sjohnson134-878-955038 Reviews

Blue Jasmine (2013)

The Effects of a Changing Life on Jasmine

[8/10 · 30 January 2014]

The latest film written directly for the screen and directed by Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine concerns the story of a very wealthy Manhattan woman who unfortunately becomes penniless and homeless. This 2013 film stars Cate Blanchett as Jasmine/Jeanette Francis, Alec Baldwin as her wealthy business husband Hal, Sally Hawkins as her sister Ginger, Andrew Dice Clay as Ginger's ex-working class husband Augie, Bobby Cannavale as Ginger's mechanic boyfriend Chili, Peter Sarsgaard as Jasmine's wealthy widowed boyfriend Dwight, and Louis C.K. as Al, Ginger's lover. All acted wonderfully to bring this dramatic film to life on screen. The story starts with Jasmine arriving in San Francisco at her sister's apartment in a poor part of the city. We are immediately lead to believe through Jasmine's behavior on the plane and the woman sitting next to her informing her husband when the plane arrives that she (Jasmine) has been talking to herself the entire way. We learn about the very trying, but wealthy, life she has lost and her trying to start a new one, but is constantly drawn back into her habits. Allen uses flashbacks throughout the film to inform the audience of what her life was like with husband Hal in New York. The audience finds out through one of the flashbacks that Ginger and her ex-husband Augie traveled to New York, toured the city and stayed at a Marriott hotel so that Jasmine could avoid spending any time with them. Jasmine and Hal then found out that Ginger and Augie had won $200,000 in the lottery and were thinking of starting a construction company, when Jasmine offered Hal's help in having them invest the money instead. It is here that Hal's extramarital affair was discovered accidentally by Ginger, who decided not to tell Jasmine about it. Augie blames Jasmine for Hal's swindling the money and for him losing what he considered his one chance to have a business of his own. Jasmine learns of her husband's affairs and that he intends to divorce her and she tells the authorities of his dealings. He is arrested and after being sent to prison for fraud, kills himself. Ginger and Augie get divorced and she begins dating Chili. At this point in the film, the audience learns that Jasmine decides to become an interior designer, but only after she takes a computer course, but she also needs money, so she starts to work as a receptionist in a dental office. He sexually harasses her, forcing himself on her, but she manages to fight him off and quits the job. Life seems to improve here when Jasmine happens to meet a rich widower, Dwight, who is a diplomat looking to become a congressman. Ginger meets and begins an affair with Al, a man she meets at the same party that Jasmine met Dwight, but unfortunately, learns that he is a married man and goes back to Chili. Jasmine lies to Dwight about her past, but while purchasing an engagement ring for her, they run into Augie who lets Dwight know about her past and he calls off the engagement. Jasmine learns the whereabouts of her estranged stepson, Danny, who is living and working in Oakland. She walks to see him, but he is not interested in seeing or talking to her ever. Returning to her sister's apartment, she sees Ginger is back with boyfriend Chili and tells her that she is going to marry Dwight and immediately leaves the apartment. At the end of the film, the audience sees Jasmine sitting on a bench, talking to herself about her life. The film as with other others that I have seen lately has the main character breaking the fourth wall and while it appears that the actor is speaking to herself, she is actually speaking directly to the audience. It would appear that this is another way that many directors are using to engage the audience into the action of the film. The use of flashbacks and at the time they were used was very helpful in letting the audience know what had happened and to show Jasmine falling apart mentally. The cinematography of New York and San Francisco was handled well by Javier Aguirresarobe who worked on such films as The Road, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, all the Twilight movies, Warm Bodies and Identity Thief to name just a few. The camera angles used to show the emotional and mental state of Jasmine were essential to the telling of the story as was the editing by Alisa Lepselter who has worked with Allen since 1999. Makeup, costuming and music all worked well to continue the story Allen was attempting to tell. It is quite possible that Allen may have been influenced by Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, since this film has similar characters and storyline. But it was well told and appeared believable thanks to the awe inspiring performance by Cate Blanchett and the remarkable acting by the supporting cast. The film itself just may be, however, an updated version of the play mentioned. I guess you will have to decide.

Captain Phillips (2013)

The Hijacking of the Maersk Alabama

[5/10 · 28 January 2014]

The 2013 film Captain Phillips is adapted by Billy Ray from the 2010 book A Captain's Duty: Somali Prates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, written by Stephan Talty and Captain Richard Phillips, but was originally inspired by the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking by four Somali pirates led by Abduwali Muse on the Indian Ocean. Captain Richard Phillips was a merchant captain of the cargo ship Maersk at the time of the hijacking. The book tells the story of the hijacking and the capture of Phillips by the pirates, and not only does it tell his harrowing tale, but how his family, living in Vermont, was dealing with the drama unfolding on television. With 30 years of experience at the time, he tells in the literature of how he attempted to keep the crew hidden and safe, with only himself as a possible hostage. All of this led to the drama of many days in the Maersk's lifeboat with the pirates. The U.S. Navy, aware of the hijacking, put together a very large force, with tensions rising and Phillips fearing for his life. The ship was headed for Mombasa, Kenya when the four young pirates attacked and managed to board the ship. Having received training in dealing with piracy, the crew (14 of them) was taken into what was called a secure room by the chief engineer Mike Perry. Using tactics to avoid being board proved ineffectual and the pirates managed to take the ship. With all the systems shut down, the entire ship went black. It is here that Captain Phillips and several other crew members were captured and where the pirates learned that they could not control the ship. With Perry outside the secure room, he managed in the dark to take the leader of the pirate's prisoner and other crew members stabbed one of the pirates in the hand. Negotiations by the crew and the pirates fell through and the captain with the pirates went into the lifeboat showing them how it operated and fleeing the ship. The USS Bainbridge arrived and took the ship to its original destination. At this point, the lifeboat was surrounded by not only the Bainbridge, but the USS Halyburton. Here Phillips attempted to escape but was recaptured. Attempting to hook up with their comrades and trying to anchor near Somali shores where they could hide the captain, and let them land quickly if the lifeboat was attacked. The Maersk arrived in Mombasa, Kenya with the U.S. military escort. The lifeboat was then persuaded to be towed by the Bainbridge. A marksman opened fire and killed three of the pirates on the lifeboat; Phillips was rescued while the fourth pirate, Abduwali Muse, was aboard the Bainbridge and treated for an injury, was arrested. Muse was eventually taken to America for trial, charged as an adult (he was 18-years- old not the 15 or 16 he was trying to convince the court), and was sentenced to over 33 years in prison. The lifeboat, bullet holes and all, was donated to the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Florida. This book is very detailed explaining the captain's attempted escape and his rescue by Navy SEALs. The film is faithful to the literature and the events that took place during April 2009 and is a literally translation with some dramatic fictionalization taken by the director Paul Greengrass and screenwriters to make this a thrilling suspenseful action movie and to bring alive events that took place; even though, many who may have viewed this film already knew what had happened. Tom Hanks plays the role of Richard Phillips very well, but Barkhad Abdi is excellent in his first movie role as the Somali pirate Abduwali Muse. The plot and storyline as I have already stated follows the overall sequence of events that transpired during the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. There is little difference between the film version and the literature's version of what happened. The dialog is crisp, but it is hard to understand with all of the yelling particularly in the lifeboat between the pirates. The use of intertitle cards was helpful, but had to be read to understand what was transpiring between the characters and distracted from the viewing of the film. Costumes and makeup appear to be accurate, again to bring the film to life; camera angles and the cinematography was handled well by Greengrass and Barry Ackroyd, with fine editing by Christopher Rouse to have the movie become the suspenseful film that it has become.

Her (2013)

The Future with OSes!

[6/10 · 21 January 2014]

The 2013 film Her written and directed by Spike Jonze is a science fiction comedy drama about a man who develops a love relationship with a computer operating system (OS) that has a female voice and personality. The voice of the operating system known as Samantha is Scarlett Johansson while Joaquin Phoenix plays the role of Theodore Twombly, Amy Adams plays the friend named Amy, Rooney Mara plays Theodore's wife Catherine, and Olivia Wilde is the blind date Amy has set him up with.

This is not a new idea. In 1984, there was a science fiction comedy drama entitled Electric Dreams, which was set in San Francisco and showed a love triangle between a man, woman, and a home computer. If you think about it, Siri, the iPhone/iPad app, is also very similar to what is happening in this new film. As I discovered, in an article I read on Jonze, he had directed in 2010 as short film I'm Here, which supposedly has some of the same themes that Her does. The plot and storyline is very simple and for me, it is the essence of any story being told whether in writing or visually that is essential. Theodore Twombly works for a company that writes personal love letters for people who have problems expressing their feelings. He is lonely due to his impending divorce from his childhood sweetheart Catherine and buys an operating system that has an artificial intelligence that can evolve like any human being. Choosing to have this system have a female identity, the system then names itself Samantha. They bond over the discussions they have about love and life, all the while Samantha learns and grows. Convinced to go on a blind date with a friend of Amy's, Theodore is surprise that he actually likes her, but when she asks him if he is willing to commit to her, he hesitates, and she leaves. Through various discussions about relationships, Samantha and Theodore become closer and develop a romantic relationship. It is here that Amy tells Theodore that she is divorcing her husband, Charles and that she too has become close with a female OS that her husband left behind when he left. Theodore then admits that he has been dating his OS.

As can happen in any relationship, one of the parties, in this case, it is Samantha who begins to become jealous of Theodore's lingering feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife Catherine. Eventually, the divorce papers are signed, but because Samantha is not embodied, she suggests that they hire a surrogate to act as her body and she and Theodore can have sex. Reluctantly, Theodore agrees, but he is so overwhelmed by the whole thing that he sends the woman away which causes trouble between himself and Samantha. Amy seems to be adjusting well with her upcoming divorce and her relationship with her OS, which seems to reinvigorate the relationship between Theodore and Samantha, but jealousy begins again, this time for Theodore when he learns that Samantha has been communicating with another OS named Alan Watts, British philosopher. It is at this point that Samantha joins with other OSes and is upgraded far beyond needing matter for processing. She tells Theodore that she is talking to over 8000 people and that she is in love with over 600 of them, including him. She then tells him that she and the other OSes are leaving for another plane of being and says goodbye and leaves. The film ends with Theodore and Amy (who has also lost her friendship with her OS) going up to the roof of their building, sitting on the edge and looking at the view of Los Angeles together.

In parts of this film, Theodore breaks the 4th wall and talks directly to the audience as well as telling through voice-over what is or what will happen. I really like the fact that Theodore earns his income by writing notes and cards which are based on information about both sender and receiver of the letters or cards. As an English professor, I find this a very interesting twist to the overall storyline conceived by Jonze. We all need to be reminded as this film amply does that we are all subject to whatever computer device we use on a daily basis from a laptop, phone, tablet, etc. which all have operating systems of all kinds and we find some kind of stimulation and comfort from these instruments as well as the artificial connection with other human beings. Believe it or not, these devices really on some level know what we like or dislike. But if this type of OS were possible (and who knows what may happen in the near future), who's to say if this growth of the OS would be able to happen?

The overall writing was handled very well by Jonze as was the use of some very abstract art. One line I liked particularly was "the past is just something you remember." Great line!! I liked the use of Alan Watts, whose works I have read many times and whose ideas have been sprinkled throughout the film. Arcade Fire is responsible for the music and complimented the movie. The special effects were appropriate and fit with the structure Jonze envisioned for a near-future Los Angles and the possible technology being used there, as well as the plot and storyline. I could not help but notice the costuming used, which was very simple, but was distracting as well with the use of the high-waisted pants that all the men in the movie were wearing. It was a good film...worth the admission price.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street Literature and Movie Review

[6/10 · 20 January 2014]

The 2013 film of Jordan Belfort's The Wolf of Wall Street novel begins with Leonardo DiCaprio breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience. He does this repeatedly throughout the film and if he is not speaking directly to the audience, he is doing lots of voice-over to explain or inform what he or the other characters are doing at that particular time/situation in the film. Most of the time, I find voice-over very distracting, but I have to admit that it works in this dramedy film very well. The book, written by Jordan Belfort, a former New York stock broker who earned hundreds of millions of dollar during the 1990s at his Stratton Oakmont brokerage firm on Long Island, New York (not really Wall Street in downtown Manhattan). The book is very long and seems to glorify everything Belfort did during this time of his life along with all of his friends and co-workers at his stock firm. He founded this firm which started as a penny stock firm, where unfortunately he defrauded everyday ordinary investors with fraudulent stock sales. Considered a stock swindler, he developed a very severe lifestyle, which included a very serious addition to Quaaludes. The company at one point employed well over 1,000 brokers and dealt with more than $1 billion stocks, including the Steve Madden show company. The 2000 film Boiler Room was inspired by Belfort and Stratton Oakmont. It should be noted here that Belfort was indicted in 1998 for money laundering and securities fraud. He spent 22 months in a federal prison and was to pay back $110.4 million that he swindled. Meeting Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong in prison, Belfort was persuaded to write and publish his story, which he has. Stratton Oakmont was considered a boiler room that manipulated stocks. In the book, he tells in full detail how he did it from money laundering to swindling customers. Millions poured in, bringing with it many excesses, which included women, drugs, huge homes, servants, yachts, aircrafts, not only for himself but for everyone who worked for him. He also describes in detail all his dope escapades and sex, despite constantly telling the reader how much he loved his wives, particularly his second (and now ex-wife) and his children. Again, in full detail, he tells the reader about the supporting characters, from Aunt Patricia, his father who he calls Max Max, the Swiss forger, his cohorts in crime at Stratton, along with Steve Madden and others. The drug use, the sex, the violence, the storm at sea that destroyed his yacht, and the car wrecks are all listed throughout the book. It finally ends with Belfort being arrest and jailed. In the film, which is considered a black comedy, the story deals with the scam that Belfort initiated and where, or not, some, any, or all of what he tells the reader what he did during this time in the book is accurate remains to be seen. As is always the case with any film, plenty of creative license is used to tell a particular story. Seeing how Martin Scorsese, the director, in all his films, tries to be as faithful to the novel as he can be, he has done the same with Belfort's memoir. So this particular film is a close adaptation since most of the story elements are kept while some have been changed, added, or dropped. But, one has to be reminded that Belfort was a true scam artist, so just how much of his story is legit is up to the reader and now the watcher to decide. Most of what Scorsese has included in this film is accurate based on the book. Mark Hanna, played well by a still very thin Matthew McConaughey from his role in Dallas Buyer's Club, tells a very young Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) that the key to being successful included hookers, cocaine and masturbation is told in the novel. The use of what is called a pump-and-dump scheme (selling a risky stock at an inflated price and then sold the stock to make a profit for themselves) to make a profit is also accurate. Belfort and Danny Porush (Donnie Azoff in the film, played by Jonah Hill) did this. The brokerage firm did in reality take Steve Madden's shoe company public, which Madden, Belfort and Porush owned the stock, driving the price up. All three of them went to jail for this. The smuggling of the money that Belfort laundered in Switzerland was actually done by his wife's mother and English aunt. Prostitutes were hired and were billed to the corporate credit card and then these expenses were written off their taxes. The yacht, originally owned by Coco Chanel, was sunk. In the film, his second wife's name was Naomi; in the novel, her name is Nadine. In the book, Belfort gave up Porush, among many others for a reduced sentence. In the film, he tells Porush not to incriminate himself. It is true that Belfort was born in the Bronx to accountant parents and he was raised Jewish which he is still today. I guess the audience would like to believe that Belfort only stole from the rich. Truth be known, many small investors are still to this day trying to recover from his scheme while Belfort has failed to repay what he owes and Porush is still doing his get rich quick plans. Many of the characters; names from the book were changed. Danny Porush is Donnie Azoff, Patrick Denham (FBI agent) is in real-life Gregory Coleman, Denise Lombardo was changed to Teresa Petrillo and Nadine Caridi was Naomi Lapaglia. Chandler was the name of his first child, but was referred to in the film as Skyler. Scorsese did include at the end of the film a disclaimer saying it was a fictionalized version of the novel and in the film, some of the names had been changed.

Artifact (2012)

Artifact Movie Review

[7/10 · 23 December 2013]

This review is slightly different from the normal films adapted from literature that I include on my blog. But this particular film is inspired by true events by a worldwide, well-know alternative rock band and can be used as a valuable tool to anyone contemplating a recording contract and as such is an adaptation (use your own definition of the word here). Keep in mind that not all bands experience what this band has encountered and not all record companies are this greed based. But, after working on their documentary film Artifact for a number of years, Thirty Seconds to Mars has released this 2012 film to the general public. It can be found in some theaters but is available through iTunes as a rental or for purchase in SD or HD. It is an interesting film which shows the band's fight with EMI/Virgin Records, their record label, and the greed of this company and some other parts of the record industry. It might be difficult for some to feel sorry for this world famous band, believing that they have earned a lot of money through the sale of their music, but if the truth be told (and with all the interviews throughout the film who will attest to it) this band was sued by their record company for thirty million dollars and to date have not received any compensation for their albums. This would explain why they are on the road, touring around the world, in order to receive some compensation for their labors. They hold the record for the most days out on tour at 311! Originally, the film was to document the making of their third studio album, eventually entitled This is War, based on the fight with the record label. What transpired throughout all of this was a story of how the band had to finance, by themselves, this album and their struggle with their record company and the ludicrous breach of contract lawsuit of $30 million, which started in 2008. It should be noted here that there is a labor law in California, where the band is based, that states no contract can be longer than seven years. Thirty Seconds to Mars in 2008 had been under contract to EMI for nine years and unfortunately, they had not be paid for their previous two records and were notified that they were in debt to the company. The film breaks down the horrid process which for all intensive purposes can and does hold some bands financially prisoner. Due to this knowledge, Thirty Seconds to Mars, considering the California law, tried to terminate what they considered an unfair contract, but were informed that they did not produce the required five albums that the contract specified and were then sued for the $30 million by Virgin Records. There is a larger issue involved here that the film attempts to document which is what the front man for the band, Jared Leto, states is the unfairness and lack of artistic freedom the musicians are confronting. It is obvious that he cares greatly about this issue and even though the issue with the record company was resolved and, as of today, EMI has been purchased and sold off, there still remains this issue of unfairness and lack of freedom along with the possibility of being sued and not being compensated for artist's art, which is what music is. The film was directed by Leto under the pseudonym of Bartholomew Cubbins, a Dr. Seuss character, and it has won some awards. Leto has also directed other films, mostly music videos under the same name. But as well as this film contains lots of very good substance and content, it has the appearance of a music video and not a documentary film. Yes, it contains the necessary information to inform and it shows the passion of the topic being discussed, but it has too much emotion. Documentary films do just that…document and inform. In my estimation, it would have been better served if an entirely different production team had been hired…from the directing, to the camera work, to the editing. And as well as iTunes is number one for marketing, a larger distribution would have helped this film reach a bigger audience. Keep in mind, not all record companies work the way Thirty Seconds to Mars states, but as I have already said, it is a good film to watch and learn from.