Fall Movie Wrap-up

Skyfall

5 out of 5

Skyfall is one of the best bond movies in years and perhaps one of the best ever.  It makes for one of the most entertaining and satisfying experiences I've had at the movies in recent years.  The filmmakers have taken Bond back to his roots while simultaneously exploring new story lines - Bond's backstory/childhood, his relationship to M, the introduction of previous MI6 agents, etc.  Skyfall has a fantastic opening credits sequence backed by the perfect Adele.  It's got thrilling set pieces that are shot such that you can actually follow the action; unlike Quantum of Solace, where the editing was so quick and choppy that you couldn't possibly follow it all, Skyfall is paced appropriately and well balanced between plot & action.  Some of my favorites were the Asia sequences (notably, the fight atop a skyscraper shot in silhouette with brief glimpses of light from the gunfire).  I would be remiss not to mention Javier Bardem and his awesome performance as the Bond villain, Raoul Silva.  From his long take introduction with that fantastic "rat" parable, to that helluva mouthpiece, the evil version of William Tell shooting the apple off the head, and that creepy laugh, he's created one of my favorite Bond villains who leaves an indelible impression.  I've seen the film twice already.  It's just so good.

Lincoln 

4.5 out of 5

Under the guise of a biopic about Abraham Lincoln, Spielberg's Lincoln is actually several films in one.  It's first and foremost a story of bravery and conviction on the part of our founding fathers, and the decision-making that led to the revelatory 13th amendment that ended slavery.  It's a story about a quiet man, who often told stories with a smile; a man who didn't have the most extensive educational background, but was a thinker and visionary all the same.  It's about a father/husband and his relationship to his family; as in many of Spielberg's films, the relationship of father to son is at the core of the film.  It's a film about politics and all of the many people that had a hand in making a historical choice that changed the course of history, a choice that necessitated delicacy and making the right moves with the right people at the right time.

Whether you're a history buff or not, Lincoln is fundamentally a good story.  The film reminded me of an extended, feature-length version of the John Adams HBO series.  It's "special effects" are good old fashioned storytelling/writing, confident direction, and stuffed with a surprising number of familiar faces in supporting roles.  My favorites were Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens (who is absolutely going to get an Oscar nod, along with Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln), James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes, and Jared Harris (who can do no wrong in my mind) as Ulysses S. Grant.  This is a film that's assured Oscar recognition, and for good reason.

Perks of Being a Wallflower

4 out of 5

A surprising, emotional coming of age story backed by performances by actors who are mature beyond their years.  It intimately captures all the awkwardness, the love, the new friendships, the heartache, and the confusion of those pivotal high school years.  It all feels very personal and immediate.  Interestingly, the film is written/directed by the very man who wrote the book the movie is based on - Stephen Chbosky.  I wonder what that will do to those who always argue that books are better than movies-based-on-books.  What happens when author becomes director?  A quick Internet search revealed that this isn't the first time this has happened, and I know writers often co-write movie screenplays of their stories.  Regardless, Perks of Being a Wallflower creates memorable screen characters who you can actually relate to and care about.  And the tunnel scenes are just great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjJ12R6B_M

Life of Pi

3.5 out of 5

Visually breathtaking.  This is a film that MUST be seen on the big screen (and in 3D!).  BUT, I think the voice-over narration did make it obvious that Life of Pi is a movie-based-on-a-book and weakened the overall effectiveness of the story.  Why not get rid of the Canadian reporter (whose role is clearly to mirror the audience and ask all the questions we're meant to ask)?  On the other hand, it did mirror the nature of the Indian parable structure it clearly follows.  I just felt it was a little heavy-handed at time.  However, many of the sequences were quite impressive visually, the story is a good one, and the revelation at the end makes multiple viewings worth considering.  

And no, I did not read the book.


Note: I don't own the rights to any of the photos on this website.  They're copied here from Google images for entertainment purposes only.

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