Cinemaniac Reviews

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Archive for the tag “2009”

14 May 2013
6 Comments

The Hurt Locker

Review No. 472

Good, but “Hurt” oh so badly by its script.

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B-MINUS

DIRECTED BY KATHRYN BIGELOW. WRITTEN BY MARK BOAL. STARRING JEREMY RENNER (SERGEANT FIRST CLASS WILLIAM JAMES), ANTHONY MACKIE (SERGEANT J. T. SANBORN), BRIAN GERAGHTY (SPECIALIST OWEN ELDRIDGE), CHRISTIAN CAMARGO (LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN CAMBRIDGE), EVANGELINE LILLY (CONNIE JAMES), RALPH FIENNES (THE LEADER OF A PRIVATE MILITARY COMPANY UNIT), DAVID MORSE (COLONEL REED), AND GUY PEARCE (STAFF SERGEANT MATTHEW THOMPSON). ALSO STARRING CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH. DISTRIBUTED BY SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT AND UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ON JUNE 26, 2009. PRODUCED IN ENGLISH BY THE UNITED STATES. RUNS 2 HOURS, 11 MINUTES. RATED R BY THE MPAA, FOR WAR VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE.

THE HURT LOCKER WAS WATCHED ON MAY 4, 2013.

“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” –Chris Hedges

The Hurt Locker runs two hours, eleven minutes, and everything from “go” feels like the middle section of a war epic. We open not knowing who these characters are at all, other than U.S. soldiers who have been ordered to Iraq during the War on Terror. We begin with action, and we end with action; certain moments in between are spent developing characters beyond their dialogue. Do I sound like I’m reviewing a James Cameron flick? It’s possible his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, stole a few stylistic ideas while creating this.

But why would she steal from her ex-husband when she so obviously loves this project as something of her very own? The Hurt Locker keeps, reportedly, over 100 times less than what was shot. That’s well over two-hundred hours of different angles, powerful acting, and just two key editors to extract the best of the best, and thus piece it into something just over two hours. The statistic is mind-blowing, and onscreen, it looks great. The dramatization represents a realistic view of war by showing the humanity of every actor, the several hundred points of view, the rigid camera, and the sudden tense feeling we draw in the climactic moments (even if the catharsis is entirely predictable).

But in every man’s interpretation of real life, there is boredom. The Hurt Locker offers a lot of it. As previously suggested, Mark Boal’s writing is sparsely more than a flat line. It’s often mind-numbing, going in clueless to an uneven, tediously paced cluster of characters and action alike. And I liked these characters. I would’ve taken a four-hour movie in a heartbeat, just so long as there was a solid beginning and end to surround the two hours we HAVE seen.

You all know I love puns–the awfuller the better. Here’s a few puns and a half for you, per the plot itself: Some scenes in The Hurt Locker were rather explosive, but by now, they’ve long since diffused in my memory. I wouldn’t say The Hurt Locker was the bomb. I wouldn’t say it bombed, either. To try and guess why this won Best Picture, however, might cause my mind to explode.

TOMORROW, ON CINEMANIAC REVIEWS…

The Evil Dead

Posted in Drama, War, [Film Reviews] and tagged
06 Mar 2013
2 Comments

District 9

Review No. 425

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The Bottom Line: Good, but it could’ve been great.

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Screenplay by: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
Based on: “Alive in Joburg” by Neill Blomkamp
Wikus van de Merwe: Sharlto Copley
Christopher Johnson: Jason Cope
Colonel Koobus Venter: David James
Also Starring: Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Jed Brophy, Johan van Schoor, John Sumner, Jonathan Taylor, Kenneth Nkosi, Louis Minnaar, Mandla Gaduka, Marian Hooman, Nathalie Boltt, Nick Blake, Nick Boraine, Robert Hobbs, Stella Steenkamp, Sylvaine Strike, Tim Gordon, Vanessa Haywood, Vittorio Leonardi

Distributed by TriStar Pictures on August 14, 2009. Produced in English, Nyanja, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, and Sotho by the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. Runs 112 mins. Rated R by the MPAA for bloody violence and pervasive language.

District 9 was watched on February 22, 2013.

“My opinion of my whole experience varies from time to time.”
–”The Transition of Juan Romero” by H.P. Lovecraft

District 9 tacks several Post-It notes to the face of the generic “World War III” story. The keyword is “war,” so it needs to be taken seriously, no matter how improbable it all is. Moreover, aliens have been known otherwise as extraterrestrials or men from Mars; they’re nothing more or less than human beings from beyond our atmosphere, so why not give them significant speaking and acting roles?

District 9 creates even more realism through its narrative, which functions à la a documentary or a feature-length news segment. We’re given subtitles when English is spoken in a different dialect; we’re introduced to characters through the “lower thirds” showing their names and professions; some of the film’s topics revolve around real-world issues, such as prostitution, interspecies relations, and terrorism. It doesn’t even seem realistic when, for the first time on the silver screen (or one of the first times), we’re introduced to foreign creatures as if they were equals; but it’s even more thrilling and engaging than it would be if this were realistic.

Johannesburg, South Africa. Aliens, derogatorily known as sprawns, have been a concern for the past two and a half decades. They’ve been locked away in concentration camps, but it’s still difficult to keep every extraterrestrial from its recreational violence. Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is the adroit manager at the MNU Department of Alien Affairs, reporting on the issue as well as helping in resolving it. Think of just about any nature fanatic on National Geographic.

The problem is, our hero can’t seem to take the horror seriously. Before his mind can register it, he’s become a test subject. Of what exactly is he a victim? Perhaps one of the most revolutionary and pensively imaginative projects you’d imagine for a sci-fi film: genetically mutating a human to become part-sprawn via alien STD.

District 9 is 2009′s answer to “Blade Runner for with aliens.” It’s also set in the slums, completely paralleling much of its malnourished substance. How are we supposed to believe that our protagonist knows “sprawnese” before he is quarantined? That was my main question throughout the movie. Unfortunately, several more auto-generated around the halfway point. This is when the film begins to depart from its documentary style and shake hands with Hollywood. It’s a very off-putting, sudden change, with more contrived acting, nothing like the clever ad libbing (or pseudo-ad libbing) we’d acquainted with. The calming of exciting cinéma vérité kills the film halfway.

I’m not saying I don’t honor films like District 9. For a film that inks “silly” into Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Ridley Scott’s Alien, I could exert nothing but the utmost respect and applause–talk about ambition! District 9 flowed with potential, but saw through a good amount of it.

B MINUS

A Clockwork Orange

Posted in Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller, [Film Reviews] and tagged
23 Feb 2013

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Review No. 417
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The Bottom Line: A step up that even prepares new audiences for the final entry/entries.

Directed by: David Yates
Screenplay by: Steve Kloves
Based on: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter: Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley: Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger: Emma Watson
Albus Dumbledore: Michael Gambon
Severus Snape: Alan Rickman
Draco Malfoy: Tom Felton
Tom Riddle (child): Hero Fiennes-Tiffin
Tom Riddle (teenager): Frank Dillane
Also Starring: David Thewlis, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Timothy Spall, Warwick Davis
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 15, 2009. Produced in English by the United Kingdom and the United States.
Runs 153 mins. Rated PG by the MPAA for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was watched on February 12, 2013.

“Did I know that I just met the most dangerous dark wizard of all time? No.” –Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)

For quite a while, I’ve imagined the “Potter” saga as one character drama after another; it’s for this reason that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the most demanding entry of the entire canon. In fact, you’d need some of the most fluent debating techniques to assert that the sixth installment to J.K. Rowling’s tale is not the most vitally important to the series’ outcome. It took me several viewings to realize that this film suddenly draws away from a focus on Harry himself, mainly so it can establish that he will be virtually alone against Voldemort, the dark sorcerer who murdered both his parents.

Instead, Half-Blood Prince centers on three characters that have been prominent for the entire series. Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is one of these individuals. This is the man Harry has hated since day one. It seems Snape has always hated Harry so much and for no reason at all. We learn here that there is a reason and, although Harry has no control over what Snape thinks of him, the reason is indeed valid. Then there’s Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), the stuck-up, rich snob who can’t go a day without insulting anyone. We learn here that although he seemed like a standing object in the prior half of the series, Draco actually isn’t as heartless as he seems.

Among these other two, Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), the school’s headmaster, is practically the pivotal role in the film. Throughout the film, Dumbledore grows quite fond of Harry. I mean not to sound like a broken record, but this is where writer Steve Kloves stumbles in adapting J.K. Rowling’s text. Not that this is unexpected, considering the novel is over six-hundred pages long, and it intertwines several elaborate subplots. Dumbledore never trusted Harry as much as he does in Half-Blood Prince.

This entry sees him putting every ounce of trust in a student, one who has yet to reach his seventh year, for that matter. Dumbledore entrusts Harry with going deep into the past of Lord Voldemort, from the day the two met face-to-face, to the day the dark wizard learned the grim, dangerous secret to immortality. On one hand, this gives the story much depth as we further toward the end. On the other, none of these lingering questions are explained. In case Dumbledore did not remember, it was only a year before that Harry was constantly and intensely angry, even to the point of fearing he was becoming more like his parents’ killer. Why would anyone be so suddenly willing to trust Harry, then, with knowledge that can be so easily misused?

Half-Blood Prince isn’t the best of its series. Some of it is rather underworked (particularly the cinematography), but it does have shades of excellence. One is that it does something the series hasn’t done since the first entry: open up well enough and clearly enough to fully engage “Potter-newbies.”

B PLUS

Oscar Sunday is here!

Posted in Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged | Leave a Comment
06 Jul 2012
16 Comments

Nine

Bottom Line: Quite underrated.

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

Directed by: Rob Marshall
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Fergie, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren

Anyone who is familiar with classic cinema knows the above quote is not from this film, but rather from 1967′s COOL HAND LUKE. Though the two films are completely unrelated, the quote defines NINE perfectly. I feel nobody is understanding the film as it should be understood. NINE is not a film about plot or story, though as it is a film, a story is necessary. It’s a film about film, music, and–most importantly–beauty.

Read more…

Posted in Drama, Music/Musical, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged
03 Jul 2012
8 Comments

Youth in Revolt

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Bottom Line: Nothing new, but entertaining coming-of-age tale.

“In movies the good guy gets the girl. In real life it’s usually the pr–k.” –Michael Cera as Nick Twisp

Directed by: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Adhir Kalyan, Ari Graynor, Erik Knudsen, Fred Willard, Jean Smart, Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Ray Liotta, Steve Buscemi, Zach Galifianakis

I can’t say I’ve never seen something like YOUTH IN REVOLT before. I’ve seen countless coming-of-age dramas, everything from the timeless classics (THE BREAKFAST CLUB) to the instantly forgettable (THE LAST SONG). There is absolutely nothing about the film that makes it anomalous in any way, shape, or form. There is, however, a wonderfully bittersweet taste that makes this seriocomic moral questioning so watchable.

Read more…

Posted in Comedy, Drama, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged
22 Apr 2012
14 Comments

Moon

Bottom Line: Very, very unique. Highly recommended.

“GERTY, is there someone else in the room?” –Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell

Directed by: Duncan Jones
Starring: Dominique McElligott, Kevin Spacey, Sam Rockwell

Electrifying sci-fi saga of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), an astronaut near the end of his three-year stay on the moon. He is alone with his helpful android GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), and is frequently engaging in video chats back home to his Earth-dwelling family. During this preface of the film, we begin to wonder how and why Sam does not seem to already feel autophobic; it’s not long before this inevitable fear is installed. But it isn’t installed in any way we would expect it. When you turn on a movie about a guy stuck on the moon, you’d expect some fearful anecdotes among the spectra of cabin fever or aliens. You could say it’s a bit of a combination of the two: Sam finds a bruised body hidden within the boundaries of his spacecraft, and is informed that it is Sam Bell–himself. Now, he enters an unforeseen psychological state of extreme hallucination, a larger problem for him to worry about than getting back to Earth safely.

Read more…

Posted in Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, [Film Reviews] and tagged
01 Apr 2012
8 Comments

(500) Days of Summer

Bottom Line: Better than most rom-coms.

“Let’s not put a label on it.” –Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom

Directed by: Marc Webb
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

Sweet indie rom-com about Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a man working at a greeting card company but really interested in design. His attention is caught one day when a woman named Summer (Zooey Deschanel) arrives as an assistant to his boss. He immediately falls in love with her, but quickly learns that she doesn’t believe in a thing called love, is not interested in relationships, and only thinks love is true in fairy tales. Somehow, a smooch in the copy room sparks a relationship of a rather on/off, unstable mentality, and Tom finds himself obsessing over Summer through every minute of every day.

Read more…

Posted in Comedy, Drama, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged
16 Jan 2012
8 Comments

Sherlock Holmes

Bottom Line: Overwhelming, confusing depiction of the detective.

Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr.

Ex-husband of pop singer Madonna (which doesn’t much surprise me) adapts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s endlessly iconic detective ever so loosely for a flummoxing, dense thriller. Sherlock Holmes, portrayed heartily by Robert Downey, Jr., does not only solve mysteries in this film. A, he is a trained martial artist; B, he has an abnormally perceptive eye; C, he plans his combats before engaging in fight with his opponents; D, he is, in an offbeat sense, a ladies’ man.

Read more…

Posted in Action, Adventure, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller, [Film Reviews] and tagged
13 Jan 2012
4 Comments

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

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Bottom Line: Cruz saves an otherwise dull Woody Allen film.

Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson

Visually vivid but otherwise tangled love story tells of Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), two female companions who seems all too much like sisters. Neither one knows much when it comes to love (or Spanish), as we learn through the film’s narration, but it’s not long before they each travel to Barcelona, Spain and find love–at which point their friendship begins to subtly collapse.

Read more…

Posted in Comedy, Drama, Romance, [Film Reviews] and tagged
22 Dec 2011
4 Comments

W.

Bottom Line: Ouch. If Oliver Stone was trying to direct a factual film…I don’t know how to finish that sentence.

Directed by: Oliver Stone
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Ioan Gruffudd, Josh Brolin

The life of a controversial President is the one that should be least eligible for a satirizing. Was that known when W. was made in 2008? Clearly, no. From beginning to end, this film practically mocks Bush, who was at the time the President of the United States. Unnecessary scenes are added depicting fraternities in a somewhat defaming manner, and scenes of Bush’s presidency mention the Al Qida issue in an overly lighthearted way. That is what makes this such a superficial biopic.

Read more…

Posted in Biography, Comedy, Drama, [Film Reviews] and tagged

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