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 Rover (6/10)

"The only thing that means anything right now is that I'm here and he's not."

David Michod followed up his critically acclaimed Australian film, Animal Kingdom, with this post-Apocalyptic western starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson. It is a very slow paced film with very little dialogue and several monotonous scenes involving close ups of characters staring into the desertlike wasteland. As I was watching The Rover, I couldn't help but recall the stunning cinematography and the atmosphere of The Road. This film has many similarities with it considering it also deals with a post apocalyptic world where humanity seems lost. The few social encounters that take place between the characters show us how indifferent these people are towards each other in this bleak and harsh world portrayed by Michod. There is no mention as to what happened other than that there was a collapse ten years ago. That collapse hasn't affected the landscape as much as it has affected people's inner lives. There seems to be a lack of purpose in every character's life and there is no room for laughter or hope. It's not the world that has gotten darker, but the people who are simply trying to survive in it. We've seen this sort of bleak world portrayed in many other films before, and the monotony can turn many audiences off. The young girls who are drawn to this film for Robert Pattinson will be disappointed considering the dirt filled desert has taken its toll on him and the rest of the characters. No one looks good in The Rover, there is no reason to, they are all simply trying to survive and move on in this desolate land. The tone and mood of the film is very dark and harsh which will also turn many people off. This isn't a film for everyone, but the drama does manage to keep you in suspense.

Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson are the sole reason why I was able to stick with this depressive and lonely world painted by Michod (with the assistance of Joel Edgerton who wrote the story in which the film is based on). Pearce gives a solid performance as this tough loner who will stop at nothing to find the men who have stolen his car, even if it means getting killed in the process. Along the way he encounters Rey (Robert Pattinson), who is the brother of one of the criminals who have stolen his car. Apparently Rey was left for dead after a shootout that took place right before the criminals decided to escape in the wrong vehicle. The two continue the search together. Once Pearce and Pattinson are on screen together the film picks up and breaks the monotony from the opening minutes. Pattinson is the stand out here playing this dimwitted character who doesn't seem to have a chance of surviving in this world on his own. He sells his southern accent very well and even delivers some much needed comedic relief once in a while. He is almost unrecognizable in this film and I believe it is probably his best performance to date. The violence in this film is also shocking at times as it hits you pretty hard and doesn't romanticize it at all as some Hollywood films tend to do. The gunshots are loud and quick and probably say much more about The Rover than any of the characters do. I wasn't a fan of the score of this film which was a bit repetitive and wasn't necessary in my opinion considering the tone was rather monotonous on its own. Despite its slow pacing, The Rover managed to sustain the tension up to the very end.

My Review: Cosmopolis (2/10)

¨There's a poem I read in which a rat becomes the unit of currency.¨

Oh David Cronenberg what have thy done? Despite making some great films in the last few years (such as A History of Violence and Eastern Promises) Cronenberg has directed what is in my opinion the worst film of 2012. Cosmopolis is 100 minutes of complete torture, I did not enjoy the experience one bit and was hoping the pace of the film would pick up or that there would be some cool pay off at the end, but neither of those things happened. I can honestly tell you that I considered walking out on this film so many times, but for some reason I decided to stay with it. This is a film I will not be revisiting ever, although I know that in order to understand it completely several viewings need to take place because it is based on a philosophical novel written by Don DeLillo that is hard to follow. The film is very slow paced as you follow the main character for almost the entire film inside his limo talking to several different characters that jump in and out of his vehicle. The dialogues are really profound and pretentious as everything they are talking about serves as a sort of metaphor or symbolism on capitalism. If to understand the dialogues in the novel you need to read them over and over again, imagine how much more difficult it is to understand everything that Cronenberg is trying to throw at you in these dialogues where you can´t pause and go back to make sure you listened and interpreted things correctly. The entire film seems to be anti-capitalistic or at least a form of protest against cyber-capitalism and economics in general. The movie does seem to share some parallels with the Occupy Wall Street movement that took place. I don´t see how anyone other than those people who have read the novel will understand everything that is going on here. I am not even sure if Cronenberg understood everything that DeLillo was really trying to say in the novel, or if he simply had a different interpretation of things. The film is heavily pretentious and it was just a torturous experience for me, which is too bad because I really enjoyed some of his previous work (especially his films with Viggo Mortensen).

The film centers on Erick Packer (Robert Pattinson) a young billionaire living in Manhattan who decides to get on his limo and drive across town to get a haircut. Despite being warned by his security official, Torval (Kevin Durand), that the President is in the city and that the streets are completely jammed by traffic and protestors, he insists on taking the limo and getting his haircut. Therefore he spends almost the entire day in his limo, only getting off sporadically to grab a bite to eat or talk to his wife, Elise (Sarah Gadon) whom he encounters on several occasions during the day. While he is in the limo he´s always talking to someone who he happens to come across, some who work for him and seem to be his advisors, while others some sort of acquaintance like Didi (Juliette Binoche). He even has a doctor get in the limo and do his daily routine medical checkup (including a prostate exam) on him while talking economics with a colleague. Erick encounters all sorts of people and even an angry mob that is protesting in the streets (reminiscent to the Occupy Wall Street movement), but it is something he´s willing to do in order to get his haircut. Torval even mentions to him that someone is threatening his life, but Erick continues to move on. The entire drama plays out as a sort of metaphor on economics and capitalism, but the dialogues are really hard to follow as there are so many symbolisms and metaphors which I found very heavy handed and philosophical.

Near the end of the film there is a heavy dialogue scene between Pattinson´s character and Paul Giamatti´s that I was hoping would pay off for all the effort I put into it by sticking with it, but not even the dependable Paul Giamatti saved this film. I know some people liked this film, and I’m guessing because they probably had read the novel or are into all these philosophical and economical debates that Cronenberg is trying to raise, but I really had a hard time understanding everything that was going on. I wasn’t a big fan of Cronenberg´s latest film, A Dangerous Method, but that film is a masterpiece compared with Cosmopolis. I really disliked this movie and wasn’t entertained with any of the characters or the dialogues they were having. I couldn’t connect with this film in the same way other people who enjoyed this might have. I would much rather see Pattinson in Twilight again than watch this film; that is how much I hated this film. I hope Cronenberg returns to his A History of Violence days instead of making these pretentious philosophical movies that seem not to answer any questions in particular. Or maybe I just didn’t get it, but I am not willing to sit through a second viewing of this film and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone either.

  

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My Review: Twilight Saga:Breaking Dawn Part II (8/10)

¨Lot of red eyes around here... ¨

After five films The Twilight Saga finally reaches its epic conclusion. What started for me as a pretty interesting franchise with the first film went downhill with the next sequels until the first part of Breaking Dawn which I thought was terrible. I still had to see how the franchise was going to end so I went ahead and watched the second part which to my surprise was really quite entertaining and up to par with the first film. The climatic ending was really worth the slow opening. I absolutely loved the final half hour of this film with the epic battle which in my opinion was one o the most entertaining battle sequences I´ve seen in a long time. There were a lot of things that this film got right: first of all the love triangle soap opera was put to an end finally, then you had Kristen Stewart finally playing a stronger character once she was turned into a vampire, Taylor Lautner wasn’t annoying like in the other films, and the werewolves finally stopped talking amongst themselves. These were all good enough reasons for me to like this film better than all the other sequels. Another thing I enjoyed quite a bit was the addition of all the new vampire characters, but the best thing about Breaking Dawn was that epic battle scene which made the movie for me. It was a worthy ending to the franchise although I doubt it will convert any anti Twilight fans.

The film picks up right where the first part left us, with Bella (Kristen Stewart) being converted into a vampire after giving birth to Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) by Edward (Robert Pattinson). Bella begins to adapt quickly to her new life as a vampire and her newfound strength. Edward teaches her a few things about hunting and feeding before letting her see the baby. Once she is ready to see Renesmee she finds out that Jacob (Taylor Lautner) has imprinted himself on her. At first she is furious as we see her strength unleash itself on his pack, but later comes to her senses. The rest of the Cullen family are all home welcoming and congratulating Bella, but peace doesn’t last for very long when the Volturi hear rumors that Renesmee is an immortal child that could threaten their very existence with her powers. Alice (Ashley Greene) has a vision of the future and warns her family that the Volturi will come to kill Renesmee. The Cullen`s decide to gather their vampire friends around the world so they can act as witnesses and stand up to the Volturi claiming that Renesmee is actually human. However they are ready to fight the Volturi alongside with their allies if they try to harm the girl. Everything seems set for the final epic battle between both sides.

Kristen Stewart is a lot better in this film considering she gets to play a much stronger character now and doesn’t have to struggle about deciding between Jacob and Edward. Robert Pattinson isn’t all that great here, but the truth of the matter is that no one came to these films for the performances. I´m really grateful that the werewolves weren`t used as much here as in the other films. The twist at the end is also pretty fulfilling, and I really wasn’t expecting something like that in a Twilight film. Bill Condon is a great director and he made this film much better by changing the final scene from the book. I still think he is way too good of a director for a franchise like this. The screenplay was once again adapted by Melissa Rosenberg from Stephenie Mayer`s famous novel. As I said before, the material really isn’t that great, but the film is really worth watching for that final half hour.  

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My Review: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (4/10)

¨No measure of time with you will be long enough. But we'll start with forever. ¨

The biggest winners of the Twilight Saga are definitely going to be the producers since they managed to stretch the last book of the series into two separate films; which means a lot more money in the box office. The problem is that this first part feels so stretched out that nothing really seems to be happening. The two hour movie could have been only half an hour long, but in order to make more money the producers decided to give us an extended wedding and honeymoon scene. To be honest I really enjoyed the first two Twilight films, I felt the third was a little repetitive, but this latest film is by far the worst in the series. There are some scenes which are just ridiculous and laughable (the mind reading scenes between the wolves for example), although there are a couple that worked really well and were the highlight of the film (the bloody birth scene reminiscent of a famous Pulp Fiction scene). I`ve never read Stephenie Meyer`s novels so I didn`t know what to expect, unlike most of the fans of the franchise who have already read the novels and know what is going to happen. The first two movies surprised me, but then the fantasy wore out and the love triangle got boring. It`s gone downhill for me since, and this latest film directed by Oscar winner Bill Condon is one of the worst films of the year in my opinion. All I can hope for is that the second part will work and end the franchise decently with a little more action or at least a decent plot. A scene after the end credits with the Volturi`s gave me a little hope. Micheal Sheen is the best actor in this series and it`s a shame he barely got any screen time.

As for the plot goes, nothing really seems to be happening that we haven`t seen before. The staring contest continues between Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart), and more tension ensues between Edward and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). The wolves continue to growl and run all over the woods while disputing with the Cullen`s. The Volturi`s are the ones that are left out of the film in this first part (until the credits that is). This fourth part begins with the wedding that is about to take place between Edward and Bella. Bella`s best friend, Alice (Ashley Greene) is doing her makeup and helping her out with the fashion while the guests are arriving to the ceremony. The wedding is beautiful, everyone there looks great, and the toast after the ceremony is perhaps one of the funniest scenes of the film where we have several of the characters give some funny speeches like Bella`s dad, Charlie (Billy Burke), who warns Edward that he knows how to use a gun if any harm is done to his daughter. Then there is also Bella`s mom, Renee (Sarah Clarke), who sings a lullaby she used to sing for her, and Edward`s parents, Dr. Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser), who welcome Bella into their family. Edward`s vampire brothers (played by Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, and Jackson Rathbone) are also present at the wedding and everyone is happy. Then it`s time for Edward and Bella to go off on their honeymoon to Rio and finally consume the act. Edward doesn`t want to convert Bella into a vampire until they have sex so he is going to wait after the honeymoon. The problem is that Bella gets pregnant with this vampire baby exceedingly fast and her health is threatened.

The entire film seems as sort of an introduction to the final film, there is little going on really in the movie. I wonder if Twilight fans will sincerely enjoy this movie. To be honest I really liked the Twilight series at first, but it has grown repetitive and old, and the dialogue continues to get worse. The script was never the highlight of the franchise, it was about the characters and the fantasy world which was created, but instead of getting better the script continues to get cheesier and dumber by the minute. There is no reasonable way anyone would actually enjoy this film over the others. I think this was a weak effort and the material was never meant to be split into two films. The problem is that fans of the series are going to go see it anyways and the producers will be the ultimate winners. I expect most girls will enjoy this movie however in a similar way as they enjoyed staying up late to watch Kate and William`s wedding. I don`t think many guys will actually enjoy this film, and many will probably be dragged by their girlfriends.

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My Review: Water for Elephants (7/10)

¨I don`t know if I picked that circus. But something told me that circus picked me.¨

Francis Lawrence (I am Legend, Constantine) directed this film which was adapted from Sara Gruen`s novel of the same name by screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You, The Bridges of Madison County). Water for Elephants is a period drama that takes us back to the era of the Great Depression and introduces us to the dark side of the circus entertainment industry. Not everything is pure fun and entertainment because once the show is over we get to see the suffering and difficulties that go along with running a circus. Some things are just illusions as we soon find out from the mean spirited manager of the traveling circus. He seems so fun and nice during the show, but when the lights go off he runs the place with a stern hand, throwing coworkers off a running train, or beating animals whenever he`s upset. The mood of the Great Depression can be felt throughout the entire film, and only when the show is running can we experience the illusion of happiness. There is also a love triangle involved which makes things more depressing because it proves how difficult love can be at times. I really enjoyed this period drama and thought it depicted the era quite nicely. There are some interesting characters, but the heart of the film revolves around the elephant (which happens to be the star of the circus and the symbol of hope during their struggle to survive).

Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) is a veterinary student who seems to be living a normal life until he receives some bad news: his parents have just passed away in a car accident leaving him with nothing. Jacob abandons college and ends up spending the night on a train. The train happens to belong to a traveling circus but there is no space for newcomers. One of the men that find him wants to throw him off the train, but another saves him and introduces him to the manager of the circus: August (Christoph Waltz). August runs the circus with a very stern hand, he`s volatile and dangerous, but at the same time he has the charisma it takes to run a circus show. When August realizes that Jacob is a veterinarian, he hires him so that he can take care of the animals which are pretty much all in a bad shape. The first thing he has to do is sacrifice one of the horses who was badly injured, and unfortunately happened to be the star of the circus along with her rider Marlena (Reese Witherspoon). Now with little money and no main attraction to bring in an audience the circus is barely struggling to survive. August might be mean and evil, but he is a visionary and finds an opportunity when he encounters an elephant named Rosie and decides to invest all his money on that animal. Marlena must learn how to ride it, and Jacob how to master it. The two young good looking kids spend a lot of time together and they begin to fall for each other. The only problem is that Marlena is married to August and he will surely not let go of her so easily.

I could think of no better actor to play the part of August than Christoph Waltz. He is just great in this film and inspired fear every time he got upset. He proved Inglorious Basterds was no fluke and he is a great villain. At times he seemed nice, but he was just a time bomb waiting to explode the moment something went wrong. I loved Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, but in this film her performance isn`t really memorable. I would have preferred another actress in this role, I really didn`t feel the chemistry between her and Robert Pattinson. It was good to see Pattinson playing a none-vampire role, but I would have chosen two different actors to play these roles. They are probably the weakest links in the film. The film actually picks up when we are introduced to Rosie, the elephant. Without her I don’t think I would have enjoyed the movie as much as I did. She doesn’t just save the circus, she also saves this film. She is the heart and soul of the picture. This isn`t one of the best films of the year, but it is a satisfying and entertaining film and definitely worth your time. It could have been so much better if the lead actors would have had a better chemistry between them. The romance didn`t work as well as it should have, but the film still succeeds at depicting the era and the mood during the Great Depression. Rosie and Waltz are worth the ticket price alone.

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My Review: The Twilight Saga Eclipse (7/10)

¨You have a choice. I didn't. None of us did. But you do and, you're choosing wrong.¨

The Twilight saga continues with this third installment of the popular Stephanie Meyer novel, Eclipse, and I don`t think the film will win any new converts by now. You either liked the previous Twilight movies or you hated them and this third film will not change your opinion on them. So if you disliked the first two then stay away from this one, but if you liked them -like I did - then you won`t be disappointed with Eclipse. Yes, the movie continues with its cheesy dialogues such as ¨Isabella Swan I promise to love you every moment of forever, ¨ and awkward pauses such as ¨I kissed Bella (pause). And she broke her hand (pause). Punching my face (pause). It was a complete misunderstanding.¨, but the characters are what make us come back, the soap opera triangle love between Edward, Jacob, and Bella. The scenery and action scenes are also pretty well crafted.  This movie even plays a little with the audience and decides to use some humor. Bella`s difficulty to decide what she wants is getting kind of old and some of the same situations from the second part repeat themselves in this film so it doesn`t feel as fresh, but the film is entertaining nonetheless. Like in the previous two installments the screenplay for Eclipse was adapted by Melissa Rosenberg, but this time it was directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, the last one was a movie I enjoyed quite a bit in 2005) and he does a decent job at satisfying the hard core fans who really just want to see more of Jacob and Edward fighting for Bella.

The pace of the Twilight movies are so slow that there isn`t really much explaining to do with the plot that is pretty simple. Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) are graduating from High School and it is time for the Cullen family to move once again. They are planning on moving to Alaska and Bella is going with them. Meanwhile there are a series of murders taking place in Seattle and the Cullen`s suspect that the killings are being produced by a newborn vampire army. What they don`t know is that Victoria (this time played by Bryce Dallas Howard) is behind this army and is preparing them to attack Bella so that she can get her revenge on Edward for killing her partner.  Edward`s brother, Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), knows how to face this breed of vampires so he prepares everyone for the upcoming battle. The Cullen`s and the werewolves make an alliance in order to face the army because they both want to protect Bella. In the meantime Jacob (Taylor Lautner) declares his love for Bella and she has to decide who she wants to stay with, so the soap opera begins.

Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner have become overnight sensations with Twilight. Stewart is by far the most talented of the group as an actress and she has proven herself in other movies like Adventureland and The Runaways. She is also a pleasure to see on screen although her character in this film may become a little tiresome with all her indecisions, but that just proves how human she really is. The movie itself has become some sort of soap opera, but by now those of us that are hooked want to see the final outcome of the franchise. There is nothing new in this third installment and some elements can get old, but the action scenes make up for it in the final battle. This time the vampires and the Cullen family had more screen time, although I wasn`t a big fan of all the flashbacks which only served to make more time before we got to the final battle scene. If you come to think about it not much really happens in this movie and most everything could be told in 30 minutes since it serves as a kind of bridge to the next film. From the beginning we are left waiting for the final battle and the entire midsection of the film focuses on the love triangle, but the movie still manages to entertain because by now we are already drawn to the characters and used to the pace of the movie. I recommend this movie only to those who have enjoyed the previous two because it is more of the same, so let me state once again if you didn`t like the other films then save your time and stay away from this one.

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My Review: New Moon (9/10

(9/10) The wait is over for Twilight fans as the second film of the franchise is finally out and just like the first one it`s getting mixed reviews. The saga is based on Stephenie Meyer`s novel of the same name. Just like in the novel, there are going to be four parts and New Moon is the second one of the franchise. I really enjoyed the first Twilight, and thought that the action slash romance was well balanced and worked very well. When I heard Twilight was about vampires I was completely expecting it to be the typical vampire blood sucking movie, but I was suprised to see how different the film was. In New Moon I already knew what to expect, but I found it even better than the first one. I thought it had a lot more action and the addition of the werewolves was a plus because their characters were complex, interesting and it presented a whole new world that hadn`t been introduced to us yet the first time around. The romance also got better as Edward and Bella were seperated and a third character was thrown in the mix, Jacob. The friendship between Bella and Jacob and the mixed feelings of love and friendship that they felt was an interesting addition to the saga. It`s always good when in a film you have mixed feelings for which character you want him or her to end up with and in this case many of the fans were routing for a different guy and that is what explains so many status updates about Team Edward or Team Jacob.

I know this film is targeted towards teenage girls, but it has enough action and good vissual effects to be enjoyed by guys as well. I really thought the special effects were much better than in the first one and after watching 2012 I thought these effects felt cool and they just felt more real and not exagerated. The werewolf transformation scenes were pretty nice, as were the chasing scenes between werewolves and vampires. There is plenty of action for guys to enjoy as well although the first 20 minutes do feel a little cheesy. The dialogue is probably one of the weekest parts of the movie, but the story is just engaging and I guess most guys can identify with the Jacob character. We have all fallen for a girl that sees us as a friend who has always been there for her, but not as boyfriend material. Ouch. I don`t know maybe it`s just the teenage adolescent girl inside of me doing the talking. It feels kind of good of letting that repression out. The love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob was a great addition to the franchise. There were several references to Romeo and Juliet and in a way this film has several similarities to the Shakesperean play (although they could have learned a lesson or two on how to write decent dialogues that didnt feel so cheesy) because of the rivalry between two families, in this case the werewolves and the vampires and somehow Bella is caught in the middle of both worlds.

Another improvement from Twilight were the villains. Micheal Sheen was great as Aro the head vampire of the Volturi (a sort of vampire royalty), and Dakota Fanning was also creepy in her role as Jane a pain inducing illusionist. These villains made you feel like the ones in the first Twilight were a joke. Kristen Stewart is also a delight to watch on screen and she makes the love scenes work despite the bad dialogues. The chemistry between her and Pattinson really works and you can feel the sexual tension between both chracters despite the awkward long pauses and stares. Taylor Lautner plays Jacob, Bella`s best friend who is in love with her and actually is a werewolf who haunts down vampires therefore the plot thickens. The rest of the Cullin family doesnt`t have much screen time as the main focus of the film is in introducing the werewolves and building the relationship between Bella and Jacob. I really enjoyed this movie and it will probably end up in my top ten films of 2009.