October 22, 2009

• Movie Review Update 10/22/09

  previous reviews here.

  The Class (2008) – french, documentary style narrative about a high school teacher’s year in a low-income neighborhood school.  it’s based on a non-fiction book written by the main actor who, himself, was a high school teacher, so if it seems he gets very into his role, it’s because he’s playing himself.  given the fact that the book is written by the teacher and that that teacher is also the main actor of the film, i expected a completely one-sided, fuck-the-students type of story, but it wasn’t really.  (or am i sympathetic to teachers?)  while the film gets a little jumpy skipping from one time period to the next, i thought it was an extremely compelling film that gets into the middle of the two-sided exchange that is high school.  3.5 stars.   

  Sin Nombre (2009) – this film won all sorts of awards all over the festival circuit, including Sundance.  very impressive considering this is filmmaker Cary Fukunaga’s first feature film.  set in mexico, Sin Nombre is the story about a young, hardened veteran of the infamous MS-13 gang fleeing for his life and a young girl who is trying to smuggle herself into america.  i thought it sank the viewer into the slums environment exceptionally well, while always maintaining the human element with this boy and girl.  and it avoids the cheese.  3.5 stars. 

  Adventureland (2008) – coming of age film that was much poo-pooed when it came out, which is too bad because it’s not really that bad, imo.  Jesse Eisenberg is a newly broke college kid that has to work a summer at the local amusement park to raise money for….  i forget.  doesn’t matter.  the recently ubiquitous kristen stewart is the prerequisite love interest.  ryan reynolds is some guitar player whatever.  if Eisenberg is forever known as the poor man’s Michael Cera, he deserves every letter of it.  he really is.  even though this film is a slave to the formula, i liked the little pockets of unhappiness that it dared to uncover in every character that michael-cera-wannabe runs across.  there’s a hint at real depth there, and i wished it explored that more, but oh well.  it is what it is.  halfway entertaining with a good looking, familiar cast and some potential for really great stuff.  too bad it never realized that potential.  2.5 stars. 

  Duplicity (2009) – julia roberts and clive owen in a tony gilroy film.  also poo-pooed when it came out in the theater and also another film that i didn’t mind, even liked.  i am becoming a big fan of Tony Gilroy scripts (he also wrote Michael Clayton).  roberts and owen are both former government spies that are using their skills in the world of corporate espionage.  screenwriter Tony Gilroy excels at writing strong dialogue and inserting technical expertise, both in a real world, non-fantasy environment.  the things that happen in his world could be happening right next to you, but it just seems so outrageous at the same time.  the tone of Duplicity gets pretty silly, but these are still real people.  roberts and owen, reunited after their fantastic turn together in Closer, have enough star power to skate this twisty and entertaining story to a fun conclusion.  3.5 stars. 
  
  Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie (1974) – you old guys, do you remember Star Blazers?  well this is the original movie.  it’s basically the whole Race to Iscandar story, seen to its conclusion in two hours.  it was made in the 1970s so the action sequences are laughably shitty by today’s standards, but the interesting part to watch here is how it all relates to Japanese national honor and military sentiment after the depression of WW2.  this film that was watered down and stripped of all pro-Japanese military sentiment in US releases is essentially about the eventual rise of Japanese military strength in a time of need and in service to the planet earth.  interesting.  still though, it’s a shitty movie.  1.5 stars. 
  
  Away We Go (2009) – Maya Rudolph and John Krasinksi (from The Office) in a Sam Mendes film.  very entertaining film about a young, newly pregnant couple that are on a multi-city search for a new hometown and along the way confront the issues of how they want to end up as a family.  the film starts out in a flighty, fun place, but ends up in an extremely contemplative and almost sad position.  the wild swing between the two extremes — a liability in most cases — is an example here of completeness.  the key to this sort of thing is how likeable or engaging the two main characters are.  it’s clear everyone around them is kind of crazy, but do we really care what happens to the pregnant couple?  in this case, yes.  they are simply adorable.  Bert (Krasinksi) plays a sunshiney, loveable male ditz and Verona (Rudolph) is the darker, more contemplative half of the pair.  stitch them together with some snappy dialogue and there’s no way this roast comes out overdone.      4 stars. 

  Goodbye Solo (2009) – indie film about a bubbly african cab driver who befriends an old, white curmudgeon customer in a very odd-couple pairing.  the white dude wants to be left alone, while the cab driver wants nothing more than to intrude on his life.  some soul-searching and self-discovery occurs as per norm.  like other films of this genre, Goodbye Solo rises and falls with the likeability of Solo, the cab driver star of the show, and whatever chemistry he strikes up with the old white man.  imo, Solo was pretty annoying, but it turns out that was part of the point.  long way around to get to a pretty mediocre conclusion.  3 stars. 

  Sugar (2008) – another indie-type film, this time by the writer-director pair Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the same two that made the pretty solid film Half Nelson.  Half Nelson got all the press back in the day, but i might argue that Sugar is the better film.  It’s is a sprawling and ambitious film about a young Dominican baseball prospect and his journey through a MLB farm system.  you think you’ve seen a hundred films like this before, but it turns out that Sugar isn’t like any of those other formula films, for better or worse.  imo, for better.  the main character, Sugar, comes from a place of instability, is blessed with some talent, and ultimately has to face the fact that his dreamy life might not be all that dreamy.   but far from cliche, this movie is a great example of the film’s not giving in to expectation while at the same time not defying expectations just to be cheeky.  it’s its own story, and deserves a look.  3.5 stars. 

  District 9 (2009) – in the current onslaught of brainless and unoriginal remakes and adaptations, it’s nice to see a fun, creative and well executed sci-fi film break through like this one did this summer.  District 9 centers around an alien ufo landing that deposits a large population of aliens in south africa.  rather than fight the all out war for world domination, like one might expect, the aliens are rounded up and given shelter in District 9 because they’re all pretty much starving, and stuck here on earth.  humans rule this planet though, and people being people, treat the aliens like shit.  first told in a documentary style, the film lays the groundwork and tells the story of how the aliens and humans co-exist.  not nicely.  then something unexpected happens, and the film takes on a different tack, instantly transforming into a fast-paced action film.  even though the film felt familiar at times, i never thought it wasn’t a great new film.  4 stars. 

  • 12:32 pm
  • 4 Comments