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Senin, 24 Januari 2011

‘The Ledge’ – Religion, Romance and a Suicidal Ultimatum [Sundance Review]

Upon first reading about The Ledge, it felt like one of those classic Sundance Film Festival movies that could breakout and be a hit. It has a well-known cast, an experienced writer/director and a story that’s easily digestible. The story is about how and why a man on the ledge of a building is ready to kill himself, the cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard and the writer/director is Matthew Chapman, who wrote Runaway Jury, Color of Night and Consenting Adults.

And while The Ledge is filled with interesting characters, solid performances and even some smart, thought-provoking dialogue, the story itself wanders around like leaf in the wind, at times totally unaware of the driving force of the movie: the Ledge of the title. Read more after the jump.

Hunnam, best known for roles on Sons of Anarchy and Undeclared, plays Gavin, a hotel manager who befriends his next door neighbors Joe and Shauna, a religious couple played by Wilson (Watchmen) and Tyler (Armageddon). But before all that, Gavin is just a mysterious guy with a suicidal ultimatum. Stand on this ledge until noon and then jump off. If you don’t, someone else is going to die. A police officer (Howard) is there to hear the whole story and he’s not having a good day either.

What then follows is an extremely long flashback attempting to explain how Gavin got on that ledge. It begins with his attraction towards Shauna as well as the riff Joe’s extreme religious beliefs have on both his wife and neighbor. All types of religious issues are debated at length and, add that to the budding romance, it’s easy to forget the mystery of the film’s opening. Once we finally get back to the ledge, though, it’s an after-thought. Thanks to the character development, we’re so invested in the flashback that the ledge itself isn’t as exciting or mysterious as it was. It’s just an illogical conclusion to a slew of other ideas. A post script to a whole other movie.

One gets the sense that Chapman is a much better writer than director and while he gets his actors to give very believable performances (Tyler and Wilson, in particular, shine) the direction feels somewhat flat and without urgency. The Ledge is a love story and a think piece. But what got the audience into the seats was the mystery of why Gavin is thinking of killing himself and it never feels like the movie cares about that.

‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ – A Devastating Portrait of Cult Brainwashing [Sundance Review]

There are few movies that fill me with so much discomfort that I can’t wait to leave the theater, even while I’m watching them. Martha Marcy May Marlene, which premiered yesterday at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, is one of those films, a portrait of cult brainwashing that is so discomfiting, I would have walked out if I wasn’t so transfixed by the tremendous filmmaking on display.

Hit the jump for some more thoughts on the film, including a video blog I recorded with over half a dozen movie writers.

Martha Marcy May Marlene tells the story of Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), a woman who escapes from a cult in rural New York and tries to reintegrate into a normal life with her sister, Lucy (Sarah Paulson). Lucy brings Martha to her Connecticut vacation home, where she and her husband Adam (Hugh Dancy) are trying to enjoy a few days away from their regular lives in the city. Martha constantly experiences chilling flashbacks and begins to lose her grip on reality. As the days pass and Martha’s behavior becomes more and more erratic, it becomes clear that her time away from home may have had far more effects on her than initially believed.

First-time director Sean Durkin eschews any fancy filmmaking tricks for his powerful directorial debut. Many of the scenes play out in long, tense takes and even much of the dialogue often takes place in a single shot. Durkin lets us dwell in those interstitial moments, those subtle communications that take place in between the words we say to each other. Scenes at the cult play out so matter-of-factly that their calmness becomes grotesque and uncomfortable. It is a terrible feeling to see fellow humans completely disconnected from the social norms that guide us all. Martha Marcy May Marlene gives us a window into what humanity is capable of when it subverts its built-in sense of right and wrong in pursuit of a supposed greater good.

John Hawkes turns in a subtle, terrifying performance as cult-leader Patrick. Rather than play him with any sort of grandiosity, Hawkes comes off as a gentle, charismatic, understanding soul, who Martha quickly falls for. Speaking of Martha, as far as I’m concerned, Olsen’s performance here is a tour de force, full of depth and complexity. Olsen’s Martha displays deep insecurity, painful ambivalence, and a stunning amorality that is haunting to see in a fellow human being.

Despite the ways the film plays with Martha’s sense of time, Durkin still manages to escalate the tension throughout, creating a palpable build-up that leads to a brilliant and unsettling conclusion. As the credits rolled, I was simultaneously floored by the power of the film, but also relieved that it was finally over. Martha Marcy May Marlene is an intense and unforgettable directorial debut. I just don’t know if I’ll ever want to see it again.

Below is an incredibly unwieldy video blog that I recorded with members of The Film Stage, as well as Erin McCarthy, Katey Rich, Eric D. Snider, and Matt Patches. Watch to hear us discuss our reactions to this film.

‘Tron 3′ Teaser Details Emerge

‘Tron 3′ Teaser Details Emerge: "

Yep, you read that right. For the last few weeks there has been a persistent rumor going around that the Tron Legacy DVD and Blu-ray release would feature a teaser for Tron 3. We haven’t run much because we couldn’t confirm it 100%, but someone else got some pretty detailed information that suggests the rumor was true. The info, which is obviously spoilerish if you don’t want to know anything at all, is after the break.

AICN got the scoop from someone reportedly on set for the shoot. He says there will be at least three scenes. One has Bruce Boxleitner playing Alan and Dan Shor playing Ram. Another scene shows Olivia Wilde as Quorra arriving at the ENCOM building, where she is mobbed by press as she claims to have just spoken to Kevin Flynn. Finally there were tests shot for some interaction between Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner in Tron) and his son (played by Cillian Murphy in a Tron Legacy cameo) “stating that everything is going as planned.” Harry said this “involved text screens,” so we may not see the actors, or even hear them.

But it’s that last bit that got me interested. Tron Legacy did a pretty good job of shutting down any interest I had in the series, but I know there are many who don’t feel the same way. And if there is a third film and David Warner is involved, especially with he and Cillian Murphy plotting some villainy, I’ll have to pay attention.

An April 11 release is reportedly scheduled for the UK version of Tron Legacy on DVD and Blu-ray, and there is no confirmed US release at this point. We’ll report more when info becomes available.

So does this mean Tron 3 is really happening? As Harry says in his piece, this stuff was shot last year before Tron Legacy was released — it’s not something done in the wake of the film’s reception. That’s important.

You’d think that greenlighting something like Tron 3 is a deal that Disney would announce to the world, so interpret the fact that there isn’t even yet an official blu-ray announcement of Tron Legacy, much less an official announcement of a third film, however you will. At a $330m worldwide gross Tron Legacy can’t even be close to being profitable, so wait and see what happens in the next few months.

The image below is one of two sent to AICN (check there for the other) that seems to show the set for the Bruce Boxleitner and Dan Shor scene.

Miranda July’s ‘The Future’ and ‘Bobby Fischer Against The World’ [Sundance Mini-Reviews]

With three sets of eyes darting all around Park City for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and several days of films still ahead, it’s almost physically impossible to write full reviews for everything we see. So, here’s the first Sundance Mini-Review post which will feature shorter capsule reviews of films and maybe even some video blogs.

After the jump, you’ll read short reviews of The Future by Peter Sciretta and Bobby Fischer Against The World by yours truly.

The Future – by Peter Sciretta

I kinda love Miranda July’s 2005 feature film debut Me and You and Everyone We Know. And like many other indie film geeks, I’ve been waiting six years for July to complete her follow-up, The Future.

While her first film was filled with a child-like wonder, a story of divorce and beginning again, The Future is a bit more serious in tone. Like Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, The Future is an artist’s deep meditations on growing old and all the scary possibilities an undefined future may hold. That isn’t to say that this meditation isn’t handled with July’s trademark quirky humor. For example, the thirty-something couple at the center of the story are planning to adopt a dying cat rescue in a month, and July brilliantly cuts back and fourth to monologues from the caged cat, waiting for his new home.

Jon Brion’s (who most probably know from the Paul Thomas Anderson films) beautiful score strangely feels connected to Michael Andrews’s composition for Me, You and Everyone We Know. This is a film that requires time to process, and possibly multiple viewings — a second viewing is most definitely in my future.

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Bobby Fischer Against the World – by Germain Lussier

If you’re one of these people who only know the name Bobby Fischer because he had a movie with his name in the title, then you are going to enjoy the HBO Documentary Film: Bobby Fischer Against the World, produced and directed by Liz Garbus. The film documents Fischer’s entire life, specifically highlighting his World Championship match in 1972.

It features rare archival footage and interviews all in an attempt to explain why the man who ended up becoming one of the most famous people in the world was the paranoid recluse he was. And if you didn’t know that about Fischer, the movie might be a shocker. But most everything about Fischer is common knowledge and while the film makes some interesting hypothesis into Fischer’s mental state, it never reaches any new or mind-blowing conclusions.

/Film Rating: 6 out of 10

Minggu, 23 Januari 2011

‘Submarine’ – The quirk of ‘Juno,’ the whimsy of Gondry, the light-heartedness of Wes Anderson, the melancholy of ’500 Days of Summer’ [Sundance Review and Video Blog]

Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, which screened recently at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, probably affected me more than any other film I’ve seen so far. Its humorous depiction of a young man struggling to get through his teenage years was so authentic, heartfelt, and moving that it vividly evoked all the trials, tribulations, and thrills of my own younger years in a way I was not prepared for.

Hit the jump for some of my thoughts and for a video blog on the film.

Submarine opens with a voiceover from its protagonist, Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), immersing us into his enclosed little world and keeping us there for the film’s entire runtime. Oliver is eccentric and full of idiosyncrasies, sometimes painfully so. He lives a life filled with elaborate, dream-like fantasies. All of this makes his chances at landing a girlfriend difficult at best. Nonetheless, through a series of unexpected events, classmate Jordana (Yasmine Paige) becomes interested in him and the two share a lovely teen romance. In the meantime, Oliver works desperately to prevent the disintegration of his parents’ (Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor) rocky marriage.

What makes Submarine shine is the committed performance of newcomer Craig Roberts and Ayoade’s willingness to let the story venture into some dark territory. There are developments in Oliver’s life that would overcome even 20 or 30-year-0lds with paralyzing fear. Oliver makes some horrible choices, but it’s a treacherous learning process that we all go through, and the film’s ability to recall it makes Oliver imminently relatable. That Oliver is able to endure this period is a testament to the awesome resilience of children.

Those who know Ayoade from The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh won’t be surprised that he’s able to nail the tone of this film and deliver some great laughs. But the fact that Ayoade’s directorial debut is so full of life and so true-to-life promises what I hope will be an amazing career in feature films.

Here is our video review of Submarine, which also features Dustin from Pajiba and Raffi and Dan from The Film Stage, shot in glorious shaky-cam by Jordan of The Film Stage. For an alternate take, be sure to also check out Peter’s review of this film from TIFF.

BEST OF 2010: Aaron's Top 33 Films

Today, Christmas Eve, is the beginning of my 'Jesus year,' appropriately. Though I was forced to stop at a mere 10 favorite films on my 2010 indieWIRE and Village Voice/LA Weekly poll ballots, why not keep going? For each of my birthdays, including this 'un, I present a fuller, more eye-popping list that will hopefully encourage you to seek out something new...

BUT BEFORE THAT: Starting tonight, I encourage all of you still in the NYC area to come out to Brooklyn's reRun Gastropub Theater for a FREE screening series I've programmed called 'PINK XMAS: The Holiday Cheer of Japanese Sexploitation.' Co-presented by GreenCine and PinkEiga, the two-week series (Dec. 24 - Jan. 6) will feature 6 of the wildest, weirdest 'pink films' from Japan, including two from the Academy Award winning director of Departures). I'll be hosting and bartending tonight at the 8pm show, with doors opening at 7pm. For more info, click here.

Continued reading BEST OF 2010: Aaron's Top 33 Films...

Comments (4)

Comments on this Entry:

(J-Diz on
Dec 25, 2010 7:05 PM)

Hmmm... I know what some of these are. Any chance I can find this list in text form?

(Aaron Hillis on
Dec 25, 2010 9:34 PM)

Unfortunately, no. You'd have to look at the names of the image files themselves. The good news is: if you look hard enough, all the titles ARE there...

(J-Diz on
Dec 25, 2010 10:19 PM)

Sigh. Okayyyy.

Can I ask though, your appreciation of FLOODING WITH LOVE FOR THE KID... how would you describe it? I can't seem to wrap my head around the idea that this film is worthwhile for any other reason than as an artifact of cinema-du-WTF.

Is there anything you got out of this film wasn't purely... WTF-ness?

(Aaron Hillis on
Dec 27, 2010 12:31 PM)

Some of them are more readable now, but I wanted there to be a rewarding challenge to it all: magic eye puzzles, if you will!

As for FLOODING WITH LOVE FOR THE KID, I direct you to my review in Time Out NY back in January right here, especially this line: 'While the premise might seem like a superficial YouTube stunt, the storytelling is crafty, compelling (falling from a cliff while being chased by a helicopter?!?) and heartfelt enough to explode all sense of cheeky irony.' It's an utterly sincere project/performance, and I'm greatly looking forward to his next endeavor, Your Brother. Remember?, which opens at NYC's Public Theater in January. Definitely seek both out.

FILM OF THE WEEK: The Way Back

by Vadim Rizov

When you haveâ€”as with The Way Backâ€”an old-fashioned, grueling trek odyssey with plenty of far-off shots of tiny figures crossing a vast landscape, there's a danger in making it sound like an awards-season anachronism for the old folks. Describing the difficulties he had getting financing for his first film in seven years, director Peter Weir sounded surprisingly like a man who feels out of time: 'One [studio exec] said 'We aren't in that kind of business anymore.' I thought what kind of business? Show business?' Truly, Weir has more to offer than mere old-school, impress-through-sheer-scale spectacle. That same sound byte might've been uttered by David Lean at his most peevish; when Lean was interviewed by Gerald Pratley on the CBC in March 1965 (collected in the out-of-print, Andrew Sarris-edited anthology Interviews with Film Directors), he sniped the kitchen-sink realism and other 'obscure' films rising in awards prominence. Doctor Zhivago would be his last great success, and the kind of sweeping epic he'd come to specialize in was on the way out. 'I, personally, often worry about being old-fashioned,' he said. 'But I like a good strong story. I like a beginning, a middle and an end.'

Continued reading FILM OF THE WEEK: The Way Back...

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