Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield (2008)

Written by Drew Goddard

Directed by Matt Reeves

 

            It comes as no surprise that my love for this movie is due in part to the participation of both J.J. Abrams and Drew Goddard.  My fascination with Lost is well documented and widely known by my friends and family members.  Not so coincidentally, J.J. Abrams produced both Cloverfield and Lost, in addition to writing and directing the pilot and several episodes of the latter.  Upon Abrams’ departure to focus on directing Mission Impossible III and Star Trek, Drew Goddard briefly became the showrunner for the remainder of season one of Lost, until Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof took control.  So, when I saw the trailer for this then at-the-time untitled movie before Transformers with my good friend White Goodman, I nearly shat my pants in excitement.  If you haven’t seen the trailer for this, well then I certainly suggest you do (I tried to post it here, but I had trouble finding the original teaser, so I abandoned that venture).  It was a simple teaser trailer, shot on a handheld camera, following people around a party in New York City.  Suddenly there was an explosion and the head of the Statue of Liberty came flying at the camera, landing in the street.  It was about 1 minute long and ended just as simply as it began– with the words “From Producer J.J. Abrams” and then “Coming 1-18-08.”  Needless to say, I was floored, just like everybody else.  The movie soon became a cultural phenomenon, taking the internet by storm with a vicious (then unheard-of) viral marketing campaign, leading to rumors upon rumors about what the film was about.

            Cloverfield is presented as “found footage,” similar to Paranormal Shitivity and The Blair Witch Project, as well as countless other films.  The difference, in my opinion, is that Cloverfield has a story worth watching.  The story revolves around a small group of 20-somethings in New York City.  During a going away party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), a monster attacks New York City, not surprisingly leading everybody to panic and flee the city via the Brooklyn Bridge.  When the monster tears the bridge down, the group turns back to Manhatten, now intent on rescuing Rob’s unrequited love from her semi-collapsed NYC apartment.  The story is told via a hand-held camera, shot by a cast member.  It’s a home video, essentially.  Now, in most movies, hand-held doesn’t work, unless the viewer is given a damn good reason for the camera to never be shut off.  Here, they give us a good reason.  Rob’s brother Jason (played by Mike Vogel) and Jason’s girlfriend Lily (90210’s Jessica Lucas) give a camcorder to their friend Hud (played by the hilarious T.J. Miller) in order to document Rob’s going away party before he moves to Japan for his job at Slusho (Slusho is a regular staple of everything J.J. Abrams produces, from Alias, this, Star Trek, and MI:3).  Hud is in love with Marlena (played by Lizzy Caplan, who I have a not so secret crush on), and Rob is in love with Beth (played by Odette Yustman, who is the worst excuse for an actress I have ever seen, although I suppose she looks nice, although wayyyy to skinny for my tastes).  Much carnage and destruction ensues.

            Here’s what I like about this movie…pretty much everything.  The cast works great together.  You really believe that they are friends and that they have been for years.  Rob is a little whiny, but not too much that you are annoyed by him.  Lily is strong enough that you really care about her.  Jason is the smartass little brother.  Hud is absolutely hilarious, spitting out one-liners and witty remarks deep into the third act of the movie.  Marlena is just the right comibination of uncaring bitch and sweet young woman.  One thing that might bother some people is the hand-held aspect.  It does get a bit shaky at times.  I’ve been told that this can cause nausea, although it never has for me.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  For me, the hand-held camera only helped me get more into the movie.  We only know what they know.  We only see what they see.  There are no clever camera manipulations.  I’d like to see Transformers 2 from a hand-held perspective.  While those giant Autobots and Decepticons are destroying each other and the pyramids, what does it look like from the civilians’ point of view?  I can only imagine that it’s absolutely terrifying, and in Cloverfield, I really felt that.  The special effects for this were awesome as well.  The filmmakers definitely went the same route as the makers of District 9 and used the “Less is More” philosophy, and it really worked.  This movie has one of my favorite cinematic scenes ever, as well.  For those of you who have seen the flick, it’s the subway sequence.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, then why the hell are you still reading this and not watching the movie?

            What do I not like about this movie? Well, there are a few things, and they’re both minor and major.  First, I don’t like Odette Yustman or the Beth Character.  She does nothing buy whine and cry the whole movie, and she irritates me.  You can’t make a movie where the plot hinges on the fact that the main character loves another character that is annoying and whiny.  Fortunately, Beth is actually kind of a minor character, and she only appears in the movie for about 15 minutes total.  This brings me to the only other thing that I didn’t like.  Why did Rob go back for Beth?  Not just that, but why would Lily, Jason, Marlena, and Hud follow him?  What the fuck do they care about Beth?  From what I could tell, she was barely a part of their group anyway.  I can tell you that the only people I would have gone back into that terrible, terrible shit for are my brothers and sisters, and even then, once I encountered those horrible creatures in the subway, I would have abandoned it all together.  Not only that, but Rob wasn’t even sure if Beth was even alive!  IMHO, it’s not worth it to risk your life for somebody else who might already be dead.  I mean, what if they got back uptown and Beth’s building was collapsed, not just on a tilt? Where would the movie have gone from there?  Those are just two minor pet peeves of mine about a movie that I absolutely love, so take them or don’t.

            Overall, Cloverfield is a great action movie with a lot of heart and humor.  The pace is incredibly quick, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire time.  My last comment comes from my 12 year old brother, who after watching it, said “I think I’m gonna have nightmares.”  I think that’s pretty awesome.  I’ve officially succeeded as an older brother.  I’m giving it a 8.5/10.

District 9 (2009)

District 9 (2009)

Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

           

            If I had to review District 9 in one word, it would be “Octopus.”  If I had to review District 9 in two words, they would be “Fucking” and “Amazing.”  I just like the word “Octopus.”  Luckily for you (and me) I don’t have a limit to the amount of words that I can use.  So, let the reviews begin!

            What are you looking for in a movie?  Do you want humor? District 9 has that.  Do you want action? District 9 has that too.  How about drama?  Yup.  District 9.  This was the movie that pretty much took the world by storm this past summer, and there is a valid reason for its success.  This movie is just plain great.

            In District 9, our “protagonist” is named Wikus Van de Merwe, and he is played marvelously by Sharlto Copley, a native of South Africa.  I put the word “protagonist” in quotes because, honestly, for about half of the movie, Wikus is just downright dispicable.  You’ll hate him, but in the end he does a 180.  Wikus is the newly in charge of the Johannesburg branch of MNU (Multi-National United), a munitions corporation.  Wikus is tasked with the job of evicting over 1 million “Prawns” from the slums of Johannesburg and moving them into a new refugee camp.  Prawns are an alien race, sent here from an unknown planet.  When their spacecraft arrives, it just sits over Johannesburg until the humans cut into it.  When they get inside, they discover hundreds of sick aliens.  In an attempt to help them, they take them out and set them up with homes in the city.  When fights begin to break out between the Prawns and the Humans, the Prawns are sectioned off into ghettos, called District 9.  At first, the humans are very nice to the Prawns.  They even give each one an individual name.  However, naturally, there is a huge backlash against the Prawns.  There are also militant groups that live inside of District 9, making money off of the Prawns, selling them food, weapons, etc.  During Wikus’ attempt to evict the Prawns, he comes in contact with an alien chemical that slowly begins turning him into a Prawn.  Together with Christopher Johnson (a prawn), and Johnson’s son, Wikus must fight for a cure, while being pursued by MNU.

            There are essentially two parts to this flick.  Act I, which is a story of mistaken identity gone hilariously wrong, and Act II, the sci fi action movie.  In Act I, we’re introduced to Wikus.  Now, I think it’s worth mentioning that Wikus is played by Sharlto Copley, a non-actor.  Literally.  He had never acted before this.  He was a friend of director Neill Blomkamp and Blomkamp used him in the original short film that inspired this full length feature.  He ended up doing spectacularly well in this movie, and he’s now set to star in the (unnecessary) film remake of The A-Team.  Copley is amazing.  The narrative of this movie is told in a very unique fashion, and it helps with our getting to know Wikus.  At the start it’s a little bit disjointed, but the flick is told kind of like a faux documentary.  There are talking head interviews (talking head interviews are what they do on The Office when the cast is looking at and talking directly to the camera, or what they do on The Real World, when the cast does the same thing) interspersed with real time, non-documentary style action.  The thing is, it’s not really told sequentially.  For me, this wasn’t a problem, in fact, it really helped me enjoy the story more.  For my girlfriend, who has a permanent summer home on Jupiter, it was confusing.  If you’d like help better understanding the story – the talking heads take place AFTER everything else, but the talking heads featuring Wikus take place BEFORE everything else.  What I really like about this movie is the transformation of Wikus (and I’m not talking about the physical transformation).  I love the fact that in the first 30 minutes, Wikus is a complete douche.  You absolutely hate this man.  And he does some pretty disgusting things.  But in the final 30 minutes, you really feel for the guy.  He does a complete turnaround, and I think this is due competely to Copley’s performance.  There’s a scene near the end where Wikus is talking about his wife that nearly brought me to tears, and the fact that a sci fi movie can bring me to tears is an accomplishment in itself.  There’s not much in the way of supporting cast here, save for the bulky bald guy who plays the evil mercinary.

            Also worth noting here are the special effects.  Although this movie was made for only $30 million (I think it’s sad that I had to use an “only” before I said $30 million), I think it looked 100 times better than Transformers 2.  The news footage style really helped to mask the shoddy CGI.  Christopher Johnson was well-realized, and I especially loved the little character quirks on the Prawns.  Christopher Johnson had some sort of sheet metal permanently attached to his head, and there was one alien that wore women’s lingerie, which I thought was a great touch.  Also, the alien weapons were frakking awesome.

            District 9 is one of my favorite movies from 2009.  Not only does it have snarky social commentary, it’s also a genuinely affecting story.  If you missed it in the theaters, then you should definitely check it out on Blu-ray, because this flick was badass.  I’m gonna give it a 9/10.

Adventureland (2009)

Adventureland (2009)

Written and Directed by Greg Mottola

           

            In a year full of surprises, I unabashedly consider Adventureland my biggest film surprise of 2009.  Those who know me know of my extreme hatred for the social phenomenon known as “Twilight.”  In fact, I don’t just hate the movies, I hate the books, I hate the people who act in the movies, I hate the people who make the props, and if it weren’t for the fact that half of the women in my family participate in the phenomenon, I would hate the people who read the books as well.  Until I saw Adventureland, my loathing extended to Kristen Stewart.  Now I mostly don’t mind her, but I actively tell people to see this movie, if only to see KStew’s fantastic, career-defying performance.

            Adventureland is a movie that perfectly captures the essence of not only the late 80’s, but it also captures exquisitely what it feels like to be young.  The flick takes place in 1987, and our lead is James, played with ease by Jesse Eisenberg (brother of that little Welch’s girl from the mid-90’s and star of Zombieland).  When James’ parents suffer a huge career setback, his dreams of travelling Europe and attending an Ivy League school whislt living in New York are set on fire and thrown to sea without a lifejacket.  In order to salvage what little future he still has, James takes a job at a local theme park called “Adventureland.”  Here he learns important life lessons and blah blah blah.  The thing about this movie is it takes things that we’ve seen over and over, but it does it in such a sweet, original way that you can’t help but fall in love.

            First and foremost, the comedy is gold here.  Martin Starr provided me with more laughs in this 107 minutes than Miss March, Fired Up, and I Love You, Beth Cooper combined.  His line delivery was amazing every time, and for me he definitely stole the show.  Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig also showed up to prove why they are the only good part of Saturday Night Live these days, although Wiig pretty much played the same character she plays every time she appears on SNL, and in my opinion, it’s getting pretty old, pretty fast.  However, she kept the laughs coming here, and I put up with it.  Ryan Reynolds gave a few good one-liners, as per usual, but this was really more of a dramatic outing for him, which came as a great surprise to me.  That brings me to my next point – the drama part of the story.

            Altough this flick is at points hilarious, for the most part it remains darkly comic, nostalgic, and just kind of serious.  This is more the story of a young man growing up than it is the gross-out teen comedy that it was billed as, and that we’ve come to expect from Hollywood, and therein lies the true beauty of the movie.  As the main character, Jesse Eisenberg performs far better than Michael Cera would have.  He plays the character as a sensitive, nerdy, inexperienced teenager, and he’s incredibly likable and believable.  His love interest is Em, played by Kristen Stewart, and this is where my biggest surprise came from.  Stewart isn’t the whiny, mopey, needy little girl that she is in the Twilight movies.  Here she’s a young girl, on the brink of womanhood, exploring her sexuality and experimenting with drugs.  The first time she nonchalantly utters the “F” word, you’ll realize that this is not the Bella that you’re used to, and it’s a refreshing performance.  The great thing is that she’s more than likely just playing herself, and it’s entirely likable.  Another performance that really shocked me in this movie was that of Margarita Levieva as Lisa P, the chick that everybody in Adventureland wants to bone.  Although she was basically just there to dance around looking hot, she really made the role a little bit more playful and deep than say, Megan Fox would have.

            Another key to making this movie better than it should have been was the musical selection.  The soundtrack includes key 80’s tracks from Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Lou Reed, The Cure, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Rolling Stones, and many many others.  While on paper it sounds like your dads classic rock radio station, in the movie it really lends to the authenticity of maintaining the reality of the movie.  The songs really work well and they make the flick just that  much better.

            Adventureland is not the movie that you think it is.  While it was mostly advertised as an average teen comedy, it is actually a transcendant adult movie about growing up.  It’s one of my favorite movies from 2009 and I definitely recommend it.  If you’re in the mood to watch a great comedy with a lot of heart, then pick this up.  It’s also a great weapon against the Kristen Stewart haters.  I’m gonna go with 9/10.

Tyson (2008)

Tyson (2008)

Directed by James Toback

           

            Wow! This movie was a freaking powerhouse!  I’d heard a lot about this one going into it, but I didn’t even expect half of what I received.  Read on, faithful reader(s)!

            Tyson is a documentary.  It is set up as an interview (or, several, as the case may be) with Mike Tyson.  He gives us a history of his life, and speaks quite candidly, about every subject, from his childhood, to the infamous ear-bite, to the (alleged) rape of Desiree Washington, and his marriage to Robin Givens.  That’s it.  That’s all this movie is.  A conversation.  Doesn’t sound like much, right?  Well, guess again.  Like most documentaries, the interview is cleverly edited, the screen usually being separated into several parts, at times each one taking up more screenspace than the others (kind of the way The Fourth Kind did it).  The interviews are interspersed with footage of Tyson’s fights, his training, and other public appearances.

            I never imagined that this flick would impact me the way it did.  Like most people, I’ve always thought of Mike Tyson as an animal, a freak, a beast, a monster.  And in some ways, he is.  But mostly, he’s just the same as us.  When Tyson spoke about his former manager Cuss D’Amato, Tyson was genuinely moved, and so was I.  Cuss was the father figure that Tyson never had.  He helped Mike straighten out his life, and he gave him something to live for.  Tyson loved Cuss, and you could feel it.  Very rarely does a movie move me the way this one did, and those scenes in particular (the closest I’ve felt was when I watched the brilliant documentary Dear Zachary, but that’s for another time).  You’ll feel everything that Tyson felt when you watch this.  Anger, joy, sadness, laughter, and you’ll feel most of them in the same extremes that Mike felt.  It seems to me, that Mike Tyson is a man cursed by a personality that dwells in the extreme.  He admits that he’s never been in the middle, there is no “gray area”, everything is black and white for him.  He says that when he goes for something, he refuses to give up, and I can jive with that, it’s a good philosophy.

            This was an excellent flick, and it diserves your attention.  I read recently that during test screenings James Toback, the film’s director, would intentionally seek out people that were completely out of the movie’s demographic – specifically middle-aged white women that knew nothing about boxing.  Before they went into the screening, he would say “If you walk out within the first 5 minutes, I’ll give you $100.  If you don’t walk out within the first 5 minutes, then you have to stay for the whole thing, and you have to give your complete, honest reaction to the film.”  Apparantly, not one woman walked out, and many of them were in tears by the end of the flick. 

On another interesting side-note, this flick was co-produced by Nicholas Jarecki, who also co-wrote and co-produced The Informers, the last piece of crap that I reviewed.

Across the Universe (2007)

Across the Universe (2007)

Written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, & Julie Taymor

Directed by Julie Taymor

            My love for this film can be summed up by the fact that I have an original one-sheet poster from the movie framed above my bed.  I first discovered this underrated gem about a year and a half ago.  I bought it for about ten dollars at my local Blockbuster.  A few weeks ago I was perusing a nearby Costco, when I found it on Blu-ray for twelve bucks.  Score!  ANYWAY,  the first time I watched it, I don’t think I understood it completely.  I watched it again around five months later (around this exact time last year), and was simply spellbound.

            This movie has everything.  EVERYTHING!!!  Let’s start with the basics – it’s a movie based on and set to songs by the Beatles.  I’ll wait while you go out and find this movie and watch it.

Back? Oh, yea sure, go ahead and make some popcorn.

Ok! So, it’s a musical.  Some people don’t like musicals, I can understand that.  They’re pretty gay.  There’s a lot to not like about them.  It’s not very realistic that a group of people would break out into a clearly choreographed dance routine, where everyboyd knows the lyrics to the song they’re singing.  And where the hell does the music come from anyway?  But this one is different.  Here’s a little trick to tell if a musical will be good or not.  If the songs help to move the plot forward, then it will be a good musical.  If the songs are an aside from the plot, the musical will suck (see this, or this, or this.)  Across the Universe uses the songs to move the plot forward.  The plot, here, revolves around Jude, Max, and Lucy (yes, all of the characters are named after Beatles songs, and no, it’s not as lame as it says) and takes place in the 60’s.  Max and Lucy are siblings, Jude is from Liverpool, Jude and Lucy fall in love, Max gets drafted.  Tangental characters include a Hendrix clone named Jo Jo, a Janis Joplin clone named Sadie (and yes, she is pretty sexy), and a hot little Asian lesbian named Prudence.

            The best part about this flick is obviously the music.  The Beatles were masters, and in my opinion, the last great music makers.  What differentiates the Beatles from most other bands of that era, in my mind, is not just their lyrics, but their ability to harmonize.  Beatles songs are rooted in the vocals, and McCartney and Lennon did things with their vocals that are unheard of these days.  Rather than clutter up the songs with over-enthusiastic guitar solos and ostentatious drum fills, they let the lyrics and vocals do the talking.  Now, in this flick, the filmmakers re-interpret some of the songs in ways that are both beautiful and unique, and they do the nearly impossible – they are even better than the originals (unlike in that goddamn blackberry commercial, which pretty much vomits on the original song).

            The acting here is award-worthy.  First off, all of the actors and actresses do their own singing in this.  And it’s not just ‘meh’, like Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge, it’s raw and real. Evan Rachel Wood proves that she’s not just insanely hot, but she’s also one of the better actresses of her generation (if not the best).  Jim Sturgess was equally impressive as the male lead, but the person that stole the most scenes for me was Joe Anderson as Max.  This guy was badass to the max.  That’s right, I said ‘to the max.’  You may have seen him in The Ruins as the German guy that fell down the hole and broke his legs, or possibly in the trailer for remake of The Crazies (which looks awesome, by the way).  He’s awesome, and an actor to look out for.

            The sets here were amazing, the wardrobes were spot-on, everything looked like it was straight out of the era.  When I watched this on blu-ray, I found myself wishing that I had lived during the era (a notion that was instantly quelled when I thought back to “Helter Skelter”, which I am currently reading).

            There is absolutely nothing about this movie that I didn’t like.  See it, see it, see it, SEE IT!!!