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Reviews
Brick (2005)
Oh yeah, that's what indie looks like.
It is very, very possible to make a great film for under one.million.dollars. Not just a movie. Not some hack B horror flick. An honest to goodness Film, capital F. Rian Johnson proves this with Brick.
In what I've gathered from various reviews and critiques, one of the major criticisms of Brick is the blend of classic noir with high school kids. It seems that people can't imagine the particular age bracket being involved in such a scenario. It's possible these are the same people who found a movie like Thirteen to be entirely unbelievable and dislike Grease because high school kids also don't sing and dance in unison. For me, though, the genre not only works, but works well. It's a clichéd phrase, but it's also a verified truth that kids are, in fact, smarter today than they were yesterday and, come tomorrow, they'll be wiser still.
Not only does the noir choice serve the film, it's damn fun. I grew up here in Southern California, so there's something jim dandy about seeing familiar locales through the grainy lens or hearing gritty voices discuss Carrow's like it's a deep seedy hideout. Hometown specifics aside, there's something generally fresh and exciting about reinventing genre.
The movie carries itself without any sense of farce or parody. It's a mystery, plain and simple. Even the humorous moments are funny because the film takes itself seriously. It just so happens that, as tough and raw as these characters may be, there are still classes to attend and lunch to be eaten.
There are major kudos to be paid to Johnson's ability to produce such an outstanding work within his budget. The various indie tricks he used to cut costs add to the overall simplicity of the picture, which could have easily been lost in the hands of anyone else. In fact, had anyone else attempted something like Brick, it would have likely tried too hard.
In short, it seems that Rian Johnson is some kind of crazy film genius and I look forward to whatever he brings to the screen.
Elizabethtown (2005)
Although, what exactly "it" is, I'm still not sure. But maybe that's the point.
Elizabethtown. I've been eagerly awaiting this latest piece from Cameron Crowe, convinced that it would touch my heart with a blend of laughter and tears, somewhat akin to Jerry Maguire, but not on the level of Almost Famous.
Boy was I wrong.
The film opened with awkward pacing and clunky voice-over, leaving me wondering if my friend Zane had been right about this being Crowe's "payback film." Hollywood tends to work in threes with great directors: The commercial star-studded film (Jerry Maguire), the personal picture (Almost Famous), and the payback movie where you do whatever the studio damn well tells you.
Nearly two and a half hours later, I had seen what I'd safely call my favorite film of the year. And, mind you, this is the same girl who's seen Serenity four times in the last two weeks. It may even be my favorite film, ever. THAT's a stretch, because I've always managed to avoid singling out a favorite film and usually stick to a top five.
The awkwardness serves a purpose and the clunky inner voice matches our own internal monologues that can often try too hard to sound just right. Elizabethtown is about moments, people, things
the kind of stuff that memories are made of, those disjointed thoughts, the flashbacks of memorial services linked to the time the dogs ate the buffet spread because some kid dumped it on the floor. It's about first impressions and last looks, the things we say vs. the things we mean, the loves, the loss, the life we choose to live.
Music flows like water, layered throughout every scene. I'm sure some will find it excessive, but that's how we live. With music. In an age of 20 gigabyte iPods the size of credits cards, music dictates the way we perceive the world.
I honestly can't remember a time when I left a theatre feeling as emotionally exhausted, but so full of life, as I did tonight. You'll either love it or you'll hate it. I'll even go on a limb and say some just won't know what to feel, but I doubt there will be much casual like occurring over this film.
It's nothing like the story of the sports agent who learned to have heart, nor is it lesser than the autobiography of a young writer who longed for experience. This is a life story that feels everything and invites you to feel right along with it, as long as you're willing to be just as vulnerable as its characters.
Because, after all, it's the same in any language, wherever you go
A Day Without a Mexican (2004)
Fantasy meets mockumentary with a dash of pop up video.
A Day Without a Mexican contains, quite possibly, the most unique and effective employment of a fantasy element I've ever seen.
While I'm not sure how much impact this film has on people who aren't from, or at least very familiar with, life in California, I think it speaks massive volumes all while maintaining a very witty and fun sense of humor about itself. While it gets over-dramatically silly, it is SPOT ON about the capability of Californian behavior (and I say that as a third generation Southern Californian who was raised, in part, by a German/Mexican stepmother).
I've noticed complaints about bad acting and/or writing in this film. The writing itself is strong, the dialogue is funny, and the cultural jokes are bordering on perfection. The acting did leave room for improvement, but that's standard in independent films that boast such a major societal commentary.
This is not the kind of film that's going to mean everything to everyone. It's geared toward a specific audience, which seems to include me, as I quite enjoyed this picture.
If you want a movie that'll, at the very least, raise some discussion, check it out.
Odd Girl Out (2005)
Really, Really Mean Girls
Spoilers, but nothing super specific.
Pretty and popular, Vanessa Snyder is a 4.0 student with a promising future as she faces the year preceding her (middle school!) graduation. Little by little her "friends" begin to tear her down for no particular reason at all, until she can't even bear to show her face on campus, for fear of what they might say or do next.
This sounds like a standard, everyday problem for any and every teen and preteen. It is. But, as Vanessa's mother ultimately realizes, it's much more severe than people realize.
Odd Girl Out tackles the topic of verbal (and virtual) bullying. By employing word of mouth, internet messenger, and website campaigns, Vanessa's classmates violate her trust, destroy her self-esteem, and use her to their own academic benefit.
Tina Fey's Mean Girls introduces similar (comedy-based) concepts on the bullying front, featuring popular girls singling out everyone who isn't them for the express purpose of
no reason at all, other than the less popular targeting the even lesser to escalate within the ranks. I'm also drawn to Nikki Reed's semi-autobiographical Thirteen as a parallel, in that it focuses on the (sometimes horribly mind-blowing) scenarios that are reality for middle-schoolers. In the case of that film and Odd Girl Out, I found myself constantly awed when the ages of the characters are brought to attention.
Alexa Vega lays the dramatic smack-down as Vanessa, showing she's got serious range beyond the comedy based kid flicks, holding her own against long time TV/movie veteran Lisa Vidal. The two have a fantastic chemistry, whether they're getting along or engaged in those all too familiar mother/daughter "leave me alone, you can't possibly understand" angry yet tearful exchanges.
Visually, this is a very stylized picture. The school scenes are very dark, with a blue filter. However, once I realized that the director, Tom McLoughlin hails from a history in horror, it all makes sense. Looking at the elements, much of Odd Girl Out feels like a horror film, and rightfully so. The girls who attack Vanessa are ultimately more horrific than many a goalie-masked, razor-fingered serial killer who's slashed his way across the screen. In fact, if one of the girls (Nikki, in particular) sprouted horns or turned into a werewolf and Vanessa, in turn, slayed her, it would have been less terrifying, and easier to stomach the cruelty these girls proceed to dish out over the course of the film.
I suppose the overall question is, "Why put up with it in the first place?" It's true, especially to those of us who have long since graduated high school, let alone junior high. There are a few (myself included), who didn't even much take to the idea of needing to fit in with the A crowd, even at thirteen. But there's also the painful truth that words do, in fact hurt, and we live in an age of instant communication, boasting full color Flash presentations at the press of a button. It's one thing for someone to "slut-sneeze" at you in the hallway, it's another to have an entire web domain dedicated to your each and every faults.
Odd Girl Out is a well-produced, well-directed, well-acted film. It's a shame it's only a TV movie stamped with the Lifetime Original Drama stigma that may cause most people to assume it's just another melodramatic piece starring a mom from an 80's sitcom.
If you have kids, especially in 12-16 bracket, check it out. Maybe it'll open up a little family discussion. One thing I do remember about being thirteen: You may act like you don't care what your parents think, but ultimately, it's nice to know someone's paying attention.
Ice Princess (2005)
Finding beauty in the balance: Ice Princess stakes a claim on new world feminism.
- Spoilers Within - Raised by her college professor mother, Casey Carlyle is a physics genius in search of a scholarship project that will help ensure her a Harvard education. Casey quickly realizes that there's a fundamental formula to the aerodynamics of figure skating and begins her own mathematically driven experiment to prove her hypothesis.
The film is packed with strong female figures with the few male characters cornered into supporting roles. The lone memorable guy in the flick is Teddy (I had to look up his name on IMDb, because the film didn't really make a point in embedding it in my mind), the Zamboni driving son of former ice skater turned coach, Tina Harwood. Teddy literally exists to clean the ice so Casey can perfect her skating skills. His potential as a love interest carries through the film, but it's not a focal point. There's much more emphasis placed on the definitions of self and beauty, that strength comes from within, and that smart girls are pretty and CAN excel math. This is not your mother's Disney picture.
The overall theme is obviously steeped in feminism. There's a contrast between the old school vibe of smart girls vs. prom queens (the mother figures) and finding empowerment in the balance (Casey's final arc).
Smart can be beautiful, beautiful can be strong, and strength can be feminine.
The Wedding Date (2005)
Promising concept, lousy execution.
I love romantic comedies. They can be the most standard, formulaic flick, and I'll still get teary when they couple finally finds each other at the end of the film.
I had hope for The Wedding Date. Debra Messing's a superior comedic talent with a fantastic sense of physical comedy. But Clare Kilner failed to tap into any of that.
Kilner, it seems, also failed to stay awake during Film-making 101. The movie is littered with unfinished scenes, painfully misframed images, horrible edits, and random CUT TOs that leave the viewer with an overall feeling of, "Eh?" If a shark had flown into the wedding an consumed the flesh of the wedding party, THAT would have probably made more sense than the sub-standard hacked-up buffet that was presented.
I wanted this movie to be cute and funny and touching. It tried. Oh, lord god, it tried. And I'm willing to look past oceans of errors in a film if it can just follow through and make me care about the main characters.
When the direction is so bad that your interesting premise, award winning leads, hilarious secondary characters, and laugh out loud script aren't even trying anymore... I'm thinking Kilner's Taxidermy may be a much better option.
Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
Not your father's teen movie.
I love this movie. Comedy, let alone good parody, is difficult to master.
This film is a great lampoon of teen movies from the last twenty years: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Cruel Intentions, She's All That, Can't Hardly Wait, American Pie... and that's not all of them. The writers manage to weave the film parodies into a "standard" teen movie storyline that delivers serious laughs. Heck, there's even a fabulous musical number.
The cast does a fantastic job of adapting to the previous actors' portrayals of the characters they're spoofing (the best of them all being Mia Kirshner as The Cruelest Girl).
There are a few moments where the gross out humor goes a bit far, but the moments pass by quickly, so if can bear it for a moment, you'll be pulled right back into the general comedy in no time.
If you like parody and teen movies, check it out.
7/10