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Showing posts from March, 2011

THE AMERICAN (Anton Corbijn)

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THE AMERICAN is a careful exercise in minimalism. Fans of the spy/assassin genre may get quite a shock with this slowly-paced thriller, but nevertheless the cinematography is marvelous, that is if you are keen on observing spatial relations, framing, and the basics of photography. THE AMERICAN's visual look is neat, precise, and involving. The aerial shots are hypnotic, and that opening credits scene where Clooney's character Jack drives through a tunnel, as Herbert Gronemeyer's score plays on is eerily effective- it's as if Jack has entered the lowest and darkest part of his life, but there is a glimmer of light, and the possibility of a way out, however uncertain. I haven't brought myself for years to watch Corbijn's earlier film, CONTROL (I thought it required a ready mindset) and judging byTHE AMERICAN, I'd say Corbijn really is a filmmaker with a keen eye for detail. What I loved about THE AMERICAN is that Corbijn does not spoon feed the story to us;

THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC (Luc Besson)

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Think a hybrid of INDIANA JONES, TOMB RAIDER, and NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM and you get this latest feat from French filmmaker Luc Besson (NIKITA, THE FIFTH ELEMENT).   Strikingly, the lead actress Louise Bourgoin looks like a cross between Lena Headey and (inhales deeply) Song Hye-Kyo. Hold your horses. Before you make any notions of a lopsided rip-off, ADELE BLANC-SEC even improves the ideas borrowed from said movies. The heroine is lovable as well. As the adventurous journalist/novelist Adele Blanc-Sec, Louise Bourgoin is equally funny and able for action. What I like most about the titular character and how she was presented is that she is refreshingly down to earth. We are not led to believe that she can suddenly foil enemies with hidden karate talents, or slice villains with cutlass in disarming precision. Instead, Adele’s stunts are minimal. The story itself provides for that, but what Adele lacks in action a la Angelina Jolie, she makes up for humor and yes, hotness. The story re

A SINGLE MAN (Tom Ford)

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I wanted to like this film. I really do. There is much to be admired at Colin Firth's restrained portrayal of a man still grieving over the death of his lover (Matthew Goode). Julianne Moore works best at these complex, downtrodden characters. The muted colors are fascinating to look at. They even brought in Shigeru Umebayashi (who scored Wong Kar Wai's 2046, my all-time favorite film) to do the musical score. However, the relaxed pace and the detached storytelling downgrades the film from what it can aspire to be: a solid drama telling a day in the life of a single man. Maybe that's the problem: the drama isn't solid enough. The scenes are too loosely bridged from one another. The film, in a nutshell is about a college professor who on this particular day is planning to commit suicide: everything is in order, except that there's an unexpected addition to his day. From what I can tell, the film makes a strong enough scenario towards the ending: George (Firth) i

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES (Juan Jose Campanella)

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It was a terrible crime that forever affected the life of legal counselor Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin). As we see at the opening vignette, Esposito is finding meaning in his life, troubled by an unrequited love with his superior, Judge Irene Menendez-Hastings (Soledad Villamil) and the mentioned unsolved crime during his younger days. As EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS establishes the mood and its characters, the images play out almost as if in Almodovar fashion, but what makes this Argentine film outstanding and very much deserving of its Academy Award for Foreign Language Film (2010) is its sublety and empathy at discussing a highly sensitive and heinous crime, and for interweaving a heartfelt tale of longing and love that can never be. There is a daring originality in this noir procedural, and the surprise finish terrified me at my nerves. Three other main characters add enigma to the story: Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), Benjamin's drunkard colleague, Ricardo Morales (Pab

PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER (Tom Tykwer)

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PERFUME is a dark, twisted and at times, disarming descent into man’s obsessions and most basic instincts. Sure, it is a film unlike any other, and could even be called overly ambitious for its grandiose scope. My concern about this feat by German director Tom Tykwer, based on the novel by Patrick Suskind, is that there’s just too many ideas springing left and right, and of course, the love it-or-hate it ending, which to me was somewhat off-key and bizarre. If there’s anything to praise in PERFUME, it’s the breathtaking, edgy performance by Ben Whishaw as the sociopathic, unrelenting Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the story’s antihero. That, and the lavish production design and cinematography. I had a hard time convincing myself about the appropriateness of Dustin Hoffman as Grenouille’s mentor, Giuseppe Baldini. The character is an Italian living in France for quite some time, but Hoffman’s accent is neither Italian nor French. If at all, Hoffman overdid it. Rachel Hurd-Wood plays Laur

THE MECHANIC (Simon West)

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Jason Statham has a personality that entertains; even if the stories of his films, except CRANK 1 and 2, THE BANK JOB, and his Guy Ritchie flicks “are modelled on trash” (if I may quote Keira Knightley from NEVER LET ME GO). Maybe it’s his British accent, or his muscular physique, or his ability to deliver solid blows and kicks, which kinda reminds you of Van Damme, Stallone, and even Jet Li during their prime. To add to these, Statham is good-looking, which makes him the ideal leading man. In THE MECHANIC, which is a remake of the classic thriller starring Charles Bronson, Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a professional hitman with skills of the utmost precision and subtlety— he tries to make every hit look like natural death, or an accident as much as possible. When he finds out that he was manipulated by his employer into killing his mentor Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), he and Harry’s wayward son Steve (Ben Foster) whom he has taken as an apprentice track down Dean (Tony Goldwyn

WINTER’S BONE (Debra Granik)

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WINTER’S BONE is a tense, carefully-directed indie suspense drama that is strikingly unique. Watching it, I could not compare the movie in its entirety and the feeling after to just any other flick in recent memory. It has created a standard all its own. Filmmaker Debra Granik did a great job telling a poignant story in pure realism. When 17-year old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) became the de facto head of the family following her father’s disappearance, we see tradition clash with humanity, and innocence is forever lost as she is forced to do the unthinkable in order to save what’s left of her family. The catch is, what could be a simple thing to her, or to us for that matter is actually a great deal to the other people in her community. This is a land where curiosity can spell disaster. There is an admirable level of strength in Ree, as personified with much force by Jennifer Lawrence. The story itself is tightly-written, and through the central conflict that gives Ree the burnin

APOCALYPSE NOW (Francis Ford Coppola)

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NOTE: This review is based on the REDUX version, which is the 196-minutes director's cut.  Coppola, in a 3-minute Cannes excerpt included in the DVD summarized the whole APOCALYPSE NOW experience: he took us to a familiar place, then to stranger, and stranger lands. And it was damn beautiful. APOCALYPSE NOW plays out like your regular war film: there's a kickass but insane mission, an antihero, some guns blazing, some political undertones about the war, and whatnot. After an hour the film gets bizarre, and then more bizarre. This is not your regular war film. Coppola dives into the murkiness of man's psyche and basic instinct and shows us multi layered characters who cannot be judged purely by their actions. Martin Sheen is a Captain who has grown tired with the war. Marlon Brando is a rogue Colonel wanted dead by the military. Sheen is sent to kill Brando, but the mission is not as easy as it seems.  On a perilous mission that finds Sheen and his small boat crew cross

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (George Nolfi)

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One thing is for sure: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt have an onscreen chemistry that sizzles everytime they are at proximity. I don't know. They look beautiful together.  The story is interesting enough. People are comparing it to INCEPTION when it's more like THE MATRIX, with all that doors and stuff. At times, the film manages to be predictable then throws you off course completely. The only problem I have is the underlying philosophical theme concerning self-governance, destiny, and all that conspiracies. With the members of the Adjustment Bureau dressed like the FBI, could it be a satire of the FBI? The spoiler could be in the very title of the film.  Nevertheless, it is adapted from a Philip K. Dick short story so I have the utmost respect.  Matt Damon is charming as a rising politician, who meets a ballet dancer (Emily Blunt) and that single encounter will govern the rest of their lives forever. The only problem is that they are not meant to be together, says the Bureau,

TRUE GRIT (Coen Bros.)

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Well this certainly is a departure from the Coens' previous films since this is their first adaptation of a movie, if I'm not mistaken. Every self-respecting film lover knew so well the John Wayne version, and I am quite uncertain how to place this re-imagining, given that most of the dialogue in the John Wayne film can be heard here.  The difference from the John Wayne version are minimal: the opening scene is cut here, going straight to Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld) claiming his father's remains at the undertaker's. The ending here shows an older Mattie, and it is revealed that Mattie and Marshall Rooster Cogburn are never to see each other again since Mattie got bitten by the snake. Then there's Mattie doing the narration.  In between, pretty much the dialogue and the sequence of events are the same, with minor alterations to time and place and certain elements (i.e. number of people).  If you are going to single out this TRUE GRIT, well Jeff Bridges certainly gi

TAKING WOODSTOCK (Ang Lee)

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Ang Lee continues to surprise me. After delving into an extraordinary love story that breaks all the rules in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, and channelling intrigue and an unexpected romance in LUST CAUTION, he dishes up the famous Woodstock Arts and Music Festival by going behind the scenes as if an insider, telling us as if firsthand the colourful drama behind the creation of one of the highly successful and biggest concerts that went on for three days. Told from the perspective of real-life character Elliot Tiber (played by Demetri Martin), the incidental hero that made Woodstock happen, TAKING WOODSTOCK plays out as a light small-town tale in the beginning, then develops into the absurd, until it culminates in the down and dirty, and oftentimes liberating Woodstock experience. TAKING WOODSTOCK captures much of the hysteria, the raunchiness and the psychedelic phenomena of a generation that will forever mark American culture. Everything’s in there: nudist

LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE (Zack Snyder)

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There is a thing of beauty to be marvelled upon Zack Snyder’s big screen animated adaptation of Kathryn Lasky’s books: somehow, the combination of visually-arresting animation and a solid enough storytelling makes THE LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS watchable. I didn’t get the film from first viewing. I had to stop watching halfway through it, and a month later I watched it again, for sanity purposes. This ought to give you a lesson not to watch a film when you’re half asleep. Snyder, who helmed 300 and WATCHMEN, both comic book adaptations brings his signature penchant for slow-motion sequences and intense close combat scenes to this animated owl movie. Yes that’s correct, this film is about owls. One major letdown of LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS is that the characters all look alike. With all the hard-to-pronounce names, all I can remember is Soren, the main protagonist, who is a young owl filled with high hopes and big dreams. Story wise, we get snippets

WORKING GIRLS (Jose Javier Reyes)

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This updated version of the classic Ishmael Bernal ensemble comedy might have worked properly if it weren’t for the continual adherence to mainstream clichés, specifically the penchant for tireless, eternal dialogue. Though a mainstream venture (the 2010 version is jointly produced by VIVA, which produced the Bernal film, GMA Films, and Unitel), Jose Javier Reyes can choose his WORKING GIRLS to be significant without being over the top. The key really is in the quality of the script. But what bothers me most about this version of WORKING GIRLS is the absence of social issues that challenge the women of today. Sure, the satire about the beauty industry is a nice touch, but it stands alone, drowned in little vignettes of women and their love life maladies. In the original film, various pressing issues are raised underneath all the humor and sex: Hilda Koronel is struggling against gender inequality in the workplace; Rio Locsin is faced with an unwant