Stonehearst Asylum (4/10): A poor attempt at creating a suspenseful gothic film

“We're all mad Dr. Newgate. Some are simply not mad enough to admit it.”

Set in a mental institution during the end of the 19th century it’s hard not to compare this gothic thriller to Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island. Whereas Scorsese managed to create a film with an eerie atmosphere full of intrigues and thrills, Stonehearst Asylum fails to do so. It seems to have the perfect setting and cast to do so, but director Brad Anderson (known for The Machinist) isn’t able to come up with a compelling script. There is a scene during the opening of the film where a young doctor played by Jim Sturgess arrives at this gothic asylum and the atmosphere seems ideal for a great suspenseful thriller, but the story never seems to catch on with the visuals and the atmosphere is lost. It isn’t enough to make a film with a gothic look if the story isn’t engaging, and this movie is proof yet again that a talented cast doesn’t always make for a good film. Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Caine all star in this film which should automatically make it worth giving it a watch, but unfortunately the script doesn’t do anything to make their characters interesting. The film is based on Poe’s short story, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, but the adaptation to the big screen doesn’t necessary make for a good watch.   

The plot revolves around Dr. Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) who arrives at a remote mental institution to offer his assistant. Despite his young age, he is eager to help these mentally ill patients and Dr. Silas Lamb (Ben Kingsley) greets him with enthusiasm. Edward realizes that Lamb’s methods are a bit unorthodox as he allows his patients to run around freely in the institution helping around with the chores. Mickey Finn (David Thewlis) is Lamb’s right hand man, but he seems a bit unstable and many of the patients seem to fear him. When Edward meets Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale), a patient who seems very enlightened and educated, he immediately becomes infatuated with her. She seems to have issues with touch and intimacy, but at the same time she is also a very caring individual who looks after some of the patients in the ward. Early in the movie there is a twist that I won’t give away, but where Edward is introduced to some other characters among which is Benjamin Salt (Michael Caine) who makes a very interesting claim that could change everything he has come to believe about the asylum. 

I think the revelation in the film is made too early on and it takes away from some of the suspense it could’ve benefited from. Once the reveal is made the film seems to lose some of the tension and it becomes a bit predictable along the way. It is a shame because there was an interesting cast to work with here. As stunning as she is in this film, Beckinsale doesn’t get much to do other than simply captivate audiences with her looks. Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine are such wonderful actors that I could’ve used more face off between the two. The film continues to deliver some twists along the way, but they never do anything to build the suspense. It has the right look, but it simply doesn’t transmit the suspense and the gothic atmosphere it so desperately tries to establish.

My Review: Total Recall (5/10)

¨The past is a construct of the mind. It blinds us. It fools us into believing it. But the heart wants to live in the present. Look there. You'll find your answer.¨

This new version of Total Recall is better than the original, but that`s not saying much considering I wasn`t very fond of that one either. This remake shares sort of the same problems that the original had considering there is a whole lot of action going around, but hardly any time for character development. The entire movie feels like one big chase scene and by the end instead of feeling the climax you are wishing it would end already. The movie isn`t that long, but it feels like it. What I liked better about this film was the look of it. The dark futuristic vision of the world was engaging and some of my favorite scenes involved this imagery and brilliant futuristic designs. This movie has a much better look and it was also a plus that it took place entirely on Earth instead of Mars like in the original. I also think Colin Farrell is a much better actor than Arnold, but when it comes to action scenes Arnold was the best and in this film Farrell doesn’t have much to work with besides running around from one action scene to another. The action scenes have gotten repetitive and there isn’t anything unique about them in this movie either; director Len Wiseman could have come up with a better plot to engage the audience and not focus as much as he did with the action scenes. The setting was the highlight of the movie for me and I enjoyed some of the devices they imagined in this futuristic world but that was about it. Wiseman, who is better known for directing the Underworld franchise, also hired Kate Beckinsale to play the role Sharon Stone did in the original. I had no problem with the casting, which for me was good, but I wished the characters were given more meat.

Sometime in the future only two countries exist: The United Federation of Britain and the Colony. It is a dark time where most people live in poverty in the Colony and have to travel across the world to Britain to work. There is very few habitable space for the people as a Chemical warfare has destroyed most of the planet. Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) is the Chancellor of UFB who is dealing with a rebellious group from the Colony under the leadership of Matthias (Bill Nighy). Times are unstable and the future doesn’t look bright for the residents of Earth. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) seems to be living a normal life as a factory worker with a beautiful wife named Lori (Kate Beckinsale), but he feels like escaping from the routine of work and decides to pay a visit to Rekall, a company that specializes in implanting brain memories. At Rekall he asks for an escape from his everyday life and he chooses the option of becoming a spy. Before they implant the memory something goes wrong and Quaid realizes that he is not who he thinks he is. He has special abilities and even his wife seems to turn against him. Quaid suffers an identity crisis and begins picking up clues about his past which involve him working as a spy for the resistance movement. He immediately begins to be chased by Lori and Cohaagen`s people and meets Melina (Jessica Biel) who claims to know him from the past, but with another name. Quaid will have to try to discover whether what he`s experiencing is real or if it`s just a fantasy implanted on him from Rekall.

The main idea is very similar to the original film, except for the fact that the resistance movement is in Earth and not in Mars, although it is a very different planet by now. Colin Farrell plays the same role Arnold did, Kate plays Stone`s role although Kate gets much more screen time as she`s also the main persecutor as well, and Biel plays the role of the heroin who helps unlock Quaid`s past. This film has a better cast in my opinion, but the plot is equally as poor developed. At least in the original version we had some funny one liners (what Arnold did best), but here the film is much darker and serious. I enjoyed this version a little more, but I still didn’t enjoy it very much. Maybe if the final action scene were a little shorter I could`ve enjoyed it a little more. Total Recall shouldn’t of been remade it, it just isn’t that remarkable of a film in my opinion.

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My Review: Underworld Awakening (5/10)

¨For 12 years, I was held captive by the humans. The world I once knew has changed. Vampires and Lycans are now the hunted.¨

This is the fourth film in the Underworld franchise and this time Kate Beckinsale is back in the lead role after Rhona Mitra starred in the third one alongside Michael Sheen (which served as a prequel to the original film). If you`ve seen the other films then you probably know what to expect here because it is kind of the same thing: a lot of action and very little dialogue with voice over narration from Selene who lets us know everything that is happening. The first film of the franchise felt fresh and original, but these sequels have to stop because they seem to be repeating themselves with each movie. This time Awakening was directed by the Swedish duo Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein who have directed other Swedish films together in the past. There were about four screenwriters involved with the script and I really don`t see why because there is hardly no story in this film, it focuses almost entirely on the action and there is really very little character development. Fans who are expecting to see a lot of action and eye candy will be satisfied with Kate`s performance, but if you were looking for some more depth and more interesting characters then you will be disappointed with this fourth installment. The action is almost nonstop and the film is under 90 minutes long so time does go by pretty fast. If you are satisfied with good visuals then you might enjoy this film, but don`t go into it expecting much more.

This fourth installment follows the similar premise where you have the lycans facing off against the vampires, except only this time both sides are being hunted by humans who are trying to exterminate them. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) narrates what is happening while she plans to meet up with Michael and escape with him, but they are ambushed by humans and a grenade goes off. Everything blacks out and we see Selene frozen inside a lab when someone seems to be freeing her. Selene wakes up and realizes she is in the Antigen laboratory run by Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea) and manages to escape from all the security. Once free she tries to figure out what happened before the explosion went off and realizes that 12 years have gone by while she was kept frozen in the lab. She begins to look for Micheal, believing he was the one that freed her since she seems to be seeing his visions. While she is on the run some humans are after her, and so are some lycans. She runs into another vampire named David (Theo James) who helps her search for Micheal. Soon they realize that those visions Selene is having aren`t from Micheal, but from someone else who is connected to her.

The entire movie moves at a really fast pace focusing mostly on the action and visual effects. Kate Beckinsale knows her part by memory and can do those tricks with her eyes closed. She is quite impressive on screen and really kicks some lycan butt. The rest of the cast really don`t add anything new to the movie since there is barely any character development. What we have instead are 88 minutes of nonstop action. Other supporting actors in this film are Michael Ealy, India Eisley, Charles Dance, and Kris Holden-Ried. None of them really shine on screen, but they don’t have to because Underworld Awakening is all about the action and seeing Beckinsale kill off as many lycans as possible. She does her job and if the viewer is satisfied with that then they will have a great time with this film, if not I would recommend you skip this movie because it has no other value than the well choreographed fighting scenes.

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My Review: Contraband (8/10)

¨You were the best of the best, but the proudest day of my life was when you turned legit.¨

Contraband was one of those surprisingly good action thrillers which I really wasn’t expecting much considering we`ve seen several heist movies like this before and the director was the relatively unknown, Baltasar Kormkakur from Iceland. He might be popular in his country, but this is the first film he`s produced in Hollywood. Mark Wahlberg has proven before that he can make great heist thrillers, and this film is just as surprisingly entertaining as The Italian Job. Wahlberg gives a really great performance in the lead role and I`m guessing by now that he can star in these films blindfolded. He also had a strong supporting cast that made this film even better, but what I enjoyed the most about this film was the script. Yes, some twists were predictable, but it kept my interest and had me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie. Contraband was actually a remake of the 2008 Icelandic film, Reykjavik, which starred Kormkakur in the lead role. The script was adapted by Aaron Guzikowski and the action now takes place in between the United States and Panama instead of in Rotterdam. Contraband really worked for me as an entertaining thriller with a couple of twists and surprises (some more predictable than others, but well constructed). I really enjoyed this film.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is happily married to Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and they have two children together. He used to be a very successful smuggler, but turned his life around after meeting Kate. They are very happy together, and Chris`s former smuggling partner, Sebastian (Ben Foster), with whom he is still very close is also getting his life back on track. Everything seems to be going really well until Kate receives a call from her brother, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), who is at the hospital after having been beat up by a drug dealer named Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi). Andy had been smuggling cocaine on freighters for Briggs and had to dump the last package after the DEA had ambushed them. Briggs will kill Andy, if he doesn’t get his money back from the deal, but Chris promises to repay him before any more harm is done. Chris decides to smuggle counterfeit currency from Panama in order to repay the debt, but in order to do so he will have to form a team in the freighter which will allow him to buy more time, while his family is being threatened by Briggs and his gang.

  

Mark Wahlberg is a true actions tar and he is really entertaining in this movie, but he also had a great secondary cast including Kate Beckinsale who looked lovely as usual, Ben Foster who is always really creepy, Giovanni Ribisi who is always very unpredictable, JK Simmons who has a more serious role despite the fact that he always makes you laugh, and Diego Luna who plays a Panamanian criminal. I really enjoyed Luna`s short performance, his scene was really interesting and one of the highlights of the film. Contraband begins to accumulate the tension as we reach the final climatic scene. I thought it played out perfectly and that the film was really well edited and choreographed. The movie was entertaining from start to finish, it was a well constructed heist thriller (not perfect, but fun nonetheless).

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My Review: Serendipity (8/10)

¨Serendipity, it`s one of my favorite words. It`s such a nice sounding word for what it means: a fortunate accident.¨

I never thought the time would come in which I`d see this movie because unfortunately I had caught the ending on cable and therefore spoiled the rest of the film. However, I happened to come across Serendipity again and decided to watch it from the beginning this time, and what a pleasure it was. Even though I knew how the story was going to end, it was a delight to watch the story unravel. We know how these romantic movies are going to end most of the time, but the important thing is the story and the chemistry between the lead characters; and Serendipity didn’t disappoint me. I was hooked from the very opening scene in the store, and there seemed to be something magical going on. It didn’t matter whether or not I had seen the ending because the important thing was seeing this romantic story come to life. The chemistry between the two lead roles was really believable. It`s as if I was destined to watch this movie the way I did so that I wouldn’t focus so much on how predictable the movie might be, but rather enjoy the love story and the chemistry between the actors. The dialogue in this film, written by Marc Klein, was also great and there were several memorable lines. In my opinion this is by far Peter Chelsom`s best film thanks to a great dual performance from John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale who really shine together on screen.

 It all happens one magical night: Jonathan (John Cusack) is doing some Christmas shopping for his girlfriend and while grabbing the last remaining pair of black gloves he runs into Sara (Kate Beckinsale) who is also thinking of buying them for her lover. Being the gentleman he is Jonathan insists that Sarah take the gloves, but he can`t help but feel some magical connection between them. They decide to share a drink together at Serendipity and they spend the night getting to know each other, although Sara never reveals her last name to him. She says that if they are meant to be together then fate will make them cross paths again. She writes her full name and phone number on a book cover (¨Love in the Time of Cholera¨) and says she will give it away to a used bookstore. If they are meant to be together then he will be able to find the book; Jonathan does the same thing on a five dollar bill. Unfortunately fate doesn’t give them a hand at first and each goes their separate way. Seven years later Jonathan, who still lives in New York and works for ESPN, is about to get married with Halley (Bridget Moynahan). His best friend, Dean (Jeremy Piven), gives a funny speech on their engagement night, but Jonathan begins to see some signals that remind him of that magical night he shared with Sara. Meanwhile, Sara is living in California and is also about to get married with a New Age musician named Lars (John Corbett). She also begins to get cold feet about the wedding and begins to see some signs that remind her of the night she spent with Jonathan. She decides to travel to New York for the weekend with her best friend, Eve (Molly Shannon), and see if she can find information on Jonathan. Thus the plot thickens and the fun begins.

The chemistry between Beckinsale and Cusack is just unbelievable. Those few scenes they share together at the beginning of the film are so magical that we want the two of them to find their way back together. Somehow we want to believe in fate and soul mates, and these two characters represent just that because we want them to be together even though they both seem to have good relationships with their partners, who don’t play the typical bad boyfriend/girlfriend character. The movie is not all romance; there are also several funny scenes: Piven and Shannon have some memorable comedic scenes. Beckinsale is as beautiful as ever in this film, and Cusack is at his best playing this sort of charismatic role. The entire cast really shines in this film making this love story all that more believable. Serendipity is one of those few romantic Hollywood movies that actually works thanks to a great love story, good performances, and memorable dialogues. We all want to believe in love and how fate can give us a hand when it comes to finding our soul mate; and Serendipity works so well at getting this point across that it can turn the most skeptic person into a believer. It doesn’t matter if the ending is predictable or not, the most important thing about Serendipity is how we get to that finale; learning how to read those signs and enjoying the love story. In my opinion Serendipity will rank among those great romantic films.

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