Category: Reviews

  • ‘The Watch’ won’t make you look at yours

    Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Richard Ayoade and Vince Vaughn in 'The Watch'
    Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Richard Ayoade and Vince Vaughn in ‘The Watch’

    The Watch is all about four guys who band together in an ordinary town in Ohio to solve a murder, keep their town safe, and in the minds of three of them, have a great time while doing those two things.  Whatever else The Watch may be, the most important thing to remember is that it passes the acid test for comedies.  It is funny.  Laugh out loud funny in places.

    Ben Stiller is “Evan”, who is convinced he has a perfect life.  He is the manager of the local Costco.  He organized the town’s running club and he’s in such good shape he’s leading them on every run.  He organized a Spanish table for Spanish speakers.  He created a position for himself on the town council.  And he’s even made friends with some members of minority groups.  He’s also married to a good looking wife who wants to have a baby and is very willing to have sex whenever she’s ovulating (and at other times as well).

    But Ben’s life is forever altered when the body of the overnight security guard keeping the Costco safe is discovered early one morning.  Just the night before, he and “Antonio” had been bonding and celebrating Antonio’s new status as an American citizen.  Now he’s dead and Ben wants to make sure that his killer is brought to justice, and that Glenview (the town) is made safe.  So he posts fliers all over town asking for volunteers to join him in creating the new “Neighborhood Watch”.

    Ben Stiller stars in 'The Watch'
    Ben Stiller stars in ‘The Watch’

    Three people show up for the first meeting.  “Bob” (Vince Vaughn) seems more interested in making friends and drinking beers than catching any killers and he soon has the meeting moved to his man-cave basement with big screen television, pool table, and plenty of cold beer.  “Franklin” (Jonah Hill) is busy playing with his butterfly knife but manages to let everyone know that he tried to join the police department but was turned down for reasons beyond his comprehension.  After all, he only failed the physical, written and mental exams.  “Jamarcus” (Richard Ayoade) is the last to arrive and he seems as interested in fulfilling one of his sexual fantasies (you saw it in the trailer, he wants to find a sexy Asian housewife to… well, do something to him he’s never experienced before).

    Soon they have jackets with a logo that Evan did not sanction and he’s not happy about that, although Bob loves his own design.  Then they stake out the Costco, figuring the criminal will return to the scene of the crime.  That doesn’t go well, nor does their attempt at responding to their first summons by the citizens, which results in the Watch becoming victims of a prank.

    But the body count goes up and soon the Watch discovers that there are aliens in Glenview, and they have a device that may do something else besides blowing stuff up once you handle it properly.  Then The Watch becomes a struggle to stop the aliens before they overwhelm not just Glenview, but the entire planet.

    “Evan” and “Bob” are the most interesting characters.  Evan is exactly what Bob calls him at one point, a control freak who has to be in charge.  He’s very much in love with his wife, but that doesn’t explain the fact he’s keeping a secret from her, a secret that troubles him greatly.  Bob is a loving father, who doesn’t trust his teen-aged daughter, but his interference in her life isn’t because he’s some prick, it’s out of love and genuine concern for her.

    This is a raunchy film.  Just as the zombies of multiple zombie films can be killed only by a headshot, these aliens have only one specific vulnerability and it’s a real hoot once it is revealed.  There is a lot of verbal profanity, but only one gratuitous boob shot.  The raunchiness is forgivable because there are so many cheap, easy laughs throughout the experience.  The special effects and science-fiction stuff is only ordinary but that’s not the reason you go to see The Watch.  You go to laugh and believe me, you will.

  • ‘Ruby Sparks’ is good, but is not a gem

    Zoe Kazan stars in, and wrote, 'Ruby Sparks'
    Zoe Kazan stars in, and wrote, ‘Ruby Sparks’

    Ruby Sparks is a new indie film from Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, directors of Little Miss Sunshine.  Working from a script written by Zoe Kazan who also portrays the title character, Dayton and Faris deliver an intriguing tale about a writer and the woman who mysteriously and magically enters his life.

    Kazan’s real-life boyfriend, Paul Dano is “Calvin Weir-Fields”, who dropped out of high school and at the tender age of 19 wrote a novel that’s become as major a work as Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”.  Ten years have passed and while Calvin has written short stories and a novella, he has yet to write the long-awaited follow-up novel.  His agent “Cyrus” (Aasaf Mandvi) is pushing his client as hard as he can to get that next tome out of his mind and onto paper, but Calvin is having trouble writing.

    That’s just one of the reasons he is seeing “Dr. Rosenthal” (Elliot Gould).  The one romance in his life, one that lasted five years, went bad some time ago.  He’s had trouble connecting with women since.  He’s also had trouble getting his ideas out of his head.  But suddenly there is something there.  A woman appears in his dreams and he is strangely drawn to her.  So Dr. Rosenthal tells him to write one page about this woman.  After yet another life-like dream, he wakes up and suddenly he’s inspired to the point of pounding his typewriter non-stop.

    Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan in 'Ruby Sparks'
    Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan in ‘Ruby Sparks’

    The result is that he wakes up to find the girl he has created, Ruby Sparks, of Dayton Ohio in his home.  She’s there and she’s real, which he will only admit after it is clear he isn’t the only one seeing her.  Until then he thinks she may well be the female, human version of “Harvey” the famed imaginary rabbit.  Once she is confirmed to exist in his mind, he is instantly smitten.

    His brother “Harry” (Chris Messina) is married, has a child and is very grounded in the realities of life.  He doesn’t buy the existence of Ruby until he sees her with his own eyes.  Then suddenly he is enthralled, because not only did Calvin manifest Ruby with his trusty typewriter, he can alter her by writing more.  Typically his first suggestion is “bigger tits”.

    Once Ruby is real, Dr. Rosenthal is a thing of the past and this is where it becomes clear that Ruby is truly part and parcel of Calvin.  She knows his innermost secrets and perceived flaws.  She is the only person who seems to understand why Calvin is so bothered anytime anyone calls him a genius and refrains from doing so.  But as they spend time together, she begins to express frustration that her entire life revolves around Calvin and their relationship experiences problems.  What Calvin will do when confronted with these problems is where the film turns.  He said he won’t ever write her again, but when she is unhappy, when she makes him unhappy, the urge to resolve this with a few simple words written on the most recent page of the novel becomes overpowering.

    This isn’t the first and won’t be the last film to make use of the “Manic Pixie Girl” trope.  Kazan’s portrayal of such is uneven, very strong in some moments and not so strong in others.  The ultimate resolution of Ruby’s origins is missing, the sequence where Calvin takes her home to meet his mother (Annette Bening) and step-father (Antonio Banderas) felt unreal and as though it was added solely for a bit of comic relief.  What happens at the end is predictable and in the final analysis, unsatisfying.

  • ‘The Queen of Versailles’ is an empress with no clothes

    Jackie Siegel with her kids in 'Queen of Versailles'
    Jackie Siegel with her kids in ‘Queen of Versailles’

    Director Lauren Greenfield didn’t set out to make the film that The Queen of Versailles ended up becoming.  That’s because the original purpose was to make a documentary about the wealthy couple that was building the largest house under one roof in America.  Based on the Palace at Versailles and the top floors of a Las Vegas Hotel, their Versailles was planned to be a 90,000 square foot house.  Complete with bowling alley, his and hers staircases rising from the grand ballroom, a separate wing for their 8 children (7 of their own and one niece of hers that lives with them), and quarters for their large domestic staff.

    But the lives of David Siegel and his third wife Jackie Siegel changed dramatically on one day in September, 2008.

    Until that day, he was the King of the timeshare, running the largest timeshare company in the world.  Then the markets and the financial system collapsed.  Suddenly, his business was in serious trouble, particularly since he’d sunk almost $400 million into the construction of the largest resort in Las Vegas.  The bankers cut off the supply of money he would get from selling timeshares to people who would put down ten percent.  The banks had been happy to lend his firm money on the mortgages they held, but that all stopped on that fateful day in September.

    And so, The Queen of Versailles went from being a documentary about the building of the biggest mega-mansions to the story of the couple and how the bursting of the financial bubble changed their lives.

    We learn that Jackie Siegel was a beauty queen (Mrs. Florida, not Miss as she’s been wrongly identified elsewhere), a model and before that, a woman with an engineering degree who was employed at IBM.  She was married to an abusive man who she ran from and met David Siegel at a party right after his second marriage had ended.  He is 30 years her senior and says he was “smitten” the moment they met.  But as Jackie reminds us several times in the film, “he swore when I turned 40, he’d trade me in for two 20s.”

    Everything about their lives is outsized, from her obviously augmented breasts to the 26,000 square foot home they live in when the movie opens.  Even that large a home is not big enough for the couple, their 8 kids, various and sundry pets, and the nannies and other domestic employees, some of whom are live-ins.  That she is a compulsive consumer is evident from a quick glance at her shoe collection.  Had they not gotten into financial trouble, she might have given Imelda Marcos a run for her money.

    But once the financial woes begin, life is altered and Jackie has trouble adjusting.  Their idea of being in trouble money-wise isn’t like that of most people.  Most struggle to survive.  The Spiegel’s idea of cutting back is reducing their staff from 19 to 4 and trying to spend less while shopping.  But when Christmas is approaching, Jackie may be shopping at WalMart, but that doesn’t stop her from filling multiple shopping carts and two vehicles with purchases that are clearly beyond their means.  She buys one of the kids a bicycle that gets tossed into a room with more unused bicycles than I was able to count before moving on to the next scene.

    David Siegel and his third wife Jackie Siegel in 'The Queen of Versailles'
    David Siegel and his third wife Jackie Siegel in ‘The Queen of Versailles’

    We’re introduced to David’s son, from his first marriage.  He’s a high-ranking executive in David’s company and works closely with him, but says that he and his father are not close.  We learn that while David gave his kids from that first marriage plenty of money for clothes, they had to struggle to eat at times.  One begins to wonder about David’s sense of priorities, particularly when it is disclosed that any inheritance his own parents might have left for him was gambled away in Las Vegas.  David is clearly a gambler like his father, willing to bet all of his other assets on holding onto his outsized new property in his father’s favorite city.  He was willing to list his unfinished 90,000 square foot house for sale, but was actually happy there weren’t any buyers.  He wanted to find a way to keep it.

    One wonders if Jackie Siegel is that out of touch with reality, particularly when after the financial collapse she flies home to visit family and friends.  She’s forced to fly commercial, since the private jets are long gone.  Upon arrival, she goes to rent a car and asks the clerk at the counter for the name of the driver that’s being assigned to her.  Her incredulity at finding out that she’s not being given a driver feels more like a performance than how someone who grew up in a house with one bathroom would perceive life.

    It is worth noting a few things.  One is that nowhere in the film is there any mention of the fact that David Siegel was ordered to pay $5.4 million in damages to a former employee in a sexual harassment lawsuit.  Allegedly, the lawsuit claims that not only did he sexually harass the former employee, but supposedly Jackie Siegel made advances toward another employee.  Also, David Siegel has filed a defamation lawsuit against the film’s director and producers, and he has also written to them asking that the postscript be altered to a more positive view.

    There are unintended laughs, and a real, open and honest look at the lives of several people impacted by the financial melt-down.  Greenfield does a great job of capturing the true feelings of her subjects and this makes her film all the more compelling.  A must-see for fans of documentary filmmaking.

  • Pixar’s ‘Brave’ Scottish adventure is worth breaking out the kilts for

    Pixar’s ‘Brave’ Scottish adventure is worth breaking out the kilts for

    Merida takes aim in 'Brave'
    Merida takes aim in ‘Brave’

    It seems you can always count on Pixar to raise the bar, in animation and in movies in general. Whereas everyone else is regurgitating the same fairy tales that have been regurgitated several times over, they’ve done what apparently is unthinkable: they made a new one.

    In Brave, Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is the Princess of Scotland in the 12th century. She is the oldest child and only daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). The latter is particularly tough on her for not adhering to traditions. This comes to ahead when the suitors arrive for her betrothal. The one thing she does have control over is which contest they must win for her hand. In a clever ruse, she selects archery, her own strong suit, and then sneaks into the competition and bests every one of the suitors’ shot.

    Next scene, of course, is a heated argument with her mother, who is absolutely livid. Merida rides out to cool off and finds herself at a mini-Stonehenge-like location just outside a forest. It is at the entrance to the forest that she sees a trail of will o’ the wisps, which she believes will lead her to her ultimate destiny.

    She is brought to the woodcarvings shop of an old witch (Julie Walters). After realizing what she’s dealing with, she barters her necklace for everything in the store, and a spell. The way she phrases it is that she wants her mother to change. This is in reference to a change in attitude or mind, but when worded so vaguely, the old adage “be careful what you wish for” will certainly apply. The spell she learns can be reversed, but she’ll need to decipher a cryptic hint, and the clock is ticking.

    This is one grump old bear in 'Brave'
    This is one grump old bear in ‘Brave’

    First thing’s first: yes, the animation is spectacular. A lot of hard work clearly went into Brave. Just doing Merida’s hair alone must have been a major challenge. But of course, that all means nothing if the picture fails to deliver, but it does greatly.

    There’s more meat to Brave than your typical princess story. No time-consuming musical numbers here, but instead a focus on story,  character, and adventure. And while there aren’t any rolling heads or samurai swords like a certain other Scot film, the action in it is quite exciting. In addition in several moments of well-executed suspense and tension.

    But Pixar may have set the bar too high. This effort doesn’t quite measure up to their last few films, namely Up and Toy Story 3. It just doesn’t have the emotional resonance as powerful and deep as that those ones had.

    As always, preceding the feature is an animated short. This time it is La Luna, in which three generations of men – elderly, middle aged, and child – travel into space from a ladder in their boat. It’s an amiable piece, and the lack of spoken dialogue gives it a certain charm.

    Lastly, on a more serious note, the movie includes a couple tributes to Steve Jobs, who purchased Pixar back when it was known as The Computer Graphics Group (and before it had even started making animated films) and was the company’s CEO. The film is dedicated to his memory and one of the clans is called Macintosh.

    Pixar didn’t take home the gold during the last awards season, but this time I’m pulling for them. Because, in the end, there can be only one.

  • ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is a spectacular superhero movie

    Christian saves the day one last time as Batman in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Christian saves the day one last time as Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    “Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go.”

    Welcome to the film version of “Wednesday’s child”.  For the conclusion of the ‘Batman’ trilogy from writer/director Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises is first and foremost, filled with woe.  It’s a stunning achievement in filmmaking, with incredible visuals, excellent action sequences, superb performances from its lead actors and a score that surrounds and envelops the audience, drawing them into the story being told.

    Eight years have passed since the tragic death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, at the hands of Batman or so the people think.  Dent has been lionized and practically canonized by the citizens of Gotham City, with “Harvey Dent Day” being celebrated on the anniversary of his death.  Also being celebrated is a law that was passed in the wake of Dent’s death that gave police commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) the powers he needed to finally clean up the streets of the city.  Eight years later the jails are filled and the people are safe.

    Eight years have passed since there was any sighting of Batman.  Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a virtual recluse, holed up in one wing of stately Wayne manor and not emerging.  The Dent Day celebration is being held at Wayne Manor and Commissioner Gordon plans to read a speech.  The contents of his speech would have shocked everyone, but at the last moment he chooses not to read it.

    Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) battle in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) battle in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    One of the food servers working the event is instructed by Bruce’s faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) to take a tray of food up to the East wing, unlock the door, go in, put the tray down and then leave, locking the door behind her.  The server is Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and she has other plans.  Not just to steal some jewels, but to obtain a full set of Bruce Wayne’s fingerprints she plans to exchange in order to obtain a true ‘fresh start’ for her life.  She encounters Bruce walking with difficulty, using a cane and after he catches her with his mother’s pearls, he tries and fails to stop her.

    That’s not the only trouble Bruce Wayne faces.  He has lost most of his wealth and worse yet, someone is scheming to cause him to lose the rest of it and wrest control of Wayne Enterprises from him.  The one person who seems to clearly be on his side is Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), his partner in an energy venture that involves a nuclear device that might solve the city’s energy problems.  But it could also become a horrific weapon in the wrong hands.

    The man truly behind the effort to bring more woe to Wayne’s life is Bane (Tom Hardy), a big, strong, disfigured man.  He wears a metal mask covering much of his face, reminiscent of that worn by Darth Vader.  He has assumed leadership of the League of Shadows.  You remember the League, introduced in “Batman Begins” and led by Ra’s Al Gul (Liam Neeson).  It wanted to destroy Gotham City to cleanse it and that is Bane’s plan as he wants to avenge the death of his mentor.  His plans will force Batman to return.

    This isn’t your typical action film cast.  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman (reprising his role as Lucius Fox) and Marion Cotillard are all Oscar winners.  Anne Hathaway and Gary Oldman were nominated for Oscars in their careers.  Thus it comes as no surprise that the performances are excellent.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great as John Blake, a uniformed cop turned detective that becomes one of the right hand-men to Commissioner Gordon.  In particular, Hathaway and Hardy are brilliant in their roles, she bringing an element of action-adventure star along with wonderful emotional range while he is perfectly cast as the man who will expose the greatest truth of all about Batman.

    Anne Hathaway is Catwoman in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Anne Hathaway is Catwoman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    You see, The Dark Knight Rises is a superhero movie but all too often people forget that Batman is just a man, not endowed with any superpowers.  He is vulnerable and that vulnerability is exposed when he meets Bane and finds a man who is capable of battling with him on his level and more.

    Nolan and his brother who co-wrote the script, bring social commentary into the story, as Bane attempts to turn the struggle for control of Gotham into a contest between the haves and the have-nots.  Images of the Occupy Movement and those they would label as the “1%” are visible as the struggle intensifies.  Those judged to have committed crimes against the ‘people’ are brought before a judge who is solely interested in pronouncing sentence.  Their guilt is assumed.

    The visuals are awesome and inspiring.  So are the special effects.  The ‘toys’ used by Batman and Selina Kyle’s alter-ego, Catwoman are impressive.  Hans Zimmer’s score is pulse-pounding and set perfectly against the various images it enhances.  If this is indeed the final effort by Christopher Nolan in the Batman universe (you may argue that there is or isn’t a sequel set-up, I’ll leave that to you, but logically any movie that generates as much box office as TDKR automatically puts the notion of “let’s do another” into the minds of its producers) then he went out with a flourish.  One could pick at a few very minor ‘flaws’ where what we are treated to on screen would be done differently in real life, but this isn’t real life.  This is a movie.  A superhero movie.  A spectacular superhero movie.  Enjoy it.

  • ‘Easy Money’ is a good film that nearly managed to be a great one

    Lisa Henni in 'Easy Money'
    Lisa Henni in ‘Easy Money’

    You’d need to be a pretty proficient linguist not to need the subtitles when watching Easy Money, which topped the box office charts for 2010 in Sweden where it originated.  There are five languages in use here including a smattering of English.  We also hear German, Spanish, Serbian and Swedish.

    Multiple languages make sense when you learn that the origins of the three central characters, whose storylines are each drastically different.

    “Jorge” (Matias Varela) escapes from prison at the outset was born of a Southern American mother.  “JW” (Joel Kinnaman) is the main character of the three and is a student at the Swedish School of Economics in Stockholm.  While he is from an ordinary family from the North of Sweden, he runs around with the rich kids and pretends to be one of them as best he can.  “Mrado” (Dragomir Mrsic) is an enforcer for a Serbian mob who is sent in pursuit of Jorge as soon as “Radovan” (Dejean Cukic), the leader of that mob learns of Jorge’s escape.

    Jorge had only a year left, but he had to get out in order to use his cousin’s connections with cocaine traffickers in Germany. He is working with “Abdulkarim” (Mahmut Suvakci) who happens to also be JW’s boss.  JW spends his nights driving “fares” for Abdulkarim when he’s not busy partying with his wealthy friends or writing their essay papers for class.  Driving fares and writing papers, all for pay.  So when Abdulkarim needs someone to find Jorge and bring him in, away from Radovan’s men, he gives the assignment to JW with the promise of serious pay.  JW succeeds and ends up hiding Jorge in his student housing room.

    Dejan Cukic in 'Easy Money'
    Dejan Cukic in ‘Easy Money’

    Soon JW is involved in the scheme of large quantity sales of cocaine.  The plan is simple.  Jorge’s cousin works with a group who will deliver the drugs to Abdulkarim’s people in Stockholm.  They will take possession and pay the balance due after sale.  JW is to aid the crew handling the drugs and to launder the huge amounts of cash these sales will bring in.  When Abdulkarim approaches him with this venture, JW’s education is helpful, but so is his insider knowledge from his rich friends that there is an investment bank in serious financial jeopardy.  He proposes that Abdulkarim buy control of this bank with the cash and let the bankers then launder the proceeds.  Abdulkarim thinks this is a genius idea and agrees to give JW 20% of the profits from the laundered funds, and from the other profits the venture will generate.

    Meanwhile JW meets “Sophie” who falls in love with him after she dumps the boyfriend she was seeing when she and JW first encounter one another.  He clearly likes her, but is nowhere near as invested in the relationship as she.  Jorge is occupied with his family, including his sister who he learns is pregnant.  The father of her child abandons her after Radovan’s men beat him in a futile search for information on Jorge’s whereabouts.

    Mrado is the subject of anger by Radovan for not killing Jorge when he had him in his grasp and he doesn’t endear himself to Radovan when he is hesitant to agree that they must go to war against Abdulkarim, even if he is backed by Albanian gangsters.  The last thing he needs is to be forced to take custody of his 8 year old daughter right then, but it’s that or let her become a ward of the state.  Her mother is dealing with her own drug problems and can no longer care for “Lovisa.”

    Director Daniel Espinosa has a lot to work with.  There’s a talented cast and a more than adequate story with plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience enthralled.  There are action scenes and the violence isn’t gratuitous or overdone.  Yet Easy Money, while strong, isn’t nearly as good as it might have been.  Sophie catches JW in an obvious lie but refuses to confront him about it.  Informers are beaten but not killed.  Logic flaws that the best films don’t contain.

    JW, Jorge and Mrado are all on journeys and their paths cross.  As such we’re able to see what each learns from the others along the way.  That is part of what makes Easy Money a good film.  But it missed being a great film, which was easily in its grasp.

  • ‘Take This Waltz’ tells a tale of dysfuctional love

    Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams in 'Take This Waltz'
    Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams in ‘Take This Waltz’

    Take This Waltz is the latest from writer/director Sarah Polley and it is a very interesting film.

    “Margot” (Michelle Williams) is married, a writer, and at the opening of the movie is away from home on an assignment to re-write a brochure for a tourist destination.  The attraction takes people back into the past to the time when people were flogged on the streets and we see one such flogging (the actor isn’t really being harmed) when Margot is invited to take over the whip.  She tries to be demure but is egged on by a man in the crowd.

    We learn later that he is “Daniel” (Luke Kirby) and the two find themselves seated next to each other on the plane ride home.  When he asks Margot why she boarded the plane while in a wheelchair, she makes an excuse about her health that he knows is false.  He confronts her with the evidence and she admits she hates the thought of missing a connection and that’s what she is afraid of.  But it becomes clear that she’s really afraid of being “caught in-between.”

    This is major theme of Take This Waltz.

    They end up sharing a taxi-ride home and she discovers that Daniel lives across the street from the house where she and her husband “Lou” (Seth Rogen) live.  She didn’t mention being married until just before they part, and it’s clear they will meet again.

    Michelle Williams stars in 'Take This Waltz'
    Michelle Williams stars in ‘Take This Waltz’

    Lou is also a writer, but a writer of cookbooks and he’s working on his latest project.  As a result, he is focused on his work.  But there’s also something off about their relationship.  How they communicate, and how they interact seems not quite right.  We’re introduced to some of his family members, most notably his sister, “Geraldine” (Sarah Silverman) who is very close to Margot.  Geraldine is also married, and is the mother of an adorable child.  She’s also an alcoholic in recovery and in fact, one of the social occasions that takes place in the home of Lou and Margot is to celebrate the anniversary of her sobriety.

    Margot and Daniel begin spending time together, stolen moments that Lou is not aware of.  She’s clearly attracted to this man, but has no intention of being unfaithful to her husband.  That doesn’t stop her from engaging in what some might call “emotional infidelity” with Daniel.  She also talks about the idea of a new man with Geraldine, most notably in a scene where she, Geraldine and another friend were engaged in water aerobics, until Margot has a little ‘mishap’ in the pool.  Afterwards, in a scene where the women from the class are all in the locker room showers (an open bay style shower rather than the private stalls in modern locker rooms, resulting in an extended amount of full frontal nudity) and the trio discusses the benefits of a new romance.

    When the moment comes where Daniel and Margot are about to finally make love, she panics and bolts.  But that doesn’t stop Lou from becoming aware of what’s been going on, and in a moment of unexpected character and strength, he tells Margot she should just leave.

    Polley’s work behind the lens is adequate and there are even some interesting visuals, but most of what we see is not all that extraordinary.  However she has a nuance for dialogue and this is the strength of Take This Waltz.  Lou saying “sometimes what you do in life sticks” was very strong.

    One of the “truisms” of love is that it is much more about showing someone you love them than it is about saying it.  This is an area in which Margot and Lou are struggling with their love.  They say they love each other often, although sometimes in unusual ways.  But how they act and how they show that love is something else entirely.  Polley shows the audience how the dysfunction between what one says and what one does will cause a relationship to deteriorate, even when both parties ultimately want it to remain intact.

    Extra points for use of “Video Kills the Radio Star” in a modern movie.

  • ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is better than Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ … but not ‘Spider-Man 2’

    ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is better than Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ … but not ‘Spider-Man 2’

    Andrew Garfield (as Spider-Man) and Emma Stone in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'
    Andrew Garfield (as Spider-Man) and Emma Stone in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

    The Amazing Spider-Man is a much better film than Spider-Man 3. The Amazing Spider-Man is not as good as Spider-Man 2, but the two films do share some strands of DNA. One of ASM’s screenwriters, Alvin Sargent, worked on the screenplays for both previous Spidey movie entries; he is joined byZodiac alumni, James Vanderbilt and perennial Harry Potter screenwriter, Steve Kloves. Director Marc Webb and the screenwriters build a compelling Spider-Man film that is more emotionally truthful to the source material than it is the minutia.

    Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man is an incredibly likeable character. He’s a science geek with a penchant for photography and he’s a tad socially awkward – he’s a misfit. He has a crush on Gwen Stacy but doesn’t say anything, yet he’s willing to stand up to Flash Thompson in the schoolyard (much to his bottom lip’s regret). Mind you, this is all before the spider bite that changes Peter’s life.  He’s start as a promising character that develops well as the movie progresses. It takes some time to get to Spider-Man, but Peter’s journey is an interesting one.

    ALSO READ: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN IS NOT JUST FOR COMIC BOOK FANS

    In The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter revels in his newfound powers differently. He doesn’t get into wrestling of variety TV shows – no, he shows off a bit at school. He also spends a lot of alone time, trying to get a grasp on his newfound abilities.

    When Uncle Ben’s death occurs, it has a tremendous, but subtlety different effect on Peter than audiences have seen before. Peter is an angry teenager. He’s just lost his father figure as a direct result of his own irresponsibility. This loss drives Peter to find the thief that took Ben’s life, and it segues perfectly into Peter’s career as a costumed super hero. Unlike previous Spider-Man origins, the costume comes after Ben’s death and not before. It’s a subtle alteration, but a damn strong one.

    The audience gets to follow Peter’s train of thought as he lashes out and hunts for Ben’s murderer. Peter’s journey through the stages of grief overlaps with the birth of Spider-Man. Peter comes up with his costume, invents his webbing and web shooters and figures out how to stop his mentor turned foe, the Lizard all while mourning Ben.

    Andrew Garfield is 'The Amazing Spider-Man'
    Andrew Garfield is ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

    Peter makes a lot of mistakes throughout the movie, but he learns from them and strives to do better, no matter how tragic the outcome. That’s what makes Peter Parker who he is. It’s why he’s lasted for 50 years.

    Rhys Ifans gives a layered performance as Dr. Curt Connors (even when he transforms into the Lizard). Connors is a mentor for Peter’s scientific mind but also serves as a new connection to Peter’s father. Connors comes across as truly fond of Peter before the whole “injecting himself with Lizard serum business.” He challenges both Peter and Spider-Man and both characters are stronger because of it.

    Something else that sells this film is the level of detail in the background. Curt Connors wears a wedding ring, hinting at future appearances of his wife and son. Flash Thompson evolves in the background from a jerk into a much friendlier acquaintance to Peter. And then there’s Peter’s burgeoning relationship with Gwen Stacy – it’s a young love story in a story marred by tragedy and coming of age. Marc Webb knows star crossed love and his relationship with Gwen sets an anchor.

    Sally Field’s Aunt May gets shortchanged the most as this story is about Peter and the arc of his story is heavily reliant on fathers. There’s his father, Richard Parker, a secretive man who left Peter with May and Ben when Peter was 4 years old. There’s his surrogate father, Uncle Ben, who was murdered. There’s Peter Parker’s mentor, Dr. Curt Connors, who turns into a giant evil Lizard. And then there’s Spider-Man’s mentor, Captain Stacy (Gwen’s police captain father) who is at first, a foil for Spidey but also provides a context for how the police view the wall crawler’s actions. That doesn’t leave much room for May Parker.

    Similarly, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy suffers a bit from the dominant arc. Stone is a great Gwen Stacy. She’s beautiful, whip smart and brave. Gwen is the love of Peter’s life. There’s a hint of the tragedy that’s coming for her. Since she died in the 70s, Gwen never got updated the way MJ and Harry and Flash have. The character has been preserved in a time bubble.  That said, while she’s not quite the Gwen of the comic books, she is Gwen Stacy.

    The Amazing Spider-Man is a fun superhero movie that lives up to its predecessors and delivers an interesting Peter Parker. It’s rife with sequel possibility and even foreshadows future tragedy for the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (but that’s a discussion for another time). Until then, do what comic book fans have done for 50 years – enjoy yourself some Spider-Man.

  • Oliver Stone’s ‘Savages’ will make you want to read the book

    Oliver Stone’s ‘Savages’ will make you want to read the book

    Blake Lively in 'Savages'
    Blake Lively in ‘Savages’

    Savages is a film that works very hard to live up to its title from the opening frames.  They involve a dark room, a group of men who are bound securely, and a chainsaw’s motor being revved up.  In a moment, the holder of the chainsaw is going to “go all Henry VIII” on those men (we don’t see any of the cutting).

    But we aren’t watching the actual scene, we’re watching it being recorded.  The recording is for the benefit of “Ben” (Aaron Johnson) and “Chon” (Taylor Kitsch).  The pair run a highly successful pot growth and distribution business from their mansion in gorgeous Laguna Beach, CA.  The pair, friends in high school, went their separate ways after graduation, Ben to Berkley to double major in Botany and Business and Chon off to the Navy where he became a SEAL and served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  According to “O” (Blake Lively), Chon came back from Afghanistan with lots of cash but without a soul.  “O,” who hates her given name of Ophelia and its origin, loves both men.  She sleeps with them separately and together.

    Ben has found a way to produce pot with a very high THC content and it is wildly popular, commanding a primo price of $6,000 per pound.  But their awesome product has drawn the attention of a Mexican cartel that is expanding North while dealing with a struggle against another cartel.  This particular cartel is led by “Elena Sanchez” (Salma Hayek), who is better known as “Elena La Reina.” Her chief enforcer is “Lado” (Benecio Del Toro), who will go to any extreme of violence to get the job done, without hesitation.  Demian Bichir is “Alex,” her negotiator who meets with Ben and Chon after they’ve seen the video of the heads lying in that dark room, and makes them an offer.

    While Elena is trying to expand to the North, she is in a struggle with a former member of her cartel, El Azul, who has formed his own.  If the government shifts in the right direction, he will have their support and Elena’s chances of being victorious in the struggle between them will be greatly reduced.

    John Travolta and Taylor Kitsch star in 'Savages'
    John Travolta and Taylor Kitsch star in ‘Savages’

    When it appears Ben and Chon are hesitant to accept the Cartel’s terms, Elena orders that O be kidnapped, to get them to accept her deal.  This incenses both Ben and Chon, although Ben wants to “surrender” while Chon wants to kill Elena and her entire organization.  They decide to go along for the moment while they figure out a way to get O back.

    Ben and Chon lean on the corrupt DEA agent they’ve been paying off for years, “Dennis” (John Travolta) for information on the Cartel they can use against them.  He doesn’t want to go along but they make it clear he has no choice.  He supplies them with information that they use to steal $3 million from Elena.  The intention is to use that cash with what they already have to ransom her back.

    Meanwhile Elena is convinced by this theft and the death of 7 of her men that there is an informer in her organization and she orders Lado to find him.  Ben and Chon will stop at nothing to find Elena’s weak point (they have a high learning curve) and to free O.

    The film is based on a best-selling, highly acclaimed novel by Don Winslow, who was involved in writing the adaptation.  This is one film that will make you really want to read the novel even if you’re not normally a reader.  The movie isn’t bad, but it drags in places and has a couple of flaws.  The Cartel’s surveillance on Ben and Chon is so good, they are aware the moment that Ben returns from a trip overseas, but once they kidnap O, somehow the pair are able to move about and carry out their operations against the Cartel without its knowledge.  Stone’s usual visual style may be pleasing to some eyes, but others will find it intrusive and confusing.  Johnson is good in showing how the necessity to use violence will change a person while Kitsch manages to maintain the icy exterior of one who has seen too much, is shocked by nothing and who has no limit to the extremes he will go to achieve his objective.

    But it’s Blake Lively who shines brightest here, building on her worn in The Town.  She’s the best part of this hybrid between action film and examination of the human condition.

    Savages is full of action, has interesting, rich characters and a story that has the capability of holding your attention.  It just doesn’t live up to the hype, or the quality of some of Stone’s previous works.

  • ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is not just for comic book fans

    ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is not just for comic book fans

    'The Amazing Spider-Man' 2012
    ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ 2012

    You don’t have to be a fan of the comic book version of the character to enjoy The Amazing Spider-Man, now in theaters.  If you saw the first major motion picture of the ‘wall-crawler’ back in 2002 you know the base elements of the story.  That won’t change or lessen your ability to enjoy this re-boot of the franchise, directed by Marc Webb.

    Andrew Garfield is the new “Peter Parker,” the smart high school student who lives with his “Uncle Ben” (Martin Sheen) and his “Aunt May” (Sally Field).  He’s still the subject of ridicule at school by the stud athlete “Flash” and the requisite girl of his dreams is present in the form of “Gwen Stacy” (Emma Stone).

    But this time Peter isn’t bitten by a spider on a field-trip.  Instead he’s trying to learn more about his father’s work at Oscorp, involving cross-species genetics.  His father had been working with Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and Peter goes to see him.  He encounters Gwen, who it turns out is the head intern working for Dr. Connors and while at Oscorp the fateful spider-bite happens.  Unlike the initial film, this time it’s Peter’s mind and not his wrists that come up with the ability to shoot out webs, from a device he designs along with his costume (the scene where the costume is inspired is mildly amusing).

    ALSO READ: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OUTDOES SPIDER-MAN 3… BUT MAYBE NOT SPIDER-MAN 2

    Everyone knows that Uncle Ben is going to die because Peter failed to act, but this is paid off in a decent fashion and sets Peter off on both a quest for revenge and to stop crime in general.  It is in his vigilante mode that he becomes the object of the attentions of Gwen’s father, police captain Stacy (Denis Leary), who wants to stop him.

    Emma Stone is Gwen Stacy in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'
    Emma Stone is Gwen Stacy in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

    Meanwhile, after his first visit to Oscorp, Peter decides to see Dr. Connors again, and this time gives him something he found in his father’s briefcase.  That gift will enable Dr. Connors to go forward with his experiments in cross-species genetics.  He’s under tremendous pressure to succeed from his employer and when he’s hesitant to engage in human trials, his authority over the project is stripped from him.

    Oh, I failed to mention that Dr. Connors is on a personal quest to make his project work, because he has only one arm and he wants to take advantage of the ability of other species to regenerate their limbs.  So when he appears to be losing his chance to make his ideas work, he experiments on himself and becomes a giant half man/half lizard.  There’s the major foe for Spidey to battle against, and worse yet, his foe has plans to make the situation a whole lot worse by giving others the “benefit” of his research.

    The action scenes are quick, but excellent.  The expected ‘stuff’ involving Peter getting payback against Flash was handled with particular excellence, and gave Martin Sheen a few nice moments.  Garfield is not that hard to swallow as the high school senior torn between getting revenge on the man who killed his uncle, while protecting others from an evil that he is at least partly to blame for creating.  Stone is a bit more difficult to take as a high school girl, but she tries hard to make it work and it’s nowhere near as awful as the idea that Stockard Channing was able to portray a high school girl in Grease.  Her acting is fine, she just seems a bit older and too mature to be that age.

    The story is well-paced, with excellent visuals and keeps the viewer’s interest even when the action is not on display.  Denis Leary is great as Captain Stacy.  Die-hard fans of the original comic story will have a few minor objections to alterations in the storyline, but they are few and far between.  We don’t meet Harry or Norman Osborne, but this won’t be the first film in this re-booted franchise either.  There’s no J. Jonah Jameson or newspaper work for Peter, and the financial struggles that make the character so much more sympathetic in the comics are completely absent.  All in all, this is a winning film.  It gets big kudos for mentioning Steve Ditko (the artist who brought Stan Lee’s vision of Spider-Man to life on the written page) in the opening credits, and those are offset by the mention of the late Laura Ziskin being pushed to almost the very end of the credits.