My Review: Snowpiercer (8/10)

¨Know your place. Accept your place. Be a shoe.¨

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Korean director, Joon-ho Bong, made the transition to this his first English language film because the style and tone of the film still felt entirely Korean despite starring some well known Hollywood actors. I enjoyed this film so much that I ended up watching it twice and that is something I rarely do. Based on the French graphic novel, Le Transperceneige written by Jean-Marc Rochette, Snowpiercer is an ambitious dystopian sci-fi film that despite having a very absurd premise works really well thanks to Bong's direction. It has some great performances with memorable characters, several exciting action scenes mixed with bizarre comedic moments, and a thought provoking metaphor on classicism. It is a bleak film but Bong handled the material so well that it kept me engaged and interested. Unfortunately the film does suffer from a rather unconvincing final act, but for most of its running time I was so entertained that I wasn't too disappointed.

Snowpiercer takes place in 2031 after a failed global-warming experiment has frozen all of Earth and wiped out all life. The only survivors are the passengers of a super train travelling across the globe with a perpetual-motion engine. Designed by Wilford, an engineer who knew the experiment would fail, the train has been running for 17 straight years and a social class system has developed as the passengers of the rear end live in extremely poor conditions. Here we are introduced to a young man named Curtis (Chris Evans) who is trying to come up with a plan to get past all the security guards in order to reach the front section where Wilford is presumed to be. He isn't alone on this quest as most of the passengers are upset for the abuse they've suffered and the extreme poor conditions in which they are forced to live in. A wise old man named Gilliam (John Hurt) who helped Wilford design the engine, has been helping Curtis rally the men together. Curtis's good friend, Edgar (Jamie Bell), is also awaiting the moment to begin their revolution as things begin to get worse once the guards take a few kids away from them. Tanya (Octavia Spencer) and Andrew (Ewen Bremner) are among the victims whose children have been taken away from them so they are also eager to attack. The first step of the plan involves freeing Namgoong (Song Kang-ho), a prisoner who has a special gift for unlocking the doors to each section, but the task won't be easy as the guards will do what it takes to make sure they stay at the rear section of the train.

Bong has directed several successful Korean films like The Host and Memories of a Murder, and in his first English language film his style remains untouched. Despite having some scenes that borderline in the ridiculous he somehow manages to balance those moments really well. For example there is this huge action scene that he has set up between the rebels and the guards who are awaiting them with axes. The bloody and violent confrontation begins, only to be interrupted as the train is approaching a bridge which serves as a landmark for the New Year. The fighting stops for a few seconds as everyone begins the countdown and admires the view of the outside world from inside the train, then the violence and mayhem continue. There are several moments like this where Bong perfectly balances these gorgeously crafted choreographed scenes with moments of quirky comedy and twisted sense of humor. The best example of this type of humor comes from the two characters played by Tilda Swinton (who is unrecognizable in this film) and Alison Pill who are terrific and steal the few scenes they are in. I really loved that classroom scene that felt completely out of place with the dark tail section of the train. I think it was those goofy moments that I enjoyed the most in this film. It was a great sensory experience to get to follow these characters through each section of the train and I have to give Bong credit for his visionary style because as our heroes progress to the front of the train things begin to get more and more bizarre and you never know what to expect. The film is short of being a masterpiece because the final 30 minutes are disappointing, but as a social satire Snowpiercer worked better than other recent sci-fi films like Elysium. It is a very weird and strange film, but it is really good and I enjoyed it even more on my second viewing.

My Review: Goon (5/10)

"Everybody loves the soldiers until they come home and stop fighting."

Goon is a Canadian sports comedy directed by Michael Dowse who has quite a big cult following in Canada due to his 2002 feature film, Fubar. Goon was received really well by critics due to its slapstick and vulgar style of comedy, but I really found this film rather dull. I don't remember laughing once and despite having a strong performance from Seann William Scott (probably the best of his career) I couldn't manage to feel a connection with this sports film. I am a huge sports fan and tend to like these films despite the cliches, but Goon lacked something and it failed to draw me into the story or make me care for these characters. The violence in this comedy is way over the top and the hockey sequences were pretty great, but aside from that I didn't enjoy most of this film. It was just OK but nothing I would be recommending. Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (who has written much funnier work with Superbad and Pineapple Express) adapted the screenplay from Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith's book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey." The film is loosely based on Smith's hockey experience as a minor league player and there are a few other references to some other hockey players for the more enlightened hockey fans. Despite not being a huge hockey fan I do like the sport, but this film worked more as a crude slapstick comedy than an actual hockey drama. I wanted to laugh, but I just never found this film as hilarious as so many others have. They've gone as far as calling this the Slap Shot (Hill's classic 70's film) of this generation, but I don't even think this ranks among the top 10 sports comedies I've seen this decade. The only thing it has in common with that film is the sport. The film is ugly and bloody, and I never found those scenes funny. This isn't your typical William Scott sort of comedy, it is very different, and despite this being his best work I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted to. I thought the love story between him and Alison Pill's was pretty heartwarming, but I would've liked to see some more of that relationship. 

Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) works as a bouncer in a small bar which is an underachievement considering he comes from a family of doctors. His father, Dr. Glatt (Eugene Levy), is not very content with his decision of not wanting to attend college and he is always comparing him to the rest of the family. But Doug knows he isn't smart and doesn't seem to find his place in life. He loves hanging out with his best friend, Pat (Jay Baruchel), a foul mouthed hockey obssesed fan, and the two of them enjoy watching hockey goon, Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber), who they really admire. One night, at a local minor league hockey game Doug gets in a fight with one of the hockey players and the coach of the Highlanders decides to invite him to the tryouts. Despite not having any hockey skills whatsoever, he catches the coach's eyes thanks to his great fighting skills. He also catches Eva's (Alison Pill) eyes in a bar one night and they become romantically involved. Doug seems to have finally found his place in life, but becoming a minor league hockey player won't be an easy ride. 

The film does follow the familiar sports cliche where the lead character's team slowly begins climbing its way to the top after a disastrous start, but it is a very different kind of comedy. Scott gives a credible performance as this simple minded athlete. Liev Schreiber and Alison Pill both give strong performances in their secondary roles and I wish they would've been a little more involved in the story. Goon is a raunchy and bloody comedy that fails to deliver what is most important in a comedy: laughs. Scott plays a character who happens to be extremely polite despite his aggression, and in a way I guess that contrast is what was appealing to the people who liked this film. Somewhere under all that violence and cursing the film had something sort of sweet in Doug, but somehow that never appealed to me. 

My Review: To Rome with Love (8/10)

¨If something is too good to be true, you can bet it’s not.¨

Woody Allen has been directing at least one movie every single year for the past thirty years. It was Rome`s turn for 2012 and although it isn’t as good as his previous film, Midnight in Paris, which won Allen his fourth Oscar for original screenplay, this was still a well written comedy. I laughed really hard at several scenes and enjoyed the film from start to finish. The only problem I had with the film was that the editing was a little choppy in some scenes and the soundtrack was a little annoying, but beside that the film worked really well thanks to some great performances and a great script. It was good to see Woody Allen acting again after six years (the last time was in Scoop) and he is always a charm on camera. I think I`m enjoying Wordy Allen`s films a lot more now than I did his older ones, although it probably has to do because I understand him better now. In To Rome with Love he once again seems to blab about the usual topics such as love, infidelity, fame, success, and death in a very funny and original way. I am a huge Ellen Paige fan, so I was excited to see her on a Woody Allen film and she was just great in the few scenes she shared with Jesse Eisenberg. She never disappoints. I had some high expectations for this film and it never disappointed me. Woody Allen seems to have found a pretty nice groove in Europe and has written yet another very funny comedy. Most fans will be satisfied.

The film takes place in Rome where we have several different romantic stories taking place. These stories aren`t interconnected with each other (other than the fact that they all take place in Rome) and probably aren't in the same time frame either. First we are introduced to Hayley (Alison Pill), an American tourist who is asking for directions to a local she runs into named Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). He gladly takes her to the spot she´s looking for and romance blossoms between them. Then we are introduced to Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), a married man who´s routine life changes all of a sudden when he becomes an instant celebrity (for no apparent reason). John (Alec Baldwin) is a successful architect who is visiting Rome, the city he lived in when he was a student. He runs into Jack (played by Jessie Eisenberg) who takes him to the very same place where he used to live when he was young. We soon discover that John really is reliving his past through Jack. Jack is living with his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) and her best friend Monica (Ellen Paige) is going to be staying with them for a couple of days. Jack can`t help but fall in love with Monica. Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) are a recently married couple from the south of Italy who have arrived in Rome for a job proposal. Milly gets lost in the big city and Antonio has a mistaken encounter with a prostitute named Anna (Penelope Cruz) that will lead to a huge mix up. Woody Allen also has a role in this film as Hayley`s father who comes to meet Michelangelo`s family.

 Each one of the stories work really well in my opinion although I did laugh a little harder with Roberto Benigni`s scenes which remind us all of the perks of being a celebrity, as well as the disadvantages (the overly exaggerated media attention). Woody Allen was also great as the frustrated Opera director who can`t seem to enjoy the idea of retirement and associates it more with dying. I think that is his personal philosophy and thus the reason why he continues to make films at such a fast pace. He refuses to retire from directing. The mix up between Penelope Cruz and Alessandro Tiberi also makes for some funny scenes, but my favorite story had to do with the love triangle between Jessie Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Paige. There were so many different things going on in this film, but somehow Allen managed to make the film work in such a way that every character was made interesting. I`m usually not a fan of these multiple stories in one film, but here it works really well and the surprising thing is that the stories weren’t even interconnected with each other. But it works because Rome becomes the central theme of the film. I really had a fun time with this movie and would recommend it.

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