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.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (6/10): Lacks the emotional impact of the first film

"Sin City is where you go in with your eyes open, or you don't come out at all."

There has been a widespread claim that if you were a fan of the first film you will definitely love this sequel, but it wasn't the case for me. I called Sin City a masterpiece nine years ago when it first came out, but A Dame to Kill For doesn't even come close to that claim. One could argue and say that the novelty of these dark graphic novel adaptations has warn off considering that when Sin City first came out the visuals were groundbreaking unlike anything we had seen before. Perhaps it may have something to do with the fact that I haven't enjoyed the recent adaptations (the last one I really liked was 2009's Watchmen), but I know that my disappointment doesn't just come from this. A Dame to Kill For is as visually striking as the first film and it captures that pulpy film noir essence really well once again. What Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez don't do well however is build the suspense and connect the intertwining storylines like they did the first time. You have all these interesting characters returning and some new faces, but the stories didn't resonate with me this time around. Despite using the same formula and delivering in visuals and style, the three different storylines don't connect together. The film still has that same dark feel to it where it seems you are watching a comic book come to life, but the stories aren't as interesting and the narration isn't as gripping. So despite enjoying the visuals, this film was a huge disappointment for me and I don't think that the reason for it was that the novelty has worn off because it was the best aspect of this sequel.

Most would agree that the best character in Sin City is Marv (Mickey Rourke) and thankfully we get a lot of him once again. The story is at its best when it centers around him. Some of the new characters were also fun to watch. Joseph Gordon Levitt as Johnny was one of my favorites in this sequel. His character is suave and cocky, but always fun. His scenes facing off the main villain played by Powers Boothe are the highlight of the film along with Marv. We also get a lot more scenes from Nancy (Jessica Alba) and this time she has more depth to her character as well. Josh Brolin also gives a solid performance as Dwight, but unfortunately his segment is the weakest. So we get all these cool characters and everything seems to be perfect once again, but somehow the stories don't intertwine as effectively as they did the first time. The stories aren't as shocking and they lack that emotional punch that Sin City delivered the first time. The film is gratuitously violent once again, but it isn't effective. The impact was missing. There were also several characters that took me out of the film. I loved Bruce Willis in the first film, but there was no need to include him here. He took me out of the movie. The longest segment in this film involving Josh Brolin and Eva Green was also the least interesting. Green has fun with her character once again like she did in the 300 sequel, but this time her storyline is way too familiar. All she does here is be nude and seduce men. The subplot where she seduces Christopher Meloni was completely unnecessary, as were his scenes with Jeremy Piven. 

So despite some of the interesting things that A Dame To Kill For had going for it, it has several flaws which make the story drag at times. This is the sort of film in which you should be having fun, but I found myself bored with some of these segment. The narration might seem silly at times, but it worked the first time as a parody of noir films. This time it felt dull. I know my review sounds negative but it is because I expected a lot more from this sequel. I still had a fun time watching Marv once again, I also appreciated that Alba had more screen time, and loved the addition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the already incredible cast. Unfortunately there were some elements that didn't connect with me and the stories failed to fit together as they did the first time.

My Review: 300: Rise of an Empire (6/10)

"Better we show them, we chose to die on our feet, rather than live on our knees!"

I was a huge fan of Zach Snyder's 300 when it was first released, but was later disappointed by Sucker Punch as well as other recent adaptations, so I wasn't expecting much from this sequel considering the novelty of these violent graphic novel adaptations had warn off a bit. Sin City still ranks as my favorite, but I did really enjoy 300 and Watchmen as well. In 300: Rise of an Empire there are some great scenes and strong visuals, but nothing we haven't seen before. The violence is once again stylized but after a while it feels repetitive and I felt the pacing began to drag despite all the action scenes. The characters weren't as interesting as the Spartans in 300, but the villain is much better here. Eva Green's performance is was ultimately makes this film worth a watch and I think this is one of her best roles yet. She is perhaps the best developed character in this film and gives an inspiring performance which allows us to forgive the sense of empty stylized violent action scenes we are overloaded with in this sequel/prequel. The writing also could have used some of those memorable dialogues from the first film that many of us still haven't grown tired of quoting. This film doesn't live up to the original, but it is entertaining enough to give it a mild recommendation. 

In 300: Rise of an Empire we get an extension of the events that occurred in the original film which focused only on one of the Greek states: Sparta. This time we get a glimpse of what is going on with the other states and the film opens with a narration from Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) of the Battle of Marathon when the Persians invaded Greece for the first time. The Athenian general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) manages to defeat the Persian king, Darius, by killing him from a distance with an arrow. Before he dies, he warns his son Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) that no human should ever attack Greece again. Darius's commanding naval officer, Artemisia (Eva Green), tells Xerxes that what his father really meant was that in order to defeat Greece he would need to become a god king. And that is how the legend of Xerxes actually begins. Ten years later Xerxes attacks Sparta (the events that took place in the first film), while Artemisia prepares her fleet to face the Athenians. The two brilliant naval officers, Artemisia and Themistocles, prepare their men for the bloody battle.

Sullivan Stapleton is no Gerard Butler, but thankfully the film relies heavily on the villain and Eva Green excels in her role. There is one strange scene she shares with Stapleton that sort of comes out of nowhere and felt out of place. The film does drag by abusing too much on the stylized violence, but the production design does make the film interesting and fun to look at. Director, Noam Murro (who also directed the 2008 drama Smart People), didn't seem to have a firm hand in the direction and some of the scenes didn't feel right either. It still manages to be entertaining and fun for the most part, but one can't help and wonder about how empty it really is and how little we know about the actual characters. It doesn't matter though because we get cool enough visuals and slow motion action scenes to make it enjoyable enough. It is yet another example of style over substance, but if these graphic violent action scenes are your thing you might enjoy it. 

My Review: Dark Shadows (6/10)

¨It is said that blood is thicker than water. It is what joins us, binds us... curses us. My name is Barnabas Collins, and this is my tale.¨

Dark Shadows is the latest collaboration between director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp; it happens to be their eighth time working together. The bond between them just might be thicker than blood. Their friendship began when they worked together in Edward Scissorhands more than 20 years ago and it has developed from there on as they`ve collaborated with each other repeatedly, making some great films together and others not so much. Dark Shadows will be one of those films that fall in the not so great category and may perhaps be a sign that their collaboration together is getting old and repetitive. We all know how great of an actor Johnny Depp is and he`s always enjoyed to play these kind of eccentric characters. That is why Tim Burton seemed to be a perfect fit for him as a director because he`s such a great art director who is able to paint an eccentric vision of the world. Actually that is the only element that worked in Alice in Wonderland, and is what saves Dark Shadow from being rotten: the fantastic art direction. Burton takes us back to the 70`s with some wonderful visuals and recreates a small fishing town to perfection. Johnny Depp also gets to play a very eccentric character once again as he`s a vampire who`s just awoke from the 18^th century, so it plays out as the classic fish out of the water tale. But just like in almost every Burton film, you can`t fit his movie into one specific genre as it mixes dark comedy with horror, fantasy and some romance. Dark Shadows at times fits in all of these categories and at others it’s just hard to figure out what Burton was trying to do.

During the 18^th century the Collins family leaves England and arrives in America with the prospect of building a fishing empire. They do so and end up having the town named after them: Collinsport. They build an enormous mansion and have several servants working for them, but they fall under an evil curse when their son Barnabas (Johnny Depp) breaks the heart of a witch named Angelique (Eva Green). He tells her that he doesn’t love her and ends up falling in love with the beautiful Josette (Bella Heathcote). Angelique curses the family by killing Barnabas`s parents, Josette, and turning Barnabas into a vampire and burying him alive inside a coffin. The story then jumps to the year 1972 where we are introduced to the surviving members of the Collins family residing in the very same mansion which is now in evident decay: Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her teen daughter Carolyn (Chloe Grace Moretz), Elizabeth`s widowed brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) and his tormented son David (Gulliver McGrath), and their staff which consists of David`s psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley), and Mrs. Johnson (Ray Shirley). Barnabas is released from his coffin by accident when some construction workers find the coffin and open it. He returns to the mansion which is now in ruins and after convincing Elizabeth of his true identity promises that he will restore the family to its former glory. What he doesn’t know is that the town is run by Angelique now he is still very much alive and hasn’t aged one bit.

The first half of the movie worked for me as a very dark comedy. I actually enjoyed the film, until the final act which just went a little too far in its bizarre act and eccentricities (even for Tim Burton standards). The final act was a disappointment, but I did enjoy most parts of the story. Johnny Depp played his usual strange self and Michelle Pfeiffer was great in her role. She claimed to be a fan of the original soap opera that took place during the late 60`s and 70`s which this film is actually based on. Despite the television show not being a comedy, this film actually plays out as one in the same way most 70`sand 80`s TV series are being turned into in recent years. I am a big fan of Chloe Grace Moretz and have followed her since her work in 500 Days of Summer, Kick Ass, and Let Me In. I wish she had been given more screen time because she is always a delight to watch on screen and had an interesting character. Dark Shadows is a very weird movie and definitely not for everyone; it won`t be ranked among Burton`s best work either (not even close) so I don`t know if fans will actually enjoy this film, but I did have enough of a good time during most of the film to give this film a passing grade.  

  

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