DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

THIS MEANS WAR starts fashionably enough, with an all-out action sequence off a Hong Kong skyscraper rooftop involving two suave CIA agents played by Captain Kirk and that guy who ate guys for breakfast in WARRIOR. They incidentally kill the brother of the bad guy, and the bad guy (Til Schweiger) obviously will be out for blood later on.  The film then becomes a race to win over a girl (Reese Witherspoon), with the previously mentioned plot fading in the background, only to resurface stupidly in a contrived moment in the climax. The agents utilize the CIA's toys in order to get ahead of one another in getting the girl. This would tell you a lot about how preposterous the situation is, where government resources are used for playtime, and their boss (Angela Bassett) who is amazingly oblivious to this fact.  Sixty percent of the movie would be dedicated to this tomfoolery among these grown men clearly not acting their age. When the guys aren't competing, we get a ru...

Basically it's a movie created for the fanbase. I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd anticipated, or at least as much as I enjoyed Kenneth Branagh's onscreen adaptation of THOR (my favorite of the recent Marvel movies). The story doesn't really get my interest until the second half, and to my surprise the seemingly quiet character manages to provide the most fun. The HULK deserves an award for best comedic and show-stopping performance. THE AVENGERS is a movie propelled by star power, but I have to admit that Joss Whedon does a good job of piecing together the stories of the superheroes, and uniting them against a common enemy. Robert Downey, Jr. is always charming to watch as Tony Stark; so are Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo competently and most appropriately portrays the mild-mannered Bruce Banner, whereas Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson give fierceness to their characters Hawkeye and Black Widow, resp...

Equal pieces haunting, detached, and utterly surprising- Julia Leigh's film debut manages to balance art with psychology, forcing us to probe within our inner selves our darkest fantasies and lingering repressed emotions. Emily Browning is a revelation. Since her debut in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS opposite Jim Carrey and in her dramatic turn in THE UNINVITED, Browning has shown astounding potential. But not since here in SLEEPING BEAUTY has she proved how far she's willing to go as an actress. With her completely naked about half the running time in this movie, being subjected to voyeurism and many other twisted desires, Browning proves her caliber as an actress by showing how confident she is about her body, and equating that with her inspired performance as a liberated young woman who is so detached from anything, or anyone. In fact, I have never seen a perfectly drawn character more detached than Browning's Lucy in recent memory. The film, written and dir...

Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST has extremely polarized those who have seen it upon its release mainly because of its subject matter, which is religious in nature. Bring up any spiritual theme onscreen and people will speak up. If at all, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST became an effective film because it sparked cinematic discourse. Either love it or hate it, the film knows what it wants and pursues it. It has a single direction. It quickly appealed to me because of its departure from the previous Jesus films, most of which ambitiously wanted to cover Jesus's entire life story. The result is an approximated two hours of condensed history that you'd feel burdened to watch by second viewing.  PASSION is different. It focuses on Christ's final hours, and filmmaker Mel Gibson pulls no punches in his delivery of blood and gore. We have been so occupied with what we have been taught about Christ's suffering for our sins, and how we should be grateful and all by doing...

Racism is a very sensitive material to deal with in cinema. The slightest error or inaccuracy and people are quick to react. The reason is that racism is a very emotional issue; it speaks to the heart of the oppressed.  THE HELP, based on the bestselling book of the same name may be accused of the same skewed view that white people solve racism, which also happened with THE BLIND SIDE, the semi-controversial film that won Sandra Bullock her Oscar. While this may be true, I am inclined to believe such claim for THE BLIND SIDE rather than this movie. First of all, THE HELP's relevance and timelessness is easily felt.  Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60s, THE HELP centers on Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) and her observations in her hometown after returning from college. Seemingly the only woman left unmarried in her circle, her pals led by the narcissistic and self-absorbed Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) have made it a mission to set her up with a g...

Whoever said that silent cinema is dead clearly hasn't seen THE ARTIST, which I can safely say the feel-good movie of this year's Oscars lineup. Jean Dujardin is in top form playing the proud silent actor George Valentin while equally entertaining and deeply affecting is Berenice Bejo as the cheerful actress Peppy Miller. The tandem is a match made in heaven.  A tale of love, ambition, change, and redemption, THE ARTIST has everything- thrills, humor, romance, spectacle, nostalgia, and a very lovable dog. The film concerns a silent movie actor, George Valentin faced with the inevitable shift of Hollywood into talkies, and the arrival of a girl, Peppy Miller who is big on dreams and bigger on heart. She will affect his life in ways he will not expect, and the redemption in the end is every moment worth it of all the dialogue we've been robbed off.  Guiding the plot into absolute cinematic heaven is Ludovic Bource's exceptional musical score, highly-deserving of its Ac...

Biopics are risky. People are always looking for authenticity, veracity, or fearlessness in storytelling- especially if the subject is a controversial figure. There's a good way of doing it (GANDHI, THE SOCIAL NETWORK) and then there's a bad way of doing it (AMELIA, CLEOPATRA). In the end, it's what you have to say for your subject that makes all the difference. Take THE IRON LADY for example. The subject is former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher-controversial indeed. The actress playing the character is Meryl Streep- more than capable. But what does the film want to say about Thatcher? The focus of screenwriter Abi Morgan's script is on how Thatcher remembers her rise to glory and eventual downfall, and director Phyllida Lloyd, who reteams with Streep since MAMMA MIA mounts the scenes and pieces them together like a memory: non-linear, jagged, and selective, which is not to say that there isn't any amount of truth in the telling.  We see Thatcher as sh...