This is a great film, critics raved. Sofia Coppola has finally done it! She’s the first female up for Best Director because of this film! So I watched and tried to take it all in… I warn you, this is going to be more of a rant than a review.
I love Bill Murray in every role he is willing to endure, including this over-the-hill actor filming whiskey commercials in Japan while fielding calls from his notoriously nagging wife. I can even stomach Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of a lonely photographer’s wife, though I could have done without the close ups of her rear. But what I can’t stand is a lack of plot and a startling lack of direction.
If I wanted to watch two weirdos wander around Japan aimlessly, I’d probably videotape myself and a friend wandering around Japan aimlessly. At the very least, that would have been more interesting to me on a personal level.
There is a stagnant formula that most filmmakers seem to follow lately. Every other film that is churned out of the great Hollywood machine seems mechanical, unoriginal, and, pardon my paranoia, built to manipulate the audience in some way that has been psychologically perfected.
I applaud Coppola for going against the grain. I can say without a reasonable doubt that Virgin Suicidesand Lost in Translation are unlike any other films I’ve ever seen. They were most certainly different. Original, even. But awesome in the grand scheme of things? Obviously, Coppola has something to say, but whatever it is, neither of these films convinced me to see things her way.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in ‘Lost in Translation’
Is Lost in Translation a melancholy film about an aging actor and a young woman hanging on to each other while trying to figure themselves out in this crazy world? In their case, specifically a world where they don’t understand Japanese? Yes. It is calculating in the way that it conveys the confusion of two Americans lost in Japan in scenes that are strung along like a careless home video.
But if Bill Murray weren’t headlining this show, would we care? Coppola fought for Murray to star in this film and indeed, he is the only part of the entire production that captivated me. In fact, through most of the film, Murray seemed entirely perplexed about how he had gotten himself in this predicament. How did he end up starring in Coppola’s mishmash love letter to Japan?
I just didn’t get it. And I know that people are going to hate me for saying this, but Lost in Translation was lost on me. And most of my friends. Could it be some sort of warped generation gap? Maybe we’re confused enough in our 20s that we don’t want to watch films about people are that are more confused than us.
The film is a study in absurdity, an interesting, almost refreshing change after a string of cinematic manipulations. Critically acclaimed and raved about like an understated film of epic proportions, Lost in Translation feels more like a jumble of scenes that should be thought-provoking but aren’t. Coppola’s heart was in it but she didn’t work hard enough to get at mine.
The widescreen format of the DVD boasts “a conversation with director Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray” that aims to be a little more intimate that your usual commentary. Besides standard deleted scenes, the “Lost on Location” featurette has exclusive footage from the filmmakers and Matthew’s Best Hit TV” is an extended version of the irksome Japanese TV show. A music video and a set of trailers round out the rest of the Special Features on the DVD.
In Pieces of April, a pierced Katie Holmes donning red-streaked raven hair is our proverbial black sheep, April Burns, anxious about having her family over for Thanksgiving dinner at her tiny New York City apartment. A stubborn April plans on cooking an entire meal herself despite her obvious lack of cooking skills. In a rage, she attempts to mash uncooked potatoes. There is an eerie silence of apprehension when April begins to prepare the meal only to discover that her oven is broken.
While April is at home trying to prepare her Thanksgiving feast, her family is on the road to reach April’s home in time for dinner. Oliver Platt is April’s father, Jim, a stunningly subdued optimist who seems to be forcing his enthusiasm for the family’s benefit. Alison Pill is literally a pill as Beth, April’s overachieving little sister. Tim (John Gallagher, Jr.), April’s younger brother, is a budding photographer who tries to help his father lighten the mood. A pessimistic Patricia Clarkson is ironically Joy, angry, mysterious mother to April.
Though, Pieces of April shares similar storytelling techniques with 21 Grams, where the jarring scene transition of 21 Grams offer confusion, Pieces of April offers cunning insight. Each scene is anything but haphazard as family secrets are uncovered for increasingly curious spectators. It is a low budget affair with flair that proves that first-rate exceptional films don’t need flashy special effects to prove their point.
As the camera flies back and forth between April’s struggles and the family’s journey to New York City, the dialogue slowly but surely helps us piece together the story behind the tension that has fractured this family. We are onlookers forced to grasp at puzzle pieces to gain access to family secrets before the imminent Thanksgiving meal. Each piece is as intricate, at times painful, funny, subtle and delicious, as any number of neuroses found at any family activity during the holidays.
As everything pieces together, April is forced to wander her building begging for oven use as she tries desperately to get her turkey cooked in time for dinner. Though her travails through her apartment complex offer most of the hilarity in the film, we quickly become privy to the knowledge that April’s anxiety to get the job done is fueled by her family’s belief that she is the family failure.
Meanwhile, Bobby (Derek Luke), April’s live-in boyfriend, is in search of a good suit to wear for his first meeting with April’s family. Like April’s experience with the oven, there are pitfalls at every turn set up to make him fail. Bobby, however, is an eternal optimist like April’s father and he faces all adversity with a smile. He wants to do his best to make sure dinner is perfect because he knows how much it means to April.
Pieces of April is surprisingly hilarious and poignant. A spiritual experience at Krispy Kreme juxtaposes a proper burial for unsuspecting road kill. The most interesting set of neighbors this side of the Lower East Side which includes Sean Hayes as creepy 5th floor Wayne, alternate between lending April a hand and holding her turkey hostage with minutes on the clock.
Pieces of April is a refreshing independent film that successfully showcases a family drama while inviting us to share in the altruistic aspects and anxiety that help construct Thanksgiving togetherness. Family drama devolves painfully but sensationally before our eyes, instigating our pity and awe as a family’s final Thanksgiving together comes to fore against all odds. Its everyman sort of family dysfunction is honest and moving as we witness a family’s journey back to each other.
The DVD gives the viewer a choice between full-screen or widescreen anamorphic formats. Yay! Besides the standard commentary by writer-director Peter Hedges, the DVD includes one in-depth featurette, “All the Pieces Together,” where the director and actors come together to reflect on the story and their roles. In addition to the hysterical trailers for Pieces of April, trailers for other MGM independent films abound.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Kelly Preston co-star in ‘View from the Top’
After sitting through View from the Top, you might get the impression that somebody at Miramax has a whole bunch of incriminating photographs of the film’s cast. Either that or Bruno Barreto (Bossa Nova, One Tough Cop) must be one damn nice guy that nobody can say no to. Nothing else seems to explain how a film as god awful as this could have been made in the first place, let alone released on an unsuspecting public.
As directed by Barreto (from a script from first-time scribe Eric Wald) View from the Top is a film that never has a sense of itself, and as a result flounders for 87 seemingly endless and laugh-free minutes.
On the one hand it is a comedy, endlessly deriding the small-potato ambitions of its characters. On the other hand, however, it is an inspirational drama about reaching for your dreams — and realizing what those dreams really are. The tone of the film is never set, so we are never sure whether we are rooting for our heroine or mocking her. Personally, I was just relieved when the credits began to roll (credits that, unfortunately, contain some of the least funny “outtakes” of any movie of the modern era).
The heroine of this story is Donna (Gwyneth Paltrow), a small town girl who dreams of escaping from her humdrum existence in Silver Springs, Nevada. At first her plan is to escape from her dysfunctional family (consisting of a mother and her dimwitted step-father and brother) by running off with her boyfriend, the assistant manager at the local Big Lots megastore. Unfortunately he has plans to make off with another employee who is more “upwardly mobile”.
Heartbroken, Donna finds inspiration in the form of Sally Weston (Candice Bergen), a former airline stewardess and self-help guru. She then sets out on a journey to become a top flight attendant, a journey that will take her from the sleazy, local airline all the way to the prestigious Royalty Air. Along the way she runs into an assortment of studio-mandated cameo celebrities, including Rob Lowe, Mike Myers, and Kelly Preston, and in the end she must decide whether her true dream is to fly the New York-Paris line or marry scruffy Cleveland-based lawyer Ted (Mark Ruffalo).
The cartoonish, over the top first sequences establishing Donna as a flight attendant severely undercut her earnest desire to achieve some amount of respectability. From her clownish “big hair, short skirt” outfit at her first airline gig to her comically dogmatic adherence to even the most trivial of rules in the Royalty Air guidebook, it is very hard to ever take her seriously.
Christina Applegate plays Donna’s not-so-convincing nemesis, and provides little more depth to her character than that of a finely toned bikini bimbo. Mike Myers, as Royalty Air’s top instructor, appears to be stuck in his own personal circle of Dante’s Inferno, where he is forced to rehash old Austin Powers schtick in a series of sequences that are completely out of sync with Paltrow’s sappier, melodramatic scenes.
In the end, there doesn’t seem to be a single thing that this film ends up doing right. A cast riddled with talented performers is completely wasted, and we are left with a pseudo-comedy that attempts to be earnest and tongue-in-cheek simultaneously, and fails on both counts. While Paltrow has made quite a few stinkers in her time,View from the Top stands as her biggest disaster to date.
The DVD doesn’t feature anything exciting enough to make this even a worthwhile rental. The picture quality is not bad, and the sound is fine, but who cares? And if you want to watch a behind the scenes featurette or the silly History of the Flight Attendant” rather than racing back to the video store clasping this abomination with tongs so as not to permanently scar your precious flesh, then go ahead.
But they won’t last long.
Apparently Mr. Wald wrote his script for View from the Top while enrolled in UCLA’s MFA Screenwriting Program. It would be interesting to find out what grade he received for turning out this hackneyed, cliché-riddled little film. If you still have functional brain wavelengths after sitting through till the end, you’d probably give him an F.
John Wayne with Joanne Dru in ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’
Few filmmakers have left their mark on American cinema as John Ford has. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon comes second in Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy, between Fort Apache and Rio Grande, and it is perhaps the strongest film of the three.
While on the surface the film appears simplistic and at times even cornball, this belies the intricate thematic layers which Ford has expertly woven together. The film is both grandiose and subtle, broad and meticulous in the way it handles the themes of the individual versus community and civilization versus the wilderness of the frontier.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the story of Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne). Brittles is stationed at Fort Stark, a community both thrust out into the wilderness and insulated from it at the same time. The main thrust of the film has Brittles leading one last patrol before his retirement to observe whether there is unrest among the Native American tribes in the surrounding wilderness since news of Custer’s fall. He is forced to take with him the niece (Joanne Dru) of his commanding officer. Also on the patrol are two young lieutenants, Cohill (John Agar) and Panell (Harry Carey Jr.), polar opposites who are in competition with each other over Dru.
The stylistic choices Ford made with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon are in stark contrast to those of the other two cavalry pictures. Most obvious was the decision to shoot in Technicolor (the other two pictures were shot in black and white).
From the earliest stages of pre-production, it was John Ford’s intent to tailor the cinematography of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to that of the paintings of famous turn-of-the-century artist Frederic Remington, and he does so brilliantly. Ford makes effective use of the nostalgic grandeur that Remington’s canvas imbued onto the old frontier, and the vibrant color palette and carefully picturesque framing of each shot help recreate a romanticized West” which may only have existed in false memory. Innumerable scenes — such as the lightning storm in Monument Valley — helped Winton C. Hoch win the Oscar for best color cinematography.
In She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Ford is clearly more interested with his characters (both human and environmental) than he is with the plot, which is bare-bones at best. The episodic narrative structure of the script emphasizes characterization over thematic confrontation. Personal interactions and character development take precedence over artificial plot points. As a result Ford is allowed to present thematic ideas naturally and fluidly, without the restraints of the more rigid, traditional dramatic structure.
This idea of fluid movement is especially important in the film. Through the use of dissolves (in place of fades) Ford creates a seemingly endless frontier; it is not just the geographical location of the characters, it is their universe. By making use of various well-known Western landmarks and locales and then seamlessly connecting them into a completely fictional filmic space, Ford is able to create a West even grander than that which already existed.
John Wayne addresses his cavalry in ‘She Wore a Yellow Ribbon’
From the very start, a dichotomy is set up between the fort and the frontier wilderness. The dividing line is the large gate of the fort: the frame which Ford uses to distinguish between worlds. The cavalry riders, seemingly so impressive in ranks while inside the fort, are continuously dwarfed in comparison to their treacherous natural environs.
Within the fort itself there is another split, between the two primary communities: the public (cavalry) and the private (family). Just as tensions exist between civilization and the frontier, frictions also arise between the military and the family as a result of the impositions the one puts on the other.
As with most westerns, the tensions between the East and the West are apparent. On the larger scale the cavalry represents the eastern value system which is imposing itself on the West and the Native American communities as the frontier is pushed further and further back. Also apparent in the film is the split between the North and the South. This is a particularly important theme for a cavalry picture, especially for one such as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon which takes place very shortly after the Civil War and which attempts to show the slow healing process within the army as it tries to unite after its darkest historical moment.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is perhaps one of John Wayne’s finest performances. Far more subtle than usual as the aging Westerner watching the wave of new blood wash over the frontier, he serves as a linchpin for all of the themes of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. He is a man respectful of foreign customs; the Native Americans, Southerners, and East-coasters alike are treated fairly and kindly by him. He is an independently minded westerner, hardened by a lifetime of cavalry service in the dangerous frontier, yet tempered by his public and private communal ties.
Brittles slowly has to come to grips with the changing times and his impending retirement. He has become an independent minded individual dependent on the social structure of his public community. Without this structure the only remaining option for him is to push further west, into the dwindling frontier, to cling to an existence which is ever more rapidly making the transition from contemporary to nostalgic.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon stands as a classic Western/Cavalry picture. With its gloriously broad Technicolor landscapes, its even broader humor, and its carefully interwoven, underscored themes, Ford is triumphant in eliciting a response to the mythic Old West which borders on nostalgia, even in those who were born forty years after the film was made and one hundred and forty years after the actual conquest of the West.
The DVD version of the film, put out by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, has surprisingly good picture quality for such an old film that has not been re-mastered. Most scenes remain gloriously bright and vivid, and the backdrop of Monument Valley is simply sumptuous. There are individual scenes or shots, however, where the colors seem somewhat muted and/or faded. There are moments where there is detectable dirt on the print, but overall the picture quality is slightly above average.
There is no surround sound available, but in 1949 there was no surround sound, so it’s not a big deal. The most disappointing aspect of this DVD is the complete lack of any decent special features. Aside from an old trailer and a bizarre silent 3-minute chunk of footage showing Ford and Wayne drinking beer, there is absolutely nothing. It would have been nice to have some more background on the film, its production, the use of Remington as inspiration, or the Cavalry Trilogy as a whole.
As it stands, all you really get is the movie. Not so bad, considering.
Jessica Biel leads a cast of young, beautiful people in the 2003 remake of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’
There are two reasons to explain why I didn’t view the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre before watching its remake. I didn’t want my review of the remake to be colored by comparisons. Also, I was just too damn scared — especially after I made it through the bone-chilling remake!
Loosely based on the real-life rampage of murderer Ed Gein, referred to as Leatherface” in the film,Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens to an “idyllic” summer scene where we happen upon a group of teens in a van on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. They’re horny. They’re high. They’re in love. They’ve got their whole lives ahead of them.
Or do they?
Our would-be heroine is Erin, who 7th Heaven’s Jessica Biel plays as an intelligent, sober teen in love with a pothead boyfriend she hopes to marry. In spite of myself, I found her characterization likeable — a good thing considering Texas Chainsaw Massacre warns us early on that Erin will be the sole survivor of this trip. Erin is the reluctant leader of a troop of teens on their way to be massacred.
The hot, dirty summer scenes slowly degenerate into chaos. When Erin forces the group to stop for a bruised, bloody hitchhiker, you know they have made their first mistake. Already, their first step towards Leatherface is gory one. Quickly and without warning, we witness the hitchhiker use a gun to literally blow her brains out the back for the van. The scene is vivid with blood and brains, not to mention the vomit of several of the riders. The heart-stopping bloodbath only spirals downward from here.
Jessica Biel fights for her life in this remake
Texas Chainsaw Massacre seductively reels you in through the fear and mass hysteria of its characters, especially that of our heroine. While the teens are forced to wait at an abandoned mill for a tardy, twisted sheriff who has promised to collect the body, Erin surveys the area with disgust and fear. Impatiently, she wanders through the forest towards a creepy house in search of a phone.
The forest is an awful, confusing array of abandoned cars and broken dolls pieced together in a manner reminiscent of Toy Story’s creepy doll murderer, Sid. Erin slowly realizes that she and her friends have entered into more than they ever bargained for. Everything becomes edge-of-your-seat perilous when Erin enters what we can only infer is Leatherface’s home.
The basement is a landscape of large meat hooks used for fresh human bodies. Eyeballs, arms and human flesh that are strewn about only work to fuel revulsion. Meanwhile a Leatherface that is quite light on his feet picks off the characters one by one with the help of the craziest of townfolk. He lurks in the most remote corners of the house and forest. Just when all seems safe, Leatherface jumps out of darkness to whisk away our characters for the most gruesome of tortures.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre ensures that we participate in every second of torture. In a macabre house of horrors, we watch Leatherface chainsaw their body parts and strip their flesh only to sew it together for his mask. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the stuff nightmares are made of.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not a film for those weak of heart or those with even weaker stomachs. It is fast-paced and chock full of shocks with surprises at every turn. Like Lola, Erin runs. She is only given a moment to breathe before she’s forced to run and hide some more. She is endearing as she tries to defy death while saving her friends. And at her best, in the spirit of girl power and strong scream queens, Erin is pissed off! She’s not going to take it anymore. She dares Leatherface to bring it on!
Texas Chainsaw Massacre brings it. It successfully, strategically and systematically petrifies. Our worst fears are realized in a bloodbath that has no shame. Every moment steps the terror up another notch. Texas Chainsaw Massacre dares you not to scream. So you can imagine what I did — I screamed (and trembled) my little heart out!
The original DVD release lacks any features of merit. Besides one sickening music video, it is also home to seven TV spots and trailers. The trailers include other horror films like Willard and Butterfly Effect. New Line recently re-released Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a “New Line Platinum Series Special Edition.” It offers considerably more features, including deleted scenes, alternate openings and closings, cast screen tests, commentary, two documentaries and DVD-ROM content.
Liam Neeson plots to save Jews in ‘Schindler’s List’
Thank God Steven Spielberg finally got hip to the fact that DVD’s were here to stay. Far too many times I had to pull out my laserdisc copy of Schindler’s List and listen to the big disc spin loudly on my outdated laserdisc player. Finally on DVD, Spielberg’s masterpiece has never looked or sounded better. A film that is as historically important as it is beautiful, we can finally throw out our SLP copies on VHS and look forward to years of viewing on DVD.
The story of Chez born Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a man who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazi wrath is a noble one. Yes, he did exploit cheap Jewish labor during one of the most heinous moments in the last hundred years. However, in the end it was the lives he saved that delivers the film’s moral crescendo.
Liam Neeson (top) and Ben Kingsley work together during World War II in ‘Schindler’s List’
Watching it again on DVD, I was prompted to pause the film’s opening image. The candle (which represented life) burns brighter than ever, striking an emotional cord I haven’t felt since I last saw the movie on laserdisc. The one thing I thought would have made the film even better was if its dialog was delivered in its native tongue (ala The Passion of the Christ).
Like Orson Welles with Citizen Kane, Spielberg gets the best out of many of the key personnel in the film: Janusz Kaminski (winner of the academy award for cinematography); Raph Fiennes (nominated for supporting actor only to lose to Tommy Lee Jones); Steve Zallian (best screenplay); and Liam Nesson (whose next appearance will be in the new Batman movie) in a captivating performance as Schindler. Nonetheless, with all these great performances and creative minds, it is Spielberg’s vision that made the film a masterpiece.
One thing to point out is that there are two different version of Schindler’s List on DVD available to the consumer. The poor man’s version, which I bought, and the special two disc collector’s edition, complete with two documentaries, original score and a plex-glass case that won’t fit in your DVD tower. So if you purchase this one, just take the plastic off.
The girl in red in ‘Schindler’s List’
The Good
As for the transfer, it’s as good, if not better than any wide screen b/w film that has been released on DVD. Someday, I hope Raging Bull — another beautiful, modern classic filmed in black and white — will receive similar treatment.
The Bad
As for the bad, because of the films 130 minute running time, you’re stuck with having to flip the disc over in order to few the last portion of the film. “Side 2” is also where you can view the “Voices From The Past” documentary.
The Ugly
The packaging of the DVD is cardboard, much like E.T. So don’t let the youngsters get their hands on it — or, should I say, teeth. You should see my copy of E.T.
All in all, Schindler’s List will be a nice addition in your DVD collection, particularity if you already own Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Until 1996, the Catholic Church in Ireland judged and imprisoned women in institutions called the Magdalene Asylums. These asylums were named after Mary Magdalene, the prostitute who found redemption by following Christ in the New Testament. The Magdalene Sisters is the brutal true story of four women horrifically punished in these asylums by nuns, priests and the Catholic Church.
The Magdalene Sisters shocks by utilizing a series of explicit and sickening portrayals to emphasize the organized cruelty and exploitation of these women. This film never allows you to withdraw from the idea that this violence befell these women in the name of God. A violence beaten into them, starved into them, and later, mentally and emotionally crushed into spirits.
‘The Magdalene Sisters’
Castigation is doled out by nuns with sadistic glee. All are judged equally sinful with no rhyme or reason. All the women arrive at the Magdalene Sisters laundries to slave over the “dirty laundry” of others while the nuns sit back to line their pockets with the fruits of free labor.
Margaret, Bernadette, Rose and Crispina are our guides into the ritualized tortures these women experienced daily in the Magdalene Asylums. Through their eyes, we witness countless atrocities. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is punished for having been raped by a family member. Bernadette’s (Nora-Jane Noone) crime lies in her beauty. Sweet, unwed Rose (Dorothy Duffy) has her baby torn from her and sold into adoption. Crispina (Eileen Walsh) is already lost inside. At first, she is awkward and childlike. It is quickly becomes clear that the persecution has worked at her mind. The terror of these initial scenes only escalates further into sheer depravity.
It is under the watchful eyes of these nuns that our guides begin to wither. First, Bernadette is broken. She is strong and beautiful until the ugliness of the abuse spreads within her like a disease infecting her interactions with the other women. Margaret falters when her freedom is within her grasp. The oppression immobilizes her. Rose exudes sweetness in spite of it all. Yet, the pain of losing her child creates a dull void in her eyes. Finally, poor childlike Crispina is spoiled by a sacred trust.
‘The Magdalene Sisters’
The Magdalene Sisters moved me to revulsion. Choked by rage, I reconsidered my hallowed beliefs. In one of the most memorable and easily overlooked scenes, we hear the haunting whisper of a girl forced to read aloud from scripture: I renounce all that could lessen the merit of my offering; I renounce all vanity, self-love, and human respect.”
Each and every day inside the walls of the Magdalene Asylums, women renounced all of these “sins” and The Magdalene Sisters compels you to watch their decline and rebirth unfold. It is difficult not to become transfixed by their torment but as the horror ebbs with the film’s conclusion, only a stunned silence ensues.
If you entertain any doubts about the accuracy of portrayals in the film, the DVD Special Features will put your mind to rest. The dramatic original documentary, “Sex in a Cold Climate”, is the only featurette available on the DVD. In the documentary, most of the women personally recount their frightening experiences in every painful, agonizing detail.
Based on two books, That Summer and Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen, How to Deal is the story of Halley Martin (Mandy Moore), a cynical teen dealing with life, love, parents and life’s little surprises. After her parents’ divorce, Halley finds she is very wary of love. Her sister’s impending marriage is something she can only look upon with disdain. Poor Halley just doesn’t know how to deal with everyone around her, including the Keanu wannabe (think Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) who falls for her.
Mandy Moore is convincingly dysfunctional as a teenager against the world. Disgusted with the eccentric dad (Peter Gallagher) about to be wed again and a distraught mother, Moore plays Halley with giddy displeasure and unhappiness reminiscent of quintessential teenage angst.
Unfortunately, Moore is so believable in her cynicism and self-indulgence that after a while, her angst seems more like childish sulking.
A funeral, a teen pregnancy, a divorce, sex, marriage, love, death… How to Deal attempts to pack so many heavy issues into 101 minutes that it becomes choppy. It would seem that merging different plots and characters from two young adult novels was an ambitious feat for the screenwriters. Many scenes, including a hilarious scene where Halley’s grandmother smokes pot, feel awkward and discontinuous.
Mandy Moore turns to acting in ‘How To Deal’
The passage of time is also so hard to make out in this film, either moving too slowly or quickly at random, that the empathetic connections we’re supposed to establish with characters become almost impossible to build. Only the strong emotional subplots of the supporting characters reel you in.
Halley’s budding romance is not nearly as captivating as How to Deal would have you think. Advertised primarily as a teen dramatic romance, the film focuses on its subplots more devoutly. West Wing’s Alison Janney threatens to steal the show as the divorced, lonely mom trying to pick up the pieces. Gallagher’s take on a father experiencing a midlife crisis and new marriage is so outrageous, it’s horrific to watch. The limelight really goes to Alexandra Holden’s impassioned portrayal of a teenager dealing with an untimely pregnancy.
The romance between Halley and Macon falters because it is so disingenuous and unsympathetic. It grows over too many obvious music cues meant to play at the heart strings of a susceptible teen audience. Liz Phair’s “Why Can’t I…” has become the anthem of Hollywood’s idea of young love. But even the music can’t help a sad little romance between two confused teens — one who seems more intelligent than to be involved by a lanky “badboy” whose name rhymes with bacon. Trent Ford is so tongue-tied (think Jordan Catalano meets Ted) as Macon, I felt personally insulted for articulate teens everywhere.
How to Deal fails to capture the essence of great teen films like Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. Despite its intent to get into the teen psyche, it still feels like a grownup’s view of how teenagers should think and act. It tries desperately to speak to teens and miserably misses. My teen little sister, the target audience, certainly wasn’t swayed by overdone manipulative scenes like (cue the music) Halley and Macon kissing by an industrial waterfall. Despite all its song and dance (Moore and Ford really do dance through the finale), How to Deal takes itself too seriously and loses the audience along the way.
The How to Deal DVD sports feature commentary with Mandy Moore, Alexandra Holden and director Clare Kilner in an intimate girly gab session that feels exclusive. I’m glad the cast and crew enjoyed making a film that wasn’t quite as much fun to watch. Feature profiles on Moore and Ford along with two music videos gear to an MTV audience driven to distraction. The best featurette by far is the detailed documentary, “How to Deal with Y.A. Literature,” a fascinating account on young adult literature through the ages.
After a dark, rainy night at work at the penitentiary, criminal psychiatrist Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) wakes up to find her world has turned upside down. After almost experiencing a hit and run with a terrified teen, Miranda wakes up in the very cells her patients call home. Having been accused of murdering her husband, Gothika follows Miranda as she tries to make sense of events she can’t remember.
One of the things that scared me the most in Gothika was probably seeing Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz without make up. Truly terrifying! Still more terrifying is the teenager Miranda swerved to miss only to find out that she’s been dead for several years. This angry ghost uses Miranda to expose the horror behind her supposed suicide. Storyline sound familiar? Too much of this film does. The scariness of ghosts who love to share their secrets with live people has been done to death (heehee) by films like The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes.
The scenes are dark and dreary, lit dimly by the florescent lighting of the penitentiary. And though the mood is set, Gothika has a formulaic quality that always makes it seem like there’s something missing. This is not your usual devil may care bloodbath but when it tries for the same substance found in The Sixth Sense, it falls short. We’ve dealt with so many ghosts in the last few years that we’re too desensitized to be caught unawares by even the creepiest Caspar.
Halle Berry goes through the ringer in ‘Gothika’
In spite of the film, Berry is perfect as a woman experiencing delusions that help her stumble upon the clues to solve the mystery of her husband’s death and her ghostly friend’s involvement. With mussed hair, wearing countless fashion don’ts, Berry gives a strong physical and emotional performance. When she’s not running away from someone, she’s a scream queen in the truest sense vocalizing a powerful set of lungs.
Cruz, who I have always thought had a language barrier (can act in Spanish but not English), is incredibly eerie as Chloe. She has her own secrets to be revealed in the film. Chloe is also instrumental in showing Miranda that “crazy” is a relative term, because suddenly she’s not nearly as crazy as Miranda used to think. Along with one ghostly gal, Chloe and Miranda make quite a Scooby gang as they begin to unlock the horrifying events that led to Miranda’s institutionalization.
The most likely suspect in this tale is Robert Downey, Jr. as Pete, Miranda and her former husband’s co-worker. Downey is wonderfully suspicious and delightful asGothika tangles us into Miranda’s fears. Trust no one becomes Miranda’s mantra as she uses her intuition and the ghost’s violent prodding to track down a criminal.
Now, don’t even try to solve this supernatural murder mystery. Not only the answers are twisted, the clues are nowhere to be found. Gothika is a good fright mixed with psychological suspense that’s a throwback to J.Lo’s The Cell. It is chock full of psychotic patients that are not nearly as scary as the good citizens that find hobbies in mass murder.
Gothika might have been a great film if The Sixth Sense had not been its predecessor. If you love Halle Berry, then Gothika is a film to rent, but don’t purchase it. Though the acting and the visuals in Gothika are incredibly good and sleek, with the exception of the awful killers, there is nothing original about the Hollywood debut of actor-director Mathieu Kassovitz (Amelie).
The Gothika DVD doesn’t include many features of notable interest, and the ones it odes include are fairly standard (read: dull). The commentary includes director Mathieu Kassovitz and, um, the director of photography Matthew Libatique? Interestingly enough, the actors are nowhere to be found. Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz would have probably offered insightful commentary as well. A disturbing Limp Bizkit music video that features Halle Berry is also available on the DVD.
Hilary Duff takes her television series character to the big screen in ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’
The Lizzie McGuire Movie is not safe for adult consumption. It is a terrible version of a Mary-Kateand Ashley Olsen straight-to-video film, which means that essentially it is very bad. If it seems like I’m being unkind, let me say, that I have sat through many a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen film and found them more enjoyable.
Parents leave the tweens at the theater entrance. This is a film to avoid at all costs. Taken from the highly popular Lizzie McGuire show on the Disney Channel, the movie is an ego driven finale that brings the show to a close. Only tweens that adore the spunky, slightly screechy Hilary Duff will adore this film. Duff does not have the acting or comedic skill of competitors, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bines. A witty cartoon version of Lizzie consistently upstages her throughout the film.
The premise of The Lizzie McGuire Movie finds Lizzie (Hilary Duff) on her way to Rome with her classmates after having trashed her junior high school graduation in a rather unfortunate clumsy accident. You see, Lizzie is always tripping over her feet, fairly inarticulate and awfully awkward. While it would seem that this sort of slapstick should be considered funny and endearing, for the most part it becomes sad and pathetic as the film goes on.
As in all films set in fair Italy, Lizzie becomes entranced by a typically suave Italian male named Paolo (Yani Gellman). The only thing amusing about all this is that the actor reminds me of Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) from That 70’s Show. This Italian male, though, happens to be a famous pop star in dire need of Lizzie’s help at an upcoming award show. Blond, tongue-tied Lizzie will double as her doppelganger brunette Isabella (Duff), Paolo’s ex-girlfriend and partner in singing crime. I can’t explain what it’s like watching Duff sing a duet with herself.
The only respite to be found is Gordon (Adam Lamberg), an earthy curly-cued adversary to Paolo’s sleek Romeo. He’s in love with Lizzie (forgivable) so he tries his best to cover for her while she’s off touring Rome with Paolo. At one point, for Lizzie’s sake, Gordon heroically throws himself at the mercy of Miss Ungermeyer (Alex Borstein), playing a scary teacher/tour guide. Borstein is usually hilarious on Mad TV but here she and rest of the supporting cast have little to work with.
Apparently, Hilary Duff is now an actress and singing superstar but in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, she uses a dancing double for the scenes where she and Paolo boogie (badly) together. Her acting chops are also highly suspect in this film. It is difficult to watch her generic brand of acting. While she really does try, the film in the end becomes nothing more than an attraction created to feature catchy songs from her new debut CD.
The DVD features are a bit more entertaining than the film. “Hilary’s Roman Adventure” is a behind-the-scenes tour of Rome. “In the Recording Studio with Hilary” is all about Hilary and her music. It’s hard on a full stomach, again, if you don’t idolize Hilary Duff. The deleted scenes are a quite dull but the alternate ending should have replaced the sappy one utilized in the film.
