White Bird in a Blizzard (5/10): An uneven film that unsuccessfully mixes genres.

“And just like that, my virginity disappeared. Just like my mother.”

I did not make that quote up; Shailene Woodley’s character (Kat Connors) actually says this while she narrates her life to a psychologist played by Angela Bassett. I wasn’t familiar with director Gregg Araki’s previous work, but I found this mysterious thriller problematic and at odds with itself. On the one hand it focuses on Kat’s sexual awakening, but on the other we are introduced with some cartoonish characters like Eva Green’s Eve Connors who seems to be playing a similar role as she did in 300 and Sin City. She gives a very campy performance, while Woodley is playing an authentic character. I just found the tone of the film very strange and didn’t buy into the mix of styles. Araki is playing with genre conventions here mixing the coming of age tale with other familiar thrillers, but it didn’t work for me because the dialogue at times is unbelievable and Araki seems to be leaving us false hints of what actually happened only to pull the rug under us with a twist at the end of the film. White Bird in a Blizzard is based on Laura Kasischke’s novel of the same name and was adapted by Araki himself. I’ve never read the novel so I don’t know if it has a similar tone, but the film felt surreal at times. There are some great looking scenes during Kat’s dream sequences, but there isn’t much more going on story wise. The narration is awful and it also brings down the film. 

It’s funny because the plot of this film is what I thought The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby would be like. A woman goes missing and the film would revolve around the mystery behind her disappearance. Kat (Shailene Woodley) narrates the events of her mother’s disappearance (Eva Green) claiming she had never been in love with her father, Brock (Christopher Meloni). Kat believes she simply got fed up with Brock and walked out on him. Her relationship with her mother hasn’t been great either so she doesn’t seem to mind her absence. She is comfortable with her current situation and doesn’t think she even needs to talk to a psychologist about it. When she was young her mother treated her like a pet, but once she got older she began to resent her for her youth and beauty. Kat meanwhile is in a relationship with her next door neighbor, Phil (Shiloh Fernandez), who is her first love. Lately he hasn’t seemed too interested in spending time with her, and when her mother goes missing, she and her father file a report with Detective Scieziesciez (Thomas Jane) who she finds attractive despite the age difference. Kat is very open with her two best friends, Beth (Gabourey Sidibe) and  Mickey (Mark Indelicate) about her sexual life. There isn’t very much going on with the plot since Kat doesn’t think much about her mother’s mysterious disappearance and we know how she feels because she is narrating the story to her psychiatrist. Things change when a few years pass and Kat returns home from college. She discovers that her mother’s disappearance has affected her more than she realized and we begin to discover new elements about the mystery. This final act of the film plays out more as a traditional mystery movie and I was actually surprised with the final reveal. It is a shift of tone from what we had seen during the first half of the movie which played out as a coming of age sexual awakening tale. I can’t recommend White Bird in a Blizzard, but it does have its moments. Shailene Woodley delivers a very strong performance (but I still think she was better in The Descendants and The Spectacular Now) and she is a talented young actress. I wasn’t a fan of Eva Green’s campy performance, but I have read some praise. Other than Woodley’s performance I don’t think there is much more worth recommending here.

My Review: Olympus Has Fallen (5/10)

¨United States of America doesn't negotiate with terrorists.¨

Olympus Has Fallen reminded me a lot of those action films in the 90's that I grew up loving. The only problem is that I just don't feel the same way about those movies anymore. These action packed films follow a very similar formula and despite the great performance from Gerard Butler in the lead role I couldn't help but feel that the film lacked originality. I felt the tension and the suspense while I was watching this action packed film, but at the same time I kept on thinking to myself how stupid the plot was. This is a film that would have been a lot better if it used some comedy and didn't take itself so seriously. A lot of comparisons to Die Hard have been made because it follows pretty much the same exact formula, except for the fact that Die Hard had some comedic moments that allowed the audience to not take everything so seriously. This could have been a great plot for a Die Hard film. Antoine Fuqua has made some great films, but none of them have reached the potential of his 2001 Training Day. Olympus Has Fallen is an improvement over Tears of the Sun and King Arthur, but Fuqua still hasn't managed to deliver as strong a film as he did with that one starring Denzel Washington. I wasn't won over by this film, but I think it will win a lot of fans due to the action packed thrills and great performances by the strong cast. It was a lot better than what I thought it would be.

The film centers on Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) a former President Guard who is sent to work for the Treasury Department after the President's (Aaron Eckhart) wife passes away in a terrible traffic accident. Banning hates his new desk job and desperately wants back in at the White House. The opportunity comes when a terrorist group from North Korea attacks the Oval office and holds the President hostage in the bunker along with several other important American officials. Despite the Army and Secret Service's efforts they could do nothing to prevent the attack, and the only man inside the White House that can do something is Banning. Meanwhile the Speaker of the House, Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is now in charge of the country and begins communicating with the terrorist leader, Kang (Rick Yune) who makes his demands. The people from the Pentagon are forced to put their trust on Banning who is the only man who can give them inside information. This is Banning's opportunity for redemption as the President's life is on the line.

Despite being formulaic, the film does something a little different. There are several casualties here as several civilians get killed. People who still suffer from post 9-11 trauma might want to stay away from this movie because there are a lot of scenes that will remind them of that episode. The action is packed and there are several moments of tension because several people are killed off. Fuqua wasn't afraid to show the amount of casualties lost from the attack. Other than that the film follows pretty much the same formula action junkies have come to love from action films like Die Hard, Air Force One, and Con Air. Despite the silliness of the premise, many people might enjoy this film. It was a lot better than I expected, but I still can't recommend it for its lack of originality. Olympus Has Fallen is loud, action-packed, and appeals to your patriotic senses.