The Martian (8/10): Let's talk science!

“I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the greatest botanist on this planet.”

Ridley Scott’s latest film, The Martian, is an intelligently crafted science fiction drama that takes on the form of a problem-solving movie in a very nerdy way. It is not an easy movie to sell considering it is very talkative and there is a lot of science involved, but Drew Goddard’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel is quite captivating. There is no denying that the true star of the film is Matt Damon who basically manages to put on a one-man show in Mars and deliver a very entertaining performance in a similar way to what Tom Hanks did in Castaway. Although this film does give much more screen time to the characters back home as they try to communicate and find a way to bring their astronaut back, but it is Damon who really stands out. The film has been nominated for the Golden Globes for best comedy and although I don’t agree with that designation it is Damon who delivers the comedy through his charismatic performance as he faces each new struggle in quite a light and positive way. The movie is a drama more than anything else and it carefully studies every scenario of what could go wrong in Mars and presents interesting solutions to those problems. Ultimately that is what makes this film stand out from other space films which Ridley himself has directed. This is a different kind of movie, a survival film with brains that respects its audience and doesn’t try to include any fantastical elements for entertainment purposes (not that I have a problem with it since I was a huge fan of Prometheus, but this is a completely different genre).

Matt Damon gets all the credit for his charismatic performance as Mark Watney, the astronaut who is abandoned in Mars after a storm breaks out and his crew is forced to leave him behind, but the supporting cast is quite impressive as well. Jessica Chastain is Melissa Lewis, the astronaut in charge of the mission who has to make the fatal decision. The rest of the crew members are Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), Rick Martinez (Michael Peña), Chis Beck (Sebastian Stan), and Alex Vogel (Aksel Hennie). They don’t get much screen time, but they are each given their moment and it is enough to know what motivates their decisions. I would’ve enjoyed to spend more time with these characters considering the cast is wonderful, but Matt Damon doesn’t even give us time to miss them. The focus is on his character and he delivers every line to perfection. We are instantly drawn to his character and we identify with his struggle to survive. Back home at NASA headquarters we are also introduced to several characters who are doing the best they can to bring Mark home. Jeff Daniels is Teddy Sanders, the man responsible for any decision taken as the NASA director, Kristen Wiig is Annie Montrose, the director of Media Relations who is trying to save face in the midst of the situation, Sean Bean is Mitch Henderson, the flight director who is in contact with Watney’s crew as they are returning home, and Chiwetel Ejiofor is Vincent Kapoor, the mission director. It’s surprising how Ridley Scott manages to include all these characters in the film and give them a unique personality as they all join forces to come up with the best solution. Daniels plays a very similar character to who he plays in The Newsroom, but if you only know him from Dumb and Dumber than you are in for a treat.   

When I first heard about this movie I was a bit worried about the effects that recent space films like Interstellar (which also starred Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain), Prometheus (which was directed by Ridley Scott), or Gravity might have on The Martian considering the space theme. To my surprise, the film stands out from the very opening scene as it takes a totally different approach and focuses more on Mark’s survival skills and his wit. He is a very charismatic character who easily pulls you in to his conflict and allows you to participate in the problem-solution process. This isn’t about special effects, it is about intelligent people getting together to come up with a solution.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (5/10): Fantastic performances, but an incomplete film.

“All I want is a chance to just talk it out. After that you can disappear to wherever it is you disappear to.”

To be honest I had no idea what this film was about before going into it. All I knew is that it starred Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, two of the most talented actors I’ve seen in the past few years. The title had me fooled because I was expecting this sort of suspenseful thriller similar to Gone Girl. During the first scenes I was lamenting that Chastain would probably only be in a few scenes since she would eventually disappear, but what a fool I was. This was actually a romantic drama (or should I say anti-romantic drama?) with two strong lead performances centering on a couple who have experimented a tragedy in their lives and aren’t capable of coping with it together. They’ve become distant and love seems to be only a far away memory. In a sense it has a similar style as Blue Valentine where you get flashbacks of the couple when they were in love contrasting with their present situation. While watching this film I had no idea that director Ned Benson had actually made two movies about The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby from the view point of each of the characters (His and Hers). The version I was watching was a compilation of both those films, summarized in two hours going back and forth from both their view points. It was no wonder I felt like something was missing in this story. If you were to watch both original versions of Benson’s film the running time would be over three hours long, but in Them the film is cut into a two hour film. I never felt like I got a sense of who these characters were in this version and I wonder how much it had to do with the fact that so much was cut out of the film. After experiencing Benson’s two hour joint film I have no intentions of watching the separate films because I was incredibly disappointed with how vague and void this character study felt. By the end of the film I couldn’t relate to either character and felt like they did around their parents  when they had no clue what they were talking about (they both use this same line towards their parents in at least a couple of occasions).

Despite the slow pace of the film (the two hours actually felt like three) I was still hooked with the story expecting it to head somewhere. Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy are such great actors that they held my interest in the film and they were a pleasure to watch. The story unfolds in such a way that you don’t get much of a sense as to what is happening. As we get some flashbacks we begin to understand what triggered the couple to grow apart from one another, but some things are missing. There are also very strange relationships that Chastain’s character has with her parents (Isabelle Huppert and William Hurt). She also shares a few scenes with a Professor she begins to take classes with played by Viola Davis, but those scenes also felt disconnected from the entire film. The same thing happened with McCoy’s character and the odd relationship he has with his father (Ciaran Hinds). He owns a restaurant/bar and works with his close friend played by Bill Hader with whom he also shares some strange and misplaced scenes together. Perhaps it was the way that both films were joined together, but I felt like something important was left out and I wasn’t able to engage with the characters despite enjoying the performances. Chastain is fantastic and continues to get better over time. She has had stellar roles this year in Interstellar, A Most Violent Year, and now this. Perhaps her breakout role came in 2011 with Take Shelter and The Tree of Life, but she had already collaborated with Ned Benson a year before for one of his short films, The Westerners. If you are a fan of Chastain’s work I’d recommend this film, but otherwise I’d suggest you to watch the two separate films because Them felt incoherent and incomplete at times.

A Most Violent Year (8/10): J.C. Chandor is three for three

“When it feels scary to jump, that is exactly when you jump, otherwise you end up staying in the same place your whole life, and that I can't do.”

Over the past three years director J.C. Chandor has delivered three solid films which in my opinion have been overlooked by mainstream audiences. In Margin Call I was surprised with how well Chandor had written the screenplay for his financial thriller with very fast paced dialogues. Then in his next project (All is Lost), Chandor directed a film with hardly any dialogue whatsoever and managed to keep me engaged with Robert Redford’s quiet performance as he struggled to survive at sea. And now in Chandor’s recent film, A Most Violent Year, he also delivers a unique crime drama which resembles other classic films like Chinatown and The Godfather trilogy. Chandor has now crafted three great films that are all very different from each other. Despite admiring Chandor for his great screenplays, my favorite film of his is All is Lost which didn’t really require any dialogue, so he doesn’t necessarily rely on that strength of his. A Most Violent Year stands out thanks to some fantastic performances from a talented cast, some beautiful grayish camera work from Bradford Young (Selma and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), a great production design which recreates New York City in the early 80’s in a very realistic way, and of course a strong and gritty screenplay written by Chandor. This is a very slow paced film which delivers on the dynamics between each character more than on traditional action scenes. 

What stands out the most in A Most Violent Year is the atmosphere that Chandor is able to recreate. Sometimes it feels like not much is going on, but the way the characters interact with one another keeps us engaged and interested. The film focuses on Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) an immigrant and uprising owner of a private oil company who is trying to close a deal on an important property which would boost his business. It seems that his competitors aren’t very happy with his rise. The world of private oil companies is dominated by gangsters, but Abel wants to accomplish the American dream legally. Unfortunately his trucks are being hijacked and he’s losing thousands of dollars in the process. He is desperately trying to figure out which of his competitors is behind these actions, but Lawrence (David Oyelowo), the officer in charge, doesn’t seem to have a clue. He is more interested in opening a file against Abel’s company on federal charges for tax evasion. Abel tries his best to remain an honest man, but his wife Anna (Jessica Chasten), whose father is a mobster, will do what it takes to protect her family if Abel doesn’t take care of things. All these things threaten Abel’s determination to remain legit and find a way to stay afloat, but he is determined to do so. Albert Brooks plays his lawyer, Andrew Walsh.

The performance from Oscar Isaacs stood out for me. He reminded me of Al Pacino’s performance as Michael Corleone with is calmed and determined demeanor. Things go very wrong for him, but Abel tries to remain calm and confident trying to gain back control of things. Jessica Chastain is fantastic as his wife. There is a scene where she finds her daughter playing with a gun and her reaction was priceless. The strongest moments of the film are when these two characters interact with each other. She also has a great scene with David Oyelowo where she threatens him to leave her family alone. She may be married to an honest man, but her father’s blood runs through her veins. Albert Brooks was fascinating as well despite not being on screen very much. I enjoyed his scenes and his presence is sort of the balancing point for Abel who sometimes wants to do things too legit. The grey tone of the film builds the atmosphere of the story and maintains us engaged despite the slow pacing. There is a fantastic chase scene that takes place two thirds into the film that worked really well and moved the story along, but it was the small interactions between Abel and his wife, between him and other business associates that really make this film stand out. It manages to remain an engaging and gripping thriller without having much action going on thanks to the performances and the atmosphere of the film. A Most Violent Year is a stylish thriller that hits the mark once again for Chandor, and he shouldn’t be overlooked from now on.

My Review: Interstellar (9/10)

“Do not go gentle into that good night; Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Interstellar was my most anticipated film of the year so my expectations for this film were huge considering the subject matter and the fact that I am a Christopher Nolan fanboy. Despite the several flaws I found with the script, I wasn’t disappointed, but I can understand how this might not work for several audiences. First of all the scale of this film was huge even for a Nolan film. He is such a visionary director and he doesn’t settle for simple narratives. The script is so complicated at times that it does make you wonder and ask yourself questions about the logic behind the theories. I’m no expert in quantum physics, but I think Nolan does a pretty convincing job of selling it. He did his research along with his brother and they created a solid sci-fi script. Many people complained about the fact that Nolan sometimes explains his plot to the audience instead of just letting them figure it out, but I find it necessary at times because of the complex structure he elaborates for his films. He enjoys creating these puzzles, but at the same time he helps us put the pieces together. Interstellar is one of my favorite films of the year, but I wouldn’t rank it amongst Nolan’s top 5 best films. If there is someone who can make a film about physics interesting it’s Nolan and he manages to do so in this nearly three hour film. This is by far his most ambitious film, but it does fail at being the ultimate space epic film it so desperately tries to be. However there isn’t a dull moment in Interstellar and you are never bored by the world he creates. Unfortunately the final payoff of the film isn’t as rewarding as I was hoping it to be. The final 20 minutes of the film are perhaps the weakest part of the movie and it sort of tries to wrap everything neatly at the end like most Blockbuster and commercial films try to do. 

I know I have complained a bit too much about a film I really enjoyed, but I will now try to explain why this is one of my favorite films of the year. First of all the cast in this film is brilliant. There is no better time to cast Matthew McConaughey in a film than now. He had a fantastic 2013 and MUD was my favorite film of that year. He was also amazing in True Detective so I was ecstatic about him joining Nolan’s cast for this film. He is great in the lead role and provides some of the most engaging emotional moments of the film. Despite how highly ambitious the subject matter of the film is and how colossal his task, he manages to keep things small by narrowing it all down to the family dynamics (especially through his relationship with his daughter). He is not saving humanity, he is trying to save his daughter. We believe the sacrifice he is making and it is what makes the humanity aspects of this film work. He is going through an inner conflict of accomplishing his purpose by saving humanity while realizing that he has abandoned his children and is missing being a part of that. Jessica Chastain is also great in this film. She is a talented actress and is at a great moment in her career as well. The most emotional scenes of Interstellar revolve around her relationship with her father (McConaughey). There is a scene midway through the film where he receives a message from her in space that is emotionally gripping. Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway team up once again for a Nolan film and deliver despite not having such interesting characters. Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, and Topher Grace were underused, but they are all talented actors. The cast in this film is superb and they lifted this visionary tale even further. But the casting isn't the only element that Nolan gets right. The visuals in this film are fantastic! I was blown away by the scenes that took place in space. The first act of this film is solid and establishes the present world on Earth in a rather realistic way, but the second act raises the film to another level. The scenes in space and the wormhole are amazing. It also becomes suspenseful and full of tension. Unfortunately the third act didn't work as well for me and the ending was a bit too touchy feely. The score in this film by Zimmer was fantastic as usual and helps build the emotion. 

So in summary the film is incredibly well shot, it has astonishing photography, superb visual effects, an awesome cast and score, and one spectacular robot. The robot in this film has to be one of the best I've seen. He is also the funniest character and helps lighten the serious tone of the film. I loved Interstellar, but if you had issues with the explanation and exposition in Nolan's Inception, than you will have a similar experience with this film because there is a lot of exposition in space about the theories and what it all means. I have no problem whatsoever with this because it is simply part of Nolan's trademark. He wants us to understand every small detail of the plot because he has worked and studied these things before putting them on the script and he doesn't want the audience to miss out on his creative process. Interstellar doesn't get a perfect grade from me because it isn't as epic as it is trying to be, but I will give Nolan a lot of credit for his ambition and for delivering a fun action thriller with huge ideas. It also pays homage to early sci-fi films like 2001, Solaris, and Contact. The film has taken a lot of processing from me since I first saw it and that is what I look for in movies. I am sure I will be revisiting this film soon because it was a fun experience and one I am sure will generate a lot of debate amongst movie lovers. Interstellar is a carefully crafted and well executed film and Nolan continues to prove himself as one of my favorite contemporary directors. 

My Review: Texas Killing Fields (5/10)

"Once in...There's no way out."

Texas Killing Fields had the potential to be one of those rare and memorable suspense thrillers that actually work; it had a strong cast, the cinematography was beautifully executed by Stuart Dryburgh creating a depressing atmosphere fitting the tone of the story, and an interesting premise. But somewhere along the way the execution didn't work and the film failed to live up to its potential. I can't say if it was the script or the editing, but the story felt incomplete and incoherent at times. Ami Canaan Mann, Michael Mann's daughter, failed to dig deeper into the storyline and the result was a sort of disjointed film. I still enjoyed the film for the atmosphere and suspense it was creating, but the two different story lines never seemed to be fully developed and I couldn't help but feel that something was left out in the editing floor. I kept on expecting more, but I was disappointed despite the solid performances. I'm a fan of gritty detective stories, and this film does succeed in being gritty and dark, but the detective elements of the story never added up. I'm currently watching the HBO series, True Detective, and that show absolutely gets everything that this movie didn't, right. Skip this film and watch True Detective instead.

Inspired by true events, Don Ferrarone wrote the screenplay about a series of murders taking place in the Texas Killing Fields. When the film opens we are introduced to Detectives Mike Sauder (Sam Worthington) and Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who are investigating a murder that took place near a gas station. Brian receives a call from Detective Pam Stall (Jessica Chastain) about a missing woman who she believes might be yet another victim of a serial killer who leaves the bodies of young girls in the abandoned Texas Killing Fields. Pam is Mike's ex-wife and Mike insists that they can't help her because those cases are out of their jurisdiction and they have to solve this case they are in now. However they still try to help out while working on their case. Brian is a loving father who takes an interest in a young girl named Ann (Chloe Grace Moretz) who comes from an abusive dysfunctional family, while Mike is more of a loner. Mike's clues lead him to investigate two local criminals (one of them played by Jason Clarke), while Brian is more focused on finding the serial killer in the dangerous Killing Fields. 

Both investigations really caught my attention, but unfortunately one of them was kind of left out and forgotten at the end leaving me feeling a bit disappointed. The two main actors give solid performances, but their characters share the typical cliches found in other buddy cop films. Chastain is a seriously talented actress, but unfortunately her character didn't have much to work with. She has little screen time and is underused. I'm a huge fan of Chloe Grace Moretz and I have seen most of her films, but her character doesn't do much in this story either. None of the characters were developed too well and the film basically focused on the police procedural that began promising but got off track really quick by presenting two disjointed story lines. I can see how this film might work for some people because it has a talented cast, but I just felt it was a bit disjointed and incomplete. I'm still glad they made a film about this side of America that is usually not presented in Hollywood.

My Review: Mama (5/10)

¨A ghost is an emotion bent out of shape, condemned to repeat itself time and time again.¨

Another South American director has made his splash on Hollywood after the successful debut of Mama in theaters this year. Argentinean director, Andres Muschietti, made over 70 million dollars in the box office and received decent reviews for this horror/suspense film based on a short 3 minute movie he directed in 2008. That short film garnered the attention of movie executives such as Guillermo Del Toro who decided to produce and present this film. The fact that Del Toro´s name was used here and that the coveted Jessica Chastain signed on to play the main character gave Muschietti the tremendous possibility of debuting on a high note. The formula worked pretty well because critics and audiences seemed to enjoy this film alike, and we could be heading to the start of a new horror franchise. I enjoyed most of the movie, and loved Jessica Chastain´s performance, but the ending just ruined the entire film for me. It is kind of the same problem pretty much every ghost story film has. I feel like most of the endings in this genre are pretty unsatisfying and ruin the entire suspense the film has been building throughout the story. There is no denying that Japanese films have heavily influenced the genre with films such as The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, and One Missed Call which have all been remade, but the truth of the matter is the only film that really worked with critics was The Ring. They have tried to imitate its success, but I haven’t been scared like I was with The Ring, which had a pretty satisfying ending compared to the rest. I do prefer this type of psychological horror more than the gory slasher films, but I find it troubling that they can´t find a satisfying ending. My favorites in this genre will always be the first two I saw: Zemeckis´s What Lies Beneath and The Ring. The rest have all fallen short. Mama was close to achieving that similar success in my opinion, but the ending really hurt it.

The film centers around two girls named Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) and Victoria (Megan Charpentier) who are abandoned in a cabin in the middle of the woods after their father murdered their mother and was attacked by some presence inside the cabin. Five years later the search finally pays off and their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) finds them. To everyone´s surprise the two girls have managed to survive on their own, but they live like animals crawling around the floor and talking to walls. Lucas and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain) decide to raise the kids with the help of Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash) who continues to treat the girls in order for them to make the transition from their isolated lives to a normal and nurturing family life. Annabel soon discovers that these girls might have never been on their own and that somehow the presence that was with them in the cabin might be in their home as well. Several suspenseful and horrifying events begin to take place while the girls continue to talk to shadows in the walls and call out for Mama.

The film has several thrills and suspenseful moments with a great performance from Jessica Chastain. It was good to see her try out a different role and she proves she can do about everything. It´s hard to find good performances in horror films, but this may be one of the best. The movie also has its weaknesses like pretty much all horror films do considering the protagonists always seem to make stupid decisions, but that is what makes the genre so entertaining at times. They are clichés which we have learned to accept. The two girls were also surprisingly good, they had strong performances as well. I really enjoyed everything about the movie up to the last 15 minutes which pretty much ruined everything. Psychological thrillers usually have this impact: they begin with a lot of promise but end up on the wrong note, and that is exactly how I felt about Mama along with Sinister, a similar movie I got to see a few months ago. The film is above average thanks to Jessica Chastain, and Guillermo Del Toro´s influence in the production of the movie, but that is about it.

     

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My Review: Zero Dark Thirty (9/10)

¨I’m going to smoke everyone involved in the op and then I’m going to kill Osama bin Laden.¨

The passion, determination, and single-minded pursuit of a female CIA operative to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden was the film that the Academy Award winning writer and director decided to pursue after their success in The Hurt Locker. Zero Dark Thirty is so intense and suspenseful that you just want Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal to continue working together forever. They make other modern war films look really bad when held up to the standards of their recent work together. Bigelow has developed such a craft and expertise as a filmmaker that during some moments of the film (especially the final 25 minute raid) you feel like you are watching a documentary of actual footage of the manhunt instead of a fictional film. She is as passionate about her work as her lead character is obsessed with hunting down this man. We can’t argue that Bigelow benefits from Boal’s extraordinary script, which manages to reduce a decade long hunt into 150 minutes of detailed procedural work without taking political sides or focusing on revenge nonsense. It just takes such a realist approach that you never feel manipulated by Bigelow which would have been easy to do considering the subject matter. This is in my opinion the best film dealing with pos 9-11 events thanks to Bigelow’s ability to remain emotionally detached and focus on her craft. Under the weight of the heavy subject matter, she somehow manages to make this film more about a character study than an actual manhunt. There is really one main character in this film as the rest of characters come and go, and without delving into her past and focusing on the decade long pursuit of bin Laden the story centers around her, and it is a very interesting psychological study of what motivates her. Jessica Chastain is just so fascinating in this film, that she single handedly carries this movie and gives the best performance of her career.

The film opens in black with several voiceovers of calls from the World Trade center during the 9-11 attacks. It is a very emotional opening scene as we later are introduced to the main character, Maya (Jessica Chastain), who has been sent to Pakistan by the CIA to hunt down bin Laden. The first place we see her is in an interrogation room where her partner Dan (Jason Clarke) is torturing a terrorist prisoner in order to find information of the whereabouts of bin Laden. Maya isn’t amused by the torture that is going on and doesn’t participate, but she is willing to accept any means necessary in order to unlock the truth and hunt down the man she’s obsessed with finding. Of all the prisoners they have interrogated there seems to be one man that is mentioned by everyone: Abu Ahmed.  Maya is convinced that this man is bin Laden’s personal courier and that if she can locate him then she will locate his leader. Her boss, Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler) isn’t convinced about this theory, but Maya is determined to pursue this lead. The entire film is a very detailed procedural drama of how Maya follows one lead after another (with several false and disappointing leads along the way) until she is able to locate the whereabouts of bin Laden. Her next mission is to convince the authorities that bin Laden is actually hidden in that complex without having definite proof, but her certainty ends up convincing the leaders to send the US Navy SEALS team led by Patrick (Joel Edgerton) to attack the compound and kill bin Laden.

There were a great amount of talented actors cast in this film such as James Gandolfini, Mark Strong, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Duplass, Frank Grillo, and Chris Platt, but they had very few scenes and the entire film centered on Jessica Chastain. She deserves an Oscar for her performance here, and Mark Boal deserves one for Best Screenplay. The entire film is a character study on Maya as her entire life revolves around catching this man. We see it in her eyes from the very opening scene to the very end where instead of experiencing joy for the success she had, all we can see is a sigh of relief. What comes next for Maya? She doesn’t even know as she was so focused and determined on one thing only. I love Bigelow’s style and how she downsizes the entire war and centers everything on one central character. Just like she did in The Hurt Locker where the focus is on Renner’s character and how the adrenaline of war has become an addiction for him; now the focus is on Chastain who is very driven and obsessed with accomplishing her goal. There is not anything else on her mind; it’s as if she lives for one specific purpose. In the end you don’t know if you should cheer for her or feel sorry that her work is done. In a way I felt Bigelow’s approach to the events that led to bin Laden’s death to be very powerful; and it has raised a lot of discussions about torture, but that is exactly what a great film should do: bring up conversations and make us question things at times. After a decade long manhunt, was it really a triumph to kill bin Laden? Was it worth a celebration? Does the end justify the means? Without taking sides Bigelow makes us think about these issues and that is what good movies do for the viewers.    

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My Review: Lawless (9/10)

¨It is not the violence that sets men apart, alright, it is the distance that he is prepared to go.¨

Lawless is a terrific action drama set in the depression era in a small Virginia town. The cinematography in this film is beautiful; I just love movies set in this period when they have a good story like this one. Lawless is based on the novel written by Matt Bondurant, ¨The Wettest County in the World,¨ the grandson of one of the characters in this film, and it claims to be based on a true story. The screenplay was adapted by Nick Cave, and the film directed by John Hillcoat (The Road). I was instantly won over by Lawless as soon as I saw the talented cast that was involved. Shia LaBeouf may have the lead role, but he is outshined by Tom Hardy who is the heart and soul of this movie. The rest of the cast was also excellent with Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan (the young Leonardo Di Caprio look alike from Chronicle), Gary Oldman, and Guy Pearce who plays the villain to perfection here. Gary Oldman is always great, but my only complaint here is that he gets as much screen time in the movie as he does in the trailer. He could´ve been used much more here, although I understand that there were a lot of different things going on. There was one terrific and brutal scene thirty minutes into the movie that really caught my attention and picked up the story from that point forward. It was the turning point for me. Hardy was the rock of this film and he absolutely nailed his role convincing the audience of the legends surrounding his character. I had some trouble with his grumpy voice at times understanding what he was saying, but his performance was spectacular nonetheless. In a way he reminded me of Ryan Gosling in Drive.

The story takes place during the prohibition era in Franklin County, Virginia where the three Bondurant brothers, Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke), and Jack (Shia LaBeouf) run a bootlegging business with the compliance of the local authorities. Jack´s close friend, Cricket (Dane DeHaan), a young teenager who couldn’t hurt a fly is responsible for the moonshine production for which he`s very talented. At the same time, city girl Maggie (Jessica Chastain) shows up in the small town looking for a job at the local bar that Forrest runs. Trouble arises when a new Special Deputy arrives in town from Chicago. His name is Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), and he wants a bigger share in the Bondurant´s profits. Rakes is eccentric and crooked, but he isn’t intimidated by these brothers. The rest of the town believes in the legend that Forrest is immortal after having survived several life threatening experiences (even Forrest himself believes this). Forrest is perhaps the only one in the town that stands up against Rakes and defies him. The younger brother, Jack, initially is the most timid one, but after falling for the local preacher´s daughter, Bertha (Mia Wasikowska) and scoring an important business deal with a famous mobster named Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman) he begins to transform himself into quite a respectable lad. The problem is that Rakes is keeping a close watch on their business and waiting for the perfect opportunity to intervene.

Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy`s characters are probably the best developed in the story. Shia goes through the greatest transformation, while Hardy remains the same always projecting this in control and cool persona. He truly believes he`s immortal like the rest of the town. Jason Clarke is probably the least developed character along with Gary Oldman who really has very little screen time (a real shame). Guy Pearce is very cynical and twisted minded. He made for a perfect villain. Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska both projected beauty and innocence in their roles. The cast was really great in this. I also loved the music and score that accompanied the film. The drama and action played out really well with a couple of violent and bloody scenes. There were several sub plots going on as well with the love interest between Jack and Bertha, and Forrest and Maggie. The legend behind these three men is probably what makes the film stand out story wise and puts Forrest on top of my favorite characters list for 2012. Lawless is a film you won´t want to miss.

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My Review: Take Shelter (9/10)

¨You think I'm crazy? Well, listen up, there's a storm coming like nothing you've ever seen, and not a one of you is prepared for it. ¨

I finally was able to catch up with this film which I was anticipating for quite some time now but never had a chance to see it since it wasn’t released where I live. I was really excited that I finally got to see it because it was really worth the wait. It was better than I anticipated and I really loved how young director Jeff Nichols slowly built the tension in this film. For many viewers Take Shelter may feel like it is slow paced at times, but I was so into the film that I loved how the movie was unfolding before my eyes. I had no problem with the slow buildup because the movie was just so beautiful to watch and the hallucination sequences were really strong thanks to an incredible performance from Michael Shannon. This isn’t your typical thriller where all of a sudden you experience a surprise twist, but it is more like a dramatic thriller where you have the tension slowly building and growing. That is exactly what Michael Shannon`s character goes through as he becomes more and more immersed into this world of trying to figure out what is real and what is hallucination. It is not like if from one moment to the next he just automatically changed, but more like a slow progressive change which begins to unfold before the eyes of his family and community. Jeff Nichols is one to keep an eye considering he not only directed this great film, but wrote it as well. This is just his second film, his first, Shotgun Stories, also starred Shannon, and his third film, Mud, has recently been released in the Cannes film festival receiving a lot of praise.

Curtis (Michael Shannon) lives in a nice small home with his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and young daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), who`s deaf. Everyone in the community looks up to them, but Curtis begins to experience some strange hallucinations about a storm. These are no ordinary hallucinations, as he has trouble sleeping and wakes up sweating. The first dream had to do with a storm coming and all of a sudden his dog bites his arm. When he awakes from the nightmare the pain in his arm doesn’t go away and he begins to worry something bad is going to happen. He ends up locking his dog in the backyard and decides he should build a sort of shelter in his yard. He doesn’t tell Samantha about his problem, but keeps to himself trying to find some help by reading mental illness books and seeking advice from professional councilors. The hallucinations become stronger and stronger and his friends begin to worry about him. The dreams push Curtis further and further away from his friends and family as he keeps to himself and doesn’t try to communicate his problems. We discover he has family history after he visits his mother who suffered from schizophrenia when she was 30. Curtis fears the worst, but also decides to prepare in case his dreams become true.

These constant hallucinations and dreams have us the viewers questioning ourselves whether what Curtis is actually experiencing is a hallucination or some sort of prophesy. We do not know what to believe, but evidently something is wrong with Curtis. What Nichols does well is make the issue not only a personal one, but one that affects the entire family. That is where Jessica Chastain`s character comes in as she plays an important role in trying to keep the family together and trying to help her husband with his mental illness. She is excellent in her role and received a lot of critical acclaim as Michael Shannon did. They both won several awards for their roles in this film, although Chastain did have a bigger year with other films like The Help and The Tree of Life. I had seen Shannon in several smaller roles in the past, but this was the first time that I actually got to see him in the lead role, and he was just brilliant. I absolutely loved this film and the ambiguous ending also played out really well in my opinion. I will definitely be looking out for Nichols`s next film, Mud.

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My Review: The Tree of Life (9/10)

¨The nuns taught us there were two ways through life - the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow.¨

The Tree of Life is a beautiful movie, which works more like a poem than an actual narrative. Terrence Malick has made what is in my opinion one of the closest movies to Kubrick`s 2001 A Space Odyssey. There are several similarities, including imagery, use of music, and very little amount of dialogue in the picture. There is one moment where there is no dialogue whatsoever for about thirty minutes straight, so be warned this film isn`t for the average moviegoer. Film lovers and critics alike will probably love this film thanks to the beautiful imagery; it`s truly a poetic movie and it will stick with you for days to come. It`s an exploration of the meaning of life and the existence of God. If God exists than why does he allow evil? It`s a question we all make sometimes, and Malick answers it quite simply with a verse from the book of Job in the Bible: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? ¨ Then there is a thirty minute montage of images beginning with the creation of the cosmos and universe, to the creation of Earth and the first living creatures up to the birth of a baby boy. This is where we realize that we are truly small creatures in the midst of such a vast universe. This boy ends up being the protagonist of the film as we see several flashes of memories he`s had growing up in a small Texas town. These are the experiences that have shaped him and led him to question God`s existence. In The Tree of Life, Malick manages to explore these common questions with great use of imagery. It is said that actions speak louder than words, in this case images speak louder than dialogues or typical narrative structures.

The main protagonist of The Tree of Life isn`t a character, we actually see much more imagery such as trees, water, rays of light, and other natural things, than we see people. Most of the imagery from the film comes from Jack O`Brien (Sean Penn) as we get to see his childhood memories and the things that have shaped his life up to the present day. He grew up in a small Texas town during the 50`s under the love of his caring mother, Mrs. O`Brien (Jessica Chastain), who represents the world of grace, and his stern father (Brad Pitt) who represents the world of nature (a more selfish view of the world). Jack (who is played by Hunter McCracken during his youth) is the oldest of three brothers. His fondest memories are of the three always playing together outdoors and enjoying life, although always fearing their father`s discipline. One of the moments that impacted his life was when the three were playing at a public pool and they saw a boy drown. Jack, who had up to that point lived under his mother`s vision of grace, now questions God and doesn’t understand how he could allow such a thing to happen. After his father goes away on a long business trip, Jack begins to go through a rebellious phase in which he does things he is not very proud of. We get to see all these memories and experiences Jack goes through as he recollects his past and tries to find meaning to life and the death of one of his younger brothers.

  

This is a movie in which every viewer will possibly leave with a different interpretation of the movie because the images can speak to us in different ways. It is a very thought provoking movie and Malick really has created a memorable and poetic film. Some of these images will remain in my mind for the rest of my life. I wasn’t really a fan of Malick`s work since I hated The New World and found The Thin Red Line quite boring, but after seeing this film I want to go back and rewatch those movies to see if perhaps my young age was a factor for it. Malick doesn’t make Blockbuster movies, but only time will tell if this film will become a cult classic. In my opinion this movie will be the most talked about film of 2011 over the next decades kind of like in the same way 2001 A Space Odyssey became such a cult fan favorite. This isn’t a movie for everyone, many won`t be interested in all the poetic imagery kind of like in the same way young kids aren`t expected to get excited about listening to classical music; they would much rather go to a rock or pop concert. The Tree of Life doesn`t have that kind of entertainment value, it`s more artistic than anything else. It makes you think about the meaning of life, and it really made me recall several moments of my own childhood. In a way, this is the same way I remember some of my own experiences throughout flashes of recollections I`ve had of my past. We all remember these vague experiences in which we first felt love, remorse, and guilt. This is truly a beautiful film and one I wouldn’t mind sitting through again.

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