2011 in Film - May

May is the beginning of the summer movie season and when most people begin to get excited about movies again. They love the big blockbusters, ridiculous comedies and animated sequels. This summer seems to have all those especially in sequel format. Let's recap the movies that I checked out in May. I'm not going to include Something Borrowed in this post because I've already made a full post on it which should be right under this one.

After Something Borrowed, I checked out that week's other big movie, Thor. Comic book movies can be very hit and miss and Thor was somewhere in the middle. It was decently entertaining although never particularly engaging. Kat Dennings was the standout among a group of decent performances that never really challenged the actors in any way. It was decently fun though and gave me some anticipation for the Avengers movie, so the studio had some success with this venture.

Next, I went to see Bridesmaids three times, atlhough I only got to actually watch it twice. Kristin Wiig's big star turn is one of the funniest movies I've seen in years and never fails to have a certain level of heart that makes it that much better. The movie does drag a bit toward the end and the resolution feels a bit odd but overall, the movie is a riot and so much fun. I highly recommend this one although it's strange if you haven't been to see it yet.

The third time I went to see Bridesmaids it was sold out, which left me to see the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I went mostly for Penelope Cruz and came out unimpressed. While it wasn't the disaster of the third film, it felt tired and disconnected. There were a lot of interesting stories to be told, especially with the young religious hostage and the mermaids but overall, there was too much happening and a lot of it had been done better before. Johnny Depp is gonna have to start trying if he wants to get more than money for his movies.

Finally, I watched the documentary, How To Die In Oregon, on HBO. This is a really fantastic documentary on the subject of euthanasia that handles the topic with the proper sensitivity it deserves. It's depressing and difficult to watch due to the reality that we're faced with but it ultimately feels like an important documentary to help us understand this issue. The film clearly has a side that it wants us to join however it never forces us to view things from that point of view. If you can handle how miserable it is, definitely check it out.

Someone Bothered

Romantic comedies are one of those genres that are generally regarded as crap by critics and even the general public, although the latter's judgement is probably because their formula runs toward women unlike the equally formulaic action blockbuster audiences go crazy for every summer. However, a gem can be found in this genre every year or so through the many horrible movies that are produced in this genre. Unfortunately, Something Borrowed is definitely not that gem.

Something Borrowed is the tale of a lawyer, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, who is turning 30 at the beginning of the film. Her obnoxious best friend, played by Kate Hudson, easily takes over the party she is throwing for Goodwin to talk about her wedding to Colin Egglesfield. We learn through a series of flashbacks that Goodwin and Egglesfield both liked each other when they were in law school but allowed Hudson to interfere with their potential love because they really both lack the personality to take charge in any situation. Back in the present, they sleep together and begin the film's big love triangle. Will Egglesfield stay with Hudson and marry her despite loving Goodwin? Will Goodwin continue to betray her best friend and get the guy of her dreams? Will Hudson continue to remain completely oblivious as every character in this film seems to be lacking an awareness of the world around them? The real question though is how unlikeable can these characters become?

The film takes this last question and goes as far as possible with it, making sure that by the end of the film, you don't care about any of the characters and are praying for the film to end. Goodwin and Egglesfield both lack any sort of personality as she perfects looking on the verge of tears for no visible reason and he masters the deadpan almost sad look that would be great for a model but not an actor. The flashbacks are one of the most frustrating elements of the film because the multiple scenes where they are about to kiss result in an awkward moment for no visible reason. Do they just both lack any ability to lean forward and kiss? The chemistry is obvious and they later admit that they both felt the same thing and assumed the other did. If this is so, why didn't they kiss and stop this entire mess from happening? This huge flaw prevents the story from seeming anywhere close to reality and adds a whole other layer of frustration to the film.

Kate Hudson's character is a complete contraction in the film. On the one hand, she's presented as a terrible friend for constantly stealing the spotlight from her friend and stealing the guy of her dreams without seeming to care for her feelings. However, in the present world, she is never the one who really commits the wrong acts. She does cheat on Egglesfield and is generally an obnoxious mess that audiences will naturally dislike. However, her horrible behaviour is completely obvious to the audience and the writers while Goodwin and Egglesfield complete lack of disregard for the world around them seems to swept under the carpet. The treatment of Hudson seems unfair compared to the two leads.

Finally, in an attempt to further the confuse and anger the audience, John Krasinski plays a completely unnecessary fourth wheel in the film whose role only seems to be to make gay jokes and give Goodwin a sad attempt at a self-esteem boost. He also helps to further our hatred for Hudson but his attempts seem completely without grounds so he fails in that department. Krasinski decides to pretend to be gay at one point to get rid of a girl he does not have the confidence to reject. This obviously leads to many supposedly hilarious situations but also begs the question that if Hollywood is so accepting, how long are we going to be given homosexuality as a joke? It might have given more depth to Krasinski's character if not only was he not the gay best friend to Goodwin but he didn't have to pretend to play against himself to gain laughs. Overall, his character was completely pointless and slightly offensive.

Something Borrowed is a mess of a film filled with unlikeable characters and a frustrating plot. If you think the ending will be happy, you'll be sorely disappointed when you realize half-way through the seemingly never-ending film that there is no way for the film to properly resolve itself. The actual ending is so flawed and incomplete that it is neither satisfying or happy in any way.

The Freedom To Love

Every year, Hollywood makes countless movies, many of which are searching for critical attention to gain them awards and prestige. Every once and a while, Hollywood goes beyond making decent efforts in these categories and not only makes a truly fantastic movie but also an important one. Film is a medium that allows us to visually portray stories in a way that allows audiences to completely connect with them. This medium should be used to present many different types of stories and since it's such a popular medium, it should also be used to tell stories that seem uncommon or are misunderstood by the general public.

The film, Boys Don't Cry, directed by Kimberly Peirce, tells the story of trans-gendered man, meaning he was born a woman, and his struggle to find love and freedom. Based on a true story, this movie is a touching tale of this person and their struggle to find acceptance. From the very beginning of the film, we can see how people ostracize him and how even his family does not truly accept him. There is a lack of love and support in his life and he searches hard to find these things that are so necessary for human beings.

Luckily, Brandon finds a new group of friends who adopt him as one of them. For a while, this seems to go well for him and he even begins to have a little crush. Of course, everything turns sour once he starts to fall for this girl and her ex-boyfriend is insulted and eventually, the truth about Brandon comes out. One of the most striking things about this story is that Brandon's girlfriend, Lana, does not seem to stop loving him once she finds out his gender at birth. She only seems to want to save him. Having read about the author, she claims that this story is a love story about star crossed lovers similar to the tale of Romeo and Juliet and it is hard to look at this film without seeing the deep love between these two characters. Of course, their fate is that they cannot be together and they suffer in a similar way to Romeo and Juliet.

However, this story is much more important than your typical love story. The tales of trans-gendered people are rarely found in the media, especially in such a mainstream Hollywood film. Its origin may not have been as a huge Hollywood production but the fantastic performances of Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny have elevated the movie to such a level. It's important for transgendered people of all ages to see their stories depicted on the screen. They may not face the exact same struggles as Brandon did in the film but they can take strength from the deep love found within the story and can see somebody who is similar to them and has faced a similar struggle. As a gay teenager, I understand the importance of seeing depictions of yourself in the media. It helps to give you role models and see that you are not alone within the world.

On the flip side, presenting these stories is important for the rest of the population too. People are only familiar with the stories of people they see in their everyday lives and those in the media. Since trans-gendered people often keep their pasts to themselves and are foreign to a lot of people despite their much larger presence within the world, it's important to show their stories in the media to allow for the rest of the population to become accustomed to these stories and understand the ways others live. The media has the power to present life in many different ways. I believe that the media should present a vision of the world that is not just the regular way of being that we all know but challenges these boundaries and tells unique stories. I applaud Kimberly Peirce and this film for doing just that.

2011 Movies: Part 2

Since my last post reviewing movies I'd seen from this year, I've seen a bunch of other films as April has been shockingly full of interesting movies, although there appears to still be plenty of crap too. Let's go over the movies I've seen to see where the last month or so in film has taken me.

First off, we have Limitless, an action movie starring Bradley Cooper. From reading that description, it sounds like something to stay away from. However, this movie was shockingly decent. It had an interesting concept about being able to use your full brain capacity and although the ways it used this gimmick were somewhat limited and typical, it did a decent job of keeping me interested. Cooper was decent in his first real leading role after years of being a comedy and romance sidekick and this film will probably lead to more lead roles in his future. If you have the chance to see it, go for it but personally, I'd never try to seek it out.

Next, I saw what is probably my favorite movie of the year so far, Cary Fukunaga's adaptation of the classic Jane Eyre. Starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, this movie is acted perfectly and looks beautiful the entire time. Having been only slightly familiar with the original tale, I felt this film was a perfect introduction to the story and helped to present it as one of the most beautiful love stories that exists. Wasikowska has so much potential that is put to work in this movie that I'm excited to see where she goes with her career and the same for Fassbender and Fukunaga. Definitely see this movie when you get the chance.

Source Code was the next movie I saw and I will admit that my only motivation to see it was to witness Jake Gyllenhaal all over the big screen. Luckily, the movie had a lot more to offer than his beauty. It was a very interesting story, even though I don't tend to go for science fiction films. It was a lot smarter than you'd expect a movie in the genre to be although at times, it could have delved deeper into the issues presented. However, its approach to the concept was much more profound than Limitless. Vera Farmiga gave a great supporting performance and Jake was fantastic as always. I definitely recommend this one too.

I was very excited to see my next movie from this year, Hanna. I am a huge fan of Atonement although I had not seen any of Joe Wright's other films and I was excited to see what else he has to offer. Luckily, he, Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett did not disappoint in the slightest. This movie is both action packed and slowly paced but the quick changing of pace is exciting and not tiring. The script is very good at examining the character of Hanna and still offering witty banter and intense action sequences. It's a lot smarter and much better made than your typical action movie and for that reason, I have to recommend it instead of any other action movie.

Scream 4 was by far my most anticipated movie of the bunch as I love the franchise and had faith that they could bring another fantastic edition to the series and they didn't disappoint. The script is just as witty and self-aware as the first three movies and it offers enough scares and laughs to keep the audience continually entertained throughout the movie. All of the new actors gave good performances and helped to bring this franchise to a new generation. I definitely recommend watching the other movies first and then seeing this one for the best possible experience with it.

Since I dragged my dad to see Scream 4 with me, he took me to see Arthur. I had really low expectations and while it kind of was better than I expected, it really wasn't anything special. For a comedy, I barely laughed but then neither did my dad. I guess Russell Brand's style of comedy isn't so much making jokes but just his general attitude is supposed to be comedic. Personally, it didn't do much for me. Overall, the movie was just dull, clichéd and pretty boring. It's probably my least favorite of this bunch of movies.

Finally, I saw Water For Elephants which I was very excited to see. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. It wasn't really too bad but there was definitely something lacking. A lot of the script felt clunky and the dialogue didn't work well. Robert Pattinson proved that he really can't act as he just barely gave a performance at all and was just basically there for Reese Witherspoon, in one of her weaker performances and Christoph Waltz, in a performance proving why he is an Oscar winner, to act circles around him. Besides the beautiful visuals and the two good supporting performances, the film didn't really offer much. If you are interested, check it out but otherwise, it's not really worth your time.

Heavenly Creatures

When the general public think of Peter Jackson, you can almost guarantee they will think of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They were such massive films that took over the imagination of the world that their presence in people's minds is inevitable. However, I'm not discussing those movies. Today, I'm talking about what is truly the high point of Jackson's career, Heavenly Creatures. Never heard of it? I hadn't really either and that's a big issue.

Heavenly Creatures is based off a true story but don't allow that to let you think this movie is average. It stars Kate Winslet, in her big screen debut, and Melanie Lynskey as Juliet and Pauline, two teenage girls who find friendship and romance in each other and escape from their daily lives to a world of fantasy in their minds that allows them the freedom they desire. They also murder Pauline's mother because they are not permitted to be together and other teenage rebellion issues.

I'll admit that personally, I didn't completely connect with this movie. At parts, it was a tad too strange and the characters were so spastic and crazed that they were difficult to connect with. However, I also found the movie to connect in a special way through it's hidden meaning.

For me, the movie is not about two teenage girls who murder their mother. It's a metaphor for the oppression that is experienced by gay people, which is clearly visible by the 1950's setting of the film. Pauline is presented as young, timid girl who appears trapped in her life. She doesn't seem too visibly unhappy but we see a sense of emptiness in her life. On the other hand, Juliet is portrayed as confident in herself and her abilities from her first scene where she corrects the lesson of a teacher on her first day.

Through her friendship with Juliet, Pauline finds a sense of freedom and discovers her true feelings. It's not a stretch to consider this relationship her liberation as the two girls do participate in homosexual activity. Pauline's homosexuality is most easily found through a comparison of the two sex scenes she participates in. The first is with a boy that she knows and throughout it, she escapes to her fantasy world of creepy clay people, where violence is enthralling the people and she stares off longingly at Juliet, displaying her true desires. Later when Juliet and Pauline engage in sexual activity, Pauline's escape to her fantasy world involves their alter egos engaging in sexual activity and joy is found throughout this universe.

However, with the time period of the film comes the less progressive attitudes that were present at the time. After a doctor warns that the girls' relationship might have become more than friendship, their parents prevent them from seeing each other and place this heavy restriction on their sexuality. The inability of the girls to be together and realize their true nature is severely damaging and creates a deep rage within Pauline. By the time they go to kill her mother, you can see that they are not committing a murder. To them, this is their freedom from their oppressor and a way to truly experience their love without the restrictions of society which is represented by her mother.

The most interesting part of the film is that Jackson starts it off beautifully with the two girls running to Juliet's house after the murder to inform her parents of the death. Both are clearly upset and distraught at what has just occurred although we are supposed to believe this is an act. Despite this fascinating deeper meaning that Jackson has placed within the movie, he does not forget that no matter how freeing this killing was, it was a still an act of violence and a death was involved. It was horrific, bloody and altogether wrong. Overall, Jackson appears to not take a stance on whether the murder was alright. He spends the film showing us their motives and giving us reasons to sympathize with the characters yet the horrific opening and the clear hesitation found within the girls, especially Juliet, displays the knowledge that there is a moral issue with Juliet and Pauline's actions.

This is why I consider this movie much more important that Jackson's famous trilogy. It offers a fascinating take on morality and is an important story of identity, especially within homosexuals that is rarely found with such a mainstream director. It is a daring film and I applaud Jackson for making such an important movie.

Classic Hollywood - A tribute to Elizabeth Taylor and Tennessee Williams

Last week, I began a voyage into classic cinema in honor of what would be Tennessee Williams' hundredth birthday. However, the week took a turn for the worst when it also had to be a look back at the fantastic career of Elizabeth Taylor after her passing. Strangely enough, the two coincided well considering Taylor's frequent collaborations with the great playwright.

The most famous adaptation of Williams' work is the 1951 adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. It involves all the typical features of a Tennessee Williams play including a souther setting, hints of homosexuality that have been sadly repressed by the censorship of the time and some sort of love story although never a pleasant one. The southern belle in this story comes to visit her sister and somehow goes crazy and lusts after her sister's husband, who happens to be abusive, all before being sent off in the end. Sounds like a typical melodrama, right? I understand that many classify the film as a masterpiece however, I found a disconnect between reality and Vivien Leigh's character. Of course, a person who is insane would not have much of a touch with reality but her character seemed to lack all reason for insanity and her over-dramatic style of acting, while common at the time, did nothing to bring true sympathy to the role. Despite this, I still enjoyed the film but found that Marlon Brando and even Kim Hunter outshone Vivien Leigh and overall, the story lacked part of the spark that makes Tennessee Williams' work so special.

Any of these flaws that could be identified in Streetcar are easily remedied in the other Williams' adaptation I viewed, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, this time starring the late Elizabeth Taylor. As with most plays of Williams, the central focus is both on family and sexuality in a way that easily demonstrates the friction between the two. Paul Newman's character shows signs of both repressed homosexuality and a longing for his past glory, which can also be found in Williams' other play, The Glass Menagerie. This has caused great strain in his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor's character because their lack of sex has led them to be without an heir to the family fortune, which angers Taylor's character. This story felt much more like a Williams classic and was fantastically supported by the performances of the leads. While the story dragged a bit, it beautifully addressed all the issues you expect to find within Williams' work yet does not feel like a retread at all. 

The final film I watched had nothing to do with Tennessee Williams however it was still a film adaptation of a play and it also has the Elizabeth Taylor, therefore it's a worthy addition to this post. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the story of a married couple who invite a young couple to their house for drinks which quickly turns into a night of shouting, swearing and lots of drinking. This is one of those plays(and films) that is such an excuse for great actors to act that it helps to demonstrate just how talented the actors are. The fact that Elizabeth Taylor gives a world class performance in this movie displays not only the strength of the script but her true talent as an actress and elevates her above the media status that is sometimes all she is remembered for. There are lots of amazing things about Elizabeth Taylor but it can take a truly fantastic film like Woolf to remind us that she is, first and foremost, an actress. If you ever have doubts about the talent of this legend, watch this movie and you'll instantly realize why she is considered the last great Hollywood star.

2011 Movies

I’ve seen six movies from this year so far. The majority of them have been horrifically bad. Today, I’ll be talking about the three most recent films I saw.

First, I witnesses Red Riding Hood although it would be difficult for me to tell you exactly what it’s about although I can tell you that it was a disappointment even though I was expecting nothing from it. I like Amanda Seyfried and expected her to at least act. But for a role that is supposedly a star turn, she is barely in the film and her plotline is so pointless to the lack of story that you never care anyway. Half the movie is old men screaming to find a wolf, who was made with such bad CGI that it’s completely laughable. Although it’s not half as laughable as the script which lack all the basic ideas of a story from plot to character development. Catherine Hardwick further proves a lack of skill that she found directing Twilight with a bunch of ideas put together without any logic or purpose. This leads to a mess of nothingness that somehow lasts for an hour and a half and feels painful for each second. F

Next, I watched Rango which I went into without absolutely no expectations because a combination of a Dreamworks animated feature and a western is not something I would typically enjoy. Luckily, it was a surprisingly good feature. Johnny Depp was there portraying an animated version of his typical performance but in such a properly stylized and smart movie, it actually worked for once. It felt like an homage to his past roles rather than a retread. The action-adventure sequences were a bit cliché in parts which will work for the young viewers however, the whole plot involving the lack of water and the references that liter the film make it a worthwhile time. It had me genuinely interested for a while in the story, which many animated films nowadays seem to forget is important. It’s more than just a bunch of fart jokes and I’m really thankful for that. B

Finally, Sucker Punch. What even is there to say about this? It’s not even a movie, it’s a video game. From the misogynistic portrayal of the girls with their ridiculous outfits and repressed lifestyle to the dark and bland visuals that have been seen countless times from this “director”. The soundtrack, while decent, blares loudly throughout as slow motion images of the girls shouting every video game villain that’s every been used is represented. I don’t know who got the idea that filming movies like video games representing some sort of unique “vision” but they’re severely mistaken because this just creates a dull, pointless movie without any truly new ideas being brought to the plate. I can see the interest for those who love to dull their minds with video games like these but overall, it does nothing to make you a filmmaker like some would have you believe Zack Snyder is. I can’t even properly criticize this movie because I don’t think it deserves to be even given that name. It’s a glorified trailer for a video game and an excuse for thirteen year old boys to get their first boner. F