Classic Movie Review Swing Kids

Swing Kids (1993) 

Directed by Thomas Carter

Written by Jonathan Marc Feldman 

Starring Christian Bale, Robert Sean Leonard, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey 

Release Date March 5th, 1993 

Published June 21st, 1993 

Swing Kids is an obnoxious movie about obnoxious characters being obnoxious amid the rising tensions and hatred of pre-World War 2 Germany. The story follows a group of young men, led by best friends, Peter (Leonard) and Thomas (Bale). All these boys want to do is dance, listen to records, and meet girls but their idyllic dance-floor utopia is interrupted by the rise of the Third Reich. The demand for conformity and discipline eventually takes hold of Thomas, who becomes a member of the Hitler Youth, straining not only his friendship to Peter but his loyalty to their bohemian, dancing music loving circle. 

It's not a bad premise for a movie but as executed by Thomas Carter, it captures mostly the obnoxious side of being a wild-eyed, horny teenager and the way those who may not have strong family lives, are more susceptible to seemingly charismatic cult leaders. Thomas falls in with the Hitler Youth because he is distant from his rich father, he craves the chance to belong to something, and he's in conflict with everyone else in his life, including Peter who refuses to fall in line with the S.S, and wants Thomas to remember that a member of their friend group, Arvid (Frank Whaley), is Jewish and thus very vulnerable at this point in time. 

Whaley delivers the most interesting and compelling performance in Swing Kids as a Jazz loving, Jazz guitarist who refuses to compromise his Jewish background or his dedicated bohemian, communist morals. Though he is often framed by the film as being unreasonable in how he appears perfectly willing to die in order to defy the Nazis, Whaley gives the performance depth and weight beyond the box that the script and the direction place him in. Whaley's is a performance of deep conviction and sincerity, a counterpoint to Leonard's wishy-washy, non-committal approach and Bale's obnoxious embrace of all things Nazi. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review Insidious

Insidious (2011) 

Directed by James Wan 

Written by Leigh Whannell

Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye 

Release Date April 1st, 2011

Published April 1st, 2011

The creators of "Saw" and "Paranormal Activity" have come together to create a PG-13 creep-fest that doesn't lose anything for its lack of gore and swear words. "Insidious" stars Rose Byrne as Renai and Patrick Wilson as her husband Josh. Together they have three kids and a brand new dream home.

Dream home becomes a nightmare

Unfortunately, that dream home quickly turns into a nightmare when Renai and Josh's son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) explores the house he ends up falling off a ladder. Soon after, Dalton falls into a coma and that's when things get weird. Dalton's doctor informs mom and dad that their son has no physical trauma from his fall and there is no medical reasoning for his coma.

Dalton is taken home and for a few months he simply seems to sleep. That's when the haunting begins. First, the whole family is taunted by some entity that sets off their security system. Then Renai begins seeing figures walking around the house. Finally the family is forced out of the house, assuming that it is the house that is haunted. I will stop the direct plot description there.

There's something about Elise

The fun of "Insidious" really begins after the family moves into their new home and the ghosts move with them and Lin Shaye, best remembered as the overly suntanned neighbor of Cameron Diaz in "There's Something About Mary" joins the cast as Elise, a psychic, paranormalist and expert in something called 'Astral Projection.' Shaye's performance is arguably the most entertaining in the film as she is both oddly sunny and believably strange.

Elise with her team, including "Insidious" screenwriter Lee Whannell, informs the family that Dalton is not in a coma. What's wrong with Dalton is one of the many fun secrets of "Insidious" that I will not spoil. Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell prove with "Insidious" that they don't need the torture implements of the "Saw" films to earn screams from the audience.

If you thought Tiny Tim was creepy before...

In "Insidious" Wan and Whannell use clever imagery to get the big scares. Watch the windows; in nearly every window frame in "Insidious" there is a frightening glimpse of something creepy. Wan and Whannell don't stop at pictures however and when the spooks and demons begin coming into the room things get really creepy. Wan and Whannell even turn Tiny Tim's ukulele anthem "Tiptoe through the Tulips" into an eerie set piece.

"Insidious" is a smart combination of Wan and Whannell's talent for fright imagery with the concept of the "Paranormal Activity" movies with their endless numbers of cameras, doors that shut by themselves and ghastly ghostly possessions. It's a surprisingly good mix that somehow works even with the restrictive PG-13 rating.

Movie Review Lantana

Lantana (2002) 

Directed by Ray Lawrence

Written by Andrew Bovell 

Starring Anthony LaPaglia, Barbara Hershey, Kerry Armstrong, Russell Dykstra

Release Date March 8th, 2002 

Published May 21st, 2002 

For those of you with no knowledge of Australian shrubbery, and unwillingness to grab a dictionary, the title of the film Lantana will be a complete mystery. Even watching the film I had no idea what lantana is. I though it was going to be a character’s name. I come to find out it is a form of shrub native to Australia that is a prickly mass, difficult to navigate, with a foul odor, but also containing small, beautiful flowers. The title now makes sense as this sticky, foul, yet beautiful plant is a perfect metaphor for the relationships portrayed in the film Lantana.

Anthony LaPaglia stars as Detective Leon Zat. Leon is married, though not quite happily, to Sonja (Kerry Armstrong) who is oblivious at first to her marital problems. The audience is clued in quickly as we are introduced to Leon's one-night stand Jane (Rachel Blake). Leon and Jane met at a dance class Leon was taking with his wife that was supposed to get them to be closer. Seeing that the dance classes aren't working, Sonja begins seeing a psychiatrist named Valerie played by Barbara Hershey. Valerie is a good psychiatrist but still has problems with her own marriage to John (Geoffrey Rush). It seems that another client of Valerie's, a gay man who is carrying on an affair with a married man, has got Valerie thinking her own husband may be the married man in question.

Also on the periphery of this story are Jane's neighbors Nik and Paula (Vince Colosimo and Daniella Fanucci) and Jane's ex-husband Pete. Each of those smaller roles become more pivotal after the murder of one of the lead characters.

Lantana at this point could have become a typical suspense genre police procedural with LaPaglia's detective becoming some rogue cop on the edge of the law. Director Ray Lawrence however refuses to rollover into genre convention. Instead, the murder is used to deepen the emotional elements of the interaction between the remaining characters.

Anthony LaPaglia has never been better. Sure he has played a cop a thousand times but this time it's not about being a cop, it's about dialogue and characterization. LaPaglia shines in a role that if “Hollywoodized,” would meltdown into dull melodrama.

Adapted from the stage play Speaking in Tongues by Andrew Bovell, Lantana is a powerful meditation on the complexities of marriage and all other relationships for that matter. The film is about the ridiculous games we play with people trying to show them our best face. Sometimes you lie, sometimes you tell half the truth or maybe you just tell someone what you think they want to here in order to avoid confrontation. These little games we've all played at one time are what Lantana lays bare in a way that is hard to watch at times.

The film isn't perfect, it's pacing is glacial and the title while properly metaphorical, is never explained, which I found distracting.

The overall intent of the film is very clear and its insight on relationships makes clear what’s wrong with a very similar film, Ed Burns's Sidewalks of New York. Sidewalks, with it's superficial dialogue and shallow characters, is the antithesis of Lantana. Sadly, Sidewalks is also the “Hollywoodized” version of Lantana. 

Movie Review: Black Swan

Black Swan (2010)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky 

Written by Mark Heyman

Starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

Release Date December 3rd, 2010

Published December 2nd, 2010  

Cause this is f.....d up, f....d up.." Thom Yorke "Black Swan" The Eraser 2006.

Thom Yorke unknowingly encapsulated Darren Aronofsky's “Black Swan” in his song Black Swan back in 2006. Indeed, “Black Swan” the movie is 'F....d up.' The story of a prima ballerina in New York City who gets her big break as the lead in the legendary "Swan Lake."

“Black Swan” is extreme melodrama of a kind that only Darren Aronofsky can create and features a second to none, tour de force performance from Natalie Portman that bears comparison with De Niro's method take on Jake Lamotta in “Raging Bull.”

In “Black Swan” Natalie Portman stars as Nina Sayers an overgrown child with dreams of being the featured performer at the New York City Ballet. Living at home with her codependent mom (Barbara Hershey) whose own failure to rise beyond the corps in the same company years earlier has driven much of Nina's own career. If having her mother trying to live vicariously through her isn't troubling enough, Nina is also a cutter who has apparently started cutting again as we join the story; her mother discovers a scratch on Nina's back as she dresses her.

Arriving at Lincoln Center for the beginning of rehearsals for a new season Nina finds that the company's lead ballerina, Beth (Winona Ryder) is being forced out and that Thomas (Vincent Cassell) will mount a newly re-imagined version of Swan Lake with a new lead dancer. Complicating matters for Nina is the arrival of a new, free spirited dancer from the west coast, Lily (Mila Kunis), who Thomas has apparently recruited specifically to join this production.

The plot unfolds as one might expect as Nina finds herself in competition with Lily and constantly concerned that the newcomer is attempting to undermine her. What is not predictable is the ways in which director Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique turn up the heat on these proceedings and juice “Black Swan” from slight, goofy melodrama into an over the top camp melodrama that combines exploitation films with high minded art films like we've never seen before.

Natalie Portman spent months training to become a ballet professional losing more than 25 pounds from her already slight frame and allegedly breaking both ribs and toes in the process. I will put what Ms. Portman did up against the physical commitment of any actor in just about any role; her commitment here is remarkable and the performance is devastating as a result.

In previous roles Ms. Portman has played vulnerable but in “Black Swan” she takes on a frightful level of frailty. Looking as if a stiff breeze could take her away and speaking with the quivering voice of a small child, Ms. Portman portrays a fragility that is both physical and emotional. As Nina descends the depths of “Black Swan” Ms. Portman's delicate performance acquires bizarre new levels and by the end you are so fascinated by her that “Black Swan's” many artistic flights slip past almost unnoticed.

The extraordinary look of “Black Swan” is achieved with a combination of hand held digital and an extraordinarily small 16 millimeter film camera with minimal movie lighting that gives an intimate, almost claustrophobic effect in scenes set in Nina’s tiny apartment and an elegant yet macabre look during the lavishly produced ballet sequences. The camera work is so fluid and the production design so terrific that it may go unnoticed by many.

Not surprisingly, the scenes getting the most attention are the sex scenes. Long time friends Portman and Kunis engage is a rigorous girl on girl scene that is more in the imagination of the viewer than you may have been lead to believe. In an exceptional series of scenes Matthew Cassell's imperious leader instructs Nina to touch herself in order to get in touch with the seductive character of the Black Swan leading to a scene that begins erotic and grows disturbingly, darkly, comic.

Darren Aronofsky is part of that rare breed of directors with nerves of steel who rarely question their vision even if that vision is wildly out of the norm. Few other filmmakers would have the guts to try what Aronofsky somehow pulls off in “Black Swan,” a blithely over the top melodrama that haughtily demands to be taken seriously. Laugh if you like, Aronofsky and “Black Swan” stand proudly and in the ungodly brilliant performance of Natalie Portman indeed you have something that cannot easily be dismissed.

“Black Swan” is a stunner; a film of extravagant oddity and highly charged passion. A film with a deeply melodramatic heart and yet high minded pretensions. Darren Aronofsky and company walk a daring high wire act to keep all of these elements in play, at odds and ever moving toward a crashing, spectacular crescendo. This is a film that demands and commands your attention.