Only Lovers Left Alive (9/10): A fresh spin on the vampire genre

“I just feel like all the sand is at the bottom of the hour glass or something.”

Jim Jarmusch brings a fresh spin to the very familiar vampire tale and delivers a solid and unique film that is unlike any other from the genre. Only Lovers Left Alive will stand alone considering it lacks the horror and action elements that the classic vampire films always introduce, and it also avoids the romantic cliches as well. It is an existential vampire film where you have two very distinct characters. On the one hand there is Tom Hiddleston’s character who has been around for centuries and is living in Detroit along with his growing music collection. He has grown weary with the way humans (or as he calls them: zombies) are living and has this nostalgic sense of the past, which explains why he collects several instruments from the early 1900’s. He seems to be depressed and simply disillusioned towards the modern world. On the other hand, his wife played by Tilda Swinton is living in Tangier, and she continues to enjoy the basic things in life. She loves to read and seems to have adapted well to the new world. When she realizes that her husband is getting depressed she decides to travel to Detroit to see if she can cheer him up. Most of the film focuses on Hiddleston’s existential crisis and serves as an excuse for Jarmusch to talk about art and culture. Many people might find this pretentious, but it works because you are reminded that these characters have been living for centuries and have actually met some of these artists and scientists they are referring to. The way in which Jarmusch builds these characters is also fascinating. The idea of the vampires having this sort of rockstar look to them is great and the way they seem to get high when they drink blood was also a very clever touch. There is no action here because these vampires aren’t feeding off people, they simply have their resources for buying blood. 

It’s the small moments that work extremely well in the film and the performances are fantastic. Hiddleston and Swinton are perfectly cast for their roles and both share an incredible chemistry on screen. They’ve been together for centuries so there is no tension in the relationship and they read each other perfectly. However when Swinton’s smaller sister (Played by Mia Wasikowska) shows up things begin to get interesting. Wasikowska is also great in this film and she does a convincing job playing this immature and pain in the neck little sister. There are also some strong supporting performances from John Hurt and Anton Yelchin. The cast is excellent in the film and with the strong script they all shine in this unique indie movie. I went into it knowing almost nothing about the film and I think it is the best way to approach it because the world created by Jarmusch is quite interesting. I had heard a lot about the director, but this was the first time I actually saw a film of his and I’m surprised I enjoyed it so much because I don’t consider myself a fan of the genre and I do tend to find existential films pretentious at times, but here it works. It is very elegant, cool, and stylish.

My Review: Maps to the Stars (5/10)

“On the stairs of Death I write your name, Liberty.”

I don’t consider myself a David Cronenberg fan since some of his recent films didn’t appeal to me and I haven’t had the chance to see his earlier movies, but I do tend to appreciate his work more than I actually enjoy it. This was the case with the incredibly twisted and dark Hollywood satire, Maps to the Stars. It wasn’t a joyful or pleasurable experience for me, but I did admire some aspects of this film. I tend to go for more straightforward narratives than surreal films so that explains why I enjoyed A History of Violence and Eastern Promises much more than his other films. Those two films remain my favorite from Cronenberg. Maps to the Stars was a major improvement from Cosmopolis, but I still had a hard time accepting some of the dark humor and Cronenberg’s hyperrealistic style. I’m sure Cronenberg fans will love this film because he uses plenty of symbols and makes fun of the vein world of celebrities. Using Hollywood itself to establish his familiar dark backgrounds, Cronenberg goes full mode with these messed-up and unpredictable characters. The film has a Greek tragedy structure as well as incorporating familiar ghost story elements to the narrative. Maps to the Stars is as insane as the world of the celebrities it tries to portray. There is also a lot of industry talk going on in this film exploring the Hollywood dynasty and the obsession people have for celebrities. 

Like in most of Cronenberg’s films the characters are difficult to sympathize with and of course it is the case once again with these self centered celebrities who seem to be completely messed up. No one does a better job than Julianne Moore who plays a manic-depressive washed up movie star. She is amazing in this film, but completely annoying at the same time. I wasn’t a huge fan of Evan Bird and John Cusack’s performances. Cusack went over the top with his character and it didn’t really work for me. Mia Wasikowska on the other hand is very subtle in her performance. She seems to pick some strange roles, but she pulls them off. Her character has scars in her body from burns, but they aren’t nearly as disgusting as the souls of these celebrities. Cronenberg seems to be obsessed with disfigured women in his films, but he makes sure we notice that what really is disfigured in Hollywood are the souls of these celebrities. I can give Cronenberg credit for his style, but I can’t say I enjoyed this film. I still don’t understand what was going on with that fire sequence in the film. The CGI was terrible and the scene looked completely fake, but I’m not sure if Cronenberg was intentionally trying to make it so considering he has a twisted sense of humor. 

My Review: The Double (5/10)

"Look at me, look at him. He stole my face."

I don't know why this film didn't engage me as it has most people, but there was just something about it and its characters that simply alienated me. The Double is Richard Ayoade's follow up to Submarine, and it feels heavily influenced by other works, especially from directors like David Lynch and Terry Gilliam. It is actually an adaptation of an 1800's novella written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Ayoade adapted it with a unique and clever style. There is a lot of dark humor involved and it also has a philosophical undertone. Despite being influenced by all these works, the film still feels unique and innovative, but it just didn't resonate with me. I'm just not a big fan of these surreal films that don't follow a classical narrative style, and The Double is just that, it plays out as a sort of nightmare for the main character played by Jesse Eisenberg. It's a case where I felt the film was more about style and aesthetics than substance and content. I prefer Villeneuve's Enemy, which is also a film dealing with a doppleganger premise, over this bleak film. There is no doubt that The Double is a creepy film, but one that didn't work for me and one I don't plan on revisiting because like the main character in The Double I felt completely alienated in this dystopian world.

The film introduces us to Simon (Jesse Eisenberg), a timid and shy young man who seems to live his life unperceived by everyone else. Simon always tries to please those around him and is very submissive despite everyone's indifference towards him. He's been working at a government agency for the past 7 years, and despite having some great ideas, no one ever pays attention to him. He is in love with one of his coworkers, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), who he is too shy to speak to. He always looks for an excuse to visit her at the printing room, but he never finds the courage to ask her out. She is also kind of a lonely and strange girl herself, and Simon often finds himself watching her through a telescope from his apartment. Simon's life turns around when one day his boss, Mr. Papadopoulos (Wallace Shawn), introduces a new coworker named James who is physically identical to him, but with a complete opposite personality. Everyone likes James, and no one even seems to notice he looks exactly like Simon because they don't even conceive of his existence. James is so outgoing he has no trouble getting his boss's attention and seducing women. James befriends Simon but ends up using his ideas to impress Mr. Papadopoulos and seduce Hannah. All of Simon's dreams and hopes are shattered by James who is taking over everything he's passionate about, but was always afraid to take a stand for. 

The premise seems interesting, but the way it was presented is what didn't work for me. Ayoade created such a unique dystopian and bleak world that it made me feel dull and alienated. I didn't really care for the characters in this film, despite the wonderful dual performance from Jesse Eisenberg. He once again proves he's a talented actor and carries this film. Mia Wasikowska is also wonderful and plays alongside Eisenberg really well. The performances were strong, I had no problem with them, but what I didn't enjoy were the characters they were playing and the way the film was narrated. The film tries to explore our senses, but all it did for me was make me feel indifferent towards it the same way Simon's coworkers felt towards him. It's a quirky film with a lot of quirky sounds and musical score that just didn't work for me the same way it did for most audiences. 

My Review: Stoker (9/10)

¨Sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.¨

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Chan-wook Park´s first American film considering it hadn’t received as much critical acclaim as his Korean films did. I liked Oldboy, but wasn’t a huge fan like most people, but somehow I ended up being blown away with how artistic and well made this movie was. Park can take you to dark places and his movies can be disturbing. Stoker is no exception. Park creates a dark and provocative thriller that begins at a slow pace but the tension begins to rise as we get to the climatic and surprising ending. Park´s film is very stylish, and I don’t think I have seen better camerawork and editing in a film this year. I was blown away with the images and the twists that Park creates in this film. Stoker proves that it is not necessary to sympathize for any of the characters in order for the viewer to care for what is happening. None of these characters are likeable, but Park creates such a dark and twisted atmosphere that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The slow opening scenes were very stylish and gorgeous to look at. I was completely hooked with the story from the beginning. I was surprised to discover that the script was written by Wentworth Miller (the actor from Prison Break and Resident Evil Afterlife) because the story was pretty gripping. I don’t know if it would have worked in another director´s hands, but Park made the script look good. If this was Park´s first American film, I can´t wait to see what he does next. This film also made me want to watch Oldboy again and see what I missed the first time considering I was a much younger viewer. Park will definitely be on my radar from now on.

India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) has always been very close to her father, Richard (Dermot Mulroney), but has never connected well with her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Nicole Kidman). India isn’t a normal teenage girl herself; she is socially awkward and doesn’t like to be touched. She lives in a large family estate in a peaceful town surrounded by the woods. On the day of her 18^th birthday, she receives the news that her father has passed away in a freak car accident. During his funeral, India is introduced to her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), Richard´s estranged brother whom he has never mentioned before. Evie invites Charlie to stay with them, and despite being attracted to him in some sort of bizarre way India isn’t happy with his presence in their estate. Charlie seems to have some ulterior motives, but everyone in the family acts in a bizarre way. This isn’t your typical family and everyone seems to have some disturbed troubled past. Charlie seems to be taken with India, but she distrusts his intentions. As the movie begins to unfold we discover some hidden secrets from the family´s past.

I´ve mentioned how much I liked Park´s direction and Miller´s script, but I also have to give credit to Wasikowska´s performance. She gives a very strong performance as this troubled teen who is struggling to accept her infatuation with her estranged uncle. She has some very difficult scenes here and she delivers at every turn. She is the highlight of this film, although Matthew Goode has some great moments as well and some strange sort of chemistry going on with Wasikowska. The film finds a perfect balance between being disturbingly dark and beautifully stylish. I was really hooked with this thriller and would definitely watch this film again. Stoker may not be as raw and shocking as Oldboy but it still has its twisted and disturbing moments. Park´s style may not be for everyone, but I enjoy his craft and artistic style.  

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

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.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com

My Review: The Kids Are All RIght (9/10)

¨Marriage is hard…sometimes, you know, you`re together for so long, that you just stop seeing the other person. You just see weird projections of your own junk.¨

Many people may go into this movie expecting to see a feel good film about two lesbians, but it is actually a movie about marriage and the difficulties that this entices. This is one of the best family dramas of the decade, and it also has a good dose of comedy as well. I really enjoyed this film. At the beginning it felt sort of awkward, but as we get to know each member of the family we identify some elements with our own family. Why does this film work so well? First of all the entire cast in this film is excellent. It is very difficult for me to point out one person because everyone in this film is brilliant. The performances felt so real and natural and even the kids were more than all right, they were great in this film. Director Lisa Cholodenko also did a terrific job with the direction despite not receiving an Oscar nomination in that category. However the Academy made up for it by giving her a Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay nod. After the excellent performance from the cast, I think the best thing about this movie was the screenplay which Cholodenko co-wrote with Stuart Blumberg (The Girl Next Door and Keeping the Faith). The screenplay is sharp and has some very witty dialogue in it as well. The characters are very well developed and they avoided the classical Hollywood stereotypes. The family is unconventional, but we can relate to some of the things they go through and clichés are avoided very well.

Nic (played by Annette Bening) is a physician who has an apparently happy life alongside her wife Jules (Julianne Moore) and their two kids Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and Joni (Mia Wasikowska who recently played Alice in Tim Burton`s Alice in Wonderland). When I say that they live an apparently happy life it`s not because there is anything wrong with them, but they do struggle through the regular issues any other family does. Nic seems to be a little of a control freak and tries to control Jules and her kids, they get along pretty well, but they seem to be going through a sort of mid life crisis. Jules is currently unemployed although she wants to begin a landscape design business. Joni has just turned 18, she`s a very smart girl and is getting ready for college, while Laser is a great athlete who is curious about meeting his father. Nic and Jules both used the same sperm donor in order to get pregnant with Joni and Laser. Since Laser is only 15 he is not legally old enough to ask for the information at the clinic so he gets Joni to do it for him. The kids secretly arrange a meeting with their sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who is in his late thirties and owns an organic restaurant and garden. Paul is a cool guy who wants to meet the kids and they get along pretty well. At the beginning it`s awkward for them, but they get to know each other and want to continue their relationship, although it ends up complicating things in the long run as Paul infiltrates their lives.

Lisa Cholodenko manages to balance pretty well the drama with the comedy. There are very emotional and tense situations, but there are also very funny moments like when Jules and Nic (or as the kids call them: the ¨moms¨) want to know if Laser is gay because he hangs out so much with his buddy. The cast was so good that it`s impossible for me to single out one performance in this film. Annette Bening was great as Nic and she deserves her best actress nomination, but I don`t see how she is the main character and Mark Ruffalo only got a nomination for best supporting actor. I think he has almost as much screen time as either one of the moms. And why not nominate Julianne Moore as well? She was equally as good as the rest of the cast. The movie is just terrific and the actors had great material to work with. When Ruffalo`s character showed up in this film and complicated things for the family the movie really began to pick up and I found myself enjoying it even more. The movie is not about two lesbians being discriminated so that we feel sorry for them, but rather about marriage itself and the everyday complications any family faces in life. This is a family where each member loves each other very much, but they make stupid decisions which end up hurting those people they love the most and that is something many marriages can identify with. Overall I think this was a great film and probably will be on my top ten list for 2010.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: Alice in Wonderland (2010) (7/10)

¨You used to be much more…muchier. You`ve lost your muchness.¨

(7/10) Those are the words the Mad Hatter tells Alice after she has returned to Wonderland, but now much older as a 19 year old girl who has no memory of her last visit there when she was a little kid. Tim Burton directs this classic Disney tale and he teams up once again with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. They have already worked together in Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton`s Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp and Burton have a profound respect for each other and it is always a pleasure to experience one of their creative films. When I heard they were going to work together in this film I was really excited because I knew that Burton could do something memorable with Wonderland. He is one of the most imaginative and creative directors and Wonderland was way ahead of its time when it came out in 1951. I wasn`t a big fan of the cartoon because it was missing a story, but the characters and the world that was created was very imaginative nonetheless. Burton had a lot of interesting material to work with here and he did a great job although perhaps I was expecting a bit too much. This is far better than the cartoon because there is a better plot and a decent story this time, but the characters didn`t seem as mad as they were in the original. I was surprised that this time around they all made sense, but I guess you need that in order to have a good story. The visuals and the effects were also amazing so Burton was successful in recreating this world.

The story takes place many years after Alice has visited Wonderland and she has no memory of her visit there. She is now a nineteen year old girl who is getting ready for a banquet which is thrown in her honor although she doesn`t know it yet. Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska who could recently been seen in Amelia) is not happy about having to dress up for the event and she is still dreaming about a different world where she doesn`t have to do what she is expected. She still has some of the same attitudes that she had in the original film. Alice soon finds out from her cousins that the banquet is thrown in her honor because Hamish (Leo Bill) is going to propose to her and that she is expected to say yes because he is a Duke. Alice doesn`t have feelings for Hamish and she can`t say yes and is suddenly distracted by a rabbit that is running across the yard and decides to follow it. She ends up falling through a rabbit hole and ends upside down in a locked room very similar to the one in the original film. She finds a key in the table but it only opens a very small door so she can`t get through it. This is perhaps one of the most similar scenes to the original except that there is no talking doorknob this time, and Alice still has no memory of this place even though she goes through the exact same situation of shrinking and then getting larger. Once in Wonderland, or should I say Underland because the other was the name that Alice had given it when she was a child, she runs into the same creatures she had been with in the past such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the white rabbit (Micheal Sheen from Frost/Nixon), the blue caterpillar (Alan Rickman from the Harry Potter series), the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), and the Red Queen (Helen Bonham Carter) among others. There are also some new characters like the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Stayne the knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover from Charlie`s Angels), Bandersnatch, and the Jabberwocky.

What I enjoyed more about this film than the original one is that there was an actual plot to this story. Alice had a mission this time around and she was not just running after the white rabbit. There is much more action and Burton does a great job at recreating this world. Johnny Depp is great as usual and his character was probably one of the best in the movie and the reason why many people wanted to see Alice in the first place. Mia Wasikowska also does a good job as she has the lead role in the film. Burton still recreates certain elements from the original such as the entrance to Wonderland, the scene where the Red Queen is playing wicket using a flamingo for a stick, and the famous riddle that the Mad Hatter asks, ¨why is a raven like a writing desk? ¨ to which we still don`t get an answer too because there isn`t one really. The movie works and the visuals are great, but you are still left with a sense that there could be so much more done with this movie. Wonderland is a magical place, but to rephrase the words the Mad Hatter tells Alice it seems that this movie was missing something more…muchier. We could have used some more of Burton`s famous muchness.