The Descendants

Although it would be nice for the Academy to get over their George Clooney-love in, The Descendants trailer was undeniably appealing.  It looked invigorating, spiritual, a perfect anecdote to the gloomy shroud that consumes you during winter.

(Will not be held accountable to adverse affects experienced from lusting after Hawaiin climate...)

The film marks also the return of Alexander Payne, last heard from with Sideways.

The film opens with a brief shot of a woman on what appears to be a jet ski, what is compelling about this scene is her expression, one marked be utter contentment.  The fade to black is ominous.  We soon learn that that woman was Elizabeth King, now in a coma, a wife to successful and frugal lawyer Matt King, who is diligently working by her hospital bed in the establishing shot where he narratives a brief summary of life and up to there.

The coma acts as a catalyst which through Matt's otherwise comfortably uneventful life is thrown into disarray where he must acknowledge things and take action.  He is forced to commit to parenting for the first time in his life, referring to himself as the back-up parent.  His unruly seventeen year old Alexandra, played by the unexpectedly sublime Shailene Woodley, and petulant Scottie are independent forces to be reckoned with.

He learns his wife was cheating on him and planning to leave him.  While this sets things in motion for the journey of the film, the trailer makes it seem like this is what the film centers on.  Wrong.

Matt's entire journey seems to be summed up in the allegory of the land.  He is the named trustee to a large acreage of land, and he and his cousins are in the process of figuring out who to sell the land to.

Because the subplot of land, (woah careful now, I am making this sound like a sequel to The Field) Hawaii predictably becomes a character in and of itself in the film.  It clearly has a profound effect in rebuilding the relationship between Matt and his daughters, and helping them through their grief and anger experienced in the aftermath of their mother's accident.

This would be my only gripe about the film.  Its predictability.  It does not shy away from cliche or sentiment, which is probably a result of the source material, the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.  While it is far from a run of the mill chick flick, there is almost a paint-by-numbers characters progression but this has thankfully been peppered with enough Alexander Payne flair to rescue it and brings it to life.

It's a genuinely funny piece.  It combines many levels of humour without going overboard, we get a little bit of physical comedy, thanks to out of shape Matt's jog in flip flops down a spiraling Hawaiian suburban hill.  There's a little bit of stoner exploitation, courtesy of Sid, (Nick Krausse), Alexandra's inexplicably present boyfriend.  The caper quality, perhaps a nod to Clooney's Ocean Series, bestows the film with an adventurousness that involves the audience, giving a emotional connection.  You will root for this family as they scour the beaches in search of the adulterous mother's partner.  Also the Hawaiian uniform provides a good ole laugh, probably unintentional.

Clooney is obviously promoted as the face of the movie as he's a big box office draw, but the way each character is drawn in this story is genius.  Each character is given such dimension.  Even Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard), the man whom Matt's wife was in love with, is likable because his vulnerability is shown.  So even though the movie itself delves into cliche, the characterizations and actual performances strengthen any weaknesses.

Even though I was hyper aware of the cliche, blame my English course in film for making me so judgmental,  the film still manipulated an emotional response out of me.  Because what is shown in The Descendants is truth in many ways.  It does not dwell on the "why me"s, but simply shows these people dealing with everyday life even though their world has utterly changed.

Cliche is cliche for a reason, even though we think we are all individual, we all invariably go through similar experiences of pain, beauty, happiness, and grief.  The Descendants is actually a very refreshing take on that, not unearthing shattering, but thank Hawaii.  And Alexander Payne.

The Ignored

While the Oscars, in the long run, do and should not affect the quality of a film, the awards show and a nomination sure as hell invigorates the life of the film and actors and manipulates the public's own perception of a film.

Let us take George Clooney for instance.  Who really took him seriously before he won for Syrianna and was nominated for Good Night, and Good Luck?  He was ER star who transitioned fairly seamlessly to film, but was primarily known for his roles as a playboy-esque, cheeky chappy.  He started working with the right people however, the Cohen Brothers, Steven Soderbergh... and has since possessed a glistening Academy Award sheen.  He can literally do no wrong, and even though as an actor he is flat and little bit of a one trick pony in terms of depth of character, he has for the last few years pretty much been a permanent fixture throughout awards season.

Sure he doesn't really deserve to be there, but is there, and is being acknowledged, like so many other "meh" performances.  Not that are really and truly meh, and not that I really have a problem with Clooney, but Awards season has become achingly predictable.  Every show basically has the same list of nominations.

(On a side note, who would have thought such a mediocre novel such as The Help would have inspired such a passionate response for its filmic version?  Either that or voters are afraid it would have been prejudice not to include it.)

While my distance from a cinema has sadly hindered my access to most of the nominated lot this year, there are a few glaring omissions that I would love to briefly discuss.


Melancholia
more in-depth review here


Maybe I am alone here, after all it received only average ratings, from the likes of Total Film and Empire, from what I can tell, but I felt Melancholia was the "revelation" moment of cinema in 2011.  In a society so bruised by economic strain, a possible impending apocalypse, and in a planet where depression is still discussed in hushed voices, Melancholia was unafraid to tackle the everyday strain of existence and expand it into a feature length masterpiece.

Lars von Trier has more than likely been permanently shunned by Hollywood after his bizarre Nazi comments in Cannes, but what a shame that the film and actors anchoring the project have been ignored also.

Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg achieve something so very rare in film, they deliver muted suffering that speaks volumes more than hysteria.  There are intricacies of gesture, expression, and hesitation that is magnified by hand-held camera motion.

Performances such as these always impress me more than a portrayal of a real-life character. Not that Meryl Streep's performance as Margaret Thatcher wasn't amazing and powerful, it was.  But to bring to life a character so vividly from its foundations in the two-dimensional space of screenplay is something really worth speaking of.


Super 8


Yes it was a summer blockbuster.  Yes it was sentimental.  And YES it was a Spielberg pastiche if ever I saw one, but those are also the reasons I adored this film!  I can guarantee it will just bring you right back to when you were a kid, when you first started watching films, and were in awe of the very medium you were witnessing.  It is the Cinema Paradiso for the 21st century.  And yes, I am aware that was released merely twenty odd years ago....

The storyline was a little cliche, but a lot of films are cliched.  Super 8 just reawakened the soul!  I can barely describe this probably I just simply urge you to see this.  It gave children a voice beyond the wacky, cheeky, snide cartoonish renderings we have been seeing in the past decade and it was showed the parents and children can be vulnerable as well as brave.

It was the perfect anecdote to the summer/thesis blues.  I have not seen Hugo, so I guess I am being completely bias, but Hugo looks so extravagant, I am all for the blue collar underdog which is what you will find with JJ Abrahams pet project.  And Hugo was 3D. Eugh.

Where is the best original screenplay?  And WHERE is Elle Fanning's recognition?

The Guard

Maybe this movie didn't travel well.  It is extremely colloquial, and to weaker disposition, probably offensive.  Besides comedies rarely capture the Academy's attention as well as a good weepy.

But wait.  Melissa McCarthy, nominated.  Maybe there will be hope for Brendan!  Nooo.

Yeah I have a love hate relationship with Bridesmaids.  It was funny, sure.  I laughed, yes.  Those girls were funny, yes.  But I would not return to this film.  There's nothing there beyond a single viewing.  The only revolutionary thing about it is that is starred and was written by women.  Women writers have been around a long while and have been doing just fine for themselves.

The comedy was gross out comedy with girls.  Not terribly engaging, sorry to have to say.  It was funny in a kneejerk, slapstick kind of way but on repeated watch the lustre will fade.  McCarthy was brilliant because it was a unabashed physical and comedic performance, but it was like her antics was carrying the film.

Gleeson, on the other hand.

I know they say Ireland, the Irish, carries a beautiful duality of humour and melancholy and this is what Gerry encapsulates.  Just when you think he is one dimensional thuggish cop, you see him with his mother.  He is humanised.  He has woes, and faults, and he is real.

50/50

Yeah I've spoken about this before too so I promise I really won't bore you with this one, but let us just say it has been robbed everywhere by all accounts.  Bryce Dallas Howard for being a heartless bitch in the face of cancer.  Seth Rogen for being the obnoxious but lovable and caring friend.  Joseph Gordan Levitt, for enlivening a character who is suffering but who refuses to go down the route of caricature, where the bucket lists reside.  It is relatable, and endearing, and Angelica Huston remains a force to be reckoned with.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Terrifying and challenging to watch. Yet refreshing to see a portrayal of a mother who find it hard to unearth the patience to rear or even love her son.  She's a woman tormented by unfulfilled aspirations, and barely hides the fact that she blames her son for her stilted life.  Then there is Kevin.  Damien incarnate.  Not so much evil as seeking his mother's love.  A film calling attention to the fact that we are all products of our environment.

Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller have suffered a grave injustice.

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I literally think my favourite thing about film in 2011 is when filmmakers and actors just went for a more pared down version of a film character, and situated you in a more realistic space and life.  Relatability is a very attractive thing in cinema.  Don't forget this Film of 2012.

The Iron Bitch

Courtesy of The Guardian

The Only Thing Actually Entertaining About This Year's Academy Awards Was the Fashion

The show was dull.  Mundane.  Awkward.

Anne Hathaway was too showbiz. 

James Franco was too.... no further comment.

However, the glamour!

Dress of the Night, and indeed, the Year goes to....

Alot of people have been hating on this Givenchy dress that Cate Blanchett wore, but I think it is a masterpiece!  It breathed some life in the red carpet, too often actresses play it safe.  With their money and figures, they should be more experimental.  She is a trailblazer. 

The Rest of the Best....

Mandy Moore in Monique Lhuillier looks stunning.  I know there are elements of this that look safe, something that in the above I lamented over, but the localizing of the sparkles (technical term? ha...) and the exposure of the taffeta save redeem the classic shape. 

Anne Hathaway may annoy me, but this Atelier Versace enamored me.

Givenchy scores another triumph!  Zoe Saldana working playful and appropriate for the after-party.  Serious colour-clash, but also a serious win.

The Almost and the Meh...

I love the idea of what Nicole Kidman is doing here in Dior... The white frock with splash of colour shoes, but the origami waist thing is just killing me.

Marisa Tomei in what I can gather to be vintage... 

The Seriously? 

When is Gwyneth going to get over "I feel like I'm in my twenties" phase? 

Calvin Klein... 'cause minimalism is coming back.

Melissa Leo sacrificed my mother's doilies to make this dress.  

It looks as if Amanda Seyfried found the fabled puffy shirt.

Ready To Start

Beyond happy about last night.

The Grammys are more than a little fucked up.

But last night was glorious.  

Album of the year for Arcade Fire! 

First band from an independent label in the award show's history to win this accolade apparently. 

Ah-maa-zing.

All Tangled Up

On a lighter note cinema wise, I went to see Tangled with my niece last night.  

It was fantastic!

By no means my new favourite animation, but a great film.

Disney has its mojo back.

One of the greatest heroines ever.  She did not dwell on the idea of true love, it was all about seeing the world for her.  I can identify sister!

And may I say, best sidekick ever.  A mute chameleon.  Oh and as well as a military-precision horse.  

The King's Triumph

Who would have thought that the best bromance of the year would come in the form of a period drama that chronicles the journey of a Royal crippled by a speech impediment?  The story arc of Tom Hooper’s masterpiece revolves not around the controversies of the British Royal family, nor does it concentrate on Britain’s entry into World War Two, but rather revels in the remoteness of the development of a begrudging friendship between two men who, traditionally to the bromance milieu, instantly clash. 

One is Bertie, the younger son of King George V, an aristocrat afflicted with a stammer that stands in the backdrop of the national crescendo, but is ultimately destined for greatness.  The other is the unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue, a boorish Aussie gent who is passionate about acting.  He is sought by the Duchess Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) to treat the despondent Duke. 

The establishing sequence shows Bertie as he is drowned in the reverberation of the microphone’s echoes, overwhelmed by the monumentality of pubic speaking as a monarchic figure and is physically dwarfed by the microphone.  The man is literally choked by his legacy and lineage.  The subordination he endures by his father and brother ensures that he is wrought by an inferiority complex. 

Rather than a clash of personalities, it is Bertie’s (Colin Firth) refusal to acquiescence that causes their initial friction.  His hesitance transcends into fury as the casual Lionel (Geoffrey Rush) insists on calling him by his family name Bertie and dropping the Majesty while in treatment because it is, as he says, “My castle, my rules.”

One instantly equates that the bumbling Brit Colin Firth is perfect for this type of role.  He has after all in the past played the charmer who fumbles for the appropriate words on many occasions, (see Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually).  If you think you could expect nothing less than the prerequisite “Colin Firth performance”, you my kind audience, are mistaken. 

Beyond the awkward persona of yesteryear, Firth’s Bertie is regal and pompous but peppered with the right amount of torture.  He creates an alt-hero in this timid figure, contrasting beautifully to the brother Edward.  Guy Pearce plays the part as the bratty older brother with Great Gatsbyian flourish.  When his brother questions what his time has been spent doing while neglecting his royal duties, he professes that he has been terribly busy, “Kinging.”

Rush though is the main allure, he commands the screen and enlivens Lionel with whimsy and empathy.  Mind you, perhaps he’s a Bolshevik.  Another reason to go see the film, you will not get that sentence unless you do.

If there was any doubt that the film revolved around the performance of not simply acting, but the performance of daily life, Michael Gambon’s terse, tyrannical patriarch King George V exposes the evolving responsibilities the royals must undertake as, “We’ve become actors.”  The performances presented this piece are both stoic and full of humility.  The flaws and merits of each character are given equal, profound exploration.

As this is being written, it was announced that The King’s Speech had been nominated for twelve Academy Awards.   Deservedly so, it is one of the view award-show-darlings that are utterly convincing.  The King’s Speech virtue lies in its denial of the grandeur and sumptuousness that usually lies within the big-budget fare in the depictions of the privileged.

However it is anchored by the essentials of contemporary cinema, characters that captivate, and actors who inhabit their roles unabashedly and completely.  The subtle manner of its emotional insurgence is invigorating and incomparable. 

*Disclaimer - originally published in The UCC Express, Feb. 1st 2011, Vol. 18, Issue 9

Find more on collegenews.ie

Get it Right Now, You're in Hollywood

W magazine has compiled a breathtaking collection of portraits by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vindoodh Matadin of stars whom they deemed worthy of the best performances in the last year.


Their little description encapsulates, I think, why the portraits are so powerful and the plaudits are so justified.


"The most remarkable moments in film this past year weren’t 3-D action sequences but characters so real they hurt. Here, the actors who made us believe."  More here.




Last year I think the pageantry of Avatar and major controversy surrounding one of The Hurt Locker producers and his infamous letter to members of the Academy quite frankly undermined the reason for the awards in the first place.


Another piece that really focuses on the performance rather than hype is the Fourteen Actors Acting, produced for the New York Times.  The title alone seems to satirize what a shambles the celebrities of the recent Hollywood generation have made of the film industry.  


Here's looking at you kid, good ole fashioned performance and direction.