Sunday, December 28, 2008

Gran Torino

This was all I was hoping for in the film. Definitely in the top five for the year. Another contender I saw this week, but later to that film.

Clint Eastwood is at the top of his form as an actor and director. Plus composer. What an amazing guy! And he's in his 70s.

He plays a retired man who's just lost his wife and is alienated from his family, church and neighbors. The neighbors are the bain of his existence since the etnic background of the neighborhood has completely changed from Caucasian to Asian. He hates them and doesn't trust them. Walt Kowalski is a bigot, a patriot and a Korean War veteran. In someways he could be my Dad. I understand this fifties kind of man. Think Bud White from LA Confidential as an older man.

Walt built cars for Ford in their heyday of the muscle cars in the 1970s. He assembled the Gran Torino that sits in his driveway in perfect mint condition.

Despite his not wanting anything to do with them, the humanity in Walt comes out when he gets drawn into the lives of the teenaged boy and girl who live next door.

I won't give anymore plot away. That's plenty.

See this film. It's exciting, edge of your seat as well as makes you care for the characters and story. Eastwood gets the most out of his young untested cast. I really liked the performance of the sister, Sue, played by Ahney Her and the young parish priest, Father Janovich, played by Christopher Carley.

But, then Eastwood knows how to work with actors to get the best they can give. Think of Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Marcia Gay Harden in Mystic River. Angelina Jolie in Changeling, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby. And the example I always use, Kevin Costner. Yep, Kevin Costner. Not exactly the best actor in film, but if you ever saw him in Eastwood's A Perfect World, he was wonderful as Butch.

Gran Torino gets and A. This is a top notch film. See it! Make my day...okay, I couldn't resist.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Australia

Ok, for starters....YAWN!

This film is 2 hrs and 45 minutes which can fly by on a great film, but was agonizing for this film.

Most people who watch movies know the premise. Hugh Jackman plays a drover named "The Drover" and Nicole Kidman is a British aristocrat traveling to Australia to get her husband in line to sell their property in New South Wales to have some cash infusion into their British lands and holdings. She gets there and her supposedly cheating and ingoring husband is very dead.

I've seen plenty of films that build slowly that don't seem 'slow,' but this is NOT one of them. This is a beautiful film to look at that highlights the harsh land of this portion of (Darwin) of Australia, but I wasn't going to the theater for a travel film. And that was mostly what I did enjoy of the film.

Like another war film (though this is as much an Aussie cowboy movie with cattle drive and all) named Pearl Harbor it seems to have all look and little substance. Obviously I didn't like that film either.

I'd fit the blame for this lackluster film firmly in the lap of Baz Luhrmann. He was the director and cowrote the screenplay and that's where the problems are. Come on, Baz...EDIT! This film would have been better if at least 20 minutes were cut and tightened up. Seriously I didn't care about the characters either (very different from the previous film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas). The half Aboriginal boy and his grandfather were the most interesting characters in the film. A much better film on the subject of what was done to the half Aboriginal and half white children of Australia is Rabbit Proof Fence.

Ack, enough said on this film. I don't recommend it. Average at best. C+ and only the plus because of the cinematography. Originally the buzz was this film would star Russell Crowe with Nicole Kidman. He'd have brought more gravitas to the role of the drover, but I think it was good for him that it didn't work out.

I'll try to get to some thoughts on the Golden Globe nominations later. I was pleased with the Slumdog Millionaire and In Bruges nominations, but was sad there was no nominations for Richard Jenkins from The Visitor. I want to see a few more of the films in the next few weeks like Frost/Nixon, Doubt and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

imdb's got the nominations of course: imdb: Golden Globe nominations

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

A bit under the weather and didn't want to subject other movie goers to my cough this weekend so...this is last weekend's films I didn't get to yet.

Friday night saw a trip to the theaters for a small film that has had a lot of acclaim. I found it a very engrossing film dealing with the subject of the holocaust through the eyes of a German child whose life was completely untouched by war and sorrow in the beginning of the film.

The film is in English and stars David Thewlis (Father) and Vera Farmiga (Mother) as the two main actors I'd recognized from other films. Also Rupert Friend who I'd seen in Pride and Prejudice. Given these two films he hopefully won't be typecast as a heavy like Sean Bean has spent much of his career on film.

The film follows a boy who is the son of a decorated German soldier who gets a 'promotion' to commandant of a concentration camp and moves his family there. His wife, daughter and son are unaware of the nature of the camp or his work. They are told the camp is a 'farm.'

The boy is lonely having left all his friends behind in the city and befriends a a boy who he thinks works at the farm and not is imprisoned in the concentration camp.

This is a very good film. Striking and devastating at the ending. Not for the faint of heart. Certainly worth seeing. I'd give it an A-.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Twilight

I saw Twilight last night. I really wasn't expecting much. I thought it would only play well to the tween girls. I do like vampire films if they're done well. This was not bad. It had enough vampire lore to make it interesting. Added some new ideas like vampires being outside during daylight hours which would make them more formidable and invincible.

Since the story really revolves around a romance the chemistry between the two leads is very important. Edward and Bella had a definite pull to one another. I wanted to know more about the other vampires in the 'Cullen' family and the rogue vampires, but there wasn't too much character development there. I don't know if there was more in the book or not. I haven't read any in the Twilight series. Let's just say it intrigued me enough to perhaps read it.

Beautiful settings and scenery from the Pacific Northwest. And it helped the vampires hide in the open. I'd give the film a B or B-. Slightly above average.

If you want to see a vampire film more intriguing in theaters right now Let the Right One In is a Swedish film about a 12 year old vampire and a neighbor boy who is subjected to school bullies and becomes her friend. Most definitely more violent and bloody than Twilight too. I'd give it the same B or B- rating but you remember it far longer than the beauty of the vampires in Twilight. It is in Swedish with subtitles.

BTW, last post for Slumdog Millionaire I knew there was one more film I wanted to mention as a must see this year. It was The Visitor with Richard Jenkins. Another great small movie. Completely character driven. So if the Academy members haven't seen them...Slumdog Millionaire, The Visitor, In Bruges and Iron Man. Those were the four best I've seen this year so far...

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Slumdog Millionaire

It's been a million years since I posted.
I saw a film last night that was terrific. Slumdog Millionaire. One of the best films I've seen this year. Up there with Iron Man and In Bruges.

An Indian film, but directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting. If you are put off by subtitles as a friend of mine is, there is no need to worry as this is mostly in English. She thought it was great too. Revolves around a chance at the Millionaire game show and a young man growing up in the slums of India with his brother with only each other to survive. They follow very different courses in their life by the time they're teens.

I'd give the film an A rating. I don't want to give too much of the story away and spoil it. There are three different actors who play the brothers and a girl at different phases in their life. It is always gripping and draws you into the story and the characters. Go see this one! You won't be disappointed.