Salt

So, after lamenting that I had one stupid review left to write, I go to post this on my web site and find out that I reviewed it already, months ago. Niiiice. Well, here's another review of Salt, no point in deleting this one...lol (Ironically, my grade didn't change, months later)


SALT (2010)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber

After being accused by a defector of being a Russian spy, CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Jolie) goes on the run, followed closely by her boss, Ted Winter (Schreiber).

I wish I could add more to that summary, but I really can't. Salt is that shallow and dim of a film. Director Phillip Noyce has pretty much earned his bread and butter from mainstream action flicks like Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games, and Salt certainly is a mainstream action flick, but it is also ridiculously bad. The plot didn't make sense, the acting was terrible and the film was just generally a hot mess.

I don't understand Angelina Jolie. I think she has some acting chops, and she can practically carry a film with sex appeal alone, but she keeps making mediocre (and bad) films in between some halfway decent ones and I can't figure out why. I'm also becoming profoundly disillusioned with Liev Schreiber, who has been my "intellectual" crush for years since his days as an independent film guy. I'll grant him the desire for exposure (and money) with a movie like Wolverine, but there's no excuse for Salt. I couldn't even sit back and take in the eye candy, I was so embarrassed for him.

When one walks into an action film or a "popcorn flick", expectations have to be low otherwise you're just setting yourself up for a disappointment and you have no one to blame but yourself. When my friend I walked into Salt, we were expecting nothing but a fun action film that would probably be bad, but hey, he could ogle Angelina and I could drool over Liev. What we got was a terrible film that somehow fell below our already nonexistent standards, and the best thing I can say about it is that it had us hysterically laughing during several parts of the movie. Unfortunately, I don't think Noyce was looking for that reaction at any time during the film because Salt, even above all of its faults, commits a most egregious sin in film making: it's a dumb action film that takes itself too seriously. And as a result, it is an epic fail.

1 1/2 out of 5 stars (with an extra 1/2 for making us laugh so hard)

Inception

INCEPTION (2010)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page

When one falls asleep, there is a general expectation that your subconscious secrets are kept safe until you let them out. Writer-director Christopher Nolan obliterates this sense of security in Inception, where a band of thieves-for-hire not only can invade your dreams to steal your secrets, but implant ideas as well. Led by Cobb (DiCaprio), the team includes Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), Cobb's right hand man who keeps the team grounded, Ariadne (Page), the architect of the dream, Eames (Tom Hardy), a forger who can appear as different people in the person's dream in order to extract information or move the subject along, and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), the chemist who sedates and watches over them. Cobb has been on the run and unable to return to his children in the United States since being accused of the death of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) but when Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires the team to implant an idea into the head of the son of his business rival, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), Cobb sees his chance to go home, regardless of the danger it puts his team in.

I loved this film for a lot of reasons, one of them being some really fine performances by a great cast. DiCaprio has shown that he can handle some really meaty material, and he really nails it in his portrayal as the extremely complicated Cobb. Also notable was Cotillard, playing Cobb's wife. With a simple look, she could swing from extremely sinister to pitiable in a second. I'm singling these two out, but all of the performances were truly outstanding, and it was nice to see some good character actors get some screen time in such a blockbuster film.

Inception is brilliantly and expertly directed by Nolan, who is no stranger to creating thought-provoking films, like the mend-bending Memento or his twisty debut, Following. With Inception, he creates an epic experience: it's an action-packed thriller, but it's also incredibly cerebral. It's also highly stylized and really nice to look at, with amazing special effects and enough gorgeous slow motion shots to put John Woo to shame.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with Inception is one of the things I most loved about it - its intelligence. I love cerebral films that encourage conceptual thought and require you to come to some of your own conclusions, but there is a fine line between being effortlessly intelligent and not only forcing the material down one's throat but then saying, "look how clever I am." I didn't exactly feel like I was being force fed during Inception, but intellectual revelations were not always natural. Coupled with some heavy-handed moments, the result was a slightly smug undertone at times.

These criticisms aside, I consider Inception to be a remarkable film that was truly exceptionally well done, if not completely accessible. Above all, I loved that a film this intricate could also be so gorgeous to look at and at times, be seriously kick-ass action packed.

4 out of 5 stars

The Kids Are All Right

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010)

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo

Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) have two mommies: Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore). When Laser asks Mia to help him try to find their sperm-donor father before she goes off to college, she reluctantly agrees. This is how they bring Paul (Ruffalo) into their family's lives, regardless of whether Nic or Jules were ready for him. As his involvement becomes deeper, thin cracks begin to appear in what seemed to be a strong and loving relationship between the two women, and their relationships with their children begin to change as well.

I went into The Kids Are All Right expecting a smart film with a lot of depth, and my expectations were met kind of half way. While I was delighted to see a well-received film about alternative approaches to family (both the lesbian and sperm donor angles) I really couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a made-for-Hollywood family that is really whitewashed; kind of like saying The Cosby Show accurately represented African-American families in the 80's. Those families did/do exist, but they're annoying perfect and...easy.

I don't intend to downplay the conflicts in the film; for the most part, they are well played out and believable, with the exception of the Jules-Paul scenario, which could have been a really interesting conflict, considering it ended up being the crux of a lot of Nic and Jules' problems. Unfortunately, there were so many gaping holes in how it progressed and was eventually addressed that it left me more confused than anything, which made the believability factor go right down the tubes.

I thought the acting, primarily by the female leads was excellent, and I'm thrilled that Bening, who is not only extremely talented but seems to exude class and naturalness, got a great role and in turn, has received a lot of recognition for her work in the film. Mark Ruffalo - what can I say - he's always "Mark Ruffalo" and that's not a bad thing, but it's also not fresh either.

The Kids Are All Right was a decent film, but I guess I didn't see in it what a lot of other critics did. Perhaps I had higher expectations for it, considering the subject matter, and perhaps I thought it would contain a little more edge or depth to it, considering the conflicts presented, but it was a nice, somewhat vanilla movie that was enjoyable but not remarkable.

3 out of 5 stars

The Social Network

THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

A film about the inception of the most popular social networking site, its seemingly arrogant creator and the legal troubles he faces doesn't necessarily sound like thrilling and riveting entertainment, but with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, a strong cast and a talented and stylish director like David Fincher at the helm, The Social Network transcended all of my expectations.

Though the names are real, what is actually true and what is fiction in The Social Network is debatable. However, like Oliver Stone's brilliant 1991 film, JFK, after a while, the film is so good, you don't really care. The Social Network traces founder Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook and its hysterically rapid growth in popularity and the subsequent lawsuits he encounters, both from those who sue him for intellectual property theft to the one person who supported him throughout, financially and emotionally, but was denied a piece of the pie.

Jesse Eisenberg is mind-blowingly fantastic as Zuckerberg, with machine gun-like speech patterns, a mind that is working in a million different directions at once and a disdain for most of the people he meets. His best friend, fellow Harvard student Eduardo Saverin (Garfield), shares Zuckerberg's intellect, but is his complete opposite; he's charming, outgoing and socially dialed-in. Garfield plays Saverin as sweet and soft-spoken, which makes his downfall all the more tragic. When the two begin to expand Facebook across the country, they end up meeting Sean Parker (Timberlake), the founder of Napster who wants to get in on Facebook, and though he is outgoing, possesses a crippling sense of paranoia. Though it honestly took me a while to get used to Timberlake in a dramatic role, I just finally had to realize that he's a total natural when it comes to the acting thing, and he really did a great job with Parker, who is a complex character, to say the least.

Sorkin's script is quick and clever, yet very compelling. Without being heavy handed, or beating anyone over the head with a sense of "See? This is what I'm telling you", he addresses the obvious irony of an incredibly socially inept person creating a social network with more than 500 million members. He writes Zuckerberg as someone unwilling to change or acknowledge his difficult demeanor, yet has a staggering desire for acceptance. Sorkin takes content that could have been nothing more than an article in a newspaper or possibly a featured article in a magazine and turns it into a sublime Greek tragedy rife with dishonor, regret and desire for redemption.

David Fincher, who I've admired back to his music video days, has such a strong aesthetic sense that I think has not been fully utilized in some of his feature films. Sure, his work has all been slick and, regardless of its content, interesting to look at. However, just looking at the Regatta scene in The Social Network, with its tight shots of elongated, straining, sinewy muscles and grimacing faces...I'm no longer watching a film, but looking at a Mannerist work of art. However, it isn't just the high style that is most impressive about Fincher's direction. He is able to not only keep up with Sorkin's quick pace, but turn a scene where a guy is hacking into a web site (without the cliche of security about to confront him) into a seriously action-packed sequence. Or jumping between multiple deposition scenes with the snap of a finger, but giving the audience enough visual clues to figure out exactly where they are at that particular moment within a second; it's kind of like watching a great tennis match.

Before I saw it, never in a million years would I have thought that The Social Network was not only going to be nominated for eight Oscars, including being one of the front runners for Best Picture of the Year, but appear on my Best of 2010 list. But it has surpassed all of my expectations and is truly a well written and sublimely directed film that, upon a second viewing for purposes of writing this review, hadn't lost any of the suspense or gloss in the three months since I first saw it. The Social Network is a supremely intelligent film that holds appeal for a wide audience, something that can be said about a shamefully few amount of films lately.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010)

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska

Based on the Lewis Carroll's book, and following many previous incarnations, Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland follows the adventures of Alice, who returns to the "underland" to revisit her friends, including the Mad Hatter, among others, and fulfill her destiny: to end the reign of the Red Queen.

I apparently only had a peripheral knowledge of the Alice in Wonderland story because I had no idea it was so surreal or that Alice was such a badass, what with the armor and the jabberwocky and all. This is a perfect story for Tim Burton to add his cartoonish and surrealistic touches to, but as a whole, it wasn't as fun or exciting for me as a lot of his other films.

As the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp once again sinks his teeth into another eccentric role and does a good job of it, but there just seemed to be something missing. Perhaps when we're confronted with a cadre of odd characters it's difficult to shine, as opposed to being the head wackjob in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. That's not to say I didn't enjoy his performance; I did...ish. I also was oddly fascinated by the bizarre Red Queen (Bonham Carter) and was pleased as punch to see the grossly underused Crispin Glover as her henchman. In fact, the most disturbing character, in my opinion, was the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway. Even though I knew she was supposed to be comically ethereal I still found her really bizarre, and not in a good way. Alice (Wasikowska) was just kind of there; not dynamic or even particularly charming or clever.

Alice in Wonderland is full of signature Tim Burton touches: surreal and angular landscapes, bizarre characters, bright colors and a fun (if not derivative) Danny Elfman score. But it just felt kind of hollow in the end, and as a whole, fell flat for me. Personally, I'd like to see Burton get back to making films that aren't primarily geared toward children (though I suppose it can be argued that this film and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory could be for children and adults) because it was films like Ed Wood and Big Fish that really cemented him as a brilliant filmmaker. Even an original "adult fairytale" like Edward Scissorhands had a lot more depth and, in my opinion, were a lot more entertaining than his recent remakes, which just kind of whimper to the finish line.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Blog, Interrupted - Packers Edition

On a weekend when I should have been doing nothing but watching Oscar nominated films and catching up on reviews, the Packers had to go ahead and play a Super Bowl game. And I just had to go ahead and watch it since I'm a life-long fan.

No worries. I wrote three reviews, re-watched another movie so I could review that one as well and now have four reviews to catch up on. I'm hoping that I can get some time in on those today and then really push forward and watch more films this week. I kind of need to, since I have to send Inception back to Netflix and want to watch it again before I review it.

I guess my "to do" list could be worse. Not to mention the fact that our house is starting to look like a rat's nest and I/we should be getting some quality cleaning time in.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010)
Director: Banksy

A documentary that begins as a study of one subject but turns into something much more abstract, Exit Through the Gift Shop is, at face value, about the renegade art movement of "street art", which has evolved from simple graffiti tagging to, arguably, masterpieces. It begins with Thierry Guetta, a French entrepreneur that settled in Los Angeles with his family, where he soon became obsessed with documenting every moment of his life with his video camera. During restless nights, he would walk the streets of Los Angeles, where he came across street artists who, after finding out he was the cousin of one of their own, Space Invader, granted him unrestricted access to their work and process with the understanding that he was making a documentary about them. This is how he comes to work closely with the elusive Banksy, one of the most prolific and famous artists to come out of the movement. Unfortunately, the film that Guetta produces is unwatchable, which is when the documentary takes an interesting turn, with Banksy at the helm.

As a documentary on street art, Exit Through the Gift Shop is fascinating. It features interviews with many artists and even better, shows their process, which is much more action-packed than that of most other artists. Personally, I'm a huge fan of this movement because its aesthetics, coupled with an enormous amount of cleverness, is a perfect representation of conceptual art. However, the film kind of screeches to a halt two-thirds of the way through, and while the rest was interesting, I couldn't shake the idea that there was something more going on in the film than was being presented; that Exit Through the Gift Shop was becoming less a documentary than a colossal mind screw by Banksy - a performance art piece as clever as one of his tangible pieces, only with a lot more complexity.

Exit Through the Gift Shop, as presented, could be seen as a straightforward documentary, but I really don't think it is. What is it exactly? I have no absolutely no idea - I've been turning it over in my head since I watched it and I can't come up with definite answers, or even full bodied theories. What it definitely is, however, is an exciting film that is more thought-provoking than I ever thought it would be, and though it wasn't as conventional, nor did I like it as much as some of the many other documentaries I've seen the past year, I'm still thinking about this one long after I'd forgotten about the others, and there's something to be said for that.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars