Cloud Atlas - Review

"Yesterday, I believe I would never have done what I did today."

Cloud Atlas represents colossal filmmaking at its most ambitious.  To pull off a movie of this scale that still retains emotional resonance and doesn't come across as gimmicky is no easy feat.  As evident from the previews (and the book), the story is actually made up of 6 sub-stories or segments.  I use the term "segment" here loosely, meaning that each story combines with the next to effortlessly form the gestalt of the movie.  They're like 6 puzzles that create an even bigger and more beautiful puzzle when combined together.

Each segment has its own unique personality, and it could be inferred that each of the six segments represents a life.  One life's timeline intersects, influences, and alters others.  Meeting new people or even our interactions with loved ones have the ability to elicit dramatic shifts in the course of our lives.  The same is true of Cloud Atlas.  Characters who make poor choices in a given situation might not experience consequences until much further down their life's timeline.  Characters' actions in the 1800's have a ripple effect that extends to the distant future.  The same is true of our lives.  The mistakes or misjudgments in one time period are often reciprocated in subsequent decades; it's a fancy way of saying 'history repeats itself' but also that people are faced with similar emotional and ethical dilemmas, despite differing backgrounds.  The directors definitively use cross-cutting to drive this point home and increase suspense as viewers are forced to be concerned with multiple characters in vastly different (and often dangerous) settings simultaneously.

 "We cross and re-cross our old paths like figure-skaters."

While on the surface Cloud Atlas is about the connection between humanity across millennia, it could also be read as a celebration of various cinematic genres and an argument that "genre" is becoming an increasingly complicated notion as many films fall under multiple cinematic categories.  Each segment reinforces recurrent themes: courage in the face of evil, refusal to "let go" of love past or present, the idea of destiny ("do you ever feel that the universe is against ya?"), etc.  But as mentioned previously, each segment has a distinct personality and is largely grounded in a specific genre:

• 1846 - historical fiction at sea
• 1931 - forbidden, secret love affair expressed via letters 
• 1974 - 70's detective thriller investigating potential government scandal
• 2009 - comedic British story about an aging man aching to regain his youth
• 2144 - futuristic sci-fi story about the line between human and machine
• 2346 - post-apocalytic setting that blends the ancient with the distant future

Blending the six stories together effectively blurs the very idea of genre, suggesting that similar stories can be told under the guise of different costuming, time period, makeup, and setting.  

This shot with Somni-451 behind the fence evokes feelings of helplessness and the sense of being "trapped."  The character is soon compelled to take action after facing the stark brutality before her.

A movie like Cloud Atlas provides much to talk about after the credits roll.  I only present a fraction of that discussion here.  It's a film about fate, chance, reincarnation, love, emotion, and kindness (to name a few) and their impacts on the human experience.  Suffice it to say that I admire such grand vision & collaboration and thoroughly enjoyed this giant piece of cinema.

Note: stick around for the credits, which reveal the 6 characters that the lead actors portray.  Some are sure to surprise.

5 out of 5

The Master - Review

"He's making all this up as he goes along - you don't see that?"

The Master is an enigmatic film that's about the illusion of control.  Director P.T. Anderson has crafted another demanding film that necessitates multiple viewings.  I won't pretend to have picked up on all of his nuances nor do I know enough about Scientology to make the comparisons that other critics have. Regardless, the film seems to be dealing with, among other things, psychology.  The line between manipulation, research, and therapy becomes blurred throughout the film.  Hoffman's character is eloquent and assumes a role of supposed mastery and control, but can also explode with emotion at any moment.  His "program" establishes a following based on a philosophy that is held together by fluctuating principles.  Phoenix's character, too, is a ticking time bomb in his own right - more erratic, almost animalistic, and intermittently sympathetic.  The dynamic between the two is nothing less than compelling and is sure to gather much Academy recognition.

The film is a stylistic wonder and, if nothing else, just plain interesting.  The question could be raised if several scenes are real or imagined.  Even raising that question is an accomplishment in and of itself, and further represents the lines being blurred.  There aren't any absolutes in The Master, but the film's characters seem to be constantly looking for them.  P.T. Anderson once again has created a film that asks big questions, consistently catches viewers off guard, and stands in a category that's all its own.

4.5 out of 5

Seven Psychopaths - Review

"Ghandi was wrong!"

Seven Psychopaths is a twisted, often hilarious subversion of the crime comedy genre.  The film hinges around the pivotal performances of Walken and Rockwell who consistently steal the show (and share it when they appear on screen together).  Walken's typically off-beat, cool humor gels nicely with Rockwell's over-the-top, crazy performance.  The two actors are immensely entertaining in their own right and work well as both a comedy team and crime buddy duo.  That's not to discount Colin Farrell, who does a fine job as the tenuous glimpse of sanity in a film centered around loony characters.  Director Martin McDonagh (who also created the great In Bruges in 2008) provides the stylistic flair needed to underline the film's unique tone.  Psychopaths contains sly commentary on the cinematic medium, plays with viewers' expectations, and at the same establishes itself as a film with its own personality.  I particularly liked Walken's backstory and found the Asian psychopath plot line to be effective.  All in all, Psychopaths does a lot more right than it does wrong.  It certainly represents a gleeful, shamelessly insane piece of fun filmmaking for those looking for their daily dose of crazy.

4.5 out of 5

Looper - the quick & dirty review

I never actually took the time to write up a "real review", but here's the bottom line(s):

Looper was great - go see it!  It works as a neo noir, science-fiction film, and classic action movie (complete with Bruce Willis butt-kicking) all wrapped up into one.  Really well done, clever storytelling with plenty of memorable sequences.

Also, is Joseph-Gordon Levitt becoming the next Leonardo DiCaprio?  He's been attached to a number of lucrative films recently, and there are some interesting parallels to their careers...

The Cabin in the Woods - Review

 "DO NOT read the Latin!"

The Cabin in the Woods makes for a great time at the movies.  Its success depends largely on a knowledge of basic horror stereotypes.  As in any run-of-the-mill horror movie, we're presented with "the whore, the hero, the scholar, the fool, and the virgin" (the movie's vocabulary).  The filmmakers use these and other familiar horror staples to flip the genre on its head... and then some.  Right from the get go, we're clued in that this is no typical horror movie, but we don't know what's in store for the next hour and a half.  To say the film takes an unexpected turn is quite the understatement, but it's hard to say too much else without spoiling the fun.  Suffice it to say that we essentially get a metaphorical peek behind the curtains into the imagination of horror film directors.  The film poses the question of free will in horror films.  Are the characters in horror films really given the option of free will, or are they stock characters who essentially are written to do drugs, drink alcohol, have sex, and then get killed?  The film poses this and other questions as it picks apart the horror genre to create a film that's both imaginative and fun.  I love and appreciate movies that surprise viewers with something unexpected.  The Cabin in the Woods certainly does just that.

They're not like something from a nightmare.  They're something nightmares are from.

SPOILER ALERT: In The Cabin in the Woods, the facility employees in the film act as stand-ins for the film's creators, pulling the strings along the way to manipulate the characters.  The "ancient ones" could be the horror film audience itself.  We've been around for years (as long as the genre has existed), and we've grown accustomed to the typical horror film.  As Marty states in the film, maybe it's time to give some new life a chance.  Filmmakers like Goddard and Whedon are certainly allowing exactly that - breathing new life into the horror genre and subverting it to no end.  The film was fittingly released on Friday the 13th.

5 out of 5 (because it's just so darn fun)

Lawless - Review

"We're survivors.  We control the fear.  Without that fear, we're as good as dead."

At the beginning of Lawless, we meet three brothers who have reached legend status in a small, southern town.  But they aren't the "good guy" type of legend.  Just the opposite is true. They have instilled a fear in the townsfolk that sparks whispers of their wildly brutal actions.  The brothers subscribe to a sort of self-fulling prophecy of immortality - if believe themselves to be invincible, they become invincible.  These strikingly different men are brought to life by three similarly distinct actors - Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, and Jason Clarke.  Tom Hardy shines again as a quietly terrifying yet sympathetic character, while Jason Clarke's character is more openly dangerous and wild.  Shia does a fine job as the youngest and most innocent of the brothers; obviously his character has the biggest arc as violence surrounds and consumes him.  Surprising things happen to each of the brothers, and their dream of "immortality" becomes more and more uncertain.  Each one's fate is perhaps the biggest surprise of all.

However, these characters exist in world where plot is secondary to style and mood.  It's largely OK for the plot to be a bit flimsy in a genre that depends much more heavily on atmosphere.  I do wish the film had fleshed out the Gary Oldman-as-a-badass-gangster plot.  It felt like the talented actor was included in the world of Lawless almost as an afterthought and wasn't given his due screen time.  The film also makes it difficult to root for the characters at times.  Luckily, the female characters (Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska) create a great foil for the brothers and help establish some balance to the otherwise male-dominated genre.  It's never unclear who we're supposed to root against (clearly the flamboyant Guy Pearce character).  But the brothers commit such violent acts that we feel a little guilty condoning their vengeful deeds.  Regardless, the film creates several nice set pieces and successfully creates the stylized world of the western.  While Lawless doesn't reach the level of immortality that it sets out to, it's still a great exercise in genre and atmosphere.

3.5 out of 5

Celeste and Jesse Forever - Review

You want to be right or you want to be happy?

Celeste and Jesse Forever gets off to a great start.   We're presented with a montage of images that give us the bullet points of the title couple's relationship.  It's like flipping through a photo album where the people start off happy and deeply in love, separate, and then attempt to regain happiness together as best friends.  Celeste and Jesse still love each other, but are no longer IN love.  Their friends don't understand and disapprove of their post-break-up relationship.  The film begs the following question: can two people stay together ("forever") even after breaking up?  It's like a character study, but for a relationship.  Both members of the partnership explore new potential lovers (some with shockingly bad results), but can't seem to totally avoid one another.  The story is refreshing and attempts a level of honesty that many films do not.  There are a few sub plots that could've been withheld and wouldn't have been missed, but the originality and outstanding soundtrack distract from the film's flaws.  Of course I won't spoil what the relationship status of Celeste and Jesse is at the end of the film.  That's not really the point anyways.  It's about two people who discover new ways to find each other and continually redefine their relationship.

4 out of 5