Archive Analysis: "Fight Club"

Fight Club

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helen Bonham-Carter
Rated: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality, and language

The power of good film is when the themes are hidden safely inside the narrative of the story. With the cult hit Fight Club, directed by David Fincher (who may be the finest director of our age), one may be so distracted by the story that you can become blindsided by it’s message. While it certainly has the vibe of a quasi-sureal, brutally violent thriller which seemingly escalates at every turn, this movie is not just about crazed individuals bent on creating a societal collapse; it’s a glorification of nihilism. The character of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is far more dangerous than the Joker or other villains before and after him because he not only lives out his nihilistic beliefs, but he makes it look like so much fun. He’s okay with being “God’s unwanted children” and sees no value to life, saying that the “great depression is our lives.” So, he beats up, vandalizes, harms, and destroys the lives around him, including his own, and enjoys every second of it, because in doing so he actually feels something other than the depression of being unfulfilled. This is why the audience, like Edward Norton's purposefully unnamed character, is so taken in with Durden. It’s like a modern day version of Kubrik’s Clockwork Orange, but only far more dangerously appealing. There isn’t even restitution in the ending; the utter rebellion of Durden is never denounced by the protagonist, only the tactics he used. While visually stunning and a hallmark film of the 1990s, Fight Club is a conundrum; it’s offensive, it’s harsh, it’s disturbing, it’s enlightening, and it’s impossible not to talk about.

Archive Analysis: "City of God"

City of God

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

Starring: Alexandre Rodriguez, Leandro Firmino
Rated: R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content, and language

With a visual style uncanny for it’s time, the 2006 film City of God is one of the most stunning and stylistic films ever made, and also one of the most captivating. Following the story of the crime in inner-city Rio De Jeneiro, City of God is graphic, harsh, depressing and, most importantly, eye opening. While the film works in bringing light to the unbelievable harsh conditions of the city, it fails in bringing any message other than how bad and devastating a life of crime can be, and how it effects the society rather than just the individuals involved.

Here is the awful trailer for this compelling movie.

Archive Analysis: "Strangers on a Train"

Strangers on a Train

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker
Rated: PG for some violence and tension

One of Hitchcock’s many talents was to turn the ordinary into something intense. It doesn’t matter if it’s a conversation on a train or a carnival atmosphere, Hitchcock uses our imagination to shape these into something else entirely. While Strangers On a Train, one of Hitchcock's less-popular films of the 1950s may fly under the radar of most film snobs, there is still the certain level of intrigue and intensity that makes it worth seeing, despite the rather ridiculous climax and relaxed view of morality and integrity. It’s not one of Hitchcock’s best films, but it’s worth being familiar even with his mediocre movies.

Movie Review: "The Company Men"

The Company Men

Directed by: John Wells

Starring: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello
Rated: R for language and brief nudity

Films that are severely dated seemingly never rise beyond the year it’s released. For instance, John Well’s recent film The Company Men will never last when (or if) the economy turns around and businesses start to flourish. Until then, the film is a truly inspiring work, which takes a serious-yet-uplifting look at overcoming a job loss. The antithesis of the glamorous corporate realm displayed in the TV show Mad Men, this story follows the untimely loss of employment of the central characters of the film and how they and their families must deal with that. While Tommy Lee Jones’ character is vague and unlikeable and the brilliant Chris Cooper is just plain cliché, it is the character of the younger Ben Affleck, who goes from a six figure income to being unemployed for half a year, that connects with the audience. The honesty of the transformation makes Affleck’s character so interesting; his pride is beaten out of him with every minute of unemployment but, thanks often to his wise and loving wife (Mad Men’s own Rosemaire Dewitt), he learns more about true worth and integrity than he ever did from his job. It’s a painful transition, but one that I, along with others whom have been or currently are unemployed can identify with. The only problem with the film (minus the language and one nudie shot) is the missing of a central theme; what is learned is either lost or never fully developed. Despite it’s silence, The Company Men is a powerful film but perhaps only to those who can relate to it’s character’s flaws and situation.

Movie Review: "Warrior"

Warrior

Directed by: Gavin O'Connor

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte
Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense mixed martial arts fighting, some language and thematic elements.

Perhaps the most underdog film of the year thus far has been the MMA underdog tale in Warrior. While the film certainly meets the expectations of the audience by playing into the formula of the typical fighter genre, it adds enough unique twists (such as the MMA sport or having the two heroes fight in the end) to make it surprising and interesting. It has some excellent testosterone-fueled fights, but it's the heart that makes Warrior a complete success. Estranged brothers fighting against each other for the championship, an ex-marine fighting for a fallen comrade's family, an out-on-his-luck family man fighting to protect his family, an estranged father trying to rebuild his relationship with his sons. Tom Hardy is beastly, but he has heart beyond his rough exterior. Nick Nolte is oddly decent as the estranged father, but it's Joel Edgerton that makes the film connect; he beats the snot out of his opponents, yet he's a great high schooler teacher, loves playing with his daughters, and is respectful to his wife. As fallen and troubled as the characters are, they define a certain masculinity that is very appealing. It's a film about what in life is truly worth fighting over, and inspire us to do the same.

Movie Review: "Everything Must Go"

Everything Must Go

Directed by: Dan Rush

Starring: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Laura Dern, Michael Pena
Rated: R for language and some sexual content

Independent films often don't get caught up in the settings and plots of big Hollywood films, but simplify everything down and to allow us to explore the complexity of the characters and situation. Will Ferrell has done a little of both, getting lost in his over-the-top comedy's like The Other Guys while shining in a few indie dramadeys, such as the brilliant Stranger Than Fiction. His latest attempt in the indie world is the film Everything Must Go, where he experiences one of those days that would make the biblical character Job cringe; fired from his job, his car is repossessed, his wife is leaving him, and he is locked out of his house with all his belongings spewed over the front yard. However, Ferrell's character, Nick, turns to alcohol and apathy to deal with the problem, which becomes very uninteresting after about the first five minutes of his movie-long condition. His befriending of an overweight middle schooler (Christopher Wallace) and pregnant new neighbor (Rebecca Hall) add some life to the film, but it never really gets to any substantial depth beyond pointing out Nick's desperation and creepiness. The film was almost salvageable when, towards the end, Nick realizes he must let "everything go", including his utter selfishness, in order to move beyond his problems, but the film refuses to end at that point, and we are left with another fifteen or so minutes that tries to make the film deeper and more complex, but simply destroys the themes it had earlier communicated. Everything Must Go shouldn't have been the title of this movie; it should have been the studio's thoughts on the script.

Archive Analysis: "Dear Frankie"

Dear Frankie

Directed by: Shona Auerbach

Starring: Emily Mortimer, Gerard Butler
Rated: PG-13 for language

Set in in the drab, earthy beauty of Scotland, the film Dear Frankie is a truly wonderful and heartwarming film that reminds us of the importance of family. The movie follows Frankie, a deaf Scottish child whose communicates with his "father", who is an international sailor, is through the letter he sends to his ship. Unbeknownst to him, it is actually Frankie's mother who is reading his letters and writing him back, protecting him from truth that his father is not involved with his life. However, when the ship that the father is supposedly sailing on returns to Scotland, Frankie's mother must either hire a man to play the role of Frankie's dad or give up her secret about Frankie's past. Through the rich Scottish culture and setting, this movie goes far beyond the typical norms of a family drama, showing us the hardships of being a single parent but, more importantly, the impact a man of integrity can have in a family's life.

Archive Analysis: "2001: A Space Odyssey"

2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood
Rated: PG for mild language, intense imagery, and thematic elements

The pure majesty and beauty of the films of Stanley Kubrick (not all of which are appropriate) is not necessarily the narratives that are told, but is how Kubrick tells the story, a perfect understanding of how film communicates with it’s audience. Perhaps no film represents this better than the sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film which may confuse individuals by it’s narrative structure, but it clearly and perfectly communicates the themes of Kubrick’s story. 2001 isn’t just Kubrick showing off his talent in special effects and cinematography (though it certainly does), it communicates the atmosphere and wonder of it’s setting. From the famous “ballet in space” scene to the “Jupiter light show”, Kubrick understands that the visuals make you process the setting rather than just tell you what to think, making it one of the most visually-driven films ever made.

More importantly, 2001 is a theory on the meaning and origin of life, which is advanced through the alien intelligence of the Monolith, a large black box, which helps develop the primal monkeys at the dawn of time to understand how to use tools, through the advancement of technology and evolution of the future. However, understanding his Darwinian roots, Kubrick also realizes that future hope is based in the death of other species, from primal monkeys who must learn to adapt, to the intelligence of the computer HAL, to the lonely and isolated astronaut dying alone. Whatever hope is contrived by the future, it leaves nothing but a bleak outlook for those living in the present.

Archive Analysis: "Hitch"

Hitch
Directed by: Andy Tennant
Starring: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James
Rated: PG-13 for language and some strong sexual references

Romantic comedies are rarely embraced by the male audience because, well, we don’t understand them. We don’t connect with the Cinderella mentality that “our lives our not complete without you” or “I’ve been looking my entire life for you.” What we do connect with is how difficult it is to fall for and try to win over the girl of your dreams. The rom-com Hitch focuses on just that, in a funny-yet-honest way that seems to understand us better than we understand ourselves. While some minor sexual content and themes may be too much for some, Hitch is relatively clean compared to others in it’s genre and promotes the ideas that relationships should not be taken lightly because people are at stake, and that there is more to a person than their exterior looks and suaveness. And, most importantly for this film, it’s truly funny, entertaining, and relatable.

Archive Analysis: "North by Northwest"

North by Northwest

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
Rated: PG for violence, sexual themes, brief mild language, and smoking

The aspect one has to love about Hitchcock is how he can create adventure and intrigue from purely nothing. Thankfully, the “master of suspense” found an adventure across the United States an exciting prospect for his suspense film North by Northwest, which feels more like a 60s Bond film then what we associate with Hitchcock, but it’s a solid diversion nonetheless. The film’s premise follows Cary Grant’s character who is mistaken as a secret agent and framed for murder. He, with the help of a female companion played by Eva Marie Saint, must run from not only the police, but also the criminals who started this mess, all the while trying to unravel the mystery of what is happening. While it’s certainly not one of Hitchcock’s most mind-bending films (and is certainly lacking any characters with integrity), North by Northwest is a fun, suspenseful film that captures the adventurous locations of the United States in an exciting and creative fashion.

Enjoy this entertaining trailer, featuring "The Master", himself.