The Final Cut

As I’ve indicated before I’m a big fan of Robin Williams so it’s no surprise that when Karen brought home The Final Cut, a 2004 sci-fi movie, I was very interested. Like One Hour Photo, this is a serious Robin performance. He plays a Cutter (Alan Hakman), a man who cuts people’s life memory implant footage to create a flattering portrayal of their lives.
This Zoe implant may sound like a gimmick but the ideal is well fleshed out and then dissected as the plot progresses. There is a group who actively oppose the implant and the ex-Cutter Fletcher (Jim Caviezel) re-enters Alan’s life trying to get the implant of an Eye-Tech lawyer (the producers of the Zoe implant) to try to discredit the company.
It’s an unusual science fiction film as there are so few special effects running the show.  They’re there but only to subtly provide authenticity. I have to give Omar Naim full marks as writer and Director for bravely letting the story sit in the driver’s seat to allow such an interesting film. Such a different tack for an American sci-fi movie. This is thrilling and psychological and feels realistic. The plot is complicated (like a good science fiction book) but worth it. It is extremely well acted, too.
The last scene (which I won’t describe as it would be a spoiler) is beautifully done.  So Brecht!
Very highly recommended.

Benjamin Button

The F. Scott Fitzgerald short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has apparently little to do with the Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett movie of the same name. I’ve only seen the film (Eric Roth wrote the screenplay with help from Robin Swicord on the screen story) so I can’t say yet but it does look as though the only things preserved from the original Benjamin Button story were the name and the fact that Benjamin grows young. The Wikipedia article seems to indicate that he wasn’t as much of the saint Brad Pitt portrays.
Still, it’s an enjoyable film with good acting by Pitt and Cate Blanchett as Daisy. A historical fantasy much like Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump.
My favourite acting is done by Taraji P. Henson as Queenie of the large heart and Jared Harris as the larger than life Captain Mike.
I really want to read Fitzgerald’s story now but will recommend the movie until then.

W

Josh Brolin stars as George W. Bush in this Oliver Stone film (written by Stanley Weiser) about the life and times of the 43rd President of the US.
I think it’s an honest and realistic portrayal of a very political man, his family and entourage. There is some brilliant acting here especially from Brolin, Jeffrey Wright
as Colin Powell, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, James Cromwell (one of my all time favourite actors) as George Bush Sr., and a truly outstanding performance by Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney.
One of the things that struck me was the interesting comparison between the two Iraq conflicts with both Bush’s and with Cheney and Powell at different stages in their lives. Fascinating to see the similarities and differences depicted. Another was the conversion between the aimless playboy to the born again, Texan man of pure politics. It’s also fascinating to see the American political system with its famous checks and balances being eroded slowly by political megalomaniacs peaking in George W. Bush (we can hope in pray). Those checks and balances were meant by the US Constitutional fathers to prevent tyranny. Nothing’s perfect.
Highly recommended viewing.

Flash of Genius

Greg Kinnear plays Bob Kearns and Lauren Graham (Phyllis Kearns) in this 2008 movie about an inventor whose idea was stolen by the Ford Motor Company. This is a true David vs. the Big Company story which shows the mental pain and hardship of the 12 year struggle of the David. It is admittedly hard to watch near the middle where Kearns is driven to a mental breakdown but it is worth waiting to see him defend himself in the court battle at the end.
Kinnear pulls off an outstanding performance as do all the members of his family, including Graham as his wife.
Highly Recommended.

Fed Up

I went to see Up at the Galaxy, here in Guelph, tonight. As soon as I was about to pay the cashier tells me it isn’t 3D… it’s just the regular 2D Up. The family and I walked out. I rarely go to see a film in a theatre anymore: it’s too expensive and not as comfortable as my living room. But a Pixar film that’s 3D! That’s worth seeing and I was excited to see the Galaxy website said it was still on. The jerks didn’t say it wasn’t being shown in 3D on the website, though. Wanted to get people coming out by hook or by being a crook.
I was very disappointed. It was a treat, several months back, seeing Coraline in 3D.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

In anticipation of seeing this new remake directed by Scott Derrickson I showed the original 1951 version to the kids. For all the money and special effects, the new movie had very little of the impact of Robert Wise’s classic film. It was merely an interesting effects vehicle and not worth the price of admission. You can buy the DVD if you must but be sure you get the one that includes the original film even though it doesn’t have many special features. I’m glad I waited for the library to get it before seeing it.
Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson along with Kathy Bates as the Secretary of Defense (Regina Jackson) and John Cleese as Professor Barnhardt were all good but the sum of the parts now just wasn’t gripping or revolutionary. One obvious lack was the whole relationship developed between Klaatu and the boy Bobby. This is, I believe, how Klaatu is originally won over. And the heroism of Helen, his mother, when she tries to save the alien and the world in the end. Just completely absent. And for those poor people who haven’t seen the original, I doubt the meaning behind the title is even remotely possible to make out.
So see the original which, though over 50 years old, I still say is very highly recommended. And if you must watch the remake be sure you don’t pay too much for the sad thing.

Run Fatboy Run

David Schwimmer directed this Michael Ian Black (of Stella fame) story. The principal Simon Pegg and Black wrote the screenplay. This was a very enjoyable movie with a lot of unusual humour. Sure the basic plot is simple and predictable, but it’s how the talented actors get from A to B that is a lot of fun.
Simon Pegg is excellent at creating a sympathetic character to watch in Dennis Doyle, someone who has trouble finishing anything. I think Pegg did even better here than in Hot Fuzz another of his films that I own. Although Hot Fuzz was filmed in the same year (2007) I found the growth of Dennis far more believable than the change in Nicholas Angel who goes from strictly by the rules and neurotic lawman quickly to someone too much like Harry Callahan for my taste. I think that film would have benefited from the character restraint in Run Fatboy Run.
Beside Pegg I liked Dylan Moran’s character (the irrepressible but lovable and funny Gordon) best. Harish Patel’s Mr. Goshdashtidar was a lovingly done but stereotypic Indian-man-in-England.
Other actors who were good were: Matthew Fenton (Jake), Hank Azaria (Whit) and Thandie Newton (Libby).
A very much recommended comedy for adults and definitely not suitable for a pre-teen sleep-over, son (you know who you are).

Yes Man

Yes Man is an enjoyable romp in one man’s life exploring the consequences of saying yes to everything. An interesting idea and one which has more validity than you might think. We’re a species with an incredible resilience and ability to grow stronger in the face of adversity. The evidence is all around us. Amazing predators like tigers, leopards, lions, etc. have proved to be no match for clawless, fang-less, weak Homo sapiens sapiens. We are masters of surviving, folks. We can probably live through our own embarrassing stupidity, so saying yes to some craziness in our lives may not be a bad idea. Sometimes opening oneself to the new is just what we need. But, as Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) concludes at the end of the film, you have to know how to say ‘no’ too!
I liked that Carrey is mellowing out as an actor: he’s better and more believable. Zooey Deschanel was, as usual, excellent too: she has such an interesting presence on the screen. And who doesn’t love Terence Stamp? A fun movie with interesting twists.
Recommended.

One Hour Photo

Mark Romanek is the writer and director of this remarkable movie. It is an intriguing set of contrasts: antiseptic big box store meets the startling intimacy of a photo lab meets people living the beautiful life in rich suburbs meets cold reality meets damaged good. The film is a harsh experience to get through but one eminently worthy of the attempt. First of all you have Robin Williams playing the painfully shy Seymour Parrish. Sy is a character that is so incredibly subdued and disappear-into-the-pastel-background-ish that it would be a difficult role for any actor but to have the larger than life and not nearly as contained Robin Williams play it — THE Robin Williams — well… that’s nigh unto miraculous. I’m a fan of the impressible Williams but this is the dramatic performance of a lifetime. He is controlled desperation and so much more in this film. You just have to see it or you can’t understand. And the other actors are excellent: especially Connie Nielsen (Nina Yorkin), Michael Vartan (the husband Will Yorkin) and Dylan Smith (Jakob Yorkin).
It’s a amazingly interesting story. The revolution of digital photography has all but removed the place of the photo shop as batteries and digital storage become film and endless stills but before it goes we see Romanek’s vision of just how intimate the photo guy is. He or She is like a Doctor or Dentist with secrets we can trust with no other. So here’s this photo guy who idolizes this perfect family of suburbia. This couple and their kids who he knows, perhaps better than he should, even if they know nothing about him. And his reaction to learning that the husband isn’t perfect and is risking so much for so little? How can Sy do anything to help preserve the child’s happiness? The lovely Nina’s happiness? Especially after he’s fired from the job that gives him access to them? The answer, of course, is he can’t. Or rather, that anyone normal couldn’t. We’d be too stuck in our own lives to try.  And, strangely, too good.  But Sy, damaged as he is, does it anyway. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t even try to preserve the fairy tale of Jake’s innocence. He goes beyond that and with shame and his own revulsion he makes them all, particularly Jake’s father, see the damage done.
And, at the last, there is hope. The audience and perhaps the Detective knows a little about Sy’s Hell, but there is a chance for the Yorkins even if they don’t know.  And they may never know who to thank.
Two of the most outstanding parts of the film echo a portion of Sy’s monologue describing what people take pictures of. And how he yearns to see pictures of the ordinary. Jake does just that and Sy weeps as he looks at the beauty of those senstive and yet unframed pictures. And then at the very end when Sy looks at his own pictures which aren’t what the audience expected at all.  You have to be there.
Not a show for the young but extremely recommended for everyone else.

The White Countess

The last movie in the collaboration between Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, this is a beautifully photographed and touching story. The tale, written by Kazuo Ishiguro, is set in Shanghai before and during the Japanese invasion in 1937. The terror of that time has been depicted elsewhere, and far more graphically like in Empire of the Sun set mainly a few years later, but I like the way it was used as a backdrop for this strange love story. An expensive but gorgeous setting.
Todd Jackson, played impressively by Ralph Fiennes, is a former diplomat who lost his sight and his daughter in a horrific bombing. He has given up on his brilliant career and remains a hollow but civil and gentle man. The only thing he cares for is creating an elusive dream of his: perfection in a bar/nightclub. He lays down his savings on a horse race and wins so he can suddenly realize and finance his longing. Jackson handpicks everything and everyone for his bar from his centerpiece, Countess Sofia Belinskya, to the bouncers, bartenders, musicians, performers and others. Sofia was forced out of Russia after the revolution. She is so important to his ‘idea’ of the perfect bar that he names the bar after her: The White Countess. And yet he makes a deal that they have nothing to do with each other outside of business times.
She appeals to him because, even though he is blind, he picks up on her style, beauty and, most of all, an air of the tragic.
Sofia, played wonderfully by Natasha Richardson, is earning the money with which her extended family and daughter are living by selling herself as a dancing partner and possibly through other favours. But her family, except her daughter, shun her for descending to this. With everyone desperate about a looming Japanese invasion she tells Jackson about her family’s need of money so they can escape. He gives her the money but the rest of the family do not want her to go with her. It seems bizarre to us, comfortable on this side of the 20th century, but it smacks strongly of Russian pride to me. So they leave her behind to come on later even though the Japanese are invading and there will probably be no ‘later’.
In the end Jackson’s dream was an ephemeral thing. Beautiful, perhaps, but not satisfying. And, ironically, a Japanese gentleman who is responsible for the invasion gives him the nudge he needs to realize that his real goal is not the White Countess bar but Sofia, the real thing.
Highly recommended.