Review: Drive

Ok, I have to mention that I actually saw this last week, meant to post this last Monday, but a case of the laziness got the better of me. That being said, here is my review of Drive (gee, I wonder what it is about)...

It's nighttime in L.A., the games about over, everyone's ready to turn in, time to do the heist. The thing is, though, we are not interested in the heist, we are here for the escape, which in its own merit is half the thrill of it all too (whether or not you complete your job is one thing, how your getting out of there is another). It is through this, and a previous conversation over the phone, that we meet our Driver (Ryan Gosling). Apart from being called kid by others, we never truly get his name. Already we are thinking "The Man with No Name," he's cool, slick, and knows what he's doing. He's the man who gets you to where you need to be, or better yet, how you want to get away. It is through this finely directed/edited first section of the film that we get the gist of the kind of person Ryan Gosling's character is like.

This isn't the only job he has, he actually has three when you mention it. He works as a stunt driver as well as a mechanic working for Shannon (Bryan Cranston, whose character has much more depth than one would think). Shannon is the kind of man who tries his best for the kid, even if it doesn't work out, and he definitely has a past of his own where mistakes have riddled it time and time again. It is through Shannon that the driver meets Bernie Rose (Albert "Hank Scorpio" Brooks, in quite a departure for his sort of film/tv background). They start a deal that could be huge for everyone involved.

We are also introduced to a young mother, Irene (Carey Mulligan), who lives in the same apartment as the driver. We definitely see a connection between the two, but things get a little complicated. Her husband is getting released early, so we already believe something will come of the relationship between the driver and Irene, like it always does. The shocker, however, is that they are actually cool with each other. In fact, the man asks for the driver's assistance in a job that seems simple, but through some double crossing, the stories of all those involved will become connected in ways nobody wanted to, and no one is safe.

Drive isn't the independent film I was expecting, its rather graphic. There are scenes where I was a little shaken even, for surprise reasons and because its quite intense. For an independent film to achieve this is no small feet, so its got that going for it. The acting, however, carries the film in a way that its hard not to reccomend this film. Everyone brings there A-game, particularly Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks (I have my fingers crossed for an Oscar nomination for the latter). The story is simple enough for anyone to follow, giving the actors room to bring their A-game to the material, which they do in spades. Director Nicholas Winding Refn has gained acclaim in his native Denmark for the acclaimed Pusher trilogy (I haven't seen them yet, but they are on my list), and this film brings him to the international spotlight and I think he is a name we won't soon forget. Drive isn't quite the awards film many, including myself, should be, mostly due to the graphic violence. Needless to say, this is quite an accomplishment for an independent film, so I am not complaining.

(Note: I have slowly grown tired of the letter rating, cause I've come to think of it as a bad medium of rating between those I like and those I don't, so I am going to follow in the footsteps of the great Roger Ebert and do the four star meter)

Rating: *** 1/2

Happy Birthday Sam Neill!!!

Today is a very special day, at least for me and my blog. Today is the birthday of arguably my favorite actor, Sam Neill. A New Zealand native, you can find him in great films such as The Piano, Merlin, and in a great episode of the Simpsons (Homer the Vigilante season 5). Oh yea, and he was in my favorite movie of all time, Jurassic Park (and in the less than perfect but still entertaining third installment). You can check out other films he has been in at his IMDB site linked here. So, I wanted to have a video to dedicate to him, so I decided what could honestly be the most perfect scene in the film, which is Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), notices his first dinosaur, its really quite spectacular (you can look at more snippets or his work linked here). HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM NEILL!!!!

Meet the Brachiosaur Scene - Jurassic Park Movie (1993)

Review: The Debt

It's 1966, and tensions are high. Germany is divided, and both sides are still filled with former nazis hiding in secrecy. They live their lives out hoping each day they can return home and can be forgotten over time. But somethings can never be forgotten, especially if what you have done is beyond gruesome. It is then the government's decision, international or simply American. To capture and obtain a former Nazi criminal and have him stand trial for his actions were prevelant during this time, long after the trial of Nuremburg we were slowly hunting down the little fractions of former police and medical teams behind the Nazi regime who had previously escaped. In "The Debt," it is up to three Mossad agents, Rachel Singer (Jessica Chastain), David Peretz (Sam Worthington) and Stefan Gold (Marton Csokas). 
Their mission is to capture  Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), infamously known as "The Surgeon of Birkenau," and have him stand trial in Israel for his crimes during the war. They must infiltrate East Berlin, find the target and bring him to Israel. The plan goes well until one screw up leads to the domino effect that lands them trapped in East Berlin with their target with no sure exit out. They are left to hide and hope that soon something will come for them or help them get out and bring the man to justice. Then, when tensions reach there boiling point, an event happens that wasn't planned and they are forced to deal with the situation. It is not until 1997, when our heroes (now played by Helen Mirren Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson), are forced to deal with the event after they are threatened by the skeletons in the closet. Will they be able to do it? Will it be too much for them? Have I avoided the spoilers for you?
Now, I am a huge fan of espionage/noir films (Bourne Ultimatum was my favorite of 2007), but this one was really straightforward, you could almost tell how it was going to roll out. Now, that can be the case for a lot of espionage classics, so I let that slide. However, a form of criticism I have that may be a common problem for you all is the casting of the older and younger agents. Now, its not that they are bad, far from it. Jessica Chastain is showing tremendous range after her turns in the delightful The Help and the brilliant Tree of Life, and here she gets her first lead performance, of sorts (they really push for Hellen Mirren's character, but honestly I preferred Chastain over Mirren). It was the male cast that got a little confusing, you could have really swapped the older two male leads for each other and I wouldn't have known. Now, if you're on top of everything while watching, then it shouldn't be that much of a problem, my dad and I just had that problem when we talked about it afterwards. Still, everyone is good here, Worthington I think isn't given enough, I really liked his character but he isn't given enough time to flesh out his character enough, I think. We never really get to know the other guy well enough to care about him. Its Jessica Chastain that commands the film, not because Mirren is ok by comparison, but having seen her in two other films I am just really impressed by her range. She is going to be a star, I think she can very well be the next Meryl Streep or Cate Blanchett if she can get the right roles in the future. Director John Madden, of Shakespeare in Love fame, kind of has a screwy way of balancing the stories of past and present, which makes the story straightforward, but the editing a little all over the place. However, faults aside, I reccomend this film on Chastains performance and, through it all, its a worthy DVD rental, which is more than I can say of some other films I've seen this year.
Rating: B-

Review Catch-up

Hey guys, so as you know, I haven't really done much movie reviewing this summer. That isn't to say I haven't seen movies, I've seen plenty. I have just not gotten around to writing about them, which is kind of sad considering I once saw like 4 movies within a week, and my half time report really didn't do most of them justice (aside from my love for Win Win and Tree of Life). So, I decided to quickly go over some of the films I have seen within the past month, and if I forget one it probably wasn't worth it then. So, with that in mind, lets take a look at them. Oh, and I also realize that since this is a review of more than one film, I'm not going to explain the films so much as attach their IMDB pages, because lets face it, IMDB is one of the best sites out there (shameless plugging from yours truly). SO, here we go:

Crazy Stupid Love
Thoughts: I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. There are some problems with the editing of the film, but I am a stickler for stuff like that and music. The cast is in top form, I particularly like how Steve Carrell stretches out from his usual roles and delivers something original and unique, for him at least. I also like his relationship with both Ryan Gosling and the always wonderful Julianne Moore. The plot twist about 3/4 of the way into the film is hysterical and the reactions I heard during the film from the audience definitively seemed to agree with me, it was pretty sweet. It does move pretty fast at the beginning, maybe a little too fast as far as pacing goes, but it mellows out and finds just the right tune. I gave this a bit of a higher rating than I think I would generally have given a film, but being that this is a Rom-com that I enjoyed (which is no easy feet mind you), I give the team behind this kudos for giving Carrel something other than simply being the comic relief (something that plagued the disappointing Date Night last year).
Rating: A-

Captain America
Thoughts: Now, I was a rather big fan of Thor, but I think it was aided by the fact that it was a summer opener. Had I seen it later in the summer, I might have had a different opinion on it, and I think that's where we find Cap. Now, it wasn't bad, but it was a tad too generic for it to really stand out. Now, at parts in the film the generic tone was actually well used, but the first part of the film really suffered from it, and I didn't feel like the second film completely saved it. Now, I do think Chris Evans makes a good superhero, but they don't give us much of a reason for him to be "Captain America." The generic tone was so dense that he felt more like "Captain Generic." I do reccomend the film for director Joe Johnston's (the underrated Jurassic Park 3, yea I said it) fun action sequences and Tommy Lee Jones naturally strong performance in the film.
Rating: B

Cowboys and Aliens
Thoughts: If I were in my fall movie season mode I would have found so much wrong with this film. Being in my summer movie mind set, however, I found enough to thoroughly enjoy it and recommend it. Daniel Craig gives a very Clint Eastwood-esque performance, but he kind of disappears in some scenes to the point where we forget about him, but he's good when he's around, same goes for the legendary Harrison Ford. Story could have used some tweaking, especially in the scifi section of the film. Still, I am a sucker for westerns, and they get that part of the film down fairly well, so I recommend it, if not for being a fun summer film.
Rating: B+





The Help
Thoughts: I was worried that this would play out as too much of a feel good and not enough of a lesson on how dark segregation was at the time. Roger Ebert called it a safe film about a volatile subject, and I have to agree with him on that. Now, I did enjoy it, it wasn't as safe or as annoyingly feel good as some films that have come out in the past couple of years (the insanely annoying Blind Side comes to mind). The cast makes up for the films shortcomings, particularly Viola Davis (who deserves oscar attention mind you), and Octavia Spencer. Emma Stone was good, but the script didn't give her much to flesh out. Which might be another problem, who exactly was the lead. While the obvious answer is Stone, Davis gives a stronger presence that makes you feel like she is the lead. Will this hurt her come awards season? Right now though, I'm calling her an early favorite and that this film is good, but it definitely could've been so much more with a less safe script.
Rating: B+

Midnight in Paris
Rating: I was surprised as to how much I truly enjoyed this film. I found it to be really funny and authentic, something we don't get enough of now a days in films. Woody Allen has had a rough patch as far as filmmaking these past couple of years. This could be his shot at getting back into the awards mix since Match Point back in 2006. His script is amazing, and the cast he has is spectacular. Owen Wilson is very charming in the lead, Marion Cotillard is beautiful and effective and Cory Stoll nearly steals the movie as Ernest Hemingway, I would love to see a film about him anytime. The cameos of famous 1920's artists were also really fun, but I am bias since some of my favorite authors and artists are from that era (particularly F. Scott Fitzgerald, played wonderfully by Tom Hiddleston of Thor fame, and his counterpart Zelda played by Allison Pill from Milk and Scott Pilgrim). My favorite though, by far, is Adrien Brody (who has so far done no wrong in my book) as the legendary Salvador Dali, yet another person I wouldn't mind watching a movie or simply hanging out with. There were many moments that had me laugh out loud, such as Wilson's character suggesting ideas to legendary/controversial Luis Buñuel, and parts made me really long to be in the 1920's with Gil (Wilson). I could go on about the amazing cast, Kathy Bates as the great Gertrude Stein is another notable role of awesomeness, but I will just stick with the fact that I hope this one gets a SAG nomination for best cast. All in all, great film, deserving of Oscar attention, particularly Original Screenplay, among others. This is definitely one of the years best and is simply a delight to watch.
Rating: A