The Mist (7/10): Frank Darabont and Stephen King reunited once again!

“You don't have much faith in humanity, do you?”

Frank Darabont’s third adaptation of a Stephen King novel proves without a doubt that he is the best director at bringing the writer’s words to film. The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile were both fantastic films, although not the typical horror novels you’d expect from King. The Mist however is much closer to the horror genre we’d expect from him, and Darabont manages to successfully adapt his work for the third time. Not that there haven’t been other successful King adaptations from other director’s such as Kubrick’s direction in The Shining, Reiner in Misery and Stand By Me, and De Palma in Carrie, but most of the time the adaptations don’t seem to work as well. But when it comes to Frank Darabont he has always managed to impress us with the way he brings those novels to the big screen. I honestly have no idea why I never got around to watching this film considering how much I loved Darabont’s previous work, but I think much of it had to do with my confusion over the 2005 film The Fog. The name of that film was translated in Spanish as “The Niebla” which was the same name they gave The Mist so I thought I had seen this film before and hated it. When I finally realized these were two separate films I decided to watch it and what a pleasant experience it was. The Mist is a fantastic homage to 50 and 60’s monster horror films, but at the same time Darabont seems to be reminding us that no matter how dangerous and ugly these things might be, the true enemy is our own humanity. No matter how much fun the ride was, the ending is what will really stick with you. You will love it and hate it at the same time. 

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is an artist who is working on his latest Hollywood poster painting from his comfortable home in Maine. He is unexpectedly interrupted by a storm and quickly seeks refugee in the basement with his wife and five year-old son, Billy (Nathan Gamble). The next morning they see the damage the fallen trees have left on their home and along with his son and their neighbor Brent (Andre Braugher) they head to the market to buy supplies. There is a heavy mist that seems to be approaching and while they are on their way to the market several firetrucks and army vehicles seem to be heading towards the opposite direction. Once they arrive at the supermarket the mist has already caught up to them and a few minutes later an old man named Dan (Jeffrey DeMunn) runs in half scared to death claiming that there is something in the mist taking people. There are more than 50 people in the market who begin to panic and they decide to close the doors and wait inside for help. David decides to check the generator along with some of the men there including a store employee named Ollie (Toby Jones) and a client named Jim (William Sadler) but what they experience leaves them completely horrified. Some sort of gigantic creature’s tentacles begin to slide under the loading dock door and the men immediately have to shut it. There is no doubt in their minds now that there is definitely something out of this world in the mist. According to Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), the town’s religious fanatic, they are all experiencing God’s wrath for their sinful nature. At first no one pays attention to her, but as the strange creatures begin to creep into the store, she begins to have more followers. David will not only have to look out for what is terrorizing them from the outside, but worry about the growing hate that Mrs. Carmody is sowing in everyone’s hearts. 

In a way, The Mist is sort of The Walking Dead reunion since there are three actors from that series (Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Melissa McBride) in this film. It comes as no surprise since Darabont is one of the producers and directors of that series as well and DeMunn has always worked with him in his other King adaptations. If you are a fan of that series, you will definitely want to check this film out because there could be a clue as to how that series might end. Darabont always has a surprise in store and he is deeply influenced by his good friend Stephen King so you know you can’t expect a cliched finale. As much as I enjoyed this film I did feel that the two hour length was a bit tiresome at some points. The film could’ve been cut a good 20 minutes and the experience could’ve been much better. The Marcia Gay Harden character also got on my nerves and I think they gave her too much screen time. The religious fanatic element was an important plot point but Darabont emphasized it a bit too much. The Mist is still a lot of fun and it delivers several suspenseful moments. 

Serena (3/10): Course 101 on how execution and post production can ruin a film

“I think you’ve taken nine months to do about six months work.”

It’s funny that Jennifer Lawrence was given this line in a film that took over 18 months to make during post-production because for what it is, this could have been edited much better in two or three months. The narrative feels choppy and instead of focusing on the characters in this period piece they move the narrative from one act to the next without ever giving the audience anything to chew on. This is simply a flat period romance with very little chemistry that misfires on all cylinders (editing, casting, and screenplay). You can’t help but feel that there is another film in here somewhere that got lost in the editing room. Serena seemed to be a film aiming for Oscar gold because it had everything going for beginning from the romantic pairing of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper after their incredible success in Silver Linings Playbook. Add the solid Danish director, Susanne Bier (In a Better World), and a script based on Ron Rash’s 2008 novel to the mix and Serena seemed to be a sure bet. I had high expectations for it and many were already including it as a contender for next year’s Academy Award even before it finished being produced. How could a film like this end up being so forgettable and predictable at the same time? I’d guess the blame relies on the producers who tried to cash in on Lawrence and Cooper’s success by centering the film on the romance instead of focusing on the other interesting cast members. The romance never works here because the characters are never fully developed so there is no way we can invest in their relationship. The amazing chemistry these two actors had in their previous film is completely wasted here. Everything about this film seemed disconnected and I am sure it won’t live up to the aspirations the producers and critics had for Serena. 

I have genuinely enjoyed all of Jennifer Lawrence’s performances up to this film. The setting in the woods reminded me of the first time I saw J-Law in Winter’s Bone, a film so richly invested in character development that I was expecting her to deliver another outstanding performance. That comparison to Winter’s Bone only ended up disappointing me. She is extremely over the top in this film and the emotional scenes she gets are never believable. The scenes where she breaks down and cries were painful to watch. Bradley Cooper loses his charm as well, but I guess the blame relies on the script. If you are trying to deliver a strong romantic period piece you have the right actors to do so, but the script doesn’t help build the romance. Bradley Cooper’s character catches up to J-Law on a horse and asks her to marry him and then they are married. The entire film felt sort of chopped up and fast forwarded to the key parts of the story without taking time to give the characters any depth. About 15 minutes into the movie I knew where everything was heading and it was a huge disappointment for me because I expected a lot more from this film. The secondary cast is interesting, but unfortunately very little time is given to these characters. Rhys Ifans, Toby Jones, and David Dencik are extremely talented actors and I wish the script would’ve given them more time. Unfortunately Christopher Kyle’s script misses the mark at every turn. The only positive thing about Serena was Morten Søborg's beautiful cinematography. 

My Review: Snow White and the Huntsman (5/10)

¨Lips red as blood. Hair black as night. Bring me your heart my dear, dear Snow White.¨

This is as close of a Tim Burton version of Snow White then you`ll ever see (even if Tim Burton himself directs one). The visual style of the film is pretty dark, but fascinating. It stands out in the film, but what the movie has going for it visually, it lacks story wise. The movie dragged for very long periods of time and moved really slowly. If it weren’t for the great visuals I might have not made it through this original version of the classic story we`ve all seen hundreds of times before. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney`s first feature length movie and one of my favorite classics. I recall the darkness of it involving the evil witch, but I also remember the sweetness of Snow White and the playfulness of the seven dwarfs. Director Rupert Sanders does a very good job at setting the dark mood thanks to the strong performance from Charlize Theron, but he fails to capture the sweetness and innocence that embodies Snow White. As much as I like Kirsten Stewart, she really never convinced me as Snow White and that is my greatest complaint along with a lack of a better or more engaging storyline. This film was written by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini (the screenplay writer of my favorite film last year: Drive), but despite being beautifully shot and having great visuals it lacked a bit more heart in the story and a better conclusion. Despite moving so slow during most of the story, it seems to finish rather quickly and abruptly at the end. The movie does have some positive things however, such as Chris Hemsworth`s performance and some of the great actors playing the dwarfs.

We are all familiar with Snow White, although this film does take several liberties and takes us different places (despite having several of the same characters and lines from the original like ¨Mirror, mirror on the wall who is fairest of them all? ¨).  Snow White is played by Kristen Stewart who`s a princess until the day her mother dies and her father remarries Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Once Ravenna becomes Queen she murders Snow White`s father and locks her in the towers. The evil Ravenna begins to rule and the kingdom grows very dark. She`s a witch with eternal beauty thanks to the hundreds of girls she`s killed. Their hearts are the secret to her youth and beauty. She rules along with her brother Finn (Sam Spruell) who is more like her servant. Once Ravenna discovers that Snow White`s beauty is a threat to her powers she sends Finn to bring her in order to kill her, but Snow White manages to escape and hides in the dark forest. That is when Ravenna hires the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to go after her and bring her back, but once the Huntsman meets Snow White he decides to protect her instead. Snow White`s childhood friend, William (Sam Claflin), hears she`s still alive and also begins searching for her in order to protect her and overthrow the evil Queen. Along the way Snow White and the Huntsman run into some dwarfs (played by such great actors as Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, and Johnny Harris) who also decide to protect her from the evil powers of the Queen and so the journey continues.

 I actually enjoyed some of the supporting characters in this film. The actors that played the dwarfs brought a lot of comedy to an otherwise very dark and serious film. Chris Hemsworth was the other actor who brought some comedic relief to the table, and perhaps my favorite character of the film (reminding us as to why Thor was so good despite the ridiculous plot). The film had its entertaining moments, but I just felt it too dark of a picture for my enjoyment and really wished it would have had a better ending. Was it better than I expected it to be? Yes, but that doesn’t mean it was good either. Kristen Stewart is a beautiful actress, but she didn’t fit the role of Snow White, she is not the typical sweet actress, there is some darkness in her as well. This is not a kid’s version of Snow White and is mostly for adults, but I still was left with an empty feeling from the theater as if something were missing. I didn’t have a terrible time with this film; I would give it a 5.8, almost enjoyable.

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My Review: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (10/10)

¨It's the oldest question of all, George. Who can spy on the spies? ¨

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy might just be my favorite movie of the year. Director Tomas Alfredson caught my attention a few years ago with his Swedish film Let the Right One in, which in my  opinion is the best vampire film I`ve seen. This is a very different movie, but he still uses very similar techniques. He shoots several shots from a distance which sort of sets the mood of the story dealing with espionage, the setting is also very dark and grayish, and the story moves at a pretty slow pace, but at the same time the mystery and thrills are always there. This is how a spy thriller should be made; it`s about as realistic as any spy film could ever be. I`m sorry for all those Mission Impossible, James Bond, and Jason Bourne fans, but this is a far more superior thriller. Perhaps the action isn’t as entertaining or as easy to follow, but if you stick with this movie and put your complete attention specifically on these characters the result is truly satisfying. This isn’t a popcorn movie you can watch while you’re doing something else; you have to devote time and attention to it. My greatest fear is that viewers are becoming so numbed by mindless action scenes and special effects that we don’t even want to think about a movie while we`re watching it. Sometimes we just want to feel entertained, but we`re not willing to spend time focusing on the story and what is going on. We want everything put in front of us and don`t want to try to discover things on our own. If that is the case then Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not the movie for you, but if you are into a well crafted mystery thriller than you will be in for a pleasant surprise like I was. This was one of the greatest viewing experiences I`ve had this year.

The movie takes place during the Cold War and its set in 1973 London. One of the head members of the British Intelligence Service, named Control (John Hurt), sends one of his agents (Mark Strong) on a special mission to Budapest. Control tells Jim that he received important and confidential information about one of his four top spies being a mole, which would explain why the Russians have been up to date with what is going on in England. Control`s four head spies are Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), Toby Esterhase (David Dencik), Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds), and Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), and he believes one of them is the mole. Control evens suspects his right hand man, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), so he orders Jim to go to Budapest and meet with his contact to find out who the traitor is. He has a code name for each one of the spies (tinker, tailor, soldier, and poorman). When Jim arrives at Budapest the mission goes wrong and it`s clear to Control that the traitor has found out and blown the mission once again. Control is forced to retire after the Budapest fiasco along with George Smiley. A year later Control passes away and one of the British ministers hires Smiley to discover who the mole is after he receives a phone call from a disappeared agent named Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy) who claims to have information about the traitor. Smiley begins investigating with the help of another agent named Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam) and begins piecing things together through a series of interesting and eye-opening flashbacks.

The story is just really well made, it`s really smart, there is a lot of talking going on, and not much action, but it forces you to pay attention to every small detail of the movie. Once the movie is over, you feel like watching it all over again because you feel like you had missed some important details. I really loved this film and was completely satisfied with the movie. The performances are just great, Gary Oldman steals the show. He is so quiet and emotionless; what a really good spy probably looks like. You never know what is going through his mind, but you cant help but think he knows what he`s doing. Then there is Tom Hardy who is always great. He is probably the person who shows more emotion in this movie, but he is brilliant. Peter Guillam, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, and John Hurt are all terrific as well. The movie really has a seventies feel to it and I don’t think you can get closer to that time better than how Alfredson did. The casting, the setting, the filming, the editing, the soundtrack, everything about this film is just perfect. This film, along with Drive, were the best experiences I had with a movie this year. It isn`t a sexy or entertaining film, it will require your complete attention, but the payoff is completely worth it. The screenplay was also really well adapted from the John Le Carre lengthy novel. They were able to condense the story into two hours which is much shorter than the seven hour BBC television version starring Alec Guinness. I really loved this film and absolutely recommend it over any other spy thriller.

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