Under Still Waters

So, I ended up seeing this movie a LONG time ago one dreary night spent with my best friend, Netflix. I think Lake Bell is an underrated actress and wanted to see her in a leading role so I went ahead and watched this gem. This was a little indie thriller released in 2008 and I have no idea where or how much it made.

I'm not one to normally watch thrillers but this one seemed interesting enough. It stars Lake Bell as an emotionally starved wife who meets a 'stranger' on the way to their lake house with her husband. As the movie progresses, we learn that this 'stranger' may have connections to this family.

The story was actually pretty entertaining and convincing. I couldn't figure out the premise until the final reveal. It was also pretty convincing and realistic. I ended up enjoying a thriller!

The cinematography and score kept the movie dark and interesting. It was on par with what I expected and wanted to see with this film.

This movie reaffirmed my theory that Lake Bell is severely underrated. She carried this movie well and did an amazing job. Clifton Collins Jr, who I loved in Sunshine Cleaning, was also fantastic! I'm convinced that without these actors, the movie would have been run-of-the-mill.

In the end, this was a nice little entertaining movie and it was on Netflix! Double score! "I can't remember any quotes from this movie because it's been so long since I've seen it" -- Under Still Waters

K-11

So, I hadn't really planned on seeing this movie, ever. To be honest, it scared me. I wasn't sure if I was hardcore enough for this film. But alas, it was surprisingly available at my Redbox and I took it as a sign and rented the movie. I had heard a lot about this movie as it was from first-time writer and director, Jules Stewart, who happens to be Kristen Stewart's mom. This was a tiny independent film released at the Turin Filim Festival and didn't find it's way to any theaters (don't quote me on that). I can't find any budget information but I'm going to take a stab and guess that it was made with under $1 million.

Okay, here's what initially scared me from watching the movie; It's a story about a real-life prison unit in Los Angeles, K-11, for transgenered and other vulnerable male inmates. A wealthy record producer, played by Goran Visnkic, finds himself in this unit after a long drug binge and realizes quickly that the unit is run by Mousy, a transgendered inmate. He soon learns that all of the inmates are men, even though they don't appear to be. He sets out to find out why he's there and make sure he doesn't step on the wrong toes.

After seeing the movie, I have definite issues with the DVD cover art. The cover makes it look like this is going to be one hell of a creepy movie. Luckily for me, it isn't. The plot was very well written. It starts with some great exposition and it leaves the audience wondering just how deep into this seedy world is it going to go, much like our protagonist is also wondering. I was surprised at how the 'scary' aspects seemed to fade once you got to know these characters and you almost forgot about the gender issues going on. It turned out to be a nice cautionary tale with hints of, yes, feel-good-movie-ness. That being said, there is some definite rated R stuff going on inside this unit! Somehow, all of the debauchery didn't feel gratuitous in the least bit.

The cinematography was kickin' in this movie. I listened to the commentary (yes, I'm one of those), and Stewart apparently knew exactly how she wanted each scene and each edit to be. The way she made the edits appear seamless was genius as their world was seamless and out in the open. She also gave the movie a cinematic look and feel and the lighting was beautiful. She employed a very minimal sound design which worked perfectly as there was just enough there. Some films use very stark silences which can become distracting, in my opinion. They also filmed on location which made the movie that much more genuine.

The movie pretty much hinged on the performance of Kate del Castillo, who plays Mousey. Basically, she's a woman playing a man acting as a woman who also is the leader of a prison unit. So yeah, props to her. At one point, Kristen Stewart was given this role however she had to drop out for scheduling issues. (Nikki Reed was also attached to the project). Goran Visnjic was pretty awesome as well, not to mention he's ridiculously handsome. His character went through some major challenges and this was a great showcase for his range. D.B Sweeney was the main antagonist in the film and while he was very good in his role, it was sad for me being a die-hard Cutting Edge fan. I was also especially enamored with Portia Doubleday's performance in her extra-heart-wrenching scenes. Stewart's son, Cameron, also made his film debut, which I had mistaken him for Callum Blue the entire movie until I watched the commentary.

I was pleasantly surprised at how human and universal the story ended up being. I'm usually not a fan of prison dramas, except for maybe Cool Hand Luke, but this story felt more about the characters. What I was most impressed with in regards to Stewart's work was the cinematography and look she gave to the movie. I'm glad this movie was made as it obviously would have some difficulty finding backers, but that's what cinema is for. It's definitely not a film for the weak-hearted or close-minded. I'm actually not sure who I would recommend this film to. Perhaps, people on drugs or going on the wrong path in life? Or maybe those who like to see risky movies? I'm not sure. In any event, I'm glad I didn't get any recurring nightmares from this movie. Did they seriously have to make the cover look so sinister? "Bad things happen to bad people" - K-11.

Gangster Squad

So, I had wanted to see this movie ever since hearing about this awhile ago and that both Ryan Gosling AND Emma Stone were attached. Obviously, Gosling is ah-mazing, but I am also a fan of his talent as well (i.e, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl, Murder by Numbers, Drive, The Slaughter Rule, . . . I could go on). Throw into the mix Sean Penn, Giovanni Ribisi, and a mob plot line and I was hooked. This movie was slated for a late 2012 release date however was famously pushed back to an early 2013 release as it had contained a scene in which mobsters shot through into a movie theater through it's screen and the studio decided to change it out of respect for the tragic shooting in Colorado. The film has actually made more from foreign totals than here domestically (despite it's star-studded ensemble cast) and has brought in about $105 million to date, well surpassing it's modest $60 million budget.

The plost is very (VERY) loosely based/inspired on the actual Los Angeles based gangster, Mickey Cohen, and the police involvement. The LAPD police chief commissions a secret group of policemen to take down Cohen by any means necessary. Josh Brolin picks a rag-tag team of misfits comprised of Giovonni Ribisi, Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick, Michael Pena, and Anthony Mackie to take down the mobster played by Sean Penn. Emma Stone becomes involved in a love triangle between the two sides.

The plot had tons and tons of cliche's and the dialogue was pretty bland. However, it was a very entertaining story line, despite it's lack of direction at many points. The characters were very stereotypical and all of the copious amounts of action in the storyline didn't leave much, if any, room for character development. There was also numerous scenes of obviously gratuitous violence. I'm talking over-the-top gratuitous. Even with these things lacking, I still found myself getting involved with the story and genuinely enjoying it. The movie did say the story was inspired from a true story which I'm glad it didn't say it was based on as pretty much everything was fabricated or didn't happen in the same context as the story. Yes, there was a Jewish gangster named Mickey Cohen who ran Los Angeles during this time and there was also a police chief who hated him and commissioned a secret squad against him. However, the squad was comissioned after Cohen went to prison to keep anyone else from taking power and Cohen went to prison for the much less interesting tax evasion. I don't want to spoil the story, but that's much different from the movie. But again, it doesn't claim to be historical and was a nicely entertaining story with some factual events thrown into the mix.

The movie was highly stylized and had the smoke and grit we've come to associate with Old Hollywood. There were also some pretty slick camera movements employed, especially in the car chase sequence. There were also some very artificial and sappy background shots, but they were few and far between. One thing I noticed shortly into the film, was there was AHMAZING blocking. All of the characters were choreographed in and around with the many camera movements without looking artificial. This may (er, will) go unnoticed by most, but I was especially pleased.

What really made this movie was the ensemble, and especially Gosling, Stone, and Brolin as they had most of the screen time. Gosling and Stone didn't get as much opportunity as they did to showcase their chemistry as in Crazy Stupid Love, but they were still very charismatic within the limits of their characters. Brolin , Ribisi, and Penn were all believable and entertaining. I think without this cast, the movie would have not has been as entertaining or worthwhile.

The movie, as a whole, was more entertaining than not, in my humble opinion. There were definite parts that could have used some re-working, but if you go into it simply looking for an entertaining and stylized ensemble piece, you won't be disappointed. If you want a unique mob movie, look elsewhere. Oh, and try not to cringe at the dialogue, just remember this movie is about the action and plot. "If you lose everything but win the war, you're a hero. If you lose everything and lose the war, you're just a fool". -- Gangster Squad.

Smashed

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So, I had wanted to see this movie since seeing trailers for it earlier this year on pretty much ever indie movie that's come out. Learning that Nick Offerman AND Megan Mullally were both in it was the nail in the coffin for me and I was uber excited when it finally arrived at my local Redbox. This was a little indie film that made it's way to 50 theaters last year and brought in about $350k.

The movie centers around Mary Elizabeth Winstead (think 'Ramona' from Scott Pilgrim) who is a young married schoolteacher who also happens to be an alcoholic. She is married to Aaron Paul (who I believe is from Breaking Bad? Not an expert on television shows). As she realizes that her drinking has become a problem and things start getting scary instead of just embarassing, she enlists the help of Nick Offerman and Octavia Spencer and enters a program to get sober. She soon realizes that things aren't as black and white as she hoped once  sober.

I've seen plenty of movies dealing with alcoholism, but I enjoyed how this story played to the
younger audience. It also didn't romanticize sobriety like most movies do. Everything wasn't magically better once sobriety was attained, and in fact, things were harder for this character. There wasn't as much comedy as I expected, but the humor that was there was worth it.

This movie was shot as I would expect for an indie movie on this scale. Lots of shallow depth of field shots and hand-held camera movements. I was a little surprised by the wardrobe choices employed with Winstead's character. It definitely was unique. The use of the acoustic guitar for the score was also as I would expect to find.

I've only ever seen Winstead in Scott Pilgrim and her performance in this movie only increased my respect for her talent. She brought it in this movie. You could see her emotions on her face and almost feel her pain. I will say that her and Aaron Paul both play drunk pretty darn well. He also did a stand-up job with his role. You felt annoyed with him at times but couldn't help also empathize with him. Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally were subtly great. I expected that they would have been brought in for the comedic relief but this was not the case. They were actually really great character actors in this film. It was also nice to see Octavia Spencer do something nice and subtle as
well.

I think 'subtle' is a great way to surmize this movie. It wasn't riddled with over-the-top dramatics sometimes paried with substance abuse stories nor was it a romanticized cautionary tale. It was about how there are no 'easy fixes' when it comes to life's problems, be it alcohol or other problems. It was quite enjoyable. I would recommend it to other who enjoy subtle character-driven indie dramas. "Is that pot? Ew no, what do I look like, a hippie? It's crack". - Smashed

On the Road

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So, I had been waiting for a very long time to see this film before I was finally able to view it on vide-on-demand, as Austin was not included in the very limited release it finally got after being picked up by IFC. It has found it's way to only 107 theaters and has brought in about $9 million, but about 90% of that has been from foreign revenue. Despite it's star-studded cast and being an official selection at Cannes, it's only made about $720,000.00 domestically.

As you've probably guessed, the movie is based ont the book of the same name; On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Here's some of the amazing actors in the film; Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Kirsten Dunst, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Kristen Stewart, and Viggo Mortensen. For those not familar with the book, it is a wildly popular book written on a long continuous scroll by Kerouac about his travels in the late 1940's as he hitch-hiked back and forth across America with his friend. All of the characters were based on real-life people. It was quite the sensation and had a very big impact on it's generation. Since it's launch, it has been regarded as the defining novel of the beatnik generation. (Beatnik? Think jazz, poetry, drugs, sex, black clothes, dancing.)

Years ago, I, myself, attempted to read On the Road. I was unsuccesful in finishing it. I made it about
halfway through. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. Or, perhaps, it's more of a generational thing, but I know tons of people my age that love the book. This movie had been in talks about being produced in some shape or form for decades. It took the director, Walter Salles, about ten years to actually get the movie to materialize. The book has a rambling plot, which is the core of the essence, and is so widely loved that the adaptation was tricky to say the least. A lot hindered on getting the right tone to the movie and not necessary getting the right plot points. From the parts of the book I did read, the movie seemed to follow along somewhat accurately. The plot was definitely rambling and more about the connection and tone, rather than storylines.

I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography in this film. Interesting camera angles were often used over the conventional ones, just like a beatnik would have wanted. The lighting was superb. It gave it that smoky grainy look that fit perfectly with the period being portrayed. The wardrobe, makeup, and hair were perfect without being stereotypical. It was very easy to forget this wasn't really filmed in the 1940's.

I should preface this section by saying that I am a big Kristen Stewart fan and have yet seen a performance of hers that I have not liked, nay, loved. That being said, I have even more respect for her after this performance. This character was quite different than others she has done and it required her to be extremely vulnerable, physically and emotionally. For those critics she has, I think they will enjoy seeing her playing a more extroverted character. She also agreed to a salary lower than $200,000.00 in order to get the movie made. The highest paid actress last year agreed to 'pocket change' because she believed in this film. Awesome. Garrett Hedlund was completely charismatic and vulnerable in his role. As I didn't have any preconceived ideas of these characters, he really made a great Dean Moriarity for me. After reading the book, I actually didn't care much for Kerouac's character much but after seeing Sam Riley's performance, I changed my mind. He brought compassion and character to the role that I didn't see in the book, personally. Amy adams was simply a delight as a frazzled crazy mother. Terrence Howard and Viggo Mortensen both transformed into their characters and seemed as though they had been transported through time. Kirsten Dunst was the perfect choice, in my humble opinion, as her character needed to have the perfect balance of strength
and vulnerability, which she pulled off.

I really enjoyed this movie and I felt the rambling rebellious overtones that, I believe, were the core of the source novel. Being such a highly regarded book however, it is bound to have it's critics I'm sure. I didn't have any preconceived ideas about these characters so I was able to be fully invested in each actor as a believable portrayal. I would definitely recommend this film for fans of the book, to at least see it come to life in a way that has not been done before. For those not familiar with the book, I would recommend for anyone who enjoys character-driven pieces about the spirit of the youth and living outside the confines of society or anyone who enjoys beautifully framed scenes about the American past. "Help me get out of here, all of these people are mad". On the Road.

Les Miserables

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So, I hadn't actually ever gotten into the mood to sit down and watch this movie but I felt compelled simply because of the legit effort put into the making of this film. This is a remake of a 19th century novel turned Broadway hit turned movie. It did it's job and has made $437 million worldwide to date, far surpassing it's meager $61 million budget. Oh, and it won three of the eight Oscars it was nominated for (supporting actress, makeup, and sound). I should preface my review with the admission that I have neither read the book, seen the play, nor viewed any of the previous movies.

Here's a list of the star-studded cast in this film: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen. I'm sure I'm forgetting some people, but it's late and I'm tired. The movie is set in 19th century France during a period of political turmoil. It spans many years and follows the lives of several different characters with intertwined lives. Basically, it starts with Anne Hathaway's character, mother-turned-whore-to-support-her-daughter. Then it follows the daughter and her guardian, Jackman and Seyfried, while they're hunted by Russell Crowe. Then Eddie Redmayne comes along and jumps into the mix while trying to fight for the revolutionaries. There you have it, the worst Les Mis synopsis on paper.

I had quite literally no idea what the plot of the movie was other than it involved someone stealing a loaf of bread at some point. There's really not much I can say about the plot since it's just a huge and successful play. Without a doubt, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter's characters were my favorites.

The effort that went into making this film deserves legitimate respect. I was blown away with the amount of work they put into recording the soundtrack live! Yes, live! They also spared no expense with their sets, wardrobe, makeup, etc. They made this really look like 19th centure France. I really did feel as though I needed a shower after seeing all these dirty characters on my television screen for so long. That being said, I did lose interest in the musical numbers, with one exception. I'm a fan of melody and tune, and this was more of the actors singing their lines. There was maybe one or two numbers that felt like musical numbers. My favorite musical is Singin' in the Rain, so I was underwhelmed with the unsynronised/unchoreographed numbers.

This is my humble opinion: The ten hours I spent watching this movie (slight exaggeration) were
worth it to see Anne Hathaway's two minute song she did after she became a 'lady of the night'. Wow. Crazy. Raw. And, that was her 4th take. The amount of raw emotion in that scene is almost unparalleled, and she was singing. Cohen and Carter were ridiculously entertaining with their comic relief. Jackman literally transformed his body for his role as a famished slave, and he gave an extraordinary performance with crazy amounts of raw emotion as well. I'm a big Redmayne fan, and i thought he was superb, and dreamy. Seyfried and Crowe were also top notch.

I have huge amounts of respect for this film and the actors in it. Did I enjoy it?  Meh. In all honesty, I was a little bored. Perhaps, if I was a fan of the previous incarnations, I would have enjoyed it more. This just wasn't my style of musical movie, and it was a bit lengthy, and a little hard to follow (*this could be attributed to my sleep deprivation). I am a better person for having seen it and will never forget Hathaway's performance. I'd probably recommend this to fans of the broadway versions or people who enjoy lengthy, gritty, period dramas with lots of characters. "I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I'm living". Les Miserables.

Cosmopolis

So, I had been interested in seeing this movie for some time but had to wait until it was finally available at Redbox. I'd been hearing strange things about it and decided it was best to not watch the trailer beforehand (which is my usual preference under most circumstances). The movie found it's way to only 65 theaters last October in a small release and ended up taking in about $6 million which didn't quite make offset it's $20 million (estimated) budget.

The basic story: It's about a billionaire who drives in a limo all over NYC one day to get a haircut. The long story: On the surface, it's about this characters crumbling world around him as each encounter brings a change to his world.

Well the plot was adapted by Cronenberg himself but I have not read the novel, nor do I plan on doing so, therefore, I'm not a good source on how well it was adapted. I've seen some criticisms that the characters were not developed and there was not emotion, but my argument is that is exactly what's happening to the 'people' in this world that is being shown in the movie. I felt as though the story of the movie was not about any of these characters but rather as the world as a whole. Almost as if we were watching from the outside in despite it's intimate proximity to the main character. The plot is drenched with heavy dialogue and material and it's obvious up for interpretation. It is very possible that everything is way over my head and I'm getting something different than the intended symbolism, meaning, etc. I felt that this was a movie that forced the viewer to reflect afterwards and take from it what you connected with. Viewing the movie as a whole and reflecting on the choices within provided to be much more entertaining than going through the plot, in my case. When I viewed the movie, I was looking for a storyline and found the entertainment fell short. As I progressed through the movie, I gave up trying to understand any of it until the end when I could look back on it as a whole.

I was quite shocked at the pretty bad greenscreen car backgrounds in almost all of the limo shots. Who knows if Cronenberg did this on purpose to illustrate the fictitious world capitalism can create or something smart like that. The soundtrack was quite minimal in the first half of the movie and even had several scenes without any score. I wasn't a fan of that choice, but again it could have been used to illustrate a point. Towards the end, things began to pick up and I loved hearing some Metric songs in there. I was expecting much more stylized camera movements, pacing, and theme. A lot of the plot was cut into different distinct bits. While this was surprising at first, it helped to illustrate that the surface story was unimportant. One thing very evident, and kinda genius, was the eye contact, or lack thereof, and body positioning that was reflective of the character's dynamics. While I was unable, i.e. not smart enough, to figure out every character's dynamics and correlation to the eye contact and blocking, I did pick up on some. That took a solid effort instead of just putting the actors in the frame and rolling camera.

Since the story of the movie really isn't about the story, it does unfortunately constrict the actor's performances to a more subtle emotional level. I could be completely wrong in my interpretation of the movie however. This wasn't a big emotional drama, it was more about the character's relationship with one another and how it connected to the world. These actors had a lot of things to remember in addition to performing some strange scenes. Since almost all of the characters were quite unique an the dialogue was constricted and not really emotionally tied to the scenes, these was most likely a very challenging screenplay to pull off. Robert Pattinson created a very complex character that caused you to question and think about his actions to try and find a motive instead of simply giving the answers away for free.

In the end, the movie is not for everyone. This movie will leave many questions that will require your own interpretation and everyone's probably got a different one. I think it was about the world as a whole and obviously about our ties with economic gain and growth. I don't think it's necessary for or against capitalism but again it's probably all above me anyway. While the movie was very stylized and had very memorable moments, it was a long process and the most interesting parts was the reflection after the movie, at least in my experience. I know a lot of people don't like, even despise, movies that are ambiguous and give no real answers so I'd warn those to stay away at all costs. I was mildly entertained and have enjoyed trying to come up with my own (un-educated) answers but I will say I did feel pretty un-smart during the film while I was 'not getting' most of it. "Talent is more erotic when wasted".