White House Down

You might ask, Why did you choose White House down to be your first review in almost 5 years? Well I'd have to answer that question with another question, what makes a good action film? One of my screenwriting professors in college once told me, "You need three things an audience has never seen before" and in that case White House Down is a candidate for the BEST action film of all time!!!! Wait... On second thought, I don't think that a basketball hoop flipping a secret service car over, a White House tour guide killing a ex convict with an antique clock, and an African American president beating a guy for touching his "Jordans" qualifies this film. 

Although the villain in this film gets a great start by being the previous voice of the widely feared character Hades from Hercules (the animated film), I don't think his fiery hair and witty banter quite transfer into this new brain cancer suffering father, bent on revenge.  The music, horrible CGI and an atrocious acting move this film into a realm of laughable enjoyment that honestly, I just couldn't turn off! The music that accompanied, what would usually be an edge of your seat experience, was "driving miss daisy-esque"leading me believe that maybe this was all a joke and at any moment there was going to a musical number where Channing Tatum would rip off his pants and reprise his role as the struggler stripper. However nothing even remotely close to that exciting happened and I was left in the end with my mouth agape as a young girl waived off a US air strike using her flag dancing skills on the White House lawn. Was Channing Tatum the hero? Nay, it was definitely the way that girl handled that flag. 

Don't get me wrong, I loooovvvee Channing Tatum (when he has his shirt off) and personally I think Jamie Foxx was remarkable in Collateral and The Soloist, however this film should never have been shown to the public. A special thank you to Chad Patterson and this horrific film, for getting me back on the horse and stayed tuned for some actually recommendable films in the near future. 

Blindness

How would you describe yourself? White, Black, Man, Woman, Thin, Fat, Tall, Short... ok now how would you describe WHO you are? Not visuals or physical attributes, just as a person. The characters in Blindness were forced to find out who they were when the population of the world goes blind. Vision creates barriers in our world, yet also opens doors and when we can no longer see all that’s left are your characteristics, actions and the way you convey your love for others. This epidemic left the world not in darkness, but in white.

The plot was extremely unique and yet with disturbing moments resembling zombie films. The characters had to survive in any way they could and so there are scenes of brutality, murder, uncompromising guilt and shame, and instances of extreme fear. This film had a rollercoaster of emotions and captured each moment uniquely through interesting compositions, off kilter and divided frames. There was a mixture of low and high angle shots, and slanted and out of focus camera work, giving the audience a feeling of confusion and going blind.

Blindness really portrays the fear of disease and panic by successfully taking aspects from other survival and epidemic films such as Schindler's List, Day After Tomorrow, Outbreak and Shaun of the Dead and rolled them into one heart-pounding, uneasy film. Although the film used aspects of other films in its genre there were scenes of disturbing pandemonium, which I have never experienced in film before. There were parts, which the action escalated and with the excitement, fear and chaos emerged a score that consisted of dissonant noises including a high pitch squeaking that sounded as if air was being released from a balloon. This score really helped to heighten the tension in the most extreme moments.

Blindness had original subject matter set in situations that had not yet been portrayed on film, however it is not for a pleasant night at the movies. This film is disgusting, disturbing, and sometimes shameful in while portraying the behaviors of desperate human beings, but it was exciting from beginning to end. In technical aspects of film, it was well made. So if you are up to it, forget the popcorn... just see it.

Finding Neverland

Peter Pan is the story of a young boy who finds a far off land in which you never have to grow one day older, but when he meets a young woman who gets older by choice, living her life the way everyone does. He has to suffer through seeing her change; meanwhile he becomes helpless and alone. Although a children's tale, Peter Pan has many underlying concepts which adults can relate to; the fear of growing old, losing the ones you love, and the responsibilities and rewards of growing up. But the most important aspect of Peter Pan is the power of the imagination. Hook, made much later with Robin Williams, is a favorite version of this tale where he learns to be in the moment and not waste a second of his children's childhood. The image of time in these tales is paramount, what is time? How do we get more of it? Is it worth the sacrifice of the ones we love, to live forever?

Peter Pan was an escape for children and adults everywhere, but what about the man behind this unthinkable notion of time and space, the man who decided that a child's mind and innocence would be preserved and their minds be expanded into a world that some people never enter... imagination. James Barrie was the original writer of the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, who he fashioned after the Llewellyn Davies boys, and had its first performance in 1904. In Finding Neverland, Johnny Depp plays James Barrie, who in the film is writing a series of flops and then he begins to spend time with this family of four boys and begins to become inspired by their energy and eagerness for play. Kate Winslet plays the single mother of the four boys. Dustin Hoffman the Theater manager, agrees to put on this play, but is very skeptical of its crocodiles, Indians and fairies.

The film is absolutely wonderful; it delves into the importance of doing what makes you happy and surrounding yourself with people who inspire you. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet are phenomenal together and apart. Their relationship on screen is so sincere and loving, it’s a wonder they haven’t been in a film together before. The four boys are wonderfully adorable, including the young Freddie Highmore, who has recently appeared in August Rush and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (also with Johnny Depp). Freddie and Johnny have a connection that is uncanny.

Besides the fantastic acting and a timelessly adapted story written beautifully different from the other versions, the film has moments of overwhelming emotion paralleled with a beautiful score by Jan A.P Kaczmarek. Finding Neverland does an excellent job of creating a world in which you are immersed and it is easy to care wholeheartedly about the characters. The film also has moments of love and sincerity, inspiration and comedy. Uniquely, Finding Neverland also reveals the events that led to certain aspects of Peter Pan as experienced by James Barrie, such as where the idea for Hook's character came from, how he thought up the dog for a nanny, and the exact moment he envisions the boys flying through the air, when they are simply jumping on their beds.

Finding Neverland is one of the few films that is impeccably made, tells a beautiful story, and yet teaches you something about what's important in life, makes you cry, but still manages to make you laugh at the same time. So butter your popcorn and remember what its like to be young and discover where your imagination has been dying to take you...

Deception

Sex, explosions, mistaken identities, and plot twists... sounds like the beginning of a great movie, and with an amazingly creative and secretive title like Deception what could we, the audience, possibly expect besides sheer edge of your seat excitement and moment to moment surprises? How about a horrible mixture of bad acting, conventional dialogue and back-to-back clichés dating back to every thriller made before it.

Deception had a predictable plot interspersed with scenes that looked like they were straight out of other films. How many times have you seen and unknown killer in black hit a man from behind after he enters an empty hotel room... just by a show of hands... that's what I thought. Deception was a formula not a film. It was as if, someone had seen a bunch of thrillers and decided he wanted to make one, so he compiled all the plot points and twists he had seen in other films and rolled them into one.

Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman are two actors who when placed in a film with a well-written script and original ideas can perform very well, however in this film they both flop. Hugh Jackman was terribly unconvincing as the cold-blooded killer. I am a strong believer in not typecasting an actor and letting them reach their full potential, like Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or Jack Black in Margo at the Wedding, however it felt like at any moment Jackman was going to break into song.

Overall I would say if you smell something burning... it’s the popcorn. If you want to see a thriller, Hard Candy is one I will recommend, with Ellen Page before her due date in Juno, playing a teenage girl lured in by a child predator. This film will knock your socks off, including a twist you won't see coming... see how bad clichés can be?

Waltz with Bashir

Waltz with Bashir used animation in a way I have never seen before, and after viewing it, I can’t imagine seeing that film any other way. Animation was an excellent choice for the medium of this film, it allowed the subject-matter to wander, perfectly depicting men’s terrified faces in battle and the realistic etchings of war. The film’s animation gave it a quality of surrealism that made these hallucinations and recounts by the characters plausible and mesmerizing. Waltz with Bashir deals with the psychological repercussions of war in a very distinct and unique way.

Of course we have seen many well-revered war films, which are fully stocked with gratuitous scenes of gore and combat. During which the main character has a moment where they have become psychologically damaged, and then there always flashbacks where they remember what happened. These remembrances can often be used to tell part of the story, but in Waltz with Bashir this method is not some Hollywood method of storytelling, it is used to help audiences see the horrors of what truly happened in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982. The whole story unravels, recounting everything that happened during the Sabra and Shatila massacre. The main character, is trying to find out what happened during the war because it seems he has forgotten his part. He is haunted by a vision that he is not sure even happened, so he tries to find others who were with him, who might be able to help him remember. The sequences in which the characters describe their memories are animated with deep grays and polluted yellows that make the memory so defined and vivid. The coloring is completely different than when the main character is just speaking with his friends in reality, but when they flashback it is very visually stimulating and hard to forget. Which is exactly how the men feel about the memories as they are narrating, so we the audience are there on the beaches of Beirut right alongside them. This was not just a story, this really happened and some of the film had deliberate camera movement resulting in a documentary style, including real interviews.

We are used to seeing animation with little puppies that can’t find their way home, and often animation is taken lightly and no deeper meaning or thought provoking is necessary, but in Waltz with Bashir that is changed completely and you become immersed in the plight of these people in a very confusing time in Lebanon. Not only the color and animation, but also the music is breathtakingly beautiful. Softly in the background a piano plays while people are being shot, hunted or chased. This accompaniment down plays the action so it is more emotional than frightening.

The end is surprising and will make you evaluate the film as a part of history, with the eyes of a human being, not just a voyer. I highly recommend this film as a wonderful look into the injustices of war and it’s repercussions on those involved. I also regard this film with much respect as one of the best war films of our time. You won’t need popcorn for this one, just observe thoughtfully.

Waitress

A large percentage of men and women wait tables at some point in their lives. Either to make enough money to get themselves through college, or transitionally while they wait for something better to come along. However, what about those unfortunate, brave souls who choose this as their career and find themselves day and after day in a restaurant. For Jenna Hunterson, Keri Russell's character in Waitress, her life is a nightmare. The film finds Jenna at the time in her life when everything is going wrong and life has got her down, yet we experience her kindness and creativity through the eyes of her friends and regulars.

This film was written and directed by Adrianne Shelley who plays Dawn, a soft-spoken lonely-heart. She was known for working with another independent film director named Hal Hartley, known for Trust, which starred Adrianne. Waitress came out in May of 2007, but she was killed on November 1, 2006 in her apartment in New York. It was unfortunately her last work, but it was magnificent. Her little girl Sophie played the toddler at the end of the film and the cast went on Oprah to promote her work and honor her, but otherwise this film had little to no press.

It is a very small independent film, but Adrianne did an excellent job getting the most out of her actor’s comedic timing, by putting the camera in just the right spot. The camera would sometimes slowly zoom into a shot where Jenna had a comedic expression and it made that moment all the more hilarious. There are also elements of hilarity and surprise, which are interspersed through the three main characters’ conversations at the restaurant. With topics like uneven saggy boobs and an elfish stalker, there is always something to talk about.

Waitress is incredibly heartwarming, in a way that has you whimpering at the end, but the most unique aspect of the film, is that Jenna has these daydreams when she is alone. Her imagination adds an almost magical aspect to the film, in these moments in which she makes up a new combination. The ingredients pour in slowly and we watch the new creation unfold. We see the pie being made, accompanied by dreamlike chords and then she names it depending on her mood, like I Hate My Husband Pie...

This is a film that helps you appreciate life and its many surprises and misfortunes. It also presents some words of wisdom, advice everybody should take at least once in their life...Sometimes you just need to start fresh. Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan it, so you reprioritize and change it! Instead surround yourself with what makes you happy. This film is the best restaurant comedy I have ever seen. So butter your popcorn, and surround yourself with happiness.

All About Eve vs. All About Steve

You wouldn't believe how much the "st" matters when deciphering the differences between these two films. All About Eve is a film everyone should see. One of the top 100 greatest American films of all time, with Betty Davis, as an aging starlet and Anne Baxter, as an eager conniving assistant desperate to get to the top, but All About Steve is a charming film about an innocent woman with good intentions that unfolds a lesson, which every young woman should learn. The message is that being accepted for who you are is more important than trying to fit into the normal mold. I understand that this lesson has seen many forms in hundreds of films, from Titanic to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, however in the romantic comedy genre, we usually see a girl/woman who is individual and wonderful, but somehow is always made better by meeting her other half. But Sandra Bullock's character in all About Steve discovers that she is better off being herself.

A romantic comedy usually follows the formula Boy meets girl, Boy falls for girl, Boy gets girl, Boy loses girl, Boy gets girl back, but in All About Steve it uniquely reverses itself and ends with Girl finding herself. This fresh perspective on how a lover is supposed to make you feel about yourself is touching and empowering. Although most of the film you are made uncomfortable by Sandra Bullock's character, Mary, because of her insanely energetic actions and antics, there are also brief moments that you, the audience, feel like you might want to be a better person. There were also a few wildly funny moments, however, on a whole, I think this film was trying to accomplish too much. It was all about Mary, not Steve and while trying to market to the Friday night date audience, this film lost sight of what it truly should have been about... the journey of a very unique woman becoming comfortable in her own skin. Although Bradley Cooper is a very attractive and otherwise crowd pleasing romantic comedy actor, this film didn't need him, just like Mary.

Many good films use parallels to illustrate a lesson or deeper meaning. That is what helps a film connect and touch audiences in theaters and homes everywhere. All About Steve used the pastime of crosswords to explain life’s challenges; this was a very original idea and poignant message that made Sandra Bullock's character more dynamic and lovable. This film was enjoyable, however I would wait to see it when it makes its way into blockbuster... Butter your popcorn and enjoy being yourself!