Snob Movie Review: Ghost Town

The picture directed by Hollywood writer David Koepp, opened September 19, 2008.

Ricky Gervais plays a curmudgeonly dentist that accidentally dies for a short period of time during a routine medical procedure. He is brought back to life with the ability to see all of the ghosts in New York City. In fact, the ghosts are able to talk with him, but no one else in society. One of these ghosts is played by Greg Kinnear a philandering husband that was never good enough for his wife (Tea Leoni) when he was alive. Tea Leoni is an archeologist that has taken up with a great and smart man, whom she wants to marry. Gregg Kinnear hates the idea so he strikes a deal with the dentist to break up the wife's new relationship.

What happens with the rest of the movie is quite predictable, but somehow I was charmed. Perhaps it was Ricky Gervais playing an unlikely leading man. Or maybe it was how beautiful NYC looks.

Either way, by the end of the movie, the script has played all of its cards. However, there's still some heartwarming and emotional truth within the story. Then you realize that Ricky Gervais isn't so bad afterall, and he totally could get in there with Tea Leoni.

Aside from a questionable joke about Chinese folks, Ghost Town is a surprisingly satisfying and heartfelt romantic comedy.

Snob Movie Review: The Lucky Ones

This film opens September 26th, 2008. It was co-written and directed by Neil Burger, who was responsible for the under-appreciated The Illusionist.

Three soldiers (Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena) return from Iraq to try to move forward with their lives. Immediately after landing at JFK, everything seems to go wrong for them. Michael Pena's character (who was wounded in the 'private parts') plans to get to Vegas to find a professional to cure him of his sexual problem. Rachel McAdams, estranged from her family, decides to go to Vegas to give a guitar to a fallen soldier's family. She hopes that the family will then take her in.

Worse, Tim Robbins comes home to a wife that wants a divorce and a Son that needs tens of thousands of dollars to attend Stanford. Somehow this became a big deal; why couldn't the kid just take out a loan, like most students?!?!

Anyways, the film doesn't exactly work for a number of reasons. Most of them have to do with the odd number of coincidences that occur, and the strange situations that the characters are placed in. Not to give anything away, but I was kind of indifferent towards the picture until the scene with the tornado. Seriously, there's a tornado. That scene ruined the rest of the movie.

Rachel McAdams is kind of iffy with her accent, and Tim Robbins doesn't really do much. Michael Pena gives the strongest performance, actually showing some depth to his character.

All in all, the subject matter, the re-adjustment of soldiers to civilian life, is something serious and deserves better treatment and inquiry.

Snob Movie Review: Ballast

This film opens in NYC October 1st 2008, and much wider later on. It was written and directed by Lance Hammer, and has won a slew of awards (most notably the directing and cinematography awards at Sundance).

It's hard to give an opinion on a film like this, which admittedly is not concerned with plot, or storytelling. Rather, its sole intent is to create a mood or tone. This tone, quite overtly is grey and gloomy.

The plot involves rural Mississippi, where a man has committed suicide. His estranged son and the son's mother are left to deal with the man's twin brother. The plot is a bit more complicated, but honestly, plot is irrelevant.

The film begins with a beautiful sequence, and introduces us to interesting places and people, but then it doesn't deliver much of a story. This gets incredibly frustrating as provoking situations lead to empty questions and an unfulfilled feeling. I began to feel misled by the director.

The film seems to be in search of some greater truth, or realness in it's characters, but I stopped believing in the characters and got bored by the constant gloom. There is something inherently false about cinema, and trying to create something otherwise is futile.

The film also does away with any traditional soundtrack, with no score, or obvious sound design. I believe that a nice soundtrack does not have to be heavy-handed or 'telling the audience what to feel'. Rather, the creative use of sound is just another tool in a director's arsenal.

With all of this being said, Ballast is incredibly well crafted, well shot and clearly means a lot to the eloquent Lance Hammer. I'm glad that there are people like him crafting films like this, it's just not my cup of tea.

Snob Movie Review: Entre Les Murs (The Class)

This film, directed by Laurent Cantet, opens the New York Film Festival on Sept 26, 2008 and probably wider later on. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year.

The film chronicles a French teacher's (played convincingly by François Bégaudeau) year at a struggling inner-city school in Paris.

The class takes place mostly in a classroom with non-professional actors of all stripes, from all corners of the world, which is a refreshing change. There is also a lot of time spent in meetings with other teachers during various committee meetings and such. Stuff like this has never really been explored in film.

There is much to say about it's verite and incredibly natural performances. The problem with films of this style, is that they quickly become boring. There is just so much talking, monotonous speeches and confrontational exchanges between the teacher and the students, that the genuiness of the performances begin to be overshadowed by the boringness that sets in.

The film does address many of the problems afflicting education in modern France (and North America, for that matter) such as assimilation, letting people fall through the cracks, fostering the brighter students etc... However, no real stance is taken and there is no serious discussion.

Perhaps besides the point, but I would have loved to have seen the students in their home life, or the teacher's life away from school.

I like the idea of being able to put a camera on every day situations and being able to find a story. Unfortunately, in real life, there is seldom any cinematic drama that occurs. Much like this film.

Snob Movie Review: Appaloosa

This movie is co-written, directed and stars Ed Harris. It opens in limited release on September 19th, and then wider October 3rd, 2008.

In a nutshell, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen plays hired cop-buddies that are paid to clean up a town that is being ruled by a rancher (played by Jeremy Irons), who also killed a bunch of other lawmen at the beginning of the movie. A lady comes to town and complicates stuff.

I guess Ed Harris was thinking of making a straight up Western genre movie, as opposed to the more interesting Revisionist Western. He really made a mistake.

There is just so much wrong with this picture, that it's hard to understand what all of the buzz is about. Perhaps the main problem is that the lady, played by a horribly looking Renee Zelwegger, doesn't really complicate issues too much. No real love triangle develops, and Renee plays it completely melodramatic. I just don't understand the real purpose of this character.

Jeremy Irons tries his best as an evil Rancher, but ends up playing a caricature of Daniel Plainview. Ed Harris is also unconvincing as a strict law man. It's painful to watch him trying to convince the audience that he's actually enjoying this.

Did I mention that there's a band of Native Americans? I mean, INJUNS! Another calamity is the lone Asian guy in the cafe. I believe the direction must have been "Play the most stereotypical Chinese guy you can think of!".

At the end of the day, this is one of the most indulgent, directionless and pointless pictures of late. Neither tribute or critique of the Western genre, Appaloosa takes the worst parts of the genre and makes them even worse.

Snob Movie Review: Tropic Thunder

An early review, this film co-written and directed by Ben Stiller opens August 13th, 2008.

This movie is about the making of a big-budget war-movie, where the actors get involved with real guerrillas. It's an interesting premise, and it delivers.

The funny faux-trailers at the beginning set the tone for a hilarious, but well made picture. Jack Black plays a horrible comedy actor, Ben Stiller is the action movie actor, Jay Baruchel is the young college-educated actor, Matthew McConaughey is Stiller's greasy agent and an unrecognizable Tom Cruise plays a big producer. Brandon T Jackson is the rapper turned actor. The most controversial character is Robert Downey Jr's method actor, who undergoes a skin pigment operation to appear African-American. There is an argument that could be made about racism, but I personally don't agree. I believe this character is more of a satire on method actors than on black people. Also, Brandon T Jackson's character (who is really African-American) gives him tons of hell throughout the movie.

Needless to say, this movie had me laughing (out loud, which is very hard to do considering I am a snob) for most of the running time. The plot is slim, but there's enough homage to the war-film genre without becoming a straight-up satire. The movie looks great too, which should come as no surprise since John Toll was the Director of Photography (he shot the war-film masterpiece The Thin Red Line).

Enough can't be said about Tom Cruise's performance. He steals every single scene he's in, and it's quite refreshing to see him do a good job in a supporting role. Nick Nolte is his grizzly self and Danny McBride just keeps turning out good supporting work.

So, all in all, a great starring cast, a great supporting cast and a pretty funny script makes this movie the most fun I've had in a theatre since Knocked Up.

Snob Movie Review: The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The movie, directed by Chris Carter opened today July 25, 2008.

We get caught up with Mulder & Scully several years after the X-Files has been disbanded. Scully is working as a doctor at a Catholic hospital and Mulder is down in the dumps away from society, caverned in a room.

Mulder is summoned to help in an FBI serial-murder case in which a pedophile priest (played very nicely by lovable Billy Connolly) is having visions that are helping the case.

Needless to say, much is made about the 'I want to believe' tagline by all. It's banged into our heads, over and over again.

Unfortunately, the best parts of the TV-series are not put into use in this movie. The economical and tight storytelling is thrown out the window to a meandering and thinly connected plot. All of the sexual tension between Mulder and Scully is let out, as we see the two of them in bed with horribly written pillow talk. The action is boring and predictable with unintelligible editing and cheesy attempts at humor.

The plot contains more horror elements and murderers (Callum Keith Rennie is completely wasted with a horrible Russian accent) than wide-scale government conspiracies and alien contact, which were the stories that made the series so intriguing.

The writing seems to have several nods for the rabid fanbase by including so many weird references and bringing in characters that are not relevant to the narrative. By trying to appease their fans (myself included) the filmmakers have made a film that no true X-Phile could enjoy. A massive disappointment.

Snob Movie Review: Mama Mia!

Phyllida Lloyd (who also directed the stage version) directed and Catherine Johnson wrote this adaptation of the Broadway musical based on ABBA songs which opens on 7/18/2008.

A great cast including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried (from Big Love) sing and dance in this regrettable mess. We all know that this snob doesn't like musicals (but we enjoyed Sweeney Todd), and after watching this hunk of junk, I remember why.

Basically, 20 years ago, Meryl Streep jammed three dudes (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) in a short amount of time. 20 years later, the love child is ready to be married but wants her father to give her away at the wedding on a Greek Island that the mom runs a villa on. The rest of the movie is basically 'whose the daddy?'.

I'm a closet ABBA fan, so my gripe is not with the music. Meryl Streep gives her usual grand performance as does Amanda Seyfried. Gosh darnit, it looks like they're having fun!

Unfortunately, the direction and writing are so boring with superficial one-note characters and ridiculous shot choices. Worse yet, are the large production songs. They just come out of nowhere, with no logical beginning or end. The overdone musical numbers involve a huge cast with some bizarre costumes and choreography. I started to become really annoyed by the movie. In between the boring and obnoxiously arranged songs are melodramatic scenes that offer no real character insight. I just can't believe how tired this movie made me feel.

Skip this movie and put in ABBA Gold instead.

Snob Movie Review: The Wackness

The Wackness opens July 3rd, 2008 and is written & directed by AFI alum Jonathan Levine. It's his second feature, and some parts of this story are auto-biographical.

The story takes place in 1994 NYC, the year that Luke Shapiro graduates from highschool. He is a weed-dealer, with eclectic clientele, including a psychologist named Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsley - he's doing interesting work these days). The psychologist has a pretty step-daughter, whom Luke wants to get with. Unfortunately, Dr. Squires is having a mid-life crisis and is just down in the dumps.

Eventually, Luke falls in and out of love with the daughter, Dr Squires' marriage falls apart, Luke's family is forced to move, all while he sells his dope out of a modified ice cream pushcart. Essentially we are dealing with a coming of age story, with some buddy moments.

The script is actually quite nice, but there's something that just doesn't feel right. It's definitely not the beautiful cinematography by Petra Korner, or the nostalgic soundtrack featuring classics by Biggie and Nas. However, it could be the horrible scenes involving Mary-Kate Olsen (although, I think she's getting better as an actor) and Method Man (his Jamaican accent is purely Ja-Faken). Or it could be in the tone and editing. The movie drags during spots, but at the same time it leaves some of the side-stories completely underdeveloped. It just felt like Upper East Siders behaving badly and I'm tired of films portraying the horrors of upper-middle class life.

Johnathan Levine is clearly a talented writer, and has tons of promise as a director. I hope he gets another chance, because The Wackness is just straight up wack. Sorry, that was too obvious.

Snob Movie Review: American Teen

Nanette Burstein directed this documentary, which opens July 25th. She won the doc-directing award at this year's Sundance Festival.

The filmmakers shot for about a year at a highschool in Warsaw, Indiana. What results is very nice and current portrait of American youth.

The story focuses on the senior year of five students that represent the 'caste' of any typical highschool: the jock, the princess, the dork, the artsy girl, and the all American guy. We get to follow the students through all of their dramas, from drinking way too much, heart-wrenching breakups, depression, big games, pranks and college admissions.

What Burstein (whose other non-fiction work involves young people) is great at, is getting her subjects to bare their souls to the camera. Everyone is so comfortable in front of the camera they they seem to lose any awareness of the camera. One can't deny the amount of pure emotion on the screen. It's something to behold.

Considering that this type of doc has been done before, American Teen is able to remain relevant because of the genuineness of the characters, and our ability to see a bit of each of us in all of them.

It's only flaw is that it lags a bit in the middle, and at times becomes melodramatic and a bit too constructed. With that being said, American Teen is worth your time, despite a terrible movie poster,.

Snob Movie Review: The Love Guru

This film opened yesterday (June 20th), and was directed by Marco Schnabel. Mike Myers shares writing credit with Graham Gordy.

To be honest, I had pretty low expectations for this picture, considering Mike Myers recent projects. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this movie is actually pretty damn enjoyable!

Mike Myers plays an American child that grew up in India. At a young age, he studied with Deepak Chopra under another guru, played by Ben Kingsley (yeah, the dude that played Ghandi!). So, Mike Myers grows up to be a new-age self-help guru, who wants to be recognized just as much as Deepak Chopra. He gets hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs owner (played by Jessica 'I'm not Latina' Alba) to help cure the love problems of their star player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco, Trini Massive!). The hockey star's girlfriend has been stolen by a great goalie nicknamed 'le Grande Coq' (an almost unrecognizable, Justin Timberlake). Unfortunately, the Leafs captain can't seem to focus on the game, and they are in the Stanley Cup finals. The Leafs in the finals? Only in Hollywood, kids. Only in Hollywood.

The humour plays lowbrow, but with a decided highbrow mentality. There are tons of fart jokes, balls jokes and even little people jokes. However, none of them are disrespectful. The gags are also dependent on clever word play, and silly puns. Somehow it all works out, with smart nods to Bollywood, Extreme's 'More Than Words' video, Maple Leafs history and Les Quebecois (I don't think anyone in the theatre I screened it in got the humour in JT screaming 'Tabernac!' whenever he was angry).

What I also found pleasing, was that the filmmakers didn't try to hide the fact that this was a story that mostly takes place in Toronto. It's the real Toronto Maple Leafs, playing at the Air Canada Centre with Tim Horton's and Sportchek ads along the rink boards.

Another reason to check this movie out are the incredible cameos. I don't want to give too many of them away, but clearly Mike Myers went through his rolodex and called in several favours. It's worth it.

Not the stink bomb that I was expecting, The Love Guru actually delivers some good laughs while waving the Canadian and Maple Leafs flags unashamedly.

Snob Movie Review: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

This documentary, directed by Chris Bell, is currently playing in limited release. Hopefully, it's playing near you, because it's one of the best films of the year.

The director turns the camera on himself (a former body builder) and his family (his two brothers used steroids) a la Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore and asks some serious questions about America.

On it's surface, the film is an incredibly well researched treatment on the dis-information about performance enhancing drugs in America. However, he digs deeper to illuminate the contradictory messages America seems to have on the topic and it's incredible desire for it to be the best.

What's even more interesting is that Chris Bell doesn't seem to side on the pro- or anti- steroid side. He provides incredible proof contradicting the 'steroids will kill you' message of the media, and incredible interviews with high-profile athletes admitting to steroids use. He almost has us convinced that steroids are completely safe, until the story of his brothers starts to develop. He see one of his brothers still jacked up, still trying to get into the WWE despite years and years of rejection, and still has his marriage hanging on a thread. Bell asks some tough questions of American Society, and of ourselves, in how far is it ok to go in order to be the best.

A graduate of USC's film school, Bell has crafted an incredibly thought provoking, but still fun documentary.

Snob Movie Review: The Happening

The new picture from M. Night Shyamalan opened yesterday (Friday the 13th....scary!).

Mark Wahlberg plays a Philly science teacher, Zooey Deschanel plays his wife and John Leguizamo is a math teacher. The three of them get caught up in a bizarre situation that has people all across the North East committing suicide. In an attempt to flee the danger, they head to rural Pennsylvania and meet up with other individuals that are trying to understand the phenomena.

The story is quite simply, man vs. nature, but taken to an extreme. No one seems to understand how or why the plants and trees are allowing people to kill themselves.

One thing's for sure, the story/premise itself is pretty good. However, it's all downhill from there. The script is absolutely ridiculous. The characters are poorly sketched, with no real objectives, or desires. There are so many red herrings, like the wife's supposed philandering, the math teacher's wife, a crazy old lady, all with no real weight to the story.

Worst of all is the directing. The performances that Shyamalan gets from his actors are so odd and inconsistent. The choices he's made in the editing room leave me wondering about his original idea for this picture. Was it supposed to be a tribute to 1950's horror/sci-fi? A tongue-in-cheek satire? Or a straight-faced attempt to scare us? Depending on the scene, you could say it's one of these, but at the end of the day, it's none of them. What it really is though, is a complete waste of time.

Snob Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

Louis Leterrier directs this juggernaut that opens tomorrow (Friday June 13th).

First let me say, that I'm not a comic-book fan, and I've never seen any of the previous TV-shows or films about The Hulk.

A great cast led by Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Liv Tyler as Betty try their best to reclaim this movie from CGI wretchedness.

Bruce Banner leads a secret life, trying to control his anger and find a cure for him going ape-shit and wrecking everything. Turns out, he was a specimen gone wrong and the army wants him back. Along the way, a soldier, played by Tim Roth (perhaps the best character in the movie), gets injected with the same 'monster-juice' and turns into an even crazier beast. The Hulk must fight the Evil Hulk and save NYC from mass destruction.

I feel that this film was trying to attempt what Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale did with Batman: a more psychological character that has emotions and is torn by their own powers. Unfortunately, it doesn't work in this case.

I just didn't get more to Bruce Banner other than his wanting not to get angry and tear the place up. We just don't get the opportunity to identify, or know what it feels like to feel the strain of this guy. The characters are all merely caricatures of people in a totally humdrum, recycled plot.

Let's be honest though, most people are not going to see this movie for Edward Norton's acting, they want to see the spectacle. The effects are crappy though! I still don't fully understand the true proportions of The Hulk. Also, I'm not sure if Toronto can still be passed off as NYC (isn't that the 'Sam The Record Man' and 'Swiss Chalet' signs a dead giveaway?!). Maybe it's just me, but the CGI just isn't that good, the movements of The Hulk are not fluid enough, and his constant roaring gets me infuriated. It's just so obvious when something has been CGI'd.

Either way, you're better off reading the comic books, because this movie is just so damn awful!
Worst movie of the year (so far....).

Snob Movie Review: Pineapple Express

An early review: Pineapple Express opens August 8, 2008.

Indie-wunderkind David Gordon Green (DGG) directs Seth Rogen and James Franco in this stoner action-comedy. I did a double take when I heard that DGG was attached to this project. Seriously, his first two films George Washington and All the Real Girls are some of the best films of the early 2000's.
He lost some cache with me with his later films, but it's always nice to see directors challenging themselves, or at least taking chances with different material.

Seth Rogen plays a subpoena server, with a high-school girlfriend, who just happens to witness a murder. Unfortunately, the bad-folks are able to track him and his dealer (James Franco) because of the weed that Rogen was smoking when he saw what he saw. The rare weed is called Pineapple Express.

So basically, the movie is Rogen and Franco running from the bad guys (which includes a funny performance by Rosie Perez) and trying to get high along the way.

There's alot of good things with the movie: Seth Rogen is still able to keep himself fresh and endearing, even though he's pretty much playing the same character over and over. James Franco is a likeable stoner. The supporting cast is topnotch, with a wonderful array of bizarre characters. In many ways though, the supporting cast is far more interesting than the two lead characters. The best moments are during the wacky chases, or when things go completely haywire. This is probably to DGG credit.

Like I said, there are a lot of good things. Unfortunately, there are far more bad things. The script is just too safe. It's not satirical enough. It's not homage-ish enough. It's not deconstructive enough. Quite frankly, it's just not funny enough. A lot of the jokes we've seen/heard before, and gets a bit repetitive.

So, all in all, there are a few chuckles, and a few laugh out loud moments, but they are too far apart for me to recommend this picture. But, I have no doubt it will be one of this summer's blockbusters.

Snob Movie Review: Take

Charles Oliver wrote and directed this film, which opens July 18th, 2008.


Minnie Driver gives a very worthy performance in this story of the death penalty, revenge and redemption. Sadly, the film doesn't add up to it's wonderful aspirations.

Driver plays a working class mother (unfortunately, her American accent goes in and out, which is a bit distracting), who has a rambunctious young son. A loving husband who is a school teacher seems to be fairly loving and caring.


Jeremy Renner plays a down and out dude, with nothing much going for him aside a huge debt owed to some goons. Due to some weird circumstances, he ends up with a gun, and decides to hold up a grocery. No spoilers here, but the two leads cross paths during the hold up, with tragic results. Adam Rodriguez (the dude from CSI: Miami) plays a prison chaplain trying to get the incarcerated Jeremy Renner to accept god before his execution.

Unfortunately, the film is told non-linearly, which I feel takes away the gravity of it's final scenes. In fact, the movie is a huge bore for the first hour. I felt frustrated, because I knew exactly where the movie was going, but I kept being told more and more unnecessary back story, and I'm beginning to believe what David Mamet says ("Back story is total bullshit").

There is some interesting work by Minnie Driver and Renner, especially during the holdup scene, but the rest of the movie is no where near as engaging. The character's just don't seem to add up, whether it be inconsistent actions, or just inconsistent acting.

Snob Movie Review: Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

This film is making the festival circuit, and is also airing on HBO starting on June 9th.

This doc, directed by Marina Zenovich, won the editing award at this years Sundance Festival. It takes a detailed look at the events, and legal drama surrounding the Roman Polanski child-rape case of late 70's, which effectively left the legendary director away from America ever since.

To be honest, I didn't know much about this story, aside from the sensational headlines. Needless to say, everything I pretty much thought about Polanski, and this case were wrong.

The movie features beautiful candid films of Polanski with his beautiful wife, Sharon Tate, before she was tragically murdered by Charles Manson's Family. Then the focus shifts to archival footage, mixed with new interviews from everyone involved in the infamous case: the defense and prosecution lawyers, Polanski's friends, cops and even the young girl (now growned up) who accused him. The film's thesis is that Polanski's case was mired by a fame-hungry judge, who skewered the law for public notoriety. It's a fairly strong case, as everyone involved agrees that the judge screwed up. In fact, everyone doesn't blame Polanski for gettin' out of dodge.

The problems with the film, and perhaps it's greatest flaw, is that there are no current interviews with Polanski. As a result, I was left a bit unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Also, I'm a bit wary of putting Polanski in a sympathetic light, because everyone agrees he, in fact, did rape the 13-year old girl (granted, he plead guilty to a lesser charge). He did not get a fair trial, but he still served his sentence. Whether he's paid his debt to society, that's another question.

Regardless, the movie is definitely interesting, and changed my perspective on the topic.

Snob Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

This small little indie picture (I hope the marketing department can give it a little promotion), was directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. It opens really big on Friday June 6th.

It features a voice cast that could never exist together if it were a live-action picture. It's basically about a Panda that works at his father's noodle house, that somehow gets chosen by some grandmaster as the next Kung Fu master, who will save the town from some ex- Kung Fu master who is now evil. The Panda must train to achieve his destiny and fight the evil guy.

Unfortunately, this picture is horrible. The characters are so charmless, and inconsistent that I couldn't care less about all of them. The dialogue is so boring and trite that I somehow fell asleep several times. I guess, I just didn't get what the big deal was, or what was really at stake. The fight scenes got extremely boring and were repetitive, despite the economical 88min running time.

As people know, I love the action/martial arts genre, but it's just somewhat ridiculous to see computer characters doing them over real people; it loses the natural motion of the human form.

Hopefully, someone at Dreamworks pays for this, because if I had the chance, I would karate chop this complete waste of time.

Snob Movie Review: Mongol

Sergei Bodrov directs this Oscar-nominated film, which opens in limited release on June 6th.

This remarkable film tracks Genghis Khan's early years in the 11th and 12th centuries. We meet him as a young boy who must choose a wife to please his father. The girl he chooses, Borte, turns out to be his life-long love, for whom he will sacrifice a lot for. He is separated from his family and wife several times, escapes several times, and enslaved again several times. In between these episodes, he leads small armies against opposing tribes.

The performances, from a largely Mongol cast, are absolutely riveting and true. The younger actors are especially natural and fun to watch.

The film is breathtakingly shot by Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov. The landscapes are captured so whimsically, it reminded me of Eisenstein and Malick. The battle scenes are incredibly well done, and so unique, they never get tired.

All in all, this is probably the best historical/war/romance/biopic since Braveheart. It's also great to see a foreign-language film of this ilk.
During the Q&A, the director Bodrov mentioned the many hardships that they encountered during production (I can't even making a movie on this scale) and securing funds from many different countries. A figure like Khan is treated like a hero in some cultures, and a scoundrel in others.

Snob Movie Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

An early review, Sweeney Todd opens Dec 21st.

Tim Burton reunites with Johnny Depp for this adaptation of Sondheim's macabre musical. Make no mistake, this is a musical, one of which I've never seen done like this.

There is blood. Lots of graphic violence and geysers of blood. Did I mention that there's blood? The good thing is that the first killing is just so graphic, but it sets the rules for what we are going to see. Also, the violence and blood itself is so removed from reality and over the top that you don't become offended.

A young man with a wife and daughter is sent to prison unjustly by a crazy judge for fifteen years. After 15 years of hard time, he comes out, changes his name to Sweeney Todd and returns to London for revenge. He meets up with a terrible baker (Helena Bonham Carter) and begins his quest to kill the judge. In doing so, he offs plenty of victims and the baker turns their meat into the meat pies that have become the toast of the town.

The film itself looks like a black and white film shot on colour. Dariusz Wolski has such a drab colour palette that the few bright instances of colour become extremely beautiful. The songs are wonderfully bleak and catchy. Johnny Depp and Carter sing their parts wonderfully. Perhaps not great singers, but they sound like the characters singing, which adds a sense of realism not heard on a lot of other musicals.

Sacha Baron Cohen even shows up and has a funny supporting character role. Alan Rickman and Jayne Wisener (newcomer) play their characters with such enthusiasm, it's clear they are having fun. Of course Johnny Depp is able to summon both Edward Scissorhands and Pirate Jack Sparrow to create a wholly original but real character.

Definitely one of the best of the year.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (who looked homeless) came for the Q&A and spoke so passionately about the experience. It's nice to see mega-stars actually have something important to say.