Movie Review: "The Woman in Black"

The Woman in Black
Directed by: James Watkins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer

Rated: PG-13 for thematic material and violence/disturbing images

In the midst of our current age of unaesthetic docu-style horror films or blood-drenched slasher flicks, it's always good to watch a simple, creepy ghost story that takes on the horror genre's more artistic traits without falling into R-rated material.  The most recent movie to do this is James Watkins' haunted house flick The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe in his first role since the Harry Potter franchise wrapped.  In the film, he stars as Arthur Kipps, a young widower in the Victorian era, who is assigned to go over the final assets of a wealthy woman who recently died in a nearby village.  Upon his arrival, he is met with hostility by the townsfolk, who believe that his involvement in the old woman's house will awaken a curse that has plagued the town over the past twenty or so years.  And, wouldn't you know it, they're on to something.  The movie's strength is the art direction; it's truly remarkable and almost a character in the story, itself.  Every room of the house is filled with imagery that is as beautiful as it is terrifying, which is only enhanced by the crisp, digital cinematography that is saturated with color yet muted in it's brightness.  As Radcliffe walks the halls, candles in hand, your mind begins racing with anticipation, sure that any mirror will suddenly show you something, any door may suddenly open, or any doll may come to life; it's quite fun experience.  And, while the film doesn't have much of a plot or really any interesting characters, it still manages to scare and startle you as much as just generally creep you out.  Unlike the uncreative or disgusting films of it's genre, The Woman in Black is a fun and creepy horror film that will show you very little and let your imagination do the rest.

Movie Review: "Safe House"

Safe House
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, 

Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard
Rated: R for strong violence throughout and some language

With heart-pumping action and some psychological twists, Daniel Espinosa's thriller Safe House is a fun ride that's only drawback is not living up to it's own potential.  The movie follows Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), a CIA operative who is stuck at a dead-end position working in a safe house in the middle of Cape Town, South Africia.  That is, until the day that a dangerous rouge CIA operative named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) turns himself in, and is transported to Weston's safe house, which is, of course, attacked shortly thereafter, forcing Weston to take Frost and go on the run from the assassins chasing them.  As if hiding from these criminals wasn't enough, Weston also has to try to keep Frost from escaping or, even worse, turning on the CIA for fear that one of them is in on the attack.  As mind-bending as this may seem, the film never gets to the depth of the latter two Bourne films, and seemingly never fleshes out the potential between Frost and Weston.  From the very beginning, the movie spends too much time with Frost, makes him too likeable, not mysterious enough, and doesn't play the depth of mind games that he could with Weston. Besides that (and the fact that the true villain is obvious throughout the film), Safe House is a action-packed thrill ride that packs some hard punches and some interesting questions that forces us to deal with black-and-white morality in the middle of life-and-death situations.

Movie Review: "The Avengers"

The Avengers
Directed by: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo,

Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, 

Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of Sci- Fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference

Kicking off the summer blockbuster season is the opus of Marvel’s recent superhero films: Joss Whedon’s The Avengers.  Ever since 2008’s Iron Man movie, Marvel has been planning the release of a film following the famous superhero team, where the heroes (and stars) from previous films (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and others) are gathered together to fight one major attack on Earth.  While it does takes some time and a lot of pointless plot and science lingo to get to this plot rolling, it’s non-stop superhero action once the Avengers assemble.  It’s fun seeing the multiple egos and superpowers emerge and try to work together, but this is about as deep as the characters get.  (Although Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner /Hulk did seem to stand apart from the crowd.)  And it was also strange to see the extraterrestrial life enter into the Marvel universe; with the exception of the movie Thor there really hasn’t been aliens in any of the Marvel films.  (Something I feel will weaken the series down the road.)  Overall, it’s fun to watch all these storylines finally weave together.  But the real test of the Avengers will be if they can keep the franchise alive post their assembly.

Movie Review: "My Week with Marilyn"

My Week with Marilyn
Directed by: Simon Curtis

Starring: Michelle Williams, Ken Branagh, Maggie Smith, 
Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson
Rated: R for some language

Based on the memoir of Colin Clark, the recent mini-biopic My Week with Marilyn is a rather toned down and plotless picture of one of the greatest icons of the 20th century.  The film doesn’t follow her life, but instead centers around a one-week fling that Marilyn (supposedly) had with a young third assistant director while shooting a picture in England.  The story tries to give this “behind the scenes” look at Marilyn, who was haunted by insecurities and lack of privacy, but it never goes into greater depth beyond that.  Thankfully, Michelle Williams (who is one of the best female actors of this generation) rises to the occasion to give us what little life and depth her character has, and Kenneth Branagh’s Sir. Laurence Olivier is as brash and powerful of a performance as they come.  However, the film had more sexual content than listed and I still failed to see the great truth that Colin supposedly discovers.  At the end, a character metaphorically tells him that he’s grown up during the film, but never what, specifically, he learned during the ordeal.  Broken hearts are only beneficial if you learn from them, and not simply a right of passage.  Otherwise, you’ll end up like the pained and heart-broken Marilyn Monroe, who repeated her own mistakes over and over again.

Archive Analysis: "Capote"

Capote
Directed by: Bennett Miller

Starring: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Chris Cooper
Rated: R for violent images and brief strong language

Bennet Miller's haunting biopic on Truman Capote and the writing of his novel In Cold Blood perfectly captures the story, the man, and most importantly the psychology of the man who wrote perhaps the most famous novel of the 20th century, while straying from driving plot points and irrelevant rabbit trails. Truman (played by the gifted Phillip Seymour Hoffman in perhaps his greatest performance ever) is trend-setter, and man beyond his time, who is as gifted as they come, even when compared to his famous childhood friend (and To Kill a Mockingbird author) Harper Lee (Catherine Keener.) However, Truman is almost incapacitated by his own gifts; living up to them (and breaking his own personal stereotypes) leaves him feeling utterly insecure and self-focused, often worrying about how people view him, even in situations where he's not the center of attention. Through these actions, Capote turns people away from him, personally, and turns himself into the outcast that he so fears of becoming, which leads him to feeling some form of empathy towards the killers of his non-fiction novel. Empathy is probably the best way to describe the film; it doesn't condone Capote or the killer's actions, but you want them so badly to find the redemption that seems outreach simply because they can't see life beyond themselves.

Movie Review: "The Art of Getting By"

The Art of Getting By
Directed by: Gavin Wiesen

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano
Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements including sexual content, language, teen drinking and partyingThe indie coming-of-age story The Art of Getting By pits a fatalistic teenager (Freddie Highmore) whose drab outlook on life causes him to go through life as a slacker, without passion or dreams. He doesn’t do homework, doesn’t have friends, and doesn’t even have any hobbies or goals. But this all changes when he begins a friendship with another trouble teenager (Emma Roberts, practically playing the same role from her film It’s Kind of a Funny Story) who forces Highmore’s character to wrestle with his emotions rather than just ignore them. While the honesty of the film is admirable, the muddy tale is full of pointless sub-plots , teenage angst (and law-breaking), and confusing themes; much like the main character, our emotions towards what is happening have no connection to a message or theme; as good as everything turns out, we’re not sure how or why it did so. Much like the title, this film simply gets by as a decent, quirky drama that would have been far more powerful had it actually had something to say in the end.

Archive Analysis: "Hamlet"

Hamlet
(1996)

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Kenneth Brannagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslett,
Judi Dench, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Charleton Heston
Rated: PG-13 for some violent images and sexualityThe epic of Shakespearean adaptations, Kenneth Branagh’s unabridged, colossal scale retelling of Hamlet is a spectacle for the ages. Shot on pristine 70mm film (the most recent of films to have done so), this adaptation is played out by acting greats such as Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslett, Julie Christie, Michael Maloney, Judi Dench, Gerard Depardieu, Richard Attenborough, and Charleton Heston, as well as comedic cameos from Billy Crystal and Robin Williams (both of which must be forgiven for their lack of English accents.) The performances (particularly Maloney, Branagh, and Winslett) are dynamic and the cinematography and score are wondrous. And despite the laboriously long scenes for a movie, Branagh utilize films’ strength by editing shots outside of the scene into the various acts, which not only makes the story more powerful, but also re-emphasizes what the character is talking about, which is helpful for those like me who don’t always understand Shakespeare’s dialogue. (Perhaps this isn’t always a bad thing: Branagh’s adaptation has some gruesome moments, and includes some cut-aways of a sex scene between Hamlet and Ophelia, which is implied in Shakespeare’s script but never shown.) As massive and long (over 4 hours) as this adaptation is, it still is missing the power of the story and even of other film adaptations. This is no fault of Shakespeare, and certainly not of Branagh. It’s simply because theatrical plays (which are dialogue driven) don’t adapt well to cinema (which are visually driven.) Despite the strength of Shakespeare’s story and dialogue, as well as Branagh’s vision, when it comes to Hamlet, the play is still the thing.