Movie Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

PG-13, 2 hr. 9 min.

Directed By

Stephen Daldry

Written By

Eric Roth, Jonathan Safran Foer

Genres

Drama

Main Actors: Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, Max Von Sydow, John Goodman

Easy on the eyes factor: It's New York City. Of course it's beautiful. And Sandra looks good.

30 Minute Rule: Very compelling. Great interaction between the father & son. Good build up to the climactic parts of the film. Reels you in for sure in the first 15 minutes.

Plot: Oskar (Thomas Horn) is convinced that his father (Tom Hanks), who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a final message for him hidden somewhere in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a relentlessly active mind that refuses to believe in things that can't be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father's closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his own loss to a greater understanding of the observable world around him.

My Review: Close your eyes. Now picture Macaulay Culkin. Then remember "Home Alone". You remember laughing out loud at his antics. Now take a similar little boy, running around New York City much like little Kevin McCallister, only this time, instead of laughing, he's trying to make you cry and tug on your heart strings.

Thomas Horn is the boy who played as Oskar Schell. It was his first acting ever. And I do mean ever. No movies, no TV, no Mickey Mouse Club, no Sesame Street, no Nickolodeon, Nada. First time ever. So, he gets a huge pass for his overacting and annoying rants. You might ask why the director selected this kid with no acting experience. My theory is that they needed a kid that was extremely intelligent, intellectual, and could possibly build rockets. Oskar's dialogue and thought process in the film was so complex and extremely smart. He used the vocabulary of a Harvard grad. But he had the charm and charisma of Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense and Pay It Forward. So it worked. Thomas Horn's claim to fame is that he won Kid's Week on Jeopardy. So again, any shortcomings are not totally his fault.

The problem that I have with this film is that it tries so hard to be a warm heartfelt film and it plays on the emotions and atrocity of 9/11. It makes the attacks very personal. And while many of us that were not close to 9/11 or did not have any friends or family affected by the aftermath of 9/11, Extremely Close & Incredibly Loud gives us this feeling. As if we were directly affected by the loss of Thomas Schell, the father. The most chilling scenes were the voice mails from his dad calling the house from the burning building. I got goosebumps during these scenes.

Throughout the movie, you follow Oskar's interactions with New Yorkers and how he is affected and he affects them. I thought the best actor in the whole movie was Sandra Bullock; who over time is becoming a better and better actress. She plays the mother and wife of this drama. And she carries the picture. She has this out of control, aloof, intelligent boy roaming the mean streets of New York City and she has to handle all of this with, not to mention, the loss of her recently deceased husband. She's brilliant.

Max Von Sydow plays "the renter". With over 60 years of acting and more than 140 film credits, why make this fabulous actor a mute is beyond my comprehension. And to let the boy upstage him with all of his non-stop, disrespectful, Kevin McCallister-type banter, just drove me crazy. There were so many times during this film that I wanted the boy slapped by either "The Renter" or by his mom. Because he would just not shut up. Also, while Viola Davis was getting much deserved praise in 2011 for her role in "The Help", she was certainly deserving of praise for her small but significant role in Extremely Close.

Overall, I liked the movie. And I say that very weakly. I thought that it was smart and charming, but I also found it to be a little annoying in the I-bet-I-can-make-you-cry department. And I think that many of you will cry. Incessantly.

Rating: 5 of 10

Movie Review: The Tree of Life

The Tree Of Life

PG-13, 2 hr. 18 min.

Directed By

Terrence Malick

Genres

Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Main Actors: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn

30 Minute Rule: This movie did not meet my 30 minute rule by any stretch of the imagination. The very reason I even have a 30 minute rule is because if a movie does not capture my imagination in the first 30 minutes, it has not earned the right to keep me for another hour or more. The Tree of Life actually loses me in the first 30 minutes and I can't find any reason to stay along for the ride. I did not finish the movie. BUT, stay here. I'm going to give you mine and other's points of view.

Easy on the eyes factor: 9. Very good cinematography. A great 50's look. Brad Pitt & Jessica Chastain; good looking people.

Plot: From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.

My Review: So. How can I do a review a movie that I did not even finish? A movie that I only saw a quarter of? Well, because this movie has been an area of contention for me and my movie pals since it premiered in NYC several months ago. We have debated it, discussed it. had heated arguments about it, and even insulted each other's taste about it.

My friends, Kenneth & Julie, who are avid moviegoers saw it first. They went to the NYC premier. They hated it. The imagery, the whispering, the strange cuts and edits of the film. They thought it was an artistic mess. But they also witnessed people leaving the theatre in the middle of the film and complaining about what they thought they were watching. Their review: Awful.

A few months later, the IMDb reviews began hitting the internet and also critical acclaim about what a wonderful and artistic film this was. How the imagery and visuals were a enhancement to the film and did not take away from it. Users and Critics were giving it 7, 8, and 9 stars. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture! I had to see it! Of course with all of the buzz, many more people ran out to see and rent this movie and now more reviews are floating in. Only this time, 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars. "Awful", "Junk", "Pretentious".. .were words to describe "The Tree of Life". People were hating it. Now I'm confused as to how a movie can be loved and hated so far on both ends of the spectrum.

My friend Michael, also and avid movie watcher viewed it. He called me to protest that "it was actually pretty good!" He said that Kenny and Julie were way off base and it the movie had really good redeeming qualities. So I had to see for myself.

I popped the DVD in with an open mind. Actually, I popped it in with a very positive mentality, because Michael and I have similar movie taste. If he liked it, I'm sure that I would like it. 30 minutes later, that could not be further from the truth. I absolutely hated it. Probably more than Kenny & Julie did. It WAS pretentious as others had said. It took you down paths that were extremely unnecessary. It was as if someone was telling you a story and kept using the words "umm" and "basically". It was that annoying. There was crazy imagery and dinosaurs and pictures of sky and landscape that for me did absolutely nothing. One image that stood out most for me was, this effect where they made it look like you were peeking out of a womb. The screen was all black and there was a sort of oval slit in the screen. Like a child looking out through his mother's vagina. And you could see light and color and stars on the other side. It was so annoying. I wanted to scream.

I called Michael to tell him my thoughts and he shunned me. "You have to keep going. You're almost there!". He sounded like a dentist who proclaims, "i know this is uncomfortable, but we're almost there". As the patient, you don't care, you just want it to stop.

In fairness, I read many reviews on "The Tree of Life". And a lot of people really liked this film. Many even preface their review with "this movie is not for everyone". And it's not. Some people will try to tell you that if you don't get it, you lack intellect or artistic integrity. And some will say that if you do like it that you're a pseudo intellect trying to one-up the rest of world. Have it your way. In essence, it's similar to any other strange piece of art that sits in a museum. Some will stare at it and have an emotional connection with it. Others will walk by it and say "what a piece of crap". Taste truly comes into play.

Rating: Will not rate. Did not see enough of it.

Movie Review: My Week With Marilyn

My Week With Marilyn

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Directed By

Simon Curtis

Written By

Adrian Hodges, Colin Clark

Genres

Drama

Main Actors: Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh

Easy on the eyes factor: 10. Beautiful people. Michelle was stunning. Costumes were very well done. And the English landscape, immaculate.

30 Minute Rule: The movie is very slow as it is. What keeps your eyes on the screen is how well Michelle Williams played Marilyn Monroe. You forget it's Michelle over and over. If you have seen any Marilyn video footage or movies like "Some Like It Hot" and "How to Marry a Millionaire", you will appreciate Michelle's portrayal.

Plot:In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

My Review: I liked the movie, but I loved Michelle Williams. I was not very big on the story. Marilyn Monroe was such a huge icon, I can see why this story would have been interesting 40 years ago. I do not think that the story holds the same interest now. I ask my myself if I would be interested in a movie called "My Week With Madonna". Probably not. And that's why the film doesn't really capture your imagination like the writer wants it to. Colin Clark seems more impress with his week than anyone else. The only reason that the film got any interest at all is because there is no biopic on Marilyn Monroe. No good hollywood films about her.

I wish that someone would do a biography styled film on Marilyn and let Michelle Williams get a re-do. She was nominated for Best Actress in both the Oscars and The Golden Globes. She was magnificent. But that's pretty much where it ends. Colin Clark's story just basically states that Marilyn hated being alone and that she had a fear of abandonment. He happened to be there at the right time. Marilyn loved him because he was there for her and allowed her get through a very tough time. But she didn't love him, the man. She found him to be very endearing and free of judgment. Colin was like any other man that would be smitten by such a famous beautiful woman. He was blinded.

The reason that it was only a "week" was because the writer wish you to believe that Marilyn was very flawed. He was warned in the film by one of her handlers that he should stay clear of Marilyn lest his heart be broken. And it did happen. But as a writer in the first person, I would also like to believe that I personally was not the issue, but that the problem or miss was Marilyn's alone. That she was fickled or defective in some manner. And for that reason, I did not totally embrace the film.

In summation, I do recommend that you see this film. You should not miss Michelle Williams' performance. It's only an hour and a half and I'm sure you've wasted twice the time on far worse films. It's definitely worth a look.

Rating: 5 of 10

New Review: Take Shelter

Take Shelter

R, 2 hr.

Directed By

Jeff Nichols

Written By

Jeff Nichols

Genres

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Main Actors: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain

Easy on the eyes factor: 3. Nothing here beautiful to look at. Unless you like the flat lands of Ohio. There's truly not even good special effects or visual poetry. But the story is gripping enough that you don't need visuals.

30 Minute Rule: I would say yes, only because Michael Shannon has one of those faces that always makes you believe that everything is not right in the world. So he sucks you right in.

Plot: Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Money is tight, and navigating Hannah's healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one. Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard. But the resulting strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn't compare to Curtis' private fear of what his dreams may truly signify. Faced with the proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or another, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against the highest possible stakes.

My Review: Let me start by talking about Michael Shannon, the lead actor. For me, if I saw him in real life, I would run. He is the creepiest man ever. With that being said, he must be a very good actor. He's very believable. He portrays an eccentric FBI agent in Boardwalk Empire; Agent Nelson Van Alden. Then, he was the boyfriend of Rabbit's mother in 8 Mile with Eminem. And every character he plays has so much depth and high levels of 'bizarritivity' (my word). This role as Curtis is more of that 'bizarritivity' and he does not disappoint.

I loved this movie because Curtis took you on a tour of his thoughts and visions. You could almost feel what he was feeling. At every turn, you were invited into his twisted imagination and imagery. Some of it was scary and raised the hair on my arms. Although Take Shelter is not a horror film, there are some horrific scenes in the film that can give you visions for days after watching. I'm still not totally right and it's been 2 days since I've watched. Even more, Curtis makes you understand what it feels like when you know something that no one else knows. A memorable scene is when he unleashes verbal terror on his community neighbors. They all are visibly shocked and disturbed. Michael Shannon's performance in that one scene is nothing short of brilliant.

I highly recommend this film. Do not miss this. It was not a big box office draw and it did not get much marketing or advertisement. But film critics, film festivals and movie geeks like myself love this movie.

Rating: 7 of 10

Movie Review: Hugo

Hugo

PG, 2 hr. 6 min.

Directed By

Martin Scorsese

Written By

John Logan, Brian Selznick

Genres

Mystery & Suspense, Kids & Family

Main Actors: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz

Easy on the eyes factor: 8. Although the actors are not very attractive, the set is amazing. The train station is a timeless masterpiece, the streets of Paris portray The City of Lights that it proclaims to be, and the local streets look like something out of a Charles Dicken's novel.

30 Minute Rule: Very engaging right from the start. There is a cameo appearance by Jude Law that takes you in. Many people did not even know that he was in the film.

Plot: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. This holiday season the legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick's award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret." Hugo is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him, and reveal a safe and loving place he can call home.

My Review: Hugo was very enchanting and magical for me. Any movie about an orphan or homeless child will always tug on your heart strings. Asa Butterfield who plays Hugo is a very cute kid with wide eyes and an emotional face. He looks sad even when he smiles. And that is how I would assume an orphan feels. That even on their best days, they are still an orphan.

The movie itself is most interesting because while it is about Hugo and his adventure, it is also about Georges Méliès, Ben Kingsley's character. His story of his past intertwines with Hugo's mystery. It all comes full circle and the entire puzzle changes like metamorphosis right before your eyes.

Hugo is a story that can be enjoyed by all. It has the magic and enchantment for children. The story of lost and regret for adults. And the action and adventure for the young at heart. It's definitely Oscar worthy and I am sure that it will receive high consideration for Best Picture.

Rating: 8 of 10

Movie Review: Moneyball

Moneyball

PG-13, 2 hr. 13 min.

Directed By

Bennett Miller

Written By

Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin

Genres

Drama, Comedy

Main Actors: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Robin Wright

Easy on the eyes factor: 8. Two words, Brad Pitt. Need I say more.

30 Minute Rule: Movie is fun and engaging right from the start. I like the set up and character development. The fun and interaction with the baseball players are like watching Major League, but just a bit more serious.

Plot: Based on a true story, Moneyball is a movie for anybody who has ever dreamed of taking on the system. Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's and the guy who assembles the team, who has an epiphany: all of baseball's conventional wisdom is wrong. Forced to reinvent his team on a tight budget, Beane will have to outsmart the richer clubs. The onetime jock teams with Ivy League grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) in an unlikely partnership, recruiting bargain players that the scouts call flawed, but all of whom have an ability to get on base, score runs, and win games. It's more than baseball, it's a revolution - one that challenges old school traditions and puts Beane in the crosshairs of those who say he's tearing out the heart and soul of the game.

My Review: I know what some of you are saying. I don't like baseball or It's not about the Yankees or Baseball Sucks, etc. But this movie is so much more interesting than baseball. First, it's Brad Pitt and he makes almost any role good. Two, the very funny Jonah Hill is the sidekick. You've seen him in funny movies such as Superbad and Get Him To The Greek. Brad Pitt is so convincing as the Oakland A's GM Billy Beane that when you actually see Billy Beane, you immediately think of Brad Pitt. He makes Billy fun to watch.

The movie does not go out of its way to wax poetic about the pageantry of America's pastime or it doesn't do it's best Bob Costas impression of telling us how important baseball is to our lives. It just simply does not. What it does is tell you a story about a man who wanted to win without the resources to win. Who had to go up against the Goliath like the Yankees and the Red Sox without a big gun and no budget. Who lost all of his best players to free agency and teams and markets with bigger payroll options. Have you ever been given a task to succeed at something with little or no resources?

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are so funny in this movie and so disciplined in their roles. I think Moneyball will be enjoyable for everyone .

Rating: 9 of 10