LES MISERABLES Rerview

LES MISERABLES Review

By Darin Skaggs

     The musical movie genre was once the king of the movie business in the 1950’s with classics like Singin’ in the Rain, Gigi and The Sound of Music.  Ever since then it slowly disappeared.  In the early 2000’s however it has made somewhat of a comeback with movies like Moulin Rouge!, Chicago and Once.  The majority of these films are filled with silliness and humor with little drama.  Rarely does a musical explore drama full on.  Tom Hooper, the director of The King’s Speech, tries to accomplish this with his new effort Les Miserables and with very much success.

     Les Miserables is a musical adapted from a stage musical that is adapted from a stage play that was adapted from a novel written hundreds of years ago.  Clearly this story has been told many different times and this is just one more addition to the many adaptations.

     The story begins with hundreds of slaves pulling a huge boat into shore.  In this scene we met Jean Valjean a criminal slave, played by Hugh Jackman, and Javert a prison guard, played by Russell Crowe.  Valjean is released on parole; he has a change of heart after meeting a forgiving priest.  He meets a women and promises to protect her daughter.  Obviously it’s called Les Misribles, or translated it’s called The Retched Ones so things get worse from there.

     Tom Hooper makes a very risky decision for the filmmaking process.  Instead of prerecording the songs he made the actors sing on set and record them live. Luckily this worked out great, you could see what the characters were going through and the occasional cracks in people voice fit with the emotions they were feeling, with one exception.

     The singing and acting in this film is pure brilliance.  All the kids and young adults were great along with a wonderful performance by Hugh Jackman.  The greatest performance of the film is Anne Hathaway.  Her early big song gets your emotions to just the right place and that song called “I Dreamed a Dream” carries that feeling throughout the rest of the film.  There are lesser performances from the comic relief played by Sasha Baron Coen and Helen Boman Carter, which does not keep in tone with the film as a whole.  The worst performance comes from Russell Crowe.  His singing is alright, but they could have found someone with a better voice.  He is stiff and looks really awkward during the entire course of the film. It feels like there was a point where Hooper regretted his decision but didn’t have the heart to fire Crowe.  His character felt like he should have been bigger but he just felt like a side character that was inconveniencing Valjean’s life.

     The transitions in the film are on the weak side.  The film has a lot of big moments and goes from one big scene to the next with no breathing room.  Some of the character development is not believable.  I don’t know how the book or play is but characters earn each other’s trust way too quickly throughout the film.  They could have added more scenes to add to the story and character development.  The film also has many close-ups while a character is having big monologue type moments.  Some of these don’t work, but the majority of them work really well.  I think Hooper did this because you can’t get that close on a stage. He wanted the viewer to see all the emotion on the face of the characters.

     The film is a great achievement and a step up from his 2010 film The King’s Speech.  It has amazing sets, great looking costumes and make up.  The songs in the film are beautiful and moving; the acting is some of the year’s best and should deserve to win some Oscars.  I love a good musical and I am glad to add this one to the list.

LIFE OF PI Review

LIFE OF PI Review

By Darin Skaggs

     Many films have tried the one location, one actor trope.  Tom Hanks did it in Cast Away and did the same in The Terminal. Other similar examples are Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon which all takes place in a bank and James Stewart’s performance in Rear Window.  Ang Lee’s new film Life of Pi can now be added to the many great one set, one actor films. 

     This film is about a young boy named Pi.  Actually his real name is Piscine, named after a pool his uncle used to swim in.  The film opens with a reporter coming to see Pi as an older man.  He has come to interview him because there is a story that Pi has, that will apparently “make him believe in God.”  He starts with telling of how he grew up.  Pi tells him that his father ran a zoo.  Eventually, he gets around to telling the reporter that his family had to move across the sea by boat.  Then the boat crashes, leaving Pi alone in the middle of the ocean with only a rescue boat.  This is where most of the story takes place, but since they were transporting all the animals on the zoo, some of the animals have come aboard with Pi.  Including a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger.  Soon enough the circle of life comes around and all that is left on that boat are Pi and the Tiger whose name is Richard Parker.

     The film picks up at this moment.  The first half hour is alright, but it could have been shorter because it was just set up for the rest of the film on the boat.  However the acting in the film is great.  Both adult Pi played by Irrfan Khan and teenage Pi played by Suraj Sharma give some of the greatest performances of the year.  Teenage Pi gives the greater performance especially having not worked on much else before. His performance is also great because all he has to work with is a CGI Tiger.  Older Pi does a good job as well, but every scene that is in present day is not well written or executed.  Those scenes with older Pi and the reporter always felt awkward and out of place with the film.  I much rather of only had the story been about younger Pi and not of had his story be told in flashbacks.

     Most of the scenes take place at sea.  The director takes complete advantage of this.  This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful film of the year.  There is a scene with a whale that will take your breath away.  Other jaw dropping scenes include flying fish and an island with tons of Meerkats.  This film does not shy from showing you how beautiful the earth is.  Even in the opening credits the filmmaker shows many varieties of animals that are beautiful and unique looking.  This theme is not pushed on you.  Lee does not want to force you to love nature; he just puts up a visual argument why you should love it.

     Another theme comes from the title and is explored throughout the film.  The theme is religion vs. science, much like the title suggests Life (Religion) of Pi (Science).  Throughout the film Pi is trying different religions and asking many questions about God but his father and others are suggesting that they should believe in what can be explained.  Then when Pi is alone and is feeling abandoned he struggles with what he has worked on believing his whole life.  The film makes you question what you believe, even until the very end after the climax on the boat.

     Life of Pi is, like I said, the most beautiful film of the year.  It is very well acted and well directed.  There are a few scenes that could have been cut, but do not make the film bad just not as good as it could be.  It is not the greatest film of the year, but it is far superior than most.

ARGO Review

ARGO Review

By Darin Skaggs

     “Ben Affleck is in a good film”.  There was a time in our lives where this phrase was only said in a sarcastic tone and in a joking fashion.  In the last few years he has directed three of his own films.  With this he has changed this phrase from a joke to the truth.  First with his 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, which I have not seen but have heard nothing but good things about.  Then his 2010 film The Town, which I did see and is a very well made film.  Now with his new film Argo he has added another great addition to his discovery.

     Argo is a film based on true events that happened in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s where hundreds of American’s are taken hostage while in Iran.  This film is about the mission to save six Americans that escaped being captured and are hiding out.  Tony Mendez, played by Affleck, comes up with a plan to get them out by going into Iran.  There he will pretend to make a movie and have the six be part of the film crew.  After some arguing and convincing Mendez sets up his mission to go and save the stranded Americans.  All the aspects to the situation are handled, like convincing a producer to give the green light to the film and the picking out of the screenplay, which is where the title of the film comes in play.

     The film is based on a true story, yet Affleck cast many well-known actors in the film.  At first it was almost a distraction seeing people like Kyle Chandler from Friday Night Lights or Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad fame, others including John Goodman and Alan Arkin.  Though at first it was distracting every performance is very good, some even great, that by before the middle of the movie I was invested in the characters and the story they were living. All the stranded Americans are played by good actors but I have to give most of my praise to the makeup team who transformed the actors to look nearly identical to the real life people.  Affleck has a great performance as the guy who risks his life to save these people.  The film focuses on his character the most and he gives himself the most backstory saying he has a broken marriage and has trouble connecting with his kid.  There could have been less of this aspect or there could have been more back story to the other characters who are in danger.

     Like I said before this film is based on true events yet the direction from Affleck make the events in the movie very tense and suspenseful.  Anyone either already knows what happens or can look it up on the internet, but during the finale of this film I was on the edge of my seat hoping that the plan works and the team will make it back safely.  Some parts in the film add to the suspense but are very unlikely to have happened in real life.  Such as, a few characters have to answer a phone call to protect the Americans from being caught and they answer it just in time.  There are several “just in the nick of time” moments that occur in the film that lessens the tense sequences because they become less believable.  This is a problem that stops the film from being truly amazing and just lets it be a great film.  Another highlight of the film is that though it is a tense subject, it does not stop Affleck from putting humor into the film, mostly coming from Arkin and Goodman.

     Argo is one of the year’s greatest and maybe Affleck’s best film. It has great performances and effective tense ridden scenes.  It gives lots of promise for Ben Affleck’s future movie career and I cannot wait to see what he has to offer next.

100 FAVORITE FILMS - January 1, 2013

100 FAVORITE FILMS AS OF 1/1/2013

1.  SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

2.  APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

3.  PSYCHO (1960)

4.  THE CONVERSATION (1974)

5.  JAWS (1975)

6.  VERTIGO (1958)

7.  LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

8.  WALL-E (2008)

9.  BICYCLE THIEVES (1948)

10. THE KING OF COMEDY (1983)

11. THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)

12. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

13. CITY LIGHTS (1931)

14. DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

15. THE THIRD MAN (1949)

16. NETWORK (1976)

17. GROUNDHOG DAY (1993)

18. BEING THERE (1979)

19. ALIEN (1979)

20. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)

21. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

22. TOY STORY (1995)

23. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)

24. CITIZEN KANE (1941)

25. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

26. BAMBI (1942)

27. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

28. REAR WINDOW (1954)

29. THE GODFATHER (1972)

30. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)

31. IKIRU (1952)

32. THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (1977)

33. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)

34. TAXI DRIVER (1976)

35. MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN (1979)

36. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966)

37. FACES (1968)

38. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

39. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)

40. HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971)

41. THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977)

42. M (1931)

43. DUCK SOUP (1933)

44. STAR WARS (1977)

45. ONCE (2006)

46. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988)

47. THE LAST LAUGH (1924)

48. BLADE RUNNER (1982)

49. UP (2009)

50. THE APARTMENT (1960)

51. FINDING NEMO (2003)

52. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)

53. BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1946)

54. ZODIAC (2007)

55. FARGO (1996)

56. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)

57. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)

58. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)

59. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)

60. MAGNOLIA (1999)

61. SHERLOCK JR. (1924)

62. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)

63. PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES (1987)

64. SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)

65. THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001)

66. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)

67. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)

68. SOLARIS (1972)

69. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009)

70. LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (1961)

71. FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009)

72. OUR HOSPITALITY (1923)

73. TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)

74. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)

75. STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)

76. THE THIN RED LINE (1998)

77. THE KILLING (1956)

78. ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)

79. BADLANDS (1973)

80. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)

81. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001)

82. HARVEY (1950)

83. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)

84. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

85. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

86. F FOR FAKE (1974)

87. LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945)

88. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

89. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)

90. THE GENERAL (1927)

91. ANNIE HALL (1977)

92. UMBERTO D. (1952)

93. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

94. THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940)

95. JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE 1080 BRUXELLES (1975)

96. HOOSIERS (1986)

97. 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

98. TOKYO STORY (1953)

99. CLOSE-UP (1990)

100. DON’T LOOK NOW (1973)

THE MASTER Review

THE MASTER Review

By Darin Skaggs

  

     One of the greatest working directors today is Paul Thomas Anderson.  He has only made five feature films, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood.  Almost all of them have made a big impact on me.  Now Anderson has come out with his sixth film called, The Master.  It makes for an intriguing film with wonderful performances and beautiful cinematography.  The film also leaves you nearly flabbergasted at what the film’s themes are and confused at what it is trying to say.

     The Master is a film about a war vet named Freddie Quill played by Joaquin Phoenix.  He is a man who leaves the war and is not all there.  He goes from job to job getting in more trouble with every job.  Eventually he ends up on a boat.  On this boat Freddie meets a man named Dow played by an Anderson regular, Philip Seamore Hoffman.  This man is the leader of a group called The Cause.  The two automatically bond and form a weird and sometimes awkward relationship.

     The performances in this film, like in all of Anderson’s works, are spectacular.  Amy Adams, who plays Dow’s wife and is not in the film very long, gives one of the films best performances.  The film also has great supporting cast, with great acting from Jesse Plemmons as Dow’s son, Laura Dunn who plays a devout follower of The Cause.  One of the greatest performances in the movie is from Hoffman, but the outstanding performance comes from Joaquin Phoenix.  He gives it his all in the film.  At one point he can be quietly mumbling and another moment he violently lashing out.  His body posture through the whole film is like a man who is broken and he only gets worse throughout the film.

     The film has many different elements but its main focus is on The Cause, which is a group that believes in some sort of reincarnation and that we can look back and see who we once were.  One lady wakes up from a tranche and says see thinks she was at one point a man.  When Freddie enters Dow’s life he seems to become the wrench inside The Cause’s grinders and in some strange way at other times he makes them move faster.  Their relationship is confusing.  At one point they seem to have a father/son relationship in which Dow is trying to make him just like him and make him the best man he could be.  Also they seem to become best friends, for no good reason I may add.  The both of them have a strange friendship and a competitive spirit.  Dow doesn’t just bring out the best in Freddie but Freddie brings out the best in Dow.  Dow calls Freddie “the bravest man he’s ever met.”  Freddie takes this as a challenge and those words start him to become as good if not better than Dow.

     When I finished watching other films by Anderson I basically got what it was about or what it was trying to say.  It is impossible to fully understand what an Anderson film is saying, but it is possible to understand a little bit.  Punch-Drunk Love is about anger and depression.  There Will Be Blood is about greed and loneliness.  Magnolia is about fate.  When I came out of The Master I had no idea what this film was trying to say.  I honestly did not know if what I saw was a good film or not.  I knew it had things I loved, such as I previously mentioned the performances are amazing.  A lot of the shots are amazingly beautiful and will stick in your head for a while.  You will most likely after watching the film will say, “What was that?”, and the average movie goer will come to the conclusion that they did not like it or get it.  I’ve given this film a lot of thought and finally have a few theories about what it is about and what Anderson was trying to say with his shots and plot movements. 

     There are a few confusing moments and directorial decisions in the film that happen that are not one hundred percent clear.  There is a “special drink” that Freddie keeps making and that Dow admits his love for. This storyline completely goes away in the second act.  There is a character, Dow’s son that does nothing and almost has no point throughout the film.  Freddie literally tells him, “Do something”.  Besides those minor setbacks, none of these plotlines take away from the film at all.    

     This is another amazing achievement by Paul Thomas Anderson.  This is a film you cannot blow off; you have to spend time with it.  You need to stay with it and analyze it for a while.  It has great looking shots throughout the film and some of the greatest performances of the year.  It is one of the most interesting films of the year and that I have ever seen.