Touchy Feely (3/10): Better not touch it!

“Due to some unforeseen circumstances I will not be seeing clients for the time being.”

I was a huge admirer of Lynn Shelton’s film, Your Sister’s Sister, and I even included it on my list of the best movies of 2011 so I was eagerly anticipating what she would do next. I loved the way she captured those characters in such an authentic way and I was onboard for her mumblecore experimentation once again. Knowing that Rosemarie DeWitt was going to be back for the lead role was one of the main reasons I included Touchy Feely in my most anticipated movies of the year list. It didn’t hurt either that Ellen Page was going to play a supporting role since I was a huge fan of her work in Hard Candy and Juno. Everything about Touchy Feely had my expectations high rocketed to the sky, but then 2012 came and poor word of mouth lowered my expectations to such a degree that I never ended up seeing it until now. It was a major letdown and it made Lynn’s previous film, Laggies, seem like a masterpiece next to this. This is a dramedy that feels completely uneven and the plot doesn’t seem to go anywhere. I didn’t like any of the characters here and their motivations were hard to understand at times. The film was a mess and the pacing was so slow that this 90 minute film felt like it was three hours long. For a film trying to explore the interrelationships between these characters there was nothing to be said or discovered. Even the actors seemed to be lost and not fully understanding what their characters motivations really were. 

Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), a successful message therapist, and her boyfriend Jesse (Scoot McNairy) are enjoying a lovely dinner at her brother Paul’s (Josh Pais) home. Paul, emotionally distant and a bit depressed, lives with his daughter Jenny (Ellen Page) who has sacrificed her personal dreams to assist her father at his dental practice, which isn’t exactly flourishing. Abby on the other hand is sought after for her great hands and seems to be going through a good moment in her life. She recommends his brother visit her Reiki instructor, Bronwyn (Allison Janney), who has done amazing things for her. Things take an unexpected turn in the family dynamics however when Abby suddenly develops a strange aversion towards skin which affects her work life. After Paul helps one of his patients recover from a terrible tooth pain, his dental practice begins to flourish due to the positive word of mouth his “healing hands” are receiving. While his relationship with his daughter seems to be getting stronger, Abbie’s new aversion to skin affects her relationship with Jesse.

Despite the pretty original premise the film fails to explore Abby’s problem. It’s just a technique used to shake the interpersonal relationship in the family, but there is nothing that Lynn is trying to explore with her new found aversion. I really didn’t understand why her character didn’t simply explain to Jesse what she was going through because I’m sure he would’ve understood. He seemed like a pretty comprehensive type of guy. The introduction of Ron Livingston’s character only feels like a filler and doesn’t do anything to build the story. Ellen Page delivers a solid performance once again, but her character is trapped inside her emotional wall which doesn’t allow her to fully blossom. Pais and DeWitt are the true stars of the film and their performances are the highlight of this forgettable film. Pais especially captures the eccentricities of his character in a rather natural way. I found the New Age mysticism in the film a bit too preachy and the indie quirkiness a bit too familiar. The tone of the film just dragged it down for me and I had a hard time relating to the characters or caring for any of them.  

My Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past (9/10)

"Are we destined to destroy each other, or can we change each other and unite? Is the future truly set?"

I don't know if I have the right words to explain how much fun this seventh film in the X-Men franchise truly is. Matthew Vaughn revived this franchise in First Class by taking us to the past and giving the film a much more emotionally dramatic tone, focusing on the relationship between Charles and Erik. The greatest thing about that film was the cast he was able to assemble with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult leading the pack. At first I didn't know quite what to expect when I heard Vaughn was stepping down and leaving Days of Future Past in Bryan Singer's hands. On the one hand he was responsible for the success of the first two X-Men films, but on the other hand I was let down with Superman Returns. I guess I kind of forgot this man was responsible for the superhero genre revival (contrary to popular belief, it was him with the first X-Men film not Sam Raimi with SpiderMan which came out two years later) that has dominated movie screens for the past decade and a half. Singer hasn't lost his touch and he delivers an exhilarating and entertaining film worthy of being a blockbuster summer hit. It has everything you want from a blockbuster movie: fantastic visuals, great action sequences, a perfect ensemble cast, and a story that is both fun and emotionally engaging. I don't just want cool visuals and nice actions sequences, I want to be engaged with the characters and care for them, and that is what Singer pulls off beautifully with Days of Future Past. Add the wonderful performances from Fassbender, McAvoy, Lawrence, Stewart, Jackman, and a wonderful scene with Evan Peters as Quicksilver and you have a perfect movie. This might just be my favorite superhero film after The Dark Knight due to the fact that the cast is amazing and that Singer managed to perfectly blend the best aspects of the earlier films in the franchise with the new elements Vaughn brought to the reboot. It is hard to imagine how after 7 films, Days of Future Past manages to remain so fresh and keep the audience so emotionally invested in these characters. As we reach the halfway point of the year, I must say this is the best film of 2014 so far.

Based on the Days of Future Past comic book story arc written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the screenplay was adapted by Simon Kinberg. Set in an apocalyptic future, the few surviving mutants are struggling to fight together against sentinels created by humans to hunt them down. The few surviving mutants we see fighting in the first scene are Colossus, Sunspot, Bishop, Iceman, Warpath, Blink, and Kitty Pryde. There isn't much they can do against these sentinels that adapt and absorb their powers. Several mutants are killed during the attack, but then all of a sudden they disappear as we discover Kitty Pryde's (Ellen Page) mutation has evolved in such a way that she can send someone's consciousness back through time. By doing so they were able to send Bishop a few minutes back in time and warn them about the sentinel attack, thus altering the recent timeline and staying alive. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) know that the mutants are facing extinction and that in order to be saved they must return to the past and undo something Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) did in 1973. Along with Charles and Magneto, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Halle Berry) arrive to the place where the rest of the mutants are hiding out. Since Wolverine is the only one who doesn't age and who can fully recover, they decide he is the only one fit to return to the past and stop Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), the creator of the sentinel program. His murder would only fuel human's hate towards mutants and lead them to perfecting his work through experimentation with Mystique's unique DNA. Once back in the past, Logan must reach out to Charles (James McAvoy) and Erick (Michael Fassbender) and unite them in order to stop Mystique from achieving her goal and thus saving their future. 

Time traveling can be a difficult and tricky feat to pull off, but by using a similar approach to other films such as The Terminator, Singer manages to turn it into a quite simple premise. He merges both timelines perfectly in a satisfactory way. The film feels genuine thanks to some wonderful performances, strong character development, excellent pacing, and the emotional risks that are involved. In a way, I felt like Days of Future Past followed the steps of its predecessor and fixed a lot of the problems audiences had with The Last Stand, thus reinvigorating the franchise without having to reboot it. The film is inventive, original, and there are plenty of surprises. I loved every moment Fassbender was on screen as he absolutely dominates every dramatic moment. Jackman's Wolverine was always my favorite character in the X-Men franchise, and he is fantastic, but this time he has a lot of help from the rest of the cast. McAvoy also adds a lot to the emotional dramatic effect of the film on the viewer. The scene he is confronted by his future self (Stewart) is impressive. His character and Fassbender's are complete opposites despite the fact that they truly respect and care for each other. Lawrence's Mystique seems to be at the center of their struggle. All these elements combined with Singer's breathtaking visuals turn what could've been just another conventional superhero film into an epic one. Singer also knows how to balance action with dramatic moments along with some comedic ones. Despite all the memorable scenes in this highly entertaining blockbuster movie, Evan Peters stills it in the scene where they are helping Magneto escape. That is just a pure example of how Singer managed to balance all those elements together by mixing thrills with laughs. 

My Review: Super (4/10)

"Actually, the guy's kinda got a point. I mean, I wonder all the time why no-one's never just stood up and become a real superhero."

Before getting excited about James Gunn's upcoming superhero film, Guardians of the Galaxy, I decided to check out his earlier work which also happened to be a superhero movie, although it counted with a much lower budget. Super is a gritty film that suffers from being over the top and extremely violent at times. The major weakness of this film is that it never quite manages to balance the comedic moments with the drama. The entire film felt cheap and cheesy and I just never fell for this dark comedy. This proves once again that what Quentin Tarantino does isn't easy at all, and films like this end up feeling like they glorify violence too much. I was actually more of a fan of Kick Ass which actually managed to balance these themes, but in Super the violence never works. From the opening cheesy credits this film just felt completely out of place and the only thing that redeems Super are the strong performances from Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. I'm a huge Page fan, and she was hilarious in this film, but it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the dark humor. The shaky camera didn't work for me either as it has in the past with other films like Cloverfield or The Bourne Supremacy. I was disappointed with this film considering I had heard great things about it. 

The films centers on a cook named Frank (Rainn Wilson) who has felt like a loser most of his life until he found his true joy when he met and married Sarah (Liv Tyler). Sarah is a former junkie who fell for Frank right after being rehabilitated, but after a while she had a relapse and ended up leaving Frank for a drug dealer named Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Frank becomes depressed once again, but after having a vision he decides to become a superhero to fight evil in the streets and try to rescue Sarah from the evil men that have seduced her. Frank becomes a street vigilante who wears a red mask and uses a pipe wrench as a weapon calling himself the Crimson Bolt. A clerk from a comic book store who he befriends becomes his sidekick. She calls herself Boltie (Ellen Page) and due to her eccentric personality and her thirst for blood she is excited to team up with The Crimson Bolt. Together they decide to fight crime and bring justice back to the streets.  

Super suffers from having a split personality and not really knowing what tone it should have. At times it feels cartoonish and extremely violent, while at other moments it begins to take itself seriously and is more dramatic. This is a film that suffers from what I like to call a bipolar disorder. Despite some great performances the story never is executed correctly and at the end I felt completely disappointed with this film. It is funny at times, but then you realize it is actually a one joke movie as it beats you over the head with the same joke over and over again only shifting in tones dramatically at random moments. Nathan Fillion does have a funny small role here as the Holy Avenger who inspires Frank to become The Crimson Bolt, but it wasn't enough to save this movie. I really didn't like the tone of the film and felt uncomfortable watching this.

My Review: The East (7/10)

"Spy on us, we'll spy on you."

The East teams up director Zal Batmanglij with actress Brit Marling once again after their collaboration in Sound of My Voice. Once again they co-wrote the screenplay after having spent some time with several anarchist groups in order to write a believable script. The East is an interesting thriller that had me guessing what was going to happen next. It has its weak moments (the beginning is a little slow and the final act leaves several questions unanswered) but the middle act is very strong and it raises several ethical and moral questions. I loved Marling, Skarsgard, and Page in this film. There were some elements that reminded me a lot of Martha Marcy May Marlene despite this being an anarchist group and not a sect. That film had a much stronger ending, but here the middle act kind of creates a similar atmosphere with the leader of the group (Skarsgard) showing his influence and charisma over the rest. Perhaps this film doesn't work as a psychological character study like that one, but there are some weird things going on inside the group, but in a way you sympathize with them despite their "eye for an eye" philosophy. At the end you are left with a sense of having wanted to see more, but the movie is still entertaining and goes into unknown and unexplored territory. Marling is such a great actress, if she can't find the role she is looking for she doesn't lay down, she simply writes a character she would like to play and does it. Ellen Page is also great in her supporting performance and delivers once again on every scene. The East won't be on my list of top films of the year, but it is still highly recommendable watching!

Jane (Brit Marling) works for an important private intelligence agency run by Sharon (Patricia Clarkson) and is assigned to infiltrate an anarchist group known as The East. Jane has spent the last nine months getting prepared for her assignment by studying the reserved group. They are an eco-terrorist group that publicly attack the CEO's of big corporations such as oil companies or pharmaceutical drug distributors that are aware of the harm they cause and try to cover it up. The East pays these people with the same coin, for instance if a drug has dangerous side effects and these CEO's are paying people off to distribute them, they simply force the same drug on them. Once Jane infiltrates the group, under the covert name of Sarah, she befriends these eco-friendly anarchists who are led by Benji (Alexander Skarsgard). He is a charismatic leader and has the members of the group do strange things like eat food they gather from dumpsters or bathe each other. The other members of the group are Izzy (Ellen Page), Doc (Toby Kebbell), Luca (Shiloh Fernandez), Tess (Danielle MacDonald), and Thumbs (Aldis Hodge). As Jane begins recollecting information she becomes more and more sympathetic towards their cause as opposed to the private firm she works for that is only concerned in defending these rich CEO's. 

The East raises a lot of moral questions and lets the audience decide what side to take. It doesn't try to manipulate us into deciding one way or another. We see things through the lead character's eyes as she begins to be influenced by this group. They seem to be fighting for the right cause, but the way they do things through terrorist acts is immoral. Everyone seems to have their heart in the right place. The screenwriters did a decent job with the script creating a tense atmosphere that had me glued to the screen despite the flaws. I wasn't disappointed despite having high expectations for The East. My favorite thing about this movie beside the heavy political eco-friendly message were the performances from the strong cast.

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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My Review: Inception (10/10)

¨Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange. ¨

Inception is one of the reasons I love movies so much. This is a really intelligent and smart film that never fails to entertain with amazing visuals, good action sequences, and an excellent cast. Christopher Nolan is without a doubt the best director in Hollywood right now. Nolan`s worse reviewed film is The Prestige and that movie was brilliant so that is saying a lot about a director who seems to turn everything he touches into gold. He revived the Batman franchise making it more realistic and believable and made an even better sequel. The Dark Knight was a character driven film that studied the psychological consequences behind each action, Inception is a very different kind of movie that focuses more on the storytelling than on the characters themselves. When Nolan was approached by the studio to try to make it in 3D, he declined saying he wanted the audience to focus on the storytelling and not be distracted. 3D serves for movies that don`t have a smart plot and only want to focus on the visuals, however Inception works so well and the visuals are so amazing that they are better than anything I have seen on 3D (yes including Avatar). Even so, the special effects aren`t the reason why this film is so engaging. The reason people want to see this over and over again is because Nolan has written a smart plot which took him more than 10 years to write. It is a movie with several layers and depths, a film that you won`t want to take your eyes off the screen for even a second, it engages you from the very beginning and draws you into it, it is like a maze you need to solve. In a summer full of remakes and sequels it was really good to see something so refreshing and original, the best film I have seen since Nolan`s The Dark Knight.

Leonardo DiCaprio is Cobbs, a fugitive who can`t return to the States to visit his kids because of an incident that isn`t explained until halfway through the film. He specializes in retrieving hidden secrets from the subconscious of people`s minds and he does this by invading their dreams. While he is extracting secrets from Saito (Ken Watanabe), a millionaire who owns an oil company, something goes wrong and he fails to get all the information he needed. Saito then convinces Cobbs to work for him and he promises him that if he does this one job he will fix his situation in the United States so that he can reunite with his kids again.  This time instead of extracting a secret, Saito wants Cobbs to plant an idea on someone`s mind, in other words he wants him to perform inception. Cobb`s partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), says that inception is impossible and that it can`t be done because the victim will know that the idea never came from him, but Cobbs says that it`s possible. In order to perform inception on Saito`s corporate rival Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), heir of his deceased father`s oil empire, Cobbs needs to assemble a team. First he finds a young architect named Ariadne (Ellen Page) who is in charge of creating the world in which the dream takes place in, next he hires Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who can create the most powerful sedatives to keep his subjects asleep, and finally he hires Eames (Tom Hardy), an expert in impersonating people. Together they have to try to perform the difficult task of inception, but Cobbs has been having trouble keeping his personal issues outside of the dream world and his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), keeps on invading the dream world and putting the entire mission in danger.

The cast is excellent, but the film really isn`t character driven, we are drawn more by the story and the many layers we have to uncover. Nolan has created a maze and we are the one`s who have to pay close attention in order to understand the plot. While Cobb teaches Ariadne how the dream world works, Nolan is actually using Page`s character to explain to us the complexities of this world he created. It is like in The Matrix where Fishburne`s character explained everything to Neo. This is the most original sci-fi film I have seen since The Matrix and I loved every second of this movie. The two and a half hours fly by and the ending leaves you wanting to watch the film a second time. In a time in which Hollywood is running out of fresh ideas, Nolan comes in to bring a refreshing film. When Cobbs tells Ariadne to ¨never recreate places from your memory. Always imagine new places!,¨ it is like Nolan is trying to tell screenwriters to come up with fresh ideas and recreate new things. The story isn`t the only refreshing thing about this film. The visuals are also extraordinary and the action sequences are breathtaking. It is exciting to see how Ariadne begins creating the dream world, and the action scene where Arthur fights off the guards in a gravity free hotel is amazing. This is a movie you must see. The best of the year and as good as The Dark Knight was.

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My Review: Whip It (8/10)

¨The last time I wore skates, they had Barbies on them.¨

The last time I watched a movie about skating was probably when Emilio Estevez was coaching the Ducks, and that was perhaps the last time I wore my skates as well. No matter how long it has been, this movie will leave you wanting to go out and skate all over again. Whip It is Drew Barrymore`s directorial debut and she has crafted a very original and fun movie mixing sports with family drama. It also has to do with searching for what you enjoy in life and following your dreams. All familiar subjects in movies, but that combine very well with a sport most of us have never heard of: Roller Derby, which gives this a unique and original look. This film is actually better than most other movies Drew Barrymore has acted in. Shauna Cross wrote the novel and screenplay for this movie and it is actually based on her life since she was a former roller derby skater for the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. Most of the characters in this film are actually real life skaters, Cross`s alter ego name in the rink was Maggie Mayhem which is a character in this film. Other characters based on real life derby skaters were Iron Maven and Krissy Krash, who actually have a role in this film as the Monson sisters. The coach of the Dolls was also based on a real life Skate coach named Brian Gallagher although his name is changed to Razor in the movie. Before this movie, I had no idea that roller derby was a sport, but after seeing it I discovered a new favorite sport of mine.

The film takes place in a small town in Texas named Booden where Bliss (Ellen Page from Juno) lives with her parents Earl (Daniel Stern from the Home Alone movies) who is a huge sports fan and Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden from Mystic River) who is very feminist and loves beauty pageants. Bliss is tired of life in this small town and is always forced by her mother to participate in Beauty Pageants along with her little sister who enjoys it much more than she does. Bliss feels misfit in this place and the only person who understands her is her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat from the Arrested Development series) who also dreams of getting out of Booden. They work together as waitresses in a small restaurant where most of the clients are old people who are driving by. One day Bliss`s life will change when she goes shopping to Austin and runs into three girls who leave some flyers about a roller derby tournament in the store. Bliss picks one up and is immediately drawn to the event and she forces Pash to come along with her without letting her parents know what they are up to. Once they return to Austin, Bliss is introduced to the Derby world where an exhibition from the players takes place and we are introduced to the game. Here Bliss meets some of the players such as Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis from Natural Born Killers), Rosa Sparks (Eve from The Barbershop), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell a famous stunt double), Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig from Adventureland and SNL), and Smashley Simpson (Drew Barrymore). They invite Bliss to come back for tryouts and she discovers her new passion. She meets the team`s coach, Razor (Andrew Wilson, Owen and Luke`s older brother) who is very passionate about the sport and he decides to include her in the squad. Bliss finds true happiness in this new world where she makes new friends and even falls in love with a young rocker named Oliver (Landon Pigg). Bliss will have to learn how to keep this new life a secret from her parents because she knows they won`t approve it. Jimmy Fallon also has a supporting role in this film as the Derby commentator Johnny Rocket and is very funny in this movie as well.

I really enjoyed this movie and was entertained from the very beginning to the final credits. I really love Ellen Page and think she is one of the best young actresses in the industry. She is great in this movie once again and she counted with a very talented cast as well. Andrew Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, and Daniel Stern were extremely funny. Julliete Lewis is such a great actress and she is really one of the surprises of this movie. It has been a while since I`ve seen her have a good role and I hope this movie helps her get better offers because she is extremely talented. Kristen Wiig is also great and she stands out once again like she did in Adventureland. She is perhaps one of the funniest actresses to come out of SNL in recent years. Whip It combines comedy with drama very well and I wish more people had a chance to watch this movie. I agree that it is very formulaic, but the Roller Derby brings something new to the film that we haven`t seen before. I have to congratulate Drew Barrymore because she did a great job with the direction of this, her first feature film as a director. Whip It is a lot of fun and I recommend this movie!