson gets down and dirty to play Lazarus, a troubled, God-fearing bluesman, who finds Rae (Ricci) bruised, drugged-up, and half-naked on the side of the road and tends to her. The two develop a symbiotic relationship; Rae learns some self-control, learning not to depend on sex to be fulfilled, while Lazarus is able to give a pure, gentle love, something he lacked with his cheating ex-wife. Jackson and Ricci deliver solid performances, not going overboard, but going far enough to be believable. The scene this is most apparent in is when Lazarus plays the title song (Jackson learned guitar for this role, and sang as well) for Rae in the midst of a thunderstorm. The scene is a powerful visual representation of where the two characters are in their arc.
The film does a wonderful job of telling the story without the dialogue being too telling, leaving much of the exposition to be told visually. For example, Rae’s past (and really, the psychological reason behind her troubles) is flashed, quite literally, to reveal that she had been sexually abused as a child.
Justin Timberlake as Ronnie, Rae’s army boyfriend is the only sub-par performance, his eyebrows seemingly frozen in their furrow.
The story preaches the change possible in people when they have something to hold onto, which Brewer admitted after the screening was God. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Brewer mentioned how much influence came from the Bible (it is the South, after all) and it’s apparent in this film, ultimately about redemption.
Grade: A
-Weapons
This teen drama has just about everything to do with teens today. Violence, sex, drugs, insecurities. Its portrayal is visceral, using handhelds almost exclusively. Long shots on characters staring off to nowhere force you to get into the heads of these kids. There are long tracking shots just following the characters as they idly go from place to place. It works, for the most part, along with the rancid rap music, to show their lives really going nowhere fast.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a script, the characters are realistic with their laughable (assuming it intentional) dialogue.
The story is told backwards, for whatever reason, focusing on a particular character in each segment. This structure seems pointless; it feels as if it should be revealing plot points as it brings you back to the previous days, however, nothing is. Instead, we get to see what we heard about in other people’s views (one of the times being shot quite interestingly on a handy-cam, selling a character’s POV, as he is going around recording), which isn’t exactly necessary.
The performances are decent, and the pace is bearable. Though the moral seems to be that violence doesn’t solve anything and that the current state of youth is desperately sad, the director said otherwise. It is a kind of social commentary that, for the most part, does its job. The music sucks, though.
Grade: C
-The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun
This charming documentary tells of a lovable 82 year-old bachelor who transforms his castle he’s owned for decades into a monastery, and brings nuns in to occupy it.
Really, it’s a love story between two fascinating opposites. Mr. Vig, who has a strangely amusing obsession with noses, moves at an entirely different pace from Sister Amvrosija, who, forty years his junior, works to keep the castle from falling apart. Their highly contrasted personalities cause for hilarious interactions of misunderstandings and disagreements, especially given their limits with technology (especially Vig). Through all this, however, their platonic love becomes more apparent when the two are separated for a period of time and then reunited. Their joy is heartwarmingly visible.
The castle serves as a metaphor as it begins broken and falling apart, but as the two work to keep it, it is restored and becomes beautiful once again. There are segments slower than others, and there isn’t quite a clear story until part way through the film.
No matter how different we may be from others, we can always learn from one another. The film speaks volumes about who people really are and how being in another’s company can bring people to life.
Grade: B
-Everything’s Cool
This documentary about Global Warming doesn’t do much that The Inconvenient Truth didn’t. It mostly talked about the divide between the ignorant of GW and those trying to urge us to take action. It was mostly an attack on all the politics that take place to try to pass GW off as a theory. The documentary, though mildly interesting, did not do much to present facts or new information.
Instead it focused on an uninteresting couple key figures in bringing GW to light. These figures mostly talk about what other people have talked about.
Between these figures, the doc cuts to a man trying to make biodiesel to fuel his car. It takes him forever and it proves very difficult. This doesn’t necessarily spell encouragement for doing something about GW. Furthermore, the subjects sometimes contradict their own claims. Not to mention all the time they spent on The Day After Tomorrow, a movie, and not a fact.
Other than it being a pointless film, much less a pointless documentary, its energy kept it afloat. However, it couldn’t save it from melting under its own futile heat.
Grade: C+
-The Island
I don’t recall seeing many, if any, Russian films. But I’ll be sure that I have the energy and the caffeine to the next time. The film starts out excitingly, with an inadvertent murder, an explosion and Russian soldiers. Soon, the film dives into the mysterious life of Father Anatoli, who seems to be a sort of holy man. Furthermore, he is known by his fellow monastery members as a clown, confusing them with his bizarre behavior. They weren’t the only one. The film is extremely subtle in between his moments of outrageous behavior… too subtle. Nothing really happens. The story has no clear direction-that is, at least not until the last thirty minutes, when a possessed woman comes with the very man he ostensibly shot decades before arrives to the island to be healed. Anatoli takes her to a smaller island where he exorcises the demon from her. The scene, though subtle, is tense and spellbinding.
Afterward, Anatoli confesses to the other man, asking for forgiveness. Once this is completed, Anatoli feels complete, letting himself pass onto the next life. It FADES TO WHITE (as Craig so emphasized), which is rare in films. The transcendence in the film is apparent and undeniably moving. Not to mention the film looks absolutely beautiful, accenting the crisp, cool white of the snow and the reflective blue of the water in the day, the fires at night leaping off the screen. It’s shot as if angels should be watching.
Though the majority of the film is slow and lacking in action, the final half-hour makes up for it with its compellingly quiet intensity and the transcendence it speaks of.
Grade: B
-The Go-Getter
This film was love-at-first-sight. From start to finish it held me to it, toying with my emotions, going up and down, left and right, making me laugh, making me want to cry, but most of all, making me want to know what happens next.
The relationship that Mercer (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Kate (Zooey Deschanel) develop quickly becomes the focus and the most intriguing aspect of this road movie. It is a mysterious relationship that expresses itself visually (Mercer imagines different faces moving their mouths to the voice he hears on the phone; they are often in the same location while on the phone, but not facing each other as they talk-very creative!) and left me hungry for more. Pucci endearingly plays an innocent teen who, with each adventure, eventually finds himself, while looking for his long-lost half-brother after his mother dies. Pucci plays him to just the right pitch, not going over the top, or being too subtle, making the audience empathize with him.
Throughout the film, the idea of fate vs. coincidence faintly recurs, hinting at, yet leaving open to the audience what it is that binds people together and the events that shape us. The film also seems to tell of how others can tell us a lot about ourselves.
The music in this film was fantastic, being telling yet not explanatory and adding a wonderful life to it.
This film was wonderful in all aspects; funny, poignant, alive, and gripping.
Grade: A
-Year of the Dog
This Mike White comedy, in the vain of Wes Anderson, features a cute Molly Shannon as Peggy, a woman whose life changes after her dog, the love-of-her-life, dies.
The characters are fairly one-dimensional, and it shows with the flat straight-on angles on every bit of dialogue. Though the characters display emotion and bend in different ways, they all seem to be stuck in their mold.
The story was simple, perhaps too simple. It wasn’t clear where it was going for the middle forty minutes or so, leaving me to wonder what’s going to happen next, in the “something happen, already!” sense. It was entertaining and amusing, but a little flat. There weren’t any true moments of hilarity, and there isn’t a wealth of character to hold onto. Peggy seems to go crazy, embezzling money in the name of animal rights, accusing people of things we’re not sure of, and taking into adoption over a dozen dogs; though I laughed, I didn’t really care.
It was cute in all its canine goodness, but its dry human aspect was in need of some licking.
Grade: B-
-Expiration Date
Why milk trucks? That was my main concern after viewing this mediocre comedy. With actors trying a little too hard and a contrived plot, this film, despite tasting fine, expires by the end of the film.
The story was original: Charlie Silvercloud III (Robert A. Guthrie) is cursed-his father and grandfather before him both died by milk truck on their 25th birthday. With eight days remaining, Charlie decides to accept his fate. However, Bessie (Sascha Knopf), a girl with seemingly the same fate begins to change his morbid outlook. This is, of course, a story within the story, being that an Indian (Native American) fogy is telling a young Indian the importance of heritage. Though this theme pops up in Charlie’s story, it seems to be left in the backburner of the barely believable love story.
Charlie and Bessie’s story is awfully similar to Zach Braff and Natalie Portman’s in Garden State. On top of that, it seemed forced. Their intimate moments aren’t terribly romantic, mostly because of their lack of chemistry. Knopf also seems to want to coyly smile the screen apart in every scene.
Many of the jokes were ones we heard before and really didn’t help the story: the ex-girlfriend who thinks Charlie broke up with her because her thighs are too fat, Charlie’s overbearing mother pushing the idea of children quite explicitly. They were still kind of funny, but nothing rather new.
The movie seemed to be communicating the importance of identity and the acceptance of that, which is indeed important in life. However, it seemed to try a little too hard to get there. Nothing particularly memorable.
Grade: B-
-La Misma Luna (The Same Moon)
Carlito (Adrian Alonso) embarks on an unlikely hero’s journey from Mexico to L.A. to catch up with his illegally immigrated mother in this delightful Mexican film; oh yes, and he’s only 8!
Alonso is adorable and fantastic as the determined, independent Carlito. His journey to his single unknowing mother, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), who is working two jobs to get enough money to bring Carlito to L.A. with her, is filled with obstacles and trials galore, the main issue being the immigration police looking to deport any suspicious Mexican.
There are moments of tension, joyous humor, and scenes that wrench the heart. I really wanted Carlito to get back to his mama, and I wanted Enrique, the reluctant helper (they got off to a bad start) to be there with him. I was afraid that Carlito was going to get caught. I didn’t want Rosario to find out he was gone and get worried and look for him. I wanted exactly what the story wanted me to.
The relationships in the film feel real and I got attached to them. The little guy was uncommonly mature for his age and it was cute as heck. He had to get home!
Near the end of the second act of the film, Carlito and Enrique (Eugenio Derbez), a man at least twenty years his senior, get into a singing duel with a well-known Mexico song that perfectly characterizes their relationship and the point they’re at within it, too. It’s just an entertaining, lovely scene.
This is the kind of film that will give you the warm fuzzies and pull on every emotional string on the way too, effortlessly buying your love with its strong performances, lush visuals, and highly motivated story. Not to mention the lovable 8 year-old hero!
Grade: A
-For the Bible Tells Me So
The controversial one! This documentary explores the point of tension between religion and homosexuality in the United States.
Firstly, this documentary is extremely important today and it is one that every American and even every Christian should see. However, they should be cautioned first. It takes the truth and bends it to tell their specific outlook. It is told from a completely biased point of view, selling it as the truth.
The greater message, and the greatest one, it pushes is that a person, regardless of their preferences, should be accepted and loved by Christians. The film does a great job of illustrating this with a number of testimonies coming from families that have grown to do just that, despite their initial disapproval of the homosexual lifestyle. It certainly is convincing, milking the drama and pressing on the inspirations these homosexual children have become, preaching love and acceptance. It’s easy to buy into, especially with a slightly offensive cartoon implanted in the middle of the doc. This cartoon depicts the average Christian as ignorant and insensitive, as well as below the homosexuals, who “truly” understand their nature and the issues.
The main matter that conflicted with myself is the fact that they were justifying their homosexuality, denying the last couple millenniums of religious history that based its teachings against homosexuality in the Bible, simply stating that those against it have quoted it out of context, and that the translations are unreliable. This cannot be excused.
However, its ultimate message is one all should embrace, and the justification of homosexuality is not worth fighting for in favor of this message.
This film certainly accomplishes what it set out to do.
Grade: B
-51 Birch Street
Who is your family? This surprisingly powerful documentary forced me to ask that question over and over.
Centering around the unveiling of the truth behind filmmaker Doug Block’s parents’ marriage, this doc provides tremendous insight into how little one may truly know the stories of those closest to them.
Given the story unfolded as Block went about shooting everything as it was, the film was not the most well-shot, some of the interviews looking terrible, and visually, there wasn’t anything to write home about. However, the content is strong and intriguing enough that it more than compensates.
Block interviews in a very probing and sensitive way, drawing his subjects (mostly his family) out in a natural, yet at times unexpected way. The interviews are mostly after-the-fact, while the rest of the footage includes family footage (before he learned of anything), diaries, and sometimes even perceptive dialogue between Block and his wife.
Block guides the doc smoothly, revealing bit after bit of the sometimes-shocking past. He takes you through the social customs and changing times over 50 years, and how his family was affected. What Block gathers from his investigations becomes evident as he digs deeper into the people closest to him, which prompted me to ask those questions myself.
This is a powerfully engaging film, important for anyone with a family to see.
Grade: A-