The cinematography is amazing, presenting New York city as a living character, just as much as any of the actors. Although it was shot on DV, you’d be hard pressed to notice because of the use of natural lighting. Unlike Once, where the grain is obvious, we see all the shadows.
The ending does sort of come quite abruptly leaving you with a sense of lack of closure. Granted, it may be necessary for the myth, but it probably could’ve been handled better.
Update: Ninja didn’t understand why I gave this a 2/4 stars. The main reason is because none of the characters really go anywhere. I understand that that’s kind of the point of the myth of Sisyphus, but in the same vain, the way the third act forces the character back into the routine is a bit contrived.
Midnight Clear is about 5 people and their struggles. As with most multipart structures, it’s hard to get to know all the characters. Some are fleshed out a little more than others, but they’re still 2D at best.
There are points where Midnight Clear feels like it’s about to get preachy, but luckily, it doesn’t go down that route. It effectively takes all the different narratives and link them together in a fairly natural way. In the end, you feel encouraged by an otherwise depressing movie.
Since the characters can be a little thin, you get a fair sense of their lives pretty fast, so for the remainder of the film is just waiting. You kind of know where the characters are going and you want them to deviate, but it just takes such a long time to get there. And that’s the problem. The entire thing takes way too long to get to the punch line. At 103 minutes, you’d think it’d be a little more brisk.
Lars and the Real Girl is about Lars (Ryan Gosling) who is so emotionally detached, he starts dating a Real Doll. In order to get the premise to work, they have the whole town to go along with his delusions for Lars’ sake.The premise is really interesting. They could’ve been sophomoric about the way they approach the material, but they choose to take it seriously. This is not to say there isn’t any humor in it, there is, they just downplay that aspect. Which is a good thing, because that would’ve been way too easy. Instead, they make Lars’ emotional problems real. By not laughing about them, it gives it a sort of gravity and seriousness which is effective.
Even at 90 minutes, the film does feel long. It almost gets boring, but not quite. It’s just that not much happens. There are some touching moments, like a scene where Lars gives CPR to a teddy bear (he’s being playful), but there just aren’t enough of them.
Run Fatboy Run has its chuckles, but it finds itself mired in cliche and predictability. This is not to say it’s a bad movie, but with every scene and every turn, you know what exactly is going to happen. Luckily, it comes in at a brisk 96 minutes, so it doesn’t get boring. There are enough clever marks and laughs to get you through. And when Dennis runs the marathon, you genuinely do want him to finish.
Simon Pegg is usually a better writer. You look at Spaced and Shaun of the Dead and you know he’s got talent in there. You just kind of wonder if it’s all been spent already.
Bella is about Nina (Tammy Blanchard) who finds out she’s pregnant. When she gets fired from her restaurant, she’s pursued by Jose (Eduardo Verástegui), the head chef chases her, trying to convince her not to get an abortion.
The good thing about the film is that it doesn’t quite cross the line into romance. It stays just a bit shy of it as it builds the relationship between Jose and Nina. It’s also got some decent editing; cutting two scenes together that aren’t necessarily happening simultaneously. It’s done in such a way that it works without pulling you out of the narrative.
The main flaw is that the story gets a little too heavy handed. We’re told that Nina can’t afford to have a baby, fine. We can see that Jose has a thing for little girls, not in a creepy way, but in a sorrowful sort of longing. But when he practically comes out and tells Nina to not do it, that’s where the whole thing fell apart. They have some scenes where they try to show Nina’s indecision, but it’s obvious what’s going to happen.
What could’ve been an effective drama about family and love, ends up being heavy handed and preachy.
Rocket Science is about a stuttering boy, Hal (Reece Thompson) who gets tricked into joining a debate team by Virginia “Ginny” (Anna Kendrick). As with The Great Debaters, it’s really not about debating. In this case, it has even less to do with rocket science.
Although the conflict takes some time to get around, there’s enough to keep you watching. Mainly because all the characters are fairly interesting and quirky. The weakest, is Ginny, Hal’s love interest. There’s really nothing about her that makes her stand out. She’s kind of average looking and just really loves debating. Granted, there isn’t a lot of depth in the other characters, at least they’re memorable.
When you don’t have a lot of plot, you live on the characters. As with All the Real Girls, if your characters have depth, they can carry the entire film. As a writer, see where your story is the weakest. Hopefully your strengths will be enough to carry it through.
If you’re into quirky indie films, Rocket Science has enough there to interest you. Others may just not get it.
Beowulf is about how Beowulf (Ray Winstone) gets his epic. Beowulf is the grandaddy of all hero stories. Instead of following the epic, Zemeckis decides to take it in a slightly different direction.
The first thing you’ll notice, is that the entire thing is done in CG. Although, extremely life like, it’s still obvious that it’s CG. I can understand why Zemeckis is drawn to CG. As a filmmaker, it makes a lot of sense. You motion capture your talent and worry about the camera angles and everything else later. This gives you infinite possibilities.
Zemeckis chooses to take the two part structure approach to Beowulf. The first part deals with Grendel (Crispin Glover) and his Mother (Angelina Jolie). The second, deals with the curse of being king and the dragon (Ray Winstone). This makes Beowulf feel like two different stories.
I like the changes that Zemeckis took with the story. It gives Beowulf a lot more depth in terms of his character. There’s no doubt that Beowulf is a hero, but it calls into question, how big of a hero is he? And for a story that everyone is so familiar with, it’s a good change.
The action, mixed. The fight with Grendel is too dark unexciting. The dragon fight, that was good. There’s this sense that Beowulf might actually fail. It might be because we know that Grendel loses. How often do we talk about Beowulf and the dragon? But because the way that Zemeckis has set things up, there’s that tension in the final battle.
If you can sit through the first half, Beowulf definitely pays off. If you caught it in 3D, you were lucky. I can just imagine how much better it would’ve been.
Superbad is about two high-school boys who try to get “in” to a party and some girls’ pants by providing booze.
There are parts of the movie that are entertaining. There’s a scene early when Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) gets a fake driver’s license. When given the option to choose a name, he decided on “McLoven”. The whole exchange is clever and funny. And when you think about it, Fogell is the only interesting character in the entire movie. I really don’t remember the other guys.
We’ve seen Superbad before. We’ve pretty much seen everything that happens. When it was over, I had this sensation that I had just watched American Pie. And that’s the problem. It’s just like every other high-school raunchy comedy. Which is not to say that’s bad. I just look for my movies to do something a little different, go someplace new.
Hitman is based on the video game of the same name. It’s about a genetically engineered super assassin, Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant, Live Free or Die Hard) who must figure out why the organization that he’s working for is trying to kill him. But they don’t stay on that storyline for long. I actually forgot that that was the central conflict until I started writing this. Along the way, he rescues, Nika (Olga Kurylenko, the new bond girl).
The action scenes aren’t too bad. There isn’t much suspense since our guy is a super-soldier, but they make sense and take a lot of nods from the game. There’s one scene where they’re in a bathroom and it is exceptionally well executed. Bourne Identity set the new standard for super-soldier combat. Even when you realize that Bourne is not your everyday soldier, there’s still a sense of vulnerability to him. That’s because the characterization is so strong. In Hitman, it’s hard to get attached to the characters because the acting is uneven. Sometimes they’re dead on, the next moment, their emotions are out the window.
There are nice little homages to the game. Xavier Gens uses a lot of shots from behind and high angle of Agent 47 walking. This is reminiscent of the character walking in the game.
Despite its failings, the movie is entertaining. It moves at a brisk pace so you don’t get caught up in the plotholes and there’s just enough plot to string you along. I would go so far as to say it’s the best adaption of a video game yet. Just wait until I adapt Portal or Tetris.
I’m a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’m even friends with him on Facebook.
Jersey Girl is about a guy who’s wife dies in labor, loses his big PR job and has to raise his daughter.
I think most fans were disappointed by Jersey Girl because it was pretty different than the stuff that Smith has put out in the past. There are moments of inspired dialogue, but nothing as sharp and witty as Clerks. And I think that’s where the film went wrong. People were expecting that. They were expecting something vulgar and outrageous and couldn’t see what was there in front of them.
Jersey Girl is sweet and Ben Affleck does a fair job. If anything is wrong with the movie, it would be Liv Tyler’s character. She’s underused and that particular subplot falls flat when it just starts to get good.
Jersey Girl is definitely a departure from Smith’s previous work. But it’s sweet and touching and it works on those levels. It’s not ground breaking cinema, but it’s entertaining (if you’re into that sort of thing).
