Snob Movie Review: The Reader

The film directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) opens December 10th, 2008 in limited release and wide Jan 9th, 2009.

The film is an adaptation of the novel by Berhard Schlink and stars Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and David Cross. The story is a very complex tale of guilt, secrets and dealing with the horrors of the past.

David Cross is a 15 year old boy in post-WWII Germany, who encounters an older woman (Kate Winslet) who works as a conductor on trams. The two begin a torrid love affair that involves the boy reading books to the older woman followed by a lot of sex.

Eventually, they break up and the young man continues with his studies. In law school his Professor takes them to a trial. It's one of the trials for employees at Nazi Concentration camps. One of the defendants is the older woman. The woman does not reveal a piece of information about herself that could easily deflect some of the accusations meant against her. The boy also keeps her secret.

Ralph Fiennes plays the boy, now a middle aged man who has a distant relationship with his own daughter. He is forced to reconcile his past with Kate Winslet in order to save his relationship with his daughter.

There are some serious flaws with this movie: the fact that the actors don't speak German (they speak English with German accents), the constant changing of time periods and the montage-like feeling of many scenes.

With that being said, the movie is still fascinating. Great performances, a story that really explores German attitudes towards its past and a morally ambiguous slant on everything makes this an ineresting watch.

Snob Movie Review: Gran Torino

Directed and starring Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino opens December 12th in limited release and wider January 16th, 2009.

Clint plays a Korean War vet who is recently a widower. He is left alone in his home in a neighborhood that is quickly being populated with immigrants.

His family is completely self-absorbed and pay no attention to him. His asian neighbors stick to themselves and their community. Their children played by newcomes Bee Vang and Ahney Her are brother and sister. They are constantly being harassed and recruited by a gang that is up to no good.

Clint's character is a bigot that spews ignorant and racist talk in every sentence. He is very much the crotchety old man.

When the neighbor boy is caught trying to steal Clint's prized Gran Torino car from the garage, the boy is sent to work for Clint to restore honor to his family. Unwillingly, Clint accepts and begins to give the boy tasks around the neighborhood. Soon, Clint is seen as a hero in the neighborhood for cleaning things up and standing up to the gang. Clint takes a liking to the hardworking neighbor boy, but Clint realizes the gang must be stopped or they will take the boy and turn him to a life of crime.

This story is a coming of age story, and an unconventional buddy picture about clashing cultures. It's heart is in the right place, but it just boils down to a Dirty Harry grown old movie.

Although Clint gives a good performance (although a bit one note, especially for the first half of the movie), the rest of the cast is spotty at best. In fact, some of the characters are just so one dimensional such as the old man's family. Also, the film falls prey to so many of the stereotypes that it is in the position to challenge. It is for these reasons that we can't recommend this one from good ole Clint.

Snob Movie Review: Valkyrie

Directed by Bryan Singer (at one point, he was one of our favourite directors), this picture opens Christmas Day.

Tom Cruise stars as von Stauffenberg a member of the German Army who plans to kill Hitler in WWII. At the beginning of the movie, he is wounded in Africa leaving him without an eye and a hand.

The good thing about this movie is the unprecedented supporting cast which includes: Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Tom Wilkinson and more. All deliver interesting performances.

However, the same can not be said for Tom Cruise. Personally, I think he is an interesting actor, but in Valkyrie we see none of it.

We all know the outcome of the movie, but it still lacks the suspense and drama that is demanded in a movie of this. All of the characters are uni-dimensional (especially Cruise). There is a lot of talking and very little action, the movie becomes pretty boring.

Although I appreciated the interesting transition from German to English, it's a very strong choice to have your actors perform with their native English and American accents. It's a weird decision that I'm sure will get some attention.

Above all, the directing, acting and editing becomes robotic. It's adequate, but there's something missing. No surprises. No emotional content. Thi is especially tragic since this is one of the most interesting stories of our time.

Snob Movie Review: Los Cronocrimenes (Timecrimes)

After making the festival rounds, this movie opens in limited release on December 12, 2008 and was written and directed by Spaniard Nacho Vigalondo. He also plays one of the four cast members.

A husband and wife are hanging out by their isolated home. The husband looks into the woods and sees a young woman behaving suspiciously. He sees her take her top off. With his wife gone, he decides to go investigate the woods. He comes across the completely nude woman and is quickly attacked with a pair of scissors by a trench-coated, and face bandaged lunatic.

The husband flees and is led to lab where a seemingly friendly scientist tells him to hide in pod-like device. The pod closes. When it reopens, the man is transported many hours back in time.

This sets off an interesting entry into the Time Travel genre, which has echoes of Primer, Deja Vu and Memento. One that involves an extremely small cast and very few locations. However, they all work with an interesting script that is constantly turning in on itself.

Perhaps not the best time travel movie, but Los Cronocrimenes is enjoyable and very well made.
Watch out for the Hollywood remake in a couple of years.