The Critical Filmmaker

Why do people enjoy uncomfortable, situations where people argue, whine and and embarrass themselves?  How many times can puke be funny?  When is it ever funny? Carnage is the product of Roman Polanski, whom (I'm told) likes to explore feelings of claustrophobia.  I've only seen a few Polanski films, but not enough to know of this beforehand. From the outset Carnage gives us the following scenario:  Two 11-year-old kids have an argument in the playground, one strikes the other with a branch and knocks the boy's teeth out.  Soon the parents get involved and meet at the wounded child's home to work things out. Right from the start I knew this was a bad idea, especially seeing how uptight all four parents were.  The air was so thick I could see it. After the four parents seemingly agreed to make amends and resolve the issue, the parents of the branch-wielding boy (played by Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) said their awkward goodbyes and headed for the elevator. 

If you want to see this film, which I recommend highly, then I suggest you do not read any summaries.  I didn't before I saw it, but after I did and I think had I read the plot I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. Not that there's anything wrong with the plot.  On the contrary, it's well written and performed.  The issue is how much predictability do you like to observe when watching a film.  This movie is unpredictable.  I had no idea how it was going to wind up, and that's the fun of it.  Reading a plot summary could possibly give too much away without intending to.  So avoid the summary and see this film. I will say this - just to give you an idea of what type of movie it is - it's an amusing, heartwarming and funny character study. And that's all I'll say.... Oh, yes.  I almost forgot.  It's a French film with a few scenes in English, because they take place in London. That's it.

I remember watching a young George Clooney early in his career in several TV appearances.  I liked a few of them, including a failed TV series called - believe it or not - ER.  But it was a different ER.  This one had a slash through he middle (E/R) and it was a comedy. Flash forward years later and the other ER - the one everyone knows about - launches his career into the stratosphere.  Does anyone remember him in Facts of Life? I've seen a few of Clooney's post ER films and one thing I've noticed is that while many are quite enjoyable, and he does give a convincing performance overall, there is this sameness between the characters.  It's as if he's playing the same character in different situations.  His narration is also a bit stiff.  In Up in the Air and The Descendants, it's as if the same character has been transplanted from one film to the next.  When the narration started for The Descendants, I wondered if his character portrayal on camera would be t

There is a new film being released this weekend titled "The Last Rites of Joe May" that has a familiar ring to it.  The plot summary sounds similar to The Visitor, which was the first film I had seen at the preview screenings I attend.  It was a few years back, so this is a much belated review of that film. The similarities in plot-line are as follows:  A lonely man arrives at his apartment to find strangers living there, and initially tries to kick them out, then feels sorry for them and becomes involved in their own personal struggle. I thoroughly enjoyed The Visitor, despite some concerns with the plot twist midway through.  I worried at first that this would be a veiled political film about being more tolerant about illegal immigrants in the US, but if it was, I didn't notice it.  I'm not a political person and would rather not see a film with an agenda.  Fortunately, this one didn't seem to have one. As a whole it was a heart-warming story about the hum

Based on the French film by Patrice Leconte, this delightful tale depicts what can happen when people from opposite sides of the tracks meet and discover that the other person lives a life they had craved so much. Donald Sutherland and Larry Mullen, Jr. (drummer for the rock band U2) star as two men who cross paths and wind up being unlikely friends.  Sutherland is a retired college English professor who is tutoring high school kids, while Mullen is a bank robber who arrives in Sutherland's town to rob the local bank.  Mullen's character (simply named The Thief in the credits, but has a name in the film) is suffering from a migrane headache.  He enters a drug store seeking a prescription drug, but when the pharmacist refuses to sell it to him without a prescription, Sutherland (credited as The Professor), happens to have just bought a bottle himself, and passes on a few pills to the robber.  And here starts the shaky beginning of what becomes a beautiful friendship. It'

Oranges and Sunshine is an interesting, compelling film based on the true story of Maragaret Humphries and her response to hearing that millions of British children were shipped out to Australia and used as slave labor. It's a shocking revelation that's very difficult to imagine.  Young children led to believe that their parents were dead and promised a sunnier life in Australia, when in truth their parents were very much alive, believing their child was dead.  Yes, the child was snatched from the parents.  They were not given voluntarily. And that sunny life?  Well, it might be sunny in Australia, but the kids didn't enjoy that life there.  Most were abused and sent to manual labor. The film delves into Margaret's (Emily Watson) battle with the government to bring attention to this issue and to reunite these people with their families.  Now adults, they have deep scars from what happened to them.  Hugo Weaving and David Wenham star as two of the former childre

This was overall an enjoyable film.  It had a sometimes realistic feel to it, and a sometimes comedic, farcical nature to it.  It was difficult at times to tell if they were taking themselves seriously or not, but that didn't bother me as much as you'd think it might.  I guess it's because my day job is in the corporate world, and my company has had its share of lay-offs.  So I found myself connecting to both aspects of this film quite nicely. What impressed me about this film was how they tackled the problem they were facing.  I really liked how they spent all night in meetings discussing the issue and working toward a resolution.  It felt very realistic to me.  For some reason I had expected it to drag over a few days, but it didn't.  The sense of urgency was strong, the attitudes of management was amusing and had a touch of realism to it. Another interesting aspect involved a couple of the characters making accusations along the lines of "I told you about th

Those who read this blog should have a sense right now that this really isn't my kind of film.  I really don't care for crude humor, partly because it's easy and predictable (and not to mention disgusting). Many people compared this film to The Hangover, and while I probably will never see that film, I can find a better comparison.  How about a prolonged Saturday Night Live sketch.  This is what it felt like. Some of the scenes were very familiar to me, having seen several in the TV ads and trailers, while others have been played out before either by the cast of SNL or by another show some 10-20 years before.  It was as if Kristin Wiig took a collection of sketches she wrote involving one character and linked them to this one theme and tossed them into this film.  Or maybe, as suggested by Leonard Maltin, the director just told the cast to improvise and this is what we have. I'm not a fan of Murphy's Law films.  The idea of "whatever can go wrong will for

This Academy Award winning short film is a treat.  Luke Matheny is Ray, a lounge singer who pines for his drummer, Kelly, but she has eyes on his best friend and guitarist, Fozzie. Fozzie is loyal to Ray and won't give Kelly the time of day.  Each night for a year Ray prays to God to have Kelly fall for him. Without giving too much away, Ray recieves what he perceives is an answer to his prayers, but will it work? One thing I loved about this film is that while Fozzie insists he's not interested in Kelly, he knows more about her likes and dislikes than Ray does. And what's with the Amish decorations?  Why Amish? LOL!

When I first heard the title of this film I thought I'll never get it right, but once I heard the reasoning for the names and saw them within the context of the film, it became quite memorable.  This film is also very memorable and the subject matter resonates. Despite dragging in parts, I found the film interesting.  The characters are all rich and provide insight without explanation.  Martha (who is also Marcy May and Marlene) is an escapee from a cult who has to not only adapt to society, but also struggle with the memories of what she thought was a loving, giving environment, while trying to deal with the shaky relationship she has with her estranged sister and brother-in-law. What's interesting about this film is that neither world seems to work for Martha.  Her real family is distant, strict and not compassionate enough for her needs.  Her sister wasn't around much when Martha was a child, so it's easy to see why Martha doesn't feel any love for her.  Howe

I'm not sure why I get so picky about certain film genres and subjects, but I do.  I am aware that I prefer films that have likeable characters (or relatable ones) and a wrapped up ending.  I also prefer positive films over depressing ones with seriously morbid and dark characters.  I just don't care for movies that I can't feel emotionally connected to, or can escape while watching it. If a film doesn't appeal to me while I'm watching it, and I'm at home while this is happening, I'll usually give it at least 20 minutes before I stop watching. Here are two examples: Dangerous Liaisons: Last night I gave Dangerous Liaisons an hour before I stopped. This was a film that got rave reviews when it was released back in the late 1980's.  So why did it take me so long to finally sit down and watch it?  Because even back then it didn't interest me.  I've watched many costume dramas and have enjoyed several, but this film's ads didn

Bride Flight (Dutch with English subtitles) is a fictional account of three women, who leave their native Netherlands in the 1950s, heading to New Zealand to reunite with their fiances, marry and start a new life.  The women meet on the plane, and their lives soon intertwine in a story of love, loss and independence. The film spans several decades flashing forward and backward from present day to the past as it chronicles what each woman goes through alone and together, and the link that binds them to each other. The film was shot in Holland and New Zealand, the latter location allows for some English to be spoken in the film with most of the dialog in Dutch A friend of mine in The Netherlands tells me its a bit hit over there, and I can see why.  I highly recommend this film.

Tied to a Chair is one of those films that makes me sit back and wonder whether it might have been better served if the writer/director had given one of his roles to someone else.  A low budget film that reveals its inadequacies in its editing and mish mash of a storyline. The film has essentially three plots revolving around one character who is essentially the amalgam of three.  The Naomi we meet from the outset is a ditzy British wife who can't cook nor do anything right.  When her husband asks her what she wants to do with her life, she reveals that she threw her dreams out the window when she married him.  She wanted to be an actress. So she ups and leaves her staid life in Britain and heads off to Cannes, and this is where plot two begins.  She no longer has the British accent and instead she's an American, desperately seeking the role of a lifetime. Her quest eventually leads her to New York, her hometown, where she gets embroiled in some criminal activity.  And th

This is an engaging film, harkening back to classic suspense films of the 1940's and 50's.  Some might find it cliche'd, but I truly enjoyed it. The plot revolves around a young woman who works as a hotel housekeeper and an ex-cop who meets her at a speed dating event.  They date for a while, but things soon turn ugly, and she must find out what really happened that day they spent together on the grounds of his boss's mansion. The scenes are woven together nicely and it will definitely keep you guessing.

Everybody Loves Raymond... Well, almost.  I was never an avid watcher of the TV show myself, although I did land on it on occasion and have a good laugh.  So I could see the appeal and often watch an episode when I come across it in reruns. Exporting Raymond is a comedic documentary featuring the producer of the TV series and the hurdles and challenges he goes through helping a Russian crew create their own version of the show in Russia. Phil Rosenthal, producer and stand-up comic, gives us a somewhat amusing look at what it was like for him to ensure the show retained its theme and humor as it was translated for a new audience.  He reveals the culture clash and marvels at the differences in cultures, despite his ardent belief that the quirks of married life is universal. I found this film a bit self-serving and naive at times, but if you liked the TV show and enjoy this humor, I think you'll find it an entertaining ride.

Growing up watching TV most of my life, I've often noticed and pondered why producers and writers do things to characters that are inconsistant, thinking that audiences won't notice. Many times I've seen shows change the background of a character in such an obvious way that viewers notice.  And yet in this day and age of DVDs, DVRs, computers, and any other technology in which we can rewatch episodes (even reruns that were in place as far back as the 1970's), producers and writers forget this aspect and assume the audience won't notice for the sake of entertainment. News flash:  We do notice.  We notice all the time and we comment and critique it in message boards all over the internet. I want to talk about one such instance that's been becoming more and more obvious recently.  And this involves a regular character named Ben Jones who is in the British murder mystery called Midsomer Murders. For those of you who don't know Midsomer Murders is a show

Apologies for not posting in a long time.  Real life sneaked up on me and caused me to take a breather. First there was the Bell's Palsy that hit around mid-August of 2010.  That made me feel very tired, so my evenings after work were spent lounging on the sofa, watching TV or snoozing. Then I bid on a condo in late September and that was a nerve-wracking experience getting all my i's dotted and my t's crossed.  I finally closed in December, but the place needed plenty of work, and still does.  So that's occupied my time as well. I know I am very late in posting film reviews, but I still want to do that.  This means there will be plenty of belated reviews from the past several months, but I'll try to intersperse them with more recent films. I also plan to change the layout of my reviews, as one thing that causes me to procrastinate is the listing of credits.  I like having them, but I'm finding myself less motivated to post when I think of the work invol