My Review: Night Moves (4/10)

"It'll all go fast in the end. Once the marine biodiversity goes, everything goes with it."

I was unfamiliar with Kelly Reichardt until Night Moves, but I had heard several great things from her direction in Meek's Cutoff and Wendy and Lucy. Night Moves has also received many praises from critics so I really don't know how I will feel about her other films because this one was a disappointment for me. Perhaps I don't get her style of filmmaking but the entire film felt tedious and there wasn't any tension. For a movie that is centered on a character driven plot I really didn't feel like I learned much about these three radical environmentalists. What motivates them to take these extreme measures? All we know is that they are environmentalists, but I didn't feel like they had any distinct trait. The pacing of this film was really slow and at times I felt like abandoning it, but I continued to watch in hopes that the plot got better. After all, Hollywood Report compared it to the the suspenseful Hitchcock films of the 50's. The final third act of the film was the worst considering some of the decisions made felt completely out of character. Night Moves lacked soul and purpose, I really never managed to get into it despite how much I liked the cast. It was a numbing experience for me and no matter how gorgeous the Oregon landscape was, I simply never bought into the story. Reichardt loves to use steady shots and let the action unfold in front of us, but they were as tedious as the the slow pacing of the film. Nature might be captured beautifully in Night Moves, but the characters' motivations were really hard to believe at times. I tend to enjoy low key films, but for a character driven one I really didn't see much development going on. Yes, Eisenberg's character is alienated, Fanning's is strong willed, and Sarsgaard's is the most adventurous, but other than that we don't get much from their restrained performances. I might be on the minority here so I will give Reichardt another chance and check out one of her previous films to see if I enjoy it better than Night Moves. 

I wouldn't have a problem with a slow burner like Night Moves if the final result was a rewarding experience, but the third act is even less engaging than the previous ones. I can't simply enjoy a film because it's restrained and it's nice to look at. Sure some of the steady long shots looked cool, but after a while it too becomes tedious as the characters in this film. Eisenberg received a lot of praise for his performance here, although I really never bought into his character's motivations. The strongest performance for me came from Peter Sarsgaard who was much more believable and understandable. Dakota Fanning had some interesting scenes as well, but I still had a hard time getting engaged with their characters. Comparisons with The East were almost inevitable for me considering the theme of this film, but somehow I didn't enjoy this as much as Batmanglij's film. That film despite having several flaws managed to maintain the tension throughout most of its running time unlike what I felt with Night Moves which simply failed to deliver suspense or any real drama. 

My Review: Very Good Girls (4/10)

"We got to get over this hump."

Very Good Girls was on my radar ever since I heard it was debuting in last year's Sundance Film Festival. The reason I was attracted towards this despite not knowing anything about the plot was the cast. It starred Elizabeth Olsen who I've been a fan of ever since Martha Marcy May Marlene and Dakota Fanning who I think hasn't matched that same potential she had as a child actress. The supporting cast included Demi Moore, Peter Sarsgaard, Clark Gregg, and Richard Dreyfuss so I was really looking forward to what they could do. This was also the feature film debut from director Naomi Foner who had written a couple of screenplays in the past, but is best known for being the mother of the talented actors, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

You would never guess this screenplay was written by a woman considering these young teenage girls have no personality and their entire lives seem to revolve around this guy they met at a beach. He is the only thing they talk about and both girls end up falling for him, which is pretty much the basic theme of this film as their friendship is tested by their personal feelings towards him. Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen play these young girls who want to lose their virginity before going to college. The guy they both fall for is played by Boyd Holbrook and I really wasn't a huge fan of his performance. I couldn't see why these girls would fall for him as he lacked personality and wasn't really charming either. Both Fanning and Olsen come from very different families. Olsen's parents are played by Richard Dreyfuss and Demi Moore who are very talkative and liberal, while Fanning's parents are played by Clark Gregg and Ellen Barkin and they are much more reserved. The parents don't get much screen time so they weren't really developed very well and all the information we gather from them is through the conversations the two girls have about how they view them (which is almost entirely negative). So that was a big let down for me because I was interested in what these actors could bring to the drama. There is nothing really that engages the audience since none of the characters have any personality whatsoever and not even the love triangle seems too appealing due to the lack of romantic chemistry. The film is only 90 minutes long but it seemed to drag forever and the score didn't help out either. I was hugely disappointed by Very Good Girls and I understand now why it took so long to reach a wider audience after the Festival. 

Unfortunately the talented cast is wasted in this film and not even my appreciation for Elizabeth Olsen engaged me. I didn't even like her character very much here and much less the rest of the cast. Olsen has to find better roles because her latest films haven't exploded her potential very well. I was amazed to see how little Demi Moore and Richard Dreyfuss were used in this film; there could have been a better movie somewhere if they were given more importance. The lack of personality from any character just makes this film even more boring and tedious. There have been so many good coming of age films over the past year that this film simply fails to reach the bar that was set so high by Kings of Summer, The Way Way Back, and The Spectacular Now.  This could have been an opportunity for two strong female leads but they simply didn't have much to work with.

My Review: The Runaways (9/10)

¨I`m the fox you`ve been waiting for. Hello daddy, hello mom, I`m your ch, ch, ch, cherry bomb! Hello world, I`m your wild girl, I`m your ch, ch, ch, cherry bomb! ¨

The Runaways is a biopic about the first all-girl rock band from the 70`s with Cherie Currie as the lead singer and Joan Jett as the second voice and guitarist. The movie is directed by Floria Sigismondi, who is mostly known for directing music videos. Floria also adapted the screenplay for this film from Cherie Currie`s autobiographical book Neon Angel: The Cherrie Currie Story. What makes this an interesting movie is that Joan Jett actually produced this film so we have both views from the main stars of The Runaways that paved the way for other female rock bands in the future. I really enjoyed this biopic and found it one of the most entertaining films of the year so far thanks to a good screenplay and some great performances from the entire cast. The music in the film is also great and Dakota Fanning surprised me with her good vocals. I was not familiar with The Runaways before watching this movie, but I did recognize some of their songs. Cherie Currie might have received all the praise during those early years, but who later rose to fame was Joan Jett, and anyone familiar with the rock industry has heard of her. This is the story of the band she first played for before reaching true fame with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Whether you enjoy rock music or you don`t the movie still is worth your time because it has some great performances and is really well produced, and I guarantee you that by the end of the film you will want to read more about their story.

From a very young age Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) had a dream of one day making history by forming the first all-girl rock band. Rock and roll was her life and it was a way to get away from all her troubles back home (which aren`t developed in this movie). One day she runs into the legendary music producer, Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) who is seduced by her idea and introduces her to drummer Sandy West (Stella Maeve) so that they can start playing together. All the band really needs now according to Kim is a hot lead singer and they find in Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) the perfect one because of her David Bowie and Bridget Bardot look. Or as Fowley puts it: ¨I like your style. A little Bowie, a little Bardot, and a look on your face that says I could kick the shit out of a truck driver.¨ Since the film is based on Currie´s autobiography we do get some background about her family. She basically lives alone with her teenage sister, Marie (Riley Keough) because their mom has left with another man to Indonesia and their dad is an alcoholic. Cherie finds the perfect opportunity to pursue her dreams and joins the band. The movie begins exploring the early years of The Runaways and their rise to fame, along with some of the issues the band faced from arguments to drug addiction. Of course there are a lot of things that are left out in a two hour movie and the film doesn`t delve too much into the character`s past, but it works nonetheless as a biopic about the band.

Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart prove that they can act in more serious and independent roles and don`t have to rely on their star power or act only in blockbuster movies. They give really good performances in this film and are a major reason why this movie was so successful. It would not be fair to ignore Michael Shannon in this film, because his role as Kim Fowley was excellent. It was a supporting role, but he shines in every scene and is also a major reason why this movie worked so well. Yes, the movie does have its flaws because there isn`t enough time to delve in the characters past nor perhaps the real struggles that the band faced, but it is a great movie that will leave you wanting to learn more about their story. The Runaways has a pretty realistic and raw feeling to it and I think Floria Sigismondi did a great job as a first time full length director in this film and with the screenplay as well. I think this is a movie worth seeing whether you are a fan of rock or not. It reminded me a lot of Sam Raimi`s Control (a biopic about the 80`s band Joy Division) which a lot of people haven`t seen either.

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My Review: New Moon (9/10

(9/10) The wait is over for Twilight fans as the second film of the franchise is finally out and just like the first one it`s getting mixed reviews. The saga is based on Stephenie Meyer`s novel of the same name. Just like in the novel, there are going to be four parts and New Moon is the second one of the franchise. I really enjoyed the first Twilight, and thought that the action slash romance was well balanced and worked very well. When I heard Twilight was about vampires I was completely expecting it to be the typical vampire blood sucking movie, but I was suprised to see how different the film was. In New Moon I already knew what to expect, but I found it even better than the first one. I thought it had a lot more action and the addition of the werewolves was a plus because their characters were complex, interesting and it presented a whole new world that hadn`t been introduced to us yet the first time around. The romance also got better as Edward and Bella were seperated and a third character was thrown in the mix, Jacob. The friendship between Bella and Jacob and the mixed feelings of love and friendship that they felt was an interesting addition to the saga. It`s always good when in a film you have mixed feelings for which character you want him or her to end up with and in this case many of the fans were routing for a different guy and that is what explains so many status updates about Team Edward or Team Jacob.

I know this film is targeted towards teenage girls, but it has enough action and good vissual effects to be enjoyed by guys as well. I really thought the special effects were much better than in the first one and after watching 2012 I thought these effects felt cool and they just felt more real and not exagerated. The werewolf transformation scenes were pretty nice, as were the chasing scenes between werewolves and vampires. There is plenty of action for guys to enjoy as well although the first 20 minutes do feel a little cheesy. The dialogue is probably one of the weekest parts of the movie, but the story is just engaging and I guess most guys can identify with the Jacob character. We have all fallen for a girl that sees us as a friend who has always been there for her, but not as boyfriend material. Ouch. I don`t know maybe it`s just the teenage adolescent girl inside of me doing the talking. It feels kind of good of letting that repression out. The love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob was a great addition to the franchise. There were several references to Romeo and Juliet and in a way this film has several similarities to the Shakesperean play (although they could have learned a lesson or two on how to write decent dialogues that didnt feel so cheesy) because of the rivalry between two families, in this case the werewolves and the vampires and somehow Bella is caught in the middle of both worlds.

Another improvement from Twilight were the villains. Micheal Sheen was great as Aro the head vampire of the Volturi (a sort of vampire royalty), and Dakota Fanning was also creepy in her role as Jane a pain inducing illusionist. These villains made you feel like the ones in the first Twilight were a joke. Kristen Stewart is also a delight to watch on screen and she makes the love scenes work despite the bad dialogues. The chemistry between her and Pattinson really works and you can feel the sexual tension between both chracters despite the awkward long pauses and stares. Taylor Lautner plays Jacob, Bella`s best friend who is in love with her and actually is a werewolf who haunts down vampires therefore the plot thickens. The rest of the Cullin family doesnt`t have much screen time as the main focus of the film is in introducing the werewolves and building the relationship between Bella and Jacob. I really enjoyed this movie and it will probably end up in my top ten films of 2009.