Movie Review Super 8

Super 8 (2011) 

Directed by J.J Abrams

Written by J.J Abrams

Starring Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich 

Release Date June 10th, 2011

Published June 9th, 2011 

The combined imaginations of Steven Speilberg and J.J Abrams come together to create "Super 8" and it's a glorious combination. With Speilberg's childlike wonder and Abrams's taste in movie monsters, Super 8 is a nostalgic feast for those whose inner child carries fond memories of E.T, The Goonies, Stand by Me or any of the best of the cheesy, late night sci-fi movies of the 1950's.

Let's Make a Movie

In a Walt Disney-esque opening we see 12 year old Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) just after his mother has been killed. Joe is left in the care of his distant but protective father Jack (Kyle Chandler) while turning to his young friends for what modest comfort he can find. Part of his comfort is the distraction of making a movie.

Joe along with his visionary director pal Charles (Riley Griffiths), Martin (Gabriel Basso), Preston (Zach Mills) and Cary (Ryan Lee), are making a zombie on Charles's parent Super 8 camera. Charles has also recruited 14 year old Alice (Elle Fanning) to be his lead actress. Alice's father Louis (Ron Eldard) happens to have an unfortunate connection to Joe's mother.

On a late night on train station platform just outside of town the kids are filming a scene when a train rumbles through. As eager Charles sets up to get a shot of the train for the movie, Joe spots something unusual coming from the opposite direction, a truck has jumped onto the tracks and is driving right at the train.

Part Speilberg, Part Abrams

I will leave the rest of "Super 8" for you to discover, my plot description gets you through the first 10 minutes or so, right up until the spectacular train crash that will leave your jaw on the floor. Director J.J Abrams really loves the crashing of metal on metal and once the kids race to safety amidst the flying debris you will need a moment to catch your breath.

You won't have much time for breath catching however as director J.J Abrams delivers thrilling excitement at a brisk pace throughout. Super 8 is a fascinating mix of J.J Abrams taste for action and Steven Speilberg's childlike wonder. The film is equal parts "Cloverfield," which Abrams produced, and "E.T" and part "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with a dash of the TV mystery "Lost."

Edge of Your Seat Excitement

Therein lies the only problem I foresee for Super 8 in finding audience; it's difficult to say what audience it's aimed at. Little kids, those under 12 will too frightened by Abrams's taste in alien movie scares while teenagers won't want to go to any movie that appeals to the nostalgia of mom and dad as Super 8 very much does.

Pushing aside the box office and marketing stuff, "Super 8" is quite simply a terrific movie. It has humor, suspense, action and scares in classically Speilberg fashion crafted with the modern imagination of J.J Abrams. "Super 8" is very much in the spirit of classic 50's sci fi movies which reminds me of my favorite line about classic sci fi, one that really applies to "Super 8," buy a ticket for a whole seat but you will only need 'THE EDGE!

Movie Review Little Children

Little Children (2006) 

Directed by Todd Field 

Written by Todd Field, Todd Perrotta 

Starring Patrick Wilson, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earl Haley, Noah Emmerich

Release Date October 6th, 2006

Published October 12th, 2006 

Before the release of his astonishing debut feature In The Bedroom writer director Todd Field was an anonymous actor best known for a small role as a piano player in Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut. Field has said that it was that experience watching Stanley Kubrick, getting to ask the master questions and peer over his shoulder that inspired him to move ahead with In The Bedroom.

As life changing experiences go, that's a pretty good one. Now with his second feature Little Children, Todd Field cements his rising auteur status with another self assured examination of suburban angst that is part American Beauty but all Todd Field.

Kate Winslet heads a terrific ensemble in Little Children as  Sarah, a bored housewife trapped in a lousy marriage with a three year old daughter she simply can't connect with. Sarah spends her days with her daughter, watching her play alone as other kids run around. Sarah sits to the side listening to the clucking of fellow stay at home moms who dote on their kids and make catty comments about strangers.

Then in walks the prom king, a nickname given to a handsome young stay at home dad none of the mothers has the nerve to talk to. His name is Brad (Patrick Wilson) and to break up the monotony of her routine, Sarah decides to engage him. The meeting goes further than either would have imagined as Sarah explains to Brad his nickname and the two of them decide to shock the other mothers with a hug and a kiss.

Brad is married to Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) a stunningly beautiful documentary filmmaker that any man would count himself lucky to be with. However, somehow he finds himself attracted to the far less striking, though not unattractive Sarah. The two began to spend time together taking their kids to the local pool and the park. Eventually the friendship becomes an affair and things begin to get out of control.

On the periphery of Sarah and Brad's relationship is the story of a sex offender who has moved into their neighborhood. His name is Ronald (Jackie Earl Haley) and though the nature of his crime is unknown, he is fresh from prison and on the sex offender list. A retired cop, and friend of Brad's, Larry (Noah Emmerich); has made protecting the neighborhood from Ronald his new mission in life. As you can probably imagine, this subplot is headed for an explosion that will collide with Sarah and Brad. There is however, nothing easily predicted about Little Children.

Field is an observant director who finds story in the details of peoples lives. His attention to detail in Little Children is at times darkly humorous, as in a scene where Winslet observes her fellow mothers with the eye of an anthropologist and it is heartbreaking as when Winslet and Wilson share that kiss in the park and find everything that has been missing in their mundane routine lives.

Suburban angst became quite fashionable after American Beauty won best picture. Suddenly, peeling back the veneer of those manicured lawns and white picket fences became a quick, clever shorthand for Hollywood writers. The results were often mere ripoffs. Todd Field's own In The bedroom was essentially one of those films and with its quiet dignity and devastating twists it broke the mold. Now with Little Children Field plows the same rich soil and once again delivers unique insight and characters.

Little Children is unexpectedly sexy as Winslet and Wilson engage in some of this years most erotic love scenes. These scenes have a sweat soaked intensity and emotional acuity that they go beyond being merely sexual in context and become dramatic expressions of angst, heartache and longing. So much modern movie sex is about the exposure of good looking actors, the love scenes in Little Children feel essential in getting to the core of these characters.

Kate Winslet is the standout of a terrific ensemble. Though dressed down to seem dowdy and bookish, Winslet remains effortlessly sexy and inviting. As Iris her eyes sparkle with intelligence wounded by years of underachievement. This is a woman who finds herself married and a mother and realizes that these are things she never wanted for herself. Her relationship with Brad is the one outlet she has for the angst of these realizations and that brings an intensity to the relationship that aches from the screen.

Patrick Wilson puts to rest the whining weakling performance from Phantom Of The Opera and shows a talent for playing a good looking cipher without it seeming like just another dumb actor not really actiing. Jackie Earl Haley rounds out the main cast with a devastating performance as Ronald the convicted child molester. This is a role of great depth and sadness and Haley plays it with a wounded animal's ferocity.

Little Children is a smart, darkly humorous and observant human drama that features career best performances from each of its ensemble players. With In The Bedroom and Little Children leading his resume he has cemented a burgeoning reputation as one of the next generation of auteurs. I can't wait to see what Todd Field does next.

Movie Review Pride and Glory

Pride and Glory (2008) 

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

Written by Gavin O'Connor 

Starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Noah Emmerich, John Voight Jennifer Ehle

Release Date October 24th, 2008 

Published October 24th, 2008

The tortured history of Pride and Glory extends all the way back to 2001 when Mark Wahlberg and Hugh Jackman were attached to the script with director Joe Carnahan. The attacks of September 11th and the subsequent stories of NYPD heroism caused the project to be shelved. Revived and rejiggered by New Line Pictures and director Gavin O'Connor, Pride and Glory got the go ahead in 2006 with Edward Norton and Colin Ferrell in the leads.

And then things get murky. Whether Edward Norton went all Edward Norton on the movie or New Line had a disagreement with director O'Connor, Pride Glory completely found itself on the shelf. Two years later the film arrives and it may have been better off on the shelf.

Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) gave up on being a detective years ago. An incident involving his family, fellow cops and a cover up turned on Ray so badly that although he was never caught lying, he couldn't live with the guilt and hid out in a new assignment in missing persons. Now however, a case of four dead cops in his brother Francis' (Noah Emmerich) unit draws Ray back to being a detective.

The four dead cops it seems walked into an ambush as they staked out a seemingly low level drug dealer. The cops went for the bust and the dealer knew they were coming. Someone in the department tipped him off and four cops died. The case is a major headache for Francis as well as his Commander father Francis Sr. (Jon Voight) and thus why they turn to Ray for help.

Things grow much, much worse when a witness links the dealer to Jimmy Egan (Colin Ferrell) , a cop in Francis Jr's unit and Ray and company's brother-in -law. Jimmy married little sister Megan (Lake Bell) a few years back and now he is the main suspect in a corruption investigation that could bring not just the family but the reputation of the NYPD crashing down.

It's a familiar story: corrupt cops, NYPD, family of detectives, blah blah blah. What director Gavin O'Connor does is take these familiar elements and rearrange them into a slightly different form. He has good pieces to work with. Edward Norton  is a tremendous actor who can make the most of even the lamest material. Colin Ferrell has a more limited range than Norton but makes up for a lot with charisma.

These two actors make the most of what is given them but Pride and Glory remains a failure despite their best efforts. The script is just too familiar and Gavin O'Connor's attempts to reform those elements into a new story only serve to find further faults. Worse however, is the repeated moments of what is referred to rhetorically as Deus Ex Machina, the hand of god.

When a screenwriter is stuck he will often let slide a coincidence or two or three. These coincidences work to allow characters to be placed at just the perfect time. They allow characters to hold off on motivations or hunches or memories until just the moment they are needed as if the hand of god were delivering the character to the place they are needed or reminding them of just the right memory at just the moment it's needed.

These plot conveniences in Pride and Glory are groan-inducing to the point of modest chuckles for savvy audience members who recognize them.

What is a real shame about Pride and Glory is that it wastes an Oscar worthy effort by longtime character actor Noah Emmerich. As the conflicted captain of a corrupt unit. Emmerich walks a tightrope between drama and caricature and makes the right dramatic decision almost each time. On top of being the boss and dealing with all of this corruption, Francis has a wife at home, played by Jennifer Ehle, who is dying of cancer.

Many actors would be overwhelmed with so much sorrow to play but Emmerich handles it all exceptionally well. If the movie weren't such a dog overall Emmerich could have been a strong contender for best supporting actor. Thankfully, based on his work in Pride and Glory I have no doubt something like that is still in his future.

If your plot is too familiar you have to do more than just rearrange the elements slightly. Play with the tone, grim sadness and gritty gray skied backgrounds are so done. Play with the characters, make one a woman, give one an unusual quirk, work in some dark humor. Do something to keep the audience from sitting in the dark wondering where they've seen all of this before.

Also, if your script so often needs the hand of god to deliver characters to need locations or revelations, maybe you shouldn't make the movie at all.

Movie Review: Fair Game

Fair Game (2010) 

Directed by Doug Liman

Written by Jez Butterworth, Jon Butterworth

Starring Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Noah Emmerich, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly 

Release Date October 1st, 2010

Published October 2nd, 2010 

Is it just me or does the American left wing love remembering their failures? Whether it's Paul Greengrass in “Green Zone” relieving many of the massive intelligence failures that slipped past us during the Iraq war or Doug Liman building a lovely monument to our ignorance of the truths uncovered by Ambassador Joe Wilson in “Fair Game,” we cannot seem to get enough of reminding ourselves how powerless and ignorant we were.

The left loves mulling over it's failures and “Fair Game” is nothing short of a commemorative plaque to failure, a paean to blithe ignorance and a testament to the left's love of pointlessly re-living the past while ignoring the present and failing the future. Oh and I haven't even yet mentioned director Doug Liman who apparently must have been made quite ill by what he found in the story of Valerie Plame as his camera whips and sways about like vertigo patient off of his meds.

Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), for those who are somehow still ignorant, was a CIA agent working on intelligence in the run up to the war with Iraq. We pick up her story in that brief respite from September 11th, the bombing of Afghanistan and the rather bizarre decision to attack Iraq. Plame was working around the globe all the while returning home on weekends for dinners with friends and nights with her former Ambassador husband, Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) and two children.

When the White House made the attention shift to Iraq Plame was among the working class analysts who looked at the data with zero agenda and offered sane sound evidence. Among the many intelligence gathering tasks Plame's group was assigned were allegations that Saddam Hussein was attempting to buy Yellow Cake Uranium from the tiny African nation of Niger, not to be confused with Nigeria; two different places.

Knowing that her husband had contacts and experience in the region from his time in the Ambassador corps; Plame recommended Joe be sent to meet with a group put together by the Vice President who then sent Wilson to Niger on a fact finding mission. That mission revealed that Niger had almost zero capability of transporting the alleged materials if indeed they ever had such things.

Meanwhile, Valerie's own intelligence gathering seemed to uncover that Iraq barely had the weapons to rub two sticks together let alone create a working nuclear program. The greatest danger in the country lay with the scientists from the long defunct nuke program whose knowledge and capability might be valuable to another more viable enemy such as neighboring Iran or even North Korea.

Valerie was on task to gather many of these scientists to bring to the US when all hell broke loose. Watching helplessly as the White House ignored and distorted evidence he had gathered, Joe Wilson took to the op-ed pages and the Sunday talk shows to reveal the lies of the Bush Administration. In retaliation a coterie of Bush henchman including Richard Armitage, Karl Rove and fall guy Scooter Libby leaked the name of Joe's wife and set off a tidal wave of lies that likely lead to more death and future instability in the Middle East.

Sounds like a wonderful narrative for the American left doesn't it? Well, it's not so much a narrative, that's what truly happened. Wilson, Plame and numerous others told us this was happening as it was happening and have since written comprehensive non-fiction accounts of it all. We simply were not listening. Now, Doug Liman offers “Fair Game” and because it is such a lazy, slipshod effort we will continue not listening.

”Fair Game” offers nothing new to the story of Valerie Plame, nothing that those already interested in her story don't already know and nothing that anyone opposed to the Plame 'version' will willingly listen to. It's great to have yet another pop cultural recording of our failure to stop the war in Iraq but like Paul Greengrass's “Green Zone,” we needed this movie five years ago.

We needed movies like “Fair Game” when John Kerry was being beaten in a must win 2004 election. We needed movies like “Fair Game” when people on our side of the argument like then Senator Hillary Clinton voted to send us to Iraq.

We knew then, even before Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame were being dragged through the mud that we were being lied to and we did little to nothing to oppose it. “Fair Game” would be worthy now if it offered some object lesson for us to learn from. This would be a worthy effort if it gave us something useful to carry forward. Instead, “Fair Game” is merely a checklist of our failures recounted with tremendous historical accuracy.

And then there is the bizarre direction of Doug Liman, one of our finest action directors (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum) who battles the straight drama of “Fair Game” with an action directors eye. Using a handheld camera, Liman acted as his own Cinematographer and attempts to give us a firsthand point of view of the events inside the Plame-Wilson household.

It’s a bold experiment except that Liman’s idea of a firsthand account is a whipsaw move of the camera from one character to the next as if we were strapped to the back of a fly on the wall. Bring your sea-sickness meds, especially for the dinner party scenes where Liman attempts to take on the perspective of every character at the table in very short order.

Late in the movie, in a quiet scene between Penn's Joe Wilson and Watt's Valerie Plame, Liman's camera can barely stay still to keep Ms. Watts in frame. Yet, in the next moment it is trained almost perfectly on Mr. Penn as if the actor, who is a fine director in his own right, demanded Mr. Liman pauses while filming him.

There is a scene between Watts and Sam Shepard who plays Valerie Plame's father where the director actually seems to have left in a frame where someone off screen bumped the camera knocking both actors almost completely out of frame. Whether this is some sort of cinema verite experiment or just plain laziness is anyone's guess.

I truly despise much of “Fair Game.” As someone who opposed the war in Iraq from day one I am tired of reliving our failure to prevent this massive screw up. It's done, millions of Iraqis are dead, hundreds of thousands of our soldiers are dead and no one, not even the beloved President Obama, can give us a reason why or voice any kind of proper outrage about it.

Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame have tired of the topic. Having moved from Washington after writing their books they are content to leave it all behind. Their approach is my approach. Unless you can show me something new, a lesson that we can pass on from this devastating, destructive, nearly decade long failure that is Iraq, I am simply not interested. “Fair Game” is irrelevance in film form.

Movie Review: Windtalkers

Windtalkers (2002) 

Directed by John Woo 

Written by John Rice

Starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Stormare, Christian Slater, Noah Emmerich

Release Date June 14th, 2002 

Published June 13th, 2002 

War is hell and now so is watching war movies. The drive towards more realistic violence have made for some very hard-to-watch films. Saving Private Ryan set the standard, followed by films like Enemy At The Gates, We Were Soldiers, Black Hawk Down and most recently John Woo’s Windtalkers. Though it purports to be about Navajo Indian code talkers, Windtalkers as they were called, the film is actually about violence and war movie clichés. 

Nicolas Cage stars in Windtalkers as Joe Enders, a borderline crazy marine. When we are first introduced to Joe he is attempting to hold a position that is, to the rest of his platoon, already lost. Joe’s entire platoon is killed but he survives and returns to battle with a new assignment. Joe is to ship out to Saipan where he and his platoon will protect the military's new secret weapon, a pair of Navajo Indians whose native language is used as code to transmit Japanese troop movements without the Japanese being able to spy on it. 

The Navajo soldiers are Ben (Adam Beach) and Whitehorse (Roger Willie). Rounding out the platoon is your typical cast of recognizable character actors whose names become interchangeable though their faces are semi-recognizable. Christian Slater, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Stormare, and Noah Emmerich, amongst others, are the interchangeable soldiers.

Director John Woo is the absolute wrong choice to direct this film. With his penchant for stylistic violence, Woo forgets that the story is the code talkers and not video game style pyro technics. Adam Beach and Roger Willie get the short shrift from a story that would be better served by a smaller budget and a more centralized script. If the film would have focused more on the development of the code and the Navajo characters the story would be far more interesting. Of course it would have been far less commercial.

My guess is that the original story was about the code talkers but producers with dollar signs in their eyes got a hold of it, signed on big name star Cage and big name director Woo and put aside the real story in favor of one that played up Cage’s character. Once again, typical Hollywood greed ruins a good story. Navajo Code talkers were real, and the code they created helped the U.S win the war in the Pacific. There is a really good story to be told about them, Windtalkers is not it. -