Scan and Pan
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saw IV
The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) and his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) are dead. Meanwhile, it appears that Jigsaw's deadly games are continuing with new victims, leading FBI agents Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Perez (Athena Karkanis) to suspect that Jigsaw had another apprentice and that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Lieutenant Rigg (Lyriq Bent) are in danger.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III) effectively takes the audience through the twists and turns of a story where past and present collide, employing clever transitions between scenes and keeping the audience guessing until the final plot twist that sets up Saw V. This is the first time that franchise creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell weren't involved in the writing process, but the screenplay by the team of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (Feast) still has the expected clever death traps Saw fans have come to expect while also being a surprisingly character driven entry in the series as a significant amount of time is spent revealing Jigsaw's buried past.
David A. Armstrong has been the cinematographer for all four Saw films, giving the franchise a coherent visual look, and his work here is as stylish as ever. Production designer David Hackl (Saw II, Saw III) continues to provide imaginative sets for the mayhem to occur in (and reportedly he'll direct the next two entries). Charlie Clouser, another veteran of all four films, once again provides one of his trademark dissonant keyboard-driven scores.
Bell continues to make Jigsaw a compelling figure, even more so as we continue to learn more about the man he was before he became a killer. The rest of the cast is solid, including Patterson and Karkanis as the FBI agents, Mandylor as Hoffman, Bent as the increasingly obsessed Rigg, Betsy Russell as Jigsaw's ex-wife, Justin Louis as Jigsaw's former friend and attorney, Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Matthews, and Billy Otis as Jigsaw's very first victim. Smith as Amanda and Dina Meyer as Detective Kerry also appear in flashbacks.
If you're not a Saw fan, you probably won't enjoy this film. If you are, you won't be disappointed by Saw IV. There's a lot of life left in this franchise.
[3.5 out of 5 stars]
By the time most horror film franchises reach their fourth entry, they're like vultures picking over the bones of whatever made them good in the first place. Not so with the Saw franchise. Its fourth entry is the best since the first one.
The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) and his apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith) are dead. Meanwhile, it appears that Jigsaw's deadly games are continuing with new victims, leading FBI agents Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Perez (Athena Karkanis) to suspect that Jigsaw had another apprentice and that Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Lieutenant Rigg (Lyriq Bent) are in danger.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III) effectively takes the audience through the twists and turns of a story where past and present collide, employing clever transitions between scenes and keeping the audience guessing until the final plot twist that sets up Saw V. This is the first time that franchise creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell weren't involved in the writing process, but the screenplay by the team of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (Feast) still has the expected clever death traps Saw fans have come to expect while also being a surprisingly character driven entry in the series as a significant amount of time is spent revealing Jigsaw's buried past.
David A. Armstrong has been the cinematographer for all four Saw films, giving the franchise a coherent visual look, and his work here is as stylish as ever. Production designer David Hackl (Saw II, Saw III) continues to provide imaginative sets for the mayhem to occur in (and reportedly he'll direct the next two entries). Charlie Clouser, another veteran of all four films, once again provides one of his trademark dissonant keyboard-driven scores.
Bell continues to make Jigsaw a compelling figure, even more so as we continue to learn more about the man he was before he became a killer. The rest of the cast is solid, including Patterson and Karkanis as the FBI agents, Mandylor as Hoffman, Bent as the increasingly obsessed Rigg, Betsy Russell as Jigsaw's ex-wife, Justin Louis as Jigsaw's former friend and attorney, Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Matthews, and Billy Otis as Jigsaw's very first victim. Smith as Amanda and Dina Meyer as Detective Kerry also appear in flashbacks.
If you're not a Saw fan, you probably won't enjoy this film. If you are, you won't be disappointed by Saw IV. There's a lot of life left in this franchise.
[3.5 out of 5 stars]
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
30 Days of Night
Barrow, Alaska. A town so far north that it's in complete darkness for thirty days every year. A group of vampires led by Marlow (Danny Huston) decide to make a feast of its residents during those thirty days, and so the carnage begins. Can Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) save themselves and the town?
Director David Slade (Hard Candy) delivers impressive visuals and some effective scenes of the town being decimated, but as a whole fails to create much in the way of suspense or emotional connection to the plight of the characters. Never mind vampires draining people of blood, the life's been drained right out of this film. Scenes that are meant to scare the audience are flatly directed. Scenes that are meant to make us care about the characters are uninteresting.
The screenplay credited to Niles, Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), and Brian Nelson (Hard Candy) is generally faithful to the story in the miniseries, but where the source material offered originality and well-realized characters, the screen version is predictable and surprisingly thin on characterization.
Cinematographer Jo Willems (Hard Candy), production designer Paul Denham Austerberry (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), and costume designer Jane Holland (Riverworld) do a remarkable job of translating Templesmith's art onto the big screen. It literally looks like you stepped into the panels of the comic book, right down to the Max Schreck by way of a shark look of the vampires, who are impressively realized with makeup and visual effects. The visuals are the best thing about this film. The discordant score by Brian Reitzell (Stranger Than Fiction) effectively conveys a creepy mood.
The cast is solid. There are no great performances, but no bad ones, either. Besides Hartnett, George, and Huston, the cast includes Ben Foster as a human who does the dirty work of the vampires before the sun sets, Mark Rendall as Eben's teenaged brother, Mark Boone Junior as the rugged loner Beau, Manu Bennett as the deputy sheriff, Megan Franich as one of the vampires, and Amber Sainsbury, Joel Tobeck, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Nathaniel Lees, Craig Hall, and Chic Littlewood as the principal survivors of the first night.
30 Days of Night is visually pleasing and technically well made, but as a dramatic presentation it's all rather anemic. A story about people facing unthinkable horror and trapped in an isolated setting simply shouldn't be this dull.
[2 out of 5 stars]
In 2002, IDW Publishing published a comic book miniseries by writer Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith that reinvigorated the vampire genre. Unfortunately, the much anticipated film adaptation produced by Sam Raimi (director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man films) is a big disappointment.
Barrow, Alaska. A town so far north that it's in complete darkness for thirty days every year. A group of vampires led by Marlow (Danny Huston) decide to make a feast of its residents during those thirty days, and so the carnage begins. Can Sheriff Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) save themselves and the town?
Director David Slade (Hard Candy) delivers impressive visuals and some effective scenes of the town being decimated, but as a whole fails to create much in the way of suspense or emotional connection to the plight of the characters. Never mind vampires draining people of blood, the life's been drained right out of this film. Scenes that are meant to scare the audience are flatly directed. Scenes that are meant to make us care about the characters are uninteresting.
The screenplay credited to Niles, Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), and Brian Nelson (Hard Candy) is generally faithful to the story in the miniseries, but where the source material offered originality and well-realized characters, the screen version is predictable and surprisingly thin on characterization.
Cinematographer Jo Willems (Hard Candy), production designer Paul Denham Austerberry (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), and costume designer Jane Holland (Riverworld) do a remarkable job of translating Templesmith's art onto the big screen. It literally looks like you stepped into the panels of the comic book, right down to the Max Schreck by way of a shark look of the vampires, who are impressively realized with makeup and visual effects. The visuals are the best thing about this film. The discordant score by Brian Reitzell (Stranger Than Fiction) effectively conveys a creepy mood.
The cast is solid. There are no great performances, but no bad ones, either. Besides Hartnett, George, and Huston, the cast includes Ben Foster as a human who does the dirty work of the vampires before the sun sets, Mark Rendall as Eben's teenaged brother, Mark Boone Junior as the rugged loner Beau, Manu Bennett as the deputy sheriff, Megan Franich as one of the vampires, and Amber Sainsbury, Joel Tobeck, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Nathaniel Lees, Craig Hall, and Chic Littlewood as the principal survivors of the first night.
30 Days of Night is visually pleasing and technically well made, but as a dramatic presentation it's all rather anemic. A story about people facing unthinkable horror and trapped in an isolated setting simply shouldn't be this dull.
[2 out of 5 stars]
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a fixer for a prestigious law firm. After the firm's top litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), suffers a manic episode and damages an important case, Clayton is called in to clean things up. He learns that Edens was defending a corporation against a class action lawsuit brought over a toxic chemical that killed hundreds of people when his conscience caught up to him, triggering his manic episode. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the corporation's general counsel, hires her own fixers (Robert Prescott, Terry Serpico) of a more deadly kind to ensure that the truth remains buried.
Writer and first time director Tony Gilroy, who previously wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for all three Bourne films, makes an impressive debut at the helm with a smart, character driven thriller that sleekly unfolds like a cleverly planned maze. Several times I thought the film was headed in one direction only to discover it was actually bound for a much different destination. The rhythm of the film is that of a slow burn, but the slower pace serves to heighten the suspense. Instead of relying on numerous action scenes, Gilroy turns to characterization, dialog, and a carefully plotted story to build and sustain interest. It's a throwback to the intelligent thrillers of the 1970s like Three Days of the Condor, and the director of that film (Sydney Pollack) is one of the producers of this film (as well as a member of its cast).
Cinematographer Robert Elswit (Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana) contributes low key lighting that neatly balances realism and style, while James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, Blood Diamond) contributes an atmospheric, almost ambient, score that plays a big part in setting the mood for the film. Film editor John Gilroy (the director's brother, who previously worked on Narc and First Born) keeps the pacing tight, and the two hour film never once feels padded.
Clooney combines his movie star charisma with a performance from the gut to deliver a strong portrayal of the title character, a man weary of cleaning up the messes of others, whether they're clients or relatives. Clayton seemingly lives on auto-pilot, doing what he does because he doesn't know what else to do. Wilkinson is compelling as the bipolar attorney whose conscience finally gets the best of him, and his manic rants ring with intensity. Swinton is sublime as Karen Crowder, from practicing an interview to chillingly ordering murders in a way that gives her full deniability to what she does in the final scene. Her desperation and ambition are palpable.
This is a well-cast film from top to bottom with good performances by the entire cast, including Sydney Pollack as the ruthless head of the law firm, Michael O'Keefe as one of the firm's partners, Prescott and Serpico as the other fixers, Merritt Wever as a young woman Edens is trying to help, Sean Cullen as Clayton's police officer brother, David Lansbury as Clayton's gambling addict brother, Denis O'Hare as one of Clayton's clients, and Austin Williams as Clayton's young son.
The basic plot of a corporation trying to subvert justice isn't a new one, but writer/director Tony Gilroy finds a fresh approach and plays it out with well-drawn characters, smart dialog, and a great cast. From the very first frame to the very last, I was completely engrossed in the story of Michael Clayton.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
Despite the unassuming title, this is a smashingly good thriller made with skill and conviction, and sure to garner some Oscar nominations.
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a fixer for a prestigious law firm. After the firm's top litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), suffers a manic episode and damages an important case, Clayton is called in to clean things up. He learns that Edens was defending a corporation against a class action lawsuit brought over a toxic chemical that killed hundreds of people when his conscience caught up to him, triggering his manic episode. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the corporation's general counsel, hires her own fixers (Robert Prescott, Terry Serpico) of a more deadly kind to ensure that the truth remains buried.
Writer and first time director Tony Gilroy, who previously wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for all three Bourne films, makes an impressive debut at the helm with a smart, character driven thriller that sleekly unfolds like a cleverly planned maze. Several times I thought the film was headed in one direction only to discover it was actually bound for a much different destination. The rhythm of the film is that of a slow burn, but the slower pace serves to heighten the suspense. Instead of relying on numerous action scenes, Gilroy turns to characterization, dialog, and a carefully plotted story to build and sustain interest. It's a throwback to the intelligent thrillers of the 1970s like Three Days of the Condor, and the director of that film (Sydney Pollack) is one of the producers of this film (as well as a member of its cast).
Cinematographer Robert Elswit (Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana) contributes low key lighting that neatly balances realism and style, while James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, Blood Diamond) contributes an atmospheric, almost ambient, score that plays a big part in setting the mood for the film. Film editor John Gilroy (the director's brother, who previously worked on Narc and First Born) keeps the pacing tight, and the two hour film never once feels padded.
Clooney combines his movie star charisma with a performance from the gut to deliver a strong portrayal of the title character, a man weary of cleaning up the messes of others, whether they're clients or relatives. Clayton seemingly lives on auto-pilot, doing what he does because he doesn't know what else to do. Wilkinson is compelling as the bipolar attorney whose conscience finally gets the best of him, and his manic rants ring with intensity. Swinton is sublime as Karen Crowder, from practicing an interview to chillingly ordering murders in a way that gives her full deniability to what she does in the final scene. Her desperation and ambition are palpable.
This is a well-cast film from top to bottom with good performances by the entire cast, including Sydney Pollack as the ruthless head of the law firm, Michael O'Keefe as one of the firm's partners, Prescott and Serpico as the other fixers, Merritt Wever as a young woman Edens is trying to help, Sean Cullen as Clayton's police officer brother, David Lansbury as Clayton's gambling addict brother, Denis O'Hare as one of Clayton's clients, and Austin Williams as Clayton's young son.
The basic plot of a corporation trying to subvert justice isn't a new one, but writer/director Tony Gilroy finds a fresh approach and plays it out with well-drawn characters, smart dialog, and a great cast. From the very first frame to the very last, I was completely engrossed in the story of Michael Clayton.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Top 10 Films So Far
10. Hairspray
9. Halloween
8. Stardust
7. Eastern Promises
6. Black Snake Moan
5. Zodiac
4. Sunshine
3. 3:10 to Yuma
2. Across the Universe
And the best so far...
1. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The year's not over yet, but here are the top 10 films I've seen so far.
10. Hairspray
9. Halloween
8. Stardust
7. Eastern Promises
6. Black Snake Moan
5. Zodiac
4. Sunshine
3. 3:10 to Yuma
2. Across the Universe
And the best so far...
1. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Friday, October 19, 2007
3:10 to Yuma
Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a disabled Civil War veteran and impoverished rancher in peril of losing his land to the railroad. After Dan and his two sons witness the ambush of a stagecoach by outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang, Dan helps the lone survivor of the stagecoach crew, bounty hunter Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), and is instrumental in the capture of Wade. In exchange for some much needed cash, Dan volunteers to help McElroy and railroad representative Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) transport Wade to Contention City to be put on a train bound for the prison in Yuma, a task that's complicated by the determination of Wade's lieutenant Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) to rescue him from the clutches of the law.
Director James Mangold (Cop Land, Walk the Line) subtly distills all the tropes of classic Westerns into a single film that intelligently explores the moral ambiguities of its characters and the West, and there isn't as much as a single extraneous frame in this tautly executed study of men who are as unpredictable as the landscape they inhabit. Mangold successfully invokes the ambience of a classic Western while employing modern pacing and sensibilities to tell the story. The splendid pacing starts out at a slow burn and builds toward a dramatic climax.
Screenwriters Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (2 Fast 2 Furious) deftly update and expand upon the 1957 screenplay by Halsted Welles, which was loosely based on Elmore Leonard's short story, offering characters that are as complex and vividly drawn as the story is compelling from start to finish, leading inevitably toward a memorable denouement that arrives like a shot to the gut. As a remake, it never once feels superfluous.
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Identity, Walk the Line) uses hard, textured lighting to capture a naturalistic impression of the rugged New Mexico landscape where it was filmed. Production designer Andrew Menzies (art director of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Munich) and costumer designer Arianne Phillips (The Crow, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) strive for and achieve an authenticity that instantly transports the audience into the Old West. The brooding score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Live Free or Die Hard) seals the mood.
3:10 to Yuma is an actor's film, and both Bale and Crowe deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Bale always excels at playing damaged men, and he's outstanding here as a man beaten down by life and trying to find a way to redeem himself. He allows much of Dan's inner torment to go unspoken, revealed instead only in his eyes. Crowe is magnificent as he revels in the complexity of a charming, morally ambiguous outlaw. You may love or hate Wade by turns, but you'll always be fascinated by him. Crowe's performance is at once subtle and bravura, vividly etching onto the screen a character who's more than just the sum of his outlaw reputation.
The strong performances don't stop there, with Fonda as the grizzled bounty hunter, Foster as Wade's vicious lieutenant (seemingly in love with his boss), Roberts as the railroad man, Logan Lerman as Dan's rebellious teenaged son, Gretchen Mol as Dan's weary wife, Alan Tudyk as the town veterinarian pressed into service as a doctor, Luce Rains as the Marshal, and Kevin Durand as the local landlord's hired muscle.
Although the heyday of the Western was decades ago, it's a genre that still has a lot to say when done right. 3:10 to Yuma is not only done right, it's a flawless film that instantly joins Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven as one of the rare modern classics of the Western genre.
[5 out of 5 stars]
The Western genre makes a triumphant return to the big screen with a searing and suspenseful character study remade from a 1957 classic that starred Van Heflin and Glenn Ford.
Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a disabled Civil War veteran and impoverished rancher in peril of losing his land to the railroad. After Dan and his two sons witness the ambush of a stagecoach by outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang, Dan helps the lone survivor of the stagecoach crew, bounty hunter Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), and is instrumental in the capture of Wade. In exchange for some much needed cash, Dan volunteers to help McElroy and railroad representative Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) transport Wade to Contention City to be put on a train bound for the prison in Yuma, a task that's complicated by the determination of Wade's lieutenant Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) to rescue him from the clutches of the law.
Director James Mangold (Cop Land, Walk the Line) subtly distills all the tropes of classic Westerns into a single film that intelligently explores the moral ambiguities of its characters and the West, and there isn't as much as a single extraneous frame in this tautly executed study of men who are as unpredictable as the landscape they inhabit. Mangold successfully invokes the ambience of a classic Western while employing modern pacing and sensibilities to tell the story. The splendid pacing starts out at a slow burn and builds toward a dramatic climax.
Screenwriters Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (2 Fast 2 Furious) deftly update and expand upon the 1957 screenplay by Halsted Welles, which was loosely based on Elmore Leonard's short story, offering characters that are as complex and vividly drawn as the story is compelling from start to finish, leading inevitably toward a memorable denouement that arrives like a shot to the gut. As a remake, it never once feels superfluous.
Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Identity, Walk the Line) uses hard, textured lighting to capture a naturalistic impression of the rugged New Mexico landscape where it was filmed. Production designer Andrew Menzies (art director of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Munich) and costumer designer Arianne Phillips (The Crow, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) strive for and achieve an authenticity that instantly transports the audience into the Old West. The brooding score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Live Free or Die Hard) seals the mood.
3:10 to Yuma is an actor's film, and both Bale and Crowe deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Bale always excels at playing damaged men, and he's outstanding here as a man beaten down by life and trying to find a way to redeem himself. He allows much of Dan's inner torment to go unspoken, revealed instead only in his eyes. Crowe is magnificent as he revels in the complexity of a charming, morally ambiguous outlaw. You may love or hate Wade by turns, but you'll always be fascinated by him. Crowe's performance is at once subtle and bravura, vividly etching onto the screen a character who's more than just the sum of his outlaw reputation.
The strong performances don't stop there, with Fonda as the grizzled bounty hunter, Foster as Wade's vicious lieutenant (seemingly in love with his boss), Roberts as the railroad man, Logan Lerman as Dan's rebellious teenaged son, Gretchen Mol as Dan's weary wife, Alan Tudyk as the town veterinarian pressed into service as a doctor, Luce Rains as the Marshal, and Kevin Durand as the local landlord's hired muscle.
Although the heyday of the Western was decades ago, it's a genre that still has a lot to say when done right. 3:10 to Yuma is not only done right, it's a flawless film that instantly joins Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven as one of the rare modern classics of the Western genre.
[5 out of 5 stars]
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Across the Universe
Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a young dock worker from Liverpool who travels to the United States in the mid-1960s to find the American G.I. father (Robert Clohessy) he never knew. He befriends the privileged Max (Joe Anderson) and his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Jude and Lucy fall in love, and their relationship develops against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War, student protests, and societal upheaval.
Although Taymor's background is in stage productions, all of her films are intensely visual in a way that can only be described as mainlining pure cinema directly into the veins of an audience. She's one of the rare filmmakers who knows how to use all the tools of the visual arts to expand the horizons of cinema. Across the Universe is no different. Taymor and screenwriters Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (The Commitments, Flushed Away) craft a cleverly complex story told as a series of interconnected vignettes around the songs of the Beatles to explore the 1960s through the eyes of the characters. It never feels anachronistic because its themes are directly relevant to contemporary society. Taymor translates the screenplay into a film that's visually literate, highly metaphorical, and an emotionally powerful artistic statement.
Some controversy arose during post-production after Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth decided to make his own edit without informing Taymor, cutting out nearly a third of the film. After months of conflict between Taymor and Roth, the studio relented and released Taymor's 131 minute cut. The film's structure is so intricately woven that it's hard to imagine a radically shortened version working at all. Thankfully, Taymor's vision prevailed.
Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie), production designer Mark Friedberg (The Ice Storm, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and veteran costume designer Albert Wolsky (Grease, All That Jazz) bring Taymor's vision to vivid life in a sense stunning fashion, delicately treading a fine line between realism and artifice. Elliot Goldenthal (Titus, Frida) contributes some original music and is also one of the people responsible for the song arrangements. You've never heard the Beatles quite like this.
There are thirty-four Beatles songs used in the film, mostly compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but also three from George Harrison and one credited to all four band members. As if any further proof is really necessary, it once again shows why Lennon and McCartney were two of the greatest writers of popular music in the 20th century. The musical numbers are brilliantly staged by Taymor and choreographer Daniel Ezralow (Earth Girls Are Easy), and they all work perfectly in the context of the story.
Taymor gets great acting and singing performances out of her cast, including the McCartney-esque Sturgess as Jude, Wood as Lucy, Anderson as the Vietnam-bound Max, Dana Fuchs as the Janis Joplin-inspired singer Sadie, Martin Luther McCoy as guitarist/singer JoJo (inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye), T.V. Carpio as yearning runaway Prudence, Clohessy as Jude's long lost father, U2 frontman Bono as the charismatic Dr. Robert (his performance of "I Am the Walrus" is outstanding), Eddie Izzard as the circus ringmaster Mr. Kite, Salma Hayek as a nurse, and Joe Cocker in three different roles.
It's not often that a piece of cinema raises itself to the sublime level of a work of art, but Across the Universe is one of those rare examples. It's mind-blowing in all the right ways and very highly recommended. It's only the second film this year (the other was The Wind That Shakes the Barley) that I feel is worthy of a full five stars.
[5 out of 5 stars]
The story of the 1960s told as a musical based on the songs of the Beatles. It's a concept that could only result in a film that's either totally brilliant or totally pretentious. In the hands of visionary screen and stage director Julie Taymor (Titus, Frida, Broadway's The Lion King), it's the former, and it immediately ranks as one of the great films of 2007.
Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a young dock worker from Liverpool who travels to the United States in the mid-1960s to find the American G.I. father (Robert Clohessy) he never knew. He befriends the privileged Max (Joe Anderson) and his sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). Jude and Lucy fall in love, and their relationship develops against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War, student protests, and societal upheaval.
Although Taymor's background is in stage productions, all of her films are intensely visual in a way that can only be described as mainlining pure cinema directly into the veins of an audience. She's one of the rare filmmakers who knows how to use all the tools of the visual arts to expand the horizons of cinema. Across the Universe is no different. Taymor and screenwriters Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (The Commitments, Flushed Away) craft a cleverly complex story told as a series of interconnected vignettes around the songs of the Beatles to explore the 1960s through the eyes of the characters. It never feels anachronistic because its themes are directly relevant to contemporary society. Taymor translates the screenplay into a film that's visually literate, highly metaphorical, and an emotionally powerful artistic statement.
Some controversy arose during post-production after Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth decided to make his own edit without informing Taymor, cutting out nearly a third of the film. After months of conflict between Taymor and Roth, the studio relented and released Taymor's 131 minute cut. The film's structure is so intricately woven that it's hard to imagine a radically shortened version working at all. Thankfully, Taymor's vision prevailed.
Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie), production designer Mark Friedberg (The Ice Storm, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and veteran costume designer Albert Wolsky (Grease, All That Jazz) bring Taymor's vision to vivid life in a sense stunning fashion, delicately treading a fine line between realism and artifice. Elliot Goldenthal (Titus, Frida) contributes some original music and is also one of the people responsible for the song arrangements. You've never heard the Beatles quite like this.
There are thirty-four Beatles songs used in the film, mostly compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but also three from George Harrison and one credited to all four band members. As if any further proof is really necessary, it once again shows why Lennon and McCartney were two of the greatest writers of popular music in the 20th century. The musical numbers are brilliantly staged by Taymor and choreographer Daniel Ezralow (Earth Girls Are Easy), and they all work perfectly in the context of the story.
Taymor gets great acting and singing performances out of her cast, including the McCartney-esque Sturgess as Jude, Wood as Lucy, Anderson as the Vietnam-bound Max, Dana Fuchs as the Janis Joplin-inspired singer Sadie, Martin Luther McCoy as guitarist/singer JoJo (inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye), T.V. Carpio as yearning runaway Prudence, Clohessy as Jude's long lost father, U2 frontman Bono as the charismatic Dr. Robert (his performance of "I Am the Walrus" is outstanding), Eddie Izzard as the circus ringmaster Mr. Kite, Salma Hayek as a nurse, and Joe Cocker in three different roles.
It's not often that a piece of cinema raises itself to the sublime level of a work of art, but Across the Universe is one of those rare examples. It's mind-blowing in all the right ways and very highly recommended. It's only the second film this year (the other was The Wind That Shakes the Barley) that I feel is worthy of a full five stars.
[5 out of 5 stars]
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a seemingly ordinary American boy living in England with his family until he learns on his fourteenth birthday that he's destined to become a warrior fighting on the side of the Light against the Dark, the latter personified by the menacing Rider (Christopher Eccleston). Will has mere days to locate six objects of power and use them to defeat the Rider before he can bring about the apocalypse.
Director David L. Cunningham (The Road to 9/11) has a background in television and at times this film feels like an oversized television production, but overall Cunningham does a good job of visualizing the story and conveying its themes, while relying more on character than visual effects to move things along. Screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) said in an interview that he read Cooper's novel and just couldn't get into it, which likely explains why he felt comfortable making so many unnecessary changes to it. Faithfulness to the source material aside, Hodge's script has a compact narrative and a well-realized protagonist, although the climactic showdown between Will and the Rider is too brief to be fully satisfying.
Major changes from the novel include transforming Will from an 11-year-old English boy to a 14-year old American boy, the inclusion of several action sequences, the removal of all pagan and Arthurian elements, and the complete excision of an important character (The Walker). The list of changes is a long one.
Although filmed in Romania, cinematographer Joel Ransom (the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries and The Road to 9/11) and production designer David Lee (art director for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) create a beautiful and mysterious England of fog and snow, of small villages and ancient churches. The lighting and set design are both excellent. Christophe Beck (License to Wed) contributes a competent fantasy score.
Ludwig gives a strong performance as Will, convincingly portraying his character's evolution from alienated schoolboy to magical hero, with all the angst that entails. Without his presence, the film wouldn't work even half as well. Former Doctor Who star Eccleston is splendid as the story's villain, although he doesn't get nearly enough screen time.
The rest of the cast is solid and well-chosen, including Ian McShane as Merriman, Frances Conroy as Miss Greythorne, James Cosmo as Dawson, Jim Piddock as Old George, Amelia Warner as an older girl who Will has a crush on, John Benjamin Hickey and Wendy Crewson as Will's parents, Emma Lockhart as Will's sister, and Gregory Smith as Will's brother Max.
If The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising never reaches the magical highs of the Harry Potter films, it also doesn't hit the lows of an Eragon. If you're a fan of the novel, you'll be extremely disappointed by the screen version. If you haven't read the novel or can put aside your thoughts about it, it offers a fair amount of entertainment value.
[3 out of 5 stars]
Walden Media wants to create the next big fantasy film franchise à la the Harry Potter films or its own Chronicles of Narnia. As an adaptation of Susan Cooper's popular fantasy novel, "The Dark Is Rising", it's a travesty. Judged on its own merits as a film, it's a solidly entertaining effort, although unlikely to start a franchise.
Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a seemingly ordinary American boy living in England with his family until he learns on his fourteenth birthday that he's destined to become a warrior fighting on the side of the Light against the Dark, the latter personified by the menacing Rider (Christopher Eccleston). Will has mere days to locate six objects of power and use them to defeat the Rider before he can bring about the apocalypse.
Director David L. Cunningham (The Road to 9/11) has a background in television and at times this film feels like an oversized television production, but overall Cunningham does a good job of visualizing the story and conveying its themes, while relying more on character than visual effects to move things along. Screenwriter John Hodge (Trainspotting) said in an interview that he read Cooper's novel and just couldn't get into it, which likely explains why he felt comfortable making so many unnecessary changes to it. Faithfulness to the source material aside, Hodge's script has a compact narrative and a well-realized protagonist, although the climactic showdown between Will and the Rider is too brief to be fully satisfying.
Major changes from the novel include transforming Will from an 11-year-old English boy to a 14-year old American boy, the inclusion of several action sequences, the removal of all pagan and Arthurian elements, and the complete excision of an important character (The Walker). The list of changes is a long one.
Although filmed in Romania, cinematographer Joel Ransom (the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries and The Road to 9/11) and production designer David Lee (art director for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) create a beautiful and mysterious England of fog and snow, of small villages and ancient churches. The lighting and set design are both excellent. Christophe Beck (License to Wed) contributes a competent fantasy score.
Ludwig gives a strong performance as Will, convincingly portraying his character's evolution from alienated schoolboy to magical hero, with all the angst that entails. Without his presence, the film wouldn't work even half as well. Former Doctor Who star Eccleston is splendid as the story's villain, although he doesn't get nearly enough screen time.
The rest of the cast is solid and well-chosen, including Ian McShane as Merriman, Frances Conroy as Miss Greythorne, James Cosmo as Dawson, Jim Piddock as Old George, Amelia Warner as an older girl who Will has a crush on, John Benjamin Hickey and Wendy Crewson as Will's parents, Emma Lockhart as Will's sister, and Gregory Smith as Will's brother Max.
If The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising never reaches the magical highs of the Harry Potter films, it also doesn't hit the lows of an Eragon. If you're a fan of the novel, you'll be extremely disappointed by the screen version. If you haven't read the novel or can put aside your thoughts about it, it offers a fair amount of entertainment value.
[3 out of 5 stars]
