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jdavisbruin
Reviews
Macbeth (2014)
A refreshingly traditional Macbeth.
This is a Macbeth that focuses on performances and relationships rather than provocative directing choices or modernization to the setting and costuming. If you want to see a fast paced, well-acted Macbeth that pays reverence and respect to Shakespeare's intent, this is it. It is perhaps as close to Renaissance staging as you will ever see.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Talented is an Understatement
This is as good as films come and a wonderful period piece of 1950s Europe. Directed and written by Anthony Minghella, the director of The English Patient and Cold Mountain, Mr. Ripley involves the exploits of Tom Ripley, played to chilling perfection by Matt Damon, who initially travels from his native Manhattan to Venice to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), the spoiled son of a multi-millionaire. Tom becomes enamored by Dickie's illustrious lifestyle--and perhaps with Dickie as well--but when Dickie tires of Tom, Tom murders Dickie and passes himself off as the millionaire.
What makes this movie so wonderful--besides the incredible writing, beautiful cinematography, homo erotic relationship between Matt Damon and Jude Law, and the occasional shots of the two star's backsides--is the stellar cast. Matt Damon is dead on as Tom Ripley. He is boyish, charming, and fragile yet sinister and capable of anything. Sociopaths haven't been played this well since Anthony Perkins in Psycho. What makes Damon's performance more fun is how you never know everything about the character. Is he gay? Is he straight? Is he bi? Is he even aware of what he is doing? Does he feel remorse? You never know. The whole character is an act and an illusion who fools both the other characters and the audience.
Jude Law also turns out a star-making performance as Dickie Greenleaf. Jude's a charming man's man and a throwback to the leading men of the 50s and 60s, so he fits this role like a glove, and as we know now he can identify with the womanizing side of his character. Nevertheless, Jude's charisma and charm make it easy to believe why Matt Damon's character would be so taken by him.
The rest of the cast--led by Gweneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Seymour Hoffman--is amazing as well. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a sexy, provocative, superbly acted nail-biter. Hitchcock would be proud to see a suspense film like this.
Asylum (2005)
The Filmmakers of Asylum Deserve an Asylum
Well, the summer movie season is definitely on, which means there are lots of lackluster blockbusters and--for those of us that prefer something a bit more intellectual--independent films. "Asylum"--which stars Natasha Richardson as a woman who leaves her phycho-therapist husband for a mental patient and then goes insane herself and Ian McKellen as her lover's doctor--has all the pretentiousness of an intellectual, entertaining independent film but fails to live up to expectations.
"Asylum," or as I call it "This Summer's Swimming Pool," has all the elements that a good film should have. It has a story about adultery, violence, and insanity, three elements which left alone could create a compelling story and thrown together should be absolutely riveting. The film also features a stellar cast and a noteworthy screenwriter, Patrick Marber, famed for writing the stage and screen versions of "Closer," another film I felt particularly raped out of ten dollars by. In all fairness, I saw "Asylum" at a free sneak-preview show and also had a complimentary glass of wine beforehand, so the experience wasn't a total waste of time or money.
The main problems in "Asylum" come from poor writing and directing. Some of the lines in the film were so poorly written and cheesy that the entire audience was laughing hysterically at certain points; definitely not the desired reaction to a dramatic piece. Other scenes seemed barely stitched together or crafted. For example, after building the tension between the woman and the inmate she eventually falls for, the director totally lost all energy and chemistry between them during their first sex scene. The lovemaking between the characters lasted a dismal minute and a half, making me and half the audience laugh. A ninety-year-old man could last longer than that, and if the writer or director doubt that they could have asked Ian McKellen as he was on set.
In short, if you're in the mood for a good independent film, I hear "My Date With Drew" and "March of the Penguins" are quite good. But stay away from "Asylum" as the creators of it should have been put in one.
A Dirty Shame (2004)
A Dirty Shame: More Fun Than Funch
What do you do when your friend busts your balls about not seeing Good Will Hunting and the two of you go to the video store so you can finally see it and lo and behold they don't have it (yes, Hollywood Video should be ashamed of themselves)? Well, you rent the new John Waters movie, A Dirty Shame.
John Waters--director of such films as Hairspray and Cry Baby--has made a name for himself with kitchy, campy, and often raunchy envelope-pushing films that ridicule middle-class America. With A Dirty Shame (which earned an NC-17 rating...why, I don't know) he outdoes himself.
The film follows Sylvia, played by the always hysterical Tracy Ullman. Sylvia is a prudish wife and mother who after suffering a concussion becomes a sex addict and discovers that many of her neighbors are addicts as well. What develops is a hilarious conflict of the town's sex addicts vs. the conservatives, known as "neuters." I could go on and on about what makes this film so enjoyable. Besides side-splitting scenes such as one involving Sylvia disgusting senior citizens while dancing the Hokey-Pokey, full frontal male nudity, words like "harlot" or "whore" being flashed on the screen as not-so subliminal messages, or shocking and witty lines like "Something is the matter with your vagina" or "Don't you find it funny that every man in this neighborhood has a penis?" the film features an all-star cast. Ullman is perfect as Sylvia, Johnny Knoxville is great as the leader of the sex-addicts, and Selma Blair is laugh-out-loud funny though practically unrecognizable as Sylvia's surgically-enhanced go-go dancing daughter Caprice who goes by the stage-name Ursula Udders.
If your idea of a good movie is one that is a subtle yet powerful drama, then by all means don't see this film. But if you enjoy loud, ballsy, over-the-top satirical comedies like South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut or Team America: World Police, then by all means rent A Dirty Shame.
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Like a Virgin...
Whether you are male or female, democrat or republican, black or white, gay or straight, bi or thai, there is one thing I'm sure we can all agree on: THIS YEAR'S SUMMER MOVIES HAVE TOTALLY BLOWN!!! Enter The 40 Year Old Virgin, which may rob the title I bestowed upon There's Something About Mary as the smartest, funniest, and sweetest summer gross-out comedy ever.
Granted the plot of Virgin is entirely predictable. By watching the trailer or merely hearing the title of the film, it's easy to figure out that Steve Carrell's character has gone without carnal knowledge for 40 years and his buddies will try to get him laid. In the process, Carrell will find true love...and eventually be deflowered.
What makes this movie so enjoyable then? I'd say it's the following three things...
1) The comedic timing of the entire cast. Everyone is dead on in their delivery of one-liners. And, like my beloved Something About Mary, the best lines come out so effortlessly and spontaneously it seems like half the movie was improvised. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if much of the movie was improvised. The producers said that they really waxed Carrell's chest in the scene that's in all the commercials and trailers (which is by the way one of the funniest film moments I've ever seen...if you can call squinting through tears of laughter seeing).
2) The men. Hearing four guys talk about sex for an hour and a half is great, especially when it's discussed in such a gross, vulgar, disgusting, and sadly real way as in this film. In short, Carrell and his friends are a male version of the "Sex and the City" ladies where the three friends are all Samanthas with the raunchiness taken to an extreme and Carrell's the only Charlotte.
3) Carrell. His innocence and charm makes you want to root for him and laugh at him all at the same time. A scene in which Carrell tries to put on a condom, somehow gets his testicles in it, and snaps it is a prime example. You laugh at him, but you feel sorry for him at the same time. Very few actors can pull off a character like this as well as he does.
So if you're sick of crap like The Island or Madagascar, go see this film. I swear it'll be considered one of the best comedies of the past 10 years. Who knows...seeing it may make you feel like a virgin, touched for the very first time...
Stage Beauty (2004)
Stage Beauty is Beautiful Film-making
Despite how much I've enjoyed some movies this summer, such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Batman Begins, the lackluster movie season has made me turn to DVDs.
A few nights ago I rented Stage Beauty starring Billy Crudup and Claire Daines and got a pleasant surprise. The film was a wonderful blend of comedy and drama. The story, set in London circa 1660, centered around Ned Kynaston (Crudup), a famous bisexual actor who plays women on the Elizabethan stage. His dresser, Maria (Daines), wishes to be an actress, despite a royal decree that only men can act. Still, Maria finds a loophole and under the stage-name Margaret Hughes she performs, impresses the mistress of the King, and inspires a law that forbids men from playing women. Kynaston is therefore out of a job and blames his downfall on his former friend, but of course he eventually falls in love with her. In short, it's a tale of sexual politics told to perfection.
I was initially skeptical about this film as I've never been a big fan of Claire Daines, and though I've always found Billy Crudup attractive, I've never thought of him as a great actor, especially one that could convincingly portray a man who in many ways identifies himself as a woman. However both shine in this film, and the chemistry between them is electrical. Their sex scene together--in which they substitute nudity with simply kissing and running their fingers over each other--was one of the most beautiful and sensual sex scenes I've ever seen. It probably helped that they fell for each other in real life over the course of this film, prompting Crudup to leave his wife, Mary Louise-Parker, while she was pregnant.
The supporting cast of this film is stellar, too. Rupert Everett is a riot as the King, and unknown Zoe Tapper makes an astonishing debut as his mistress. The excellent cast, paired with exquisite writing, made for an entirely enjoyable film.
I'm sure it must be hard to make a dramatic comedy that's as funny as it is dramatic, especially when it's a period piece as well, but Stage Beauty pulls it off with flair. Though on many occasions I felt totally emotionally invested in the characters, especially in the stirring conclusion to the film, at other times I was laughing out loud. This film is full of quotable lines and exchanges, such as when the King says, "Why shouldn't we have women on stage? After all, the French have been doing it for years," and his adviser replies, "Whenever we're about to do something truly horrible, we always say that the French have been doing it for years." Whether you are a fan of period pieces or love Billy Crudup and Claire Daines, rent this film. I sincerely hope it goes down in the books as one of the most under-rated films of 2004. This one was way more Oscar-worthy than the pile of dung otherwise known as The Aviator. If I keep telling myself "I have to buy this" as I'm watching it, you know it's gotta be good...well, that or I have a major DVD buying problem...or both.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Damon + Williams + Math = Strangely, Brilliance
In case you haven't seen Good Will Hunting (it's OK...I hadn't seen it until 3 weeks ago), it tells the story of a poor Bostonian young man named Will, played by Matt Damon, who has had an incredibly turbulent life and whose social status prevents him from achieving something. Though Will is brilliant and should be attending a school like MIT, he mops its floors instead. After getting into some trouble with the law, a MIT professor who needs Will's help to solve a perplexing mathematical equation takes the young man under his wing and helps Will receive a lighter sentence, providing he goes to a therapist. After seeing many shrinks, Will finally meets with Sean, played by Robin Williams, who eventually guides and befriends the reluctant Will.
Good Will Hunting is by far one of the most intelligent, well written films I've seen in a long time and it's quite deserving of its Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Moreover, Robin Williams shines as the psychologist who is struggling to battle his own feelings of loneliness and worthlessness after the passing of his wife, and Damon is incredible as the hard-edged genius at the core of the film. Minnie Driver is also very likable as Will's girlfriend who constantly tries to get him to open up without angering him in the process.
Unfortunately, Ben Affleck as Will's best friend Chuckie is downright annoying. He tries to steal each scene he's in by screaming in his thick Boston accent or by stepping on the lines of other actors, but he fails to be compelling or interesting. I think I actually groaned every time he appeared on the screen. Still, overall Good Will Hunting was a thoroughly enjoyable film.
Corpse Bride (2005)
My Review: Corpse Bride Has Some Skeletons in the Closet
It seems like basic Hollywood math. Tim Burton stop-motion animation the voices of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Albert Finney, and Christopher Lee = film-making at its finest. Still, Corpse Bride simply doesn't add up to much of anything.
If you've seen the previews for this films, you know the story already. Guy's marriage is arranged for him, he freaks out, goes into the woods, and accidentally marries a dead woman. Sounds Ashton Kutcher-esquire to me.
And the previews also show some of the wonderfully lush and imaginative visuals that Tim Burton provides. Really, the detail and polish of the animation here puts Nightmare Before Christmas to shame. The opening shot of a butterfly flying around a European village was one of the most beautiful shots I've seen in an animated film since the ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast. Still, interesting visuals are not enough to carry a film.
The biggest problem with Corpse Bride comes from one of Tim Burton's common film-making partners: Danny Elfman. While Elfman's songs for Nightmare Before Christmas were charming, well written, and integral to the story, the songs in corpse bride are uninteresting and unmemorable. It's hard for yours truly--the self proclaimed musical theater whore--to say that the worst part of this film was its songs and it would have been much better without them, but it's the truth. While listening to the songs of Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time inspires you to go out and buy the soundtrack (which by the way is a great addition to one's CD collection), listening to the songs of Corpse Bride for the first time inspired me to vomit and to write to Tim Burton asking him to urge his wife, Ms. Bonham Carter, to stick to acting instead of singing.
And then there are the problems with the plot and characters. The ending of the movie was more abrupt than Rene Zelwegger's breakup with Kenny Chessney, and certain characters that initially are introduced simply for the sake of a gag, such as the maggot that pops out of the bride's eye in those previews, keep coming back unnecessarily. In all honesty, though animation was a perfect medium for this story, the filmmakers should have considered ditching the family friendly feel of the movie. If this was done as a film for adults--minus the hideous songs--it would have been hysterical. Honestly, there need to be more films with jokes about necrophilia or getting a stiff one over a stiff one, and this could have been one of them.
If you are a fan of Tim Burton, do yourself a favor. Take your $10 that you were planning to spend on a ticket to Corpse Bride, go to Blockbuster and rent Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, and Sleepy Hollow. You'll have a much more enjoyable time.
Rent (2005)
My Review: How Do You Measure, Measure a Film?
Being the good homosexual theater student that I am, I patiently waited for five-hundred twenty-five-thousand six-hundred minutes for the film version of RENT. Of course my expectations were high since almost the entire Broadway cast reunited for the film, and the film soundtrack (in my opinion) is much more enjoyable than the Original Broadway Cast recording. Sadly though, the film version of RENT made me more disappointed than seeing a horribly miscast and untalented thirty-something play the title role in last year's film adaptation of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
So what turned this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning piece of theater into the worst film adaptation of a musical since A CHORUS LINE? I'd start by blaming virtually unknown screenwriter Steve Chbosky and director Chris Columbus as both obviously do not understand what the original stage version is all about.
The stage version of RENT is a story of life, love, loss, friendship, andmost of allcommunity as told by a group of eight friends living in a modern day New York plagued by homelessness, drug addiction, and AIDS. One of the things that makes RENT such an entertaining piece is how the large chorus is used to breathe life into New York and to show that most people face the same kinds of problems as the eight principle characters. In short, the chorus is a pivotal ninth character that helps illuminate many of the play's themes, especially the theme of community.
One of the grave mistakes of Chbosky and Columbus was the elimination of the chorus. By doing so, they fail to establish an environment that their main characters live in. Though the main players may bicker about the world they live in, they now appear totally detached from it, and thus the idea of community is now non-existent in the film.
Chobsky and Columbus also have trouble establishing the relationships between their main characters. It seems like their main characters have been friends forever yet we as an audience never see how they become friends or why they're friends or even how important they are to one another. This doesn't seem to be a problem in the stage version, though, as the entire first act establishes how these people met and why they have such a close bond.
And then there are the more amateurish problems in the film. Many of the crucial plot points and songs seem to come out of nowhere. For example, when Collins, an African-American professor at MIT, and his transvestite boyfriend, Angel, finally declare their love for each other in the song "I'll Cover You," nothing instigates it besides--as far as I can tell--a short ride on the subway. If a subway ride is all one needs to feel love, then why are New Yorkers so cynical? When another character goes missing for a month, we don't even find out she's missing until a few minutes before she comes back. And some scenes just seem to have the wrong tone. When Roger, the HIV positive recovering drug addict sings a love song to his dying girlfriend, Mimi, the lighting and camera angles make him look more diabolical than loving. I would have expected him to slit her throat more than I would expect him to kiss her.
But I'd say most of RENT's problems lie in the editing. Two songs which give us crucial pieces of information about certain characterssuch as the insinuation that Roger's roommate Mark is a closeted homosexual or that Roger's drug addict girlfriend, Mimi, needs to check herself into rehab or she'll dieare cut from the film yet were obviously shot as the songs appear on the soundtrack. These cuts and others like it make it very difficult to follow the plot or understand who the characters are. And while these crucial points are cut, we somehow need to sit through a second rendition of "Seasons of Love" and a reprise of "La Vie Boheme," both of which come out of nowhere and don't serve the story at all. If things needed to be cut for time, those moments should have gone long before scenes that help us understand the characters or their problems.
Still, RENT is somewhat redeemed by its brilliant cast. "Law and Order" alum Jessie L. Martin gives a charming performance as Collins. His rendition of the heart-wrenching reprise to "I'll Cover You" is enough to win him a Golden Globe nomination. Other stand-outs are Tony Winner Idina Menzel's energetic and hilarious performance as the trashy, constantly horny bisexual Maureen. Her rendition of the monologue/song/performance art piece "Over the Moon" is both nonsensical and laugh-out-loud funny all at once. And Tracie Thoms as Maureen's sophisticated, Ivy-League lesbian lover Joanne gives a brilliantly understated and demure performance. Their fierce duet, "Take Me or Leave Me" is easily one of the most enjoyable moments of the film, as is Thoms's duet with Antony Rapp's Mark in the "Tango: Maureen." But the biggest surprise of the bunch is Rosario Dawson as the optimistic yet HIV positive junkie, Mimi. Who knew that she could sing or dance? At any rate, she is a joy to watch, and her striptease number "Out Tonight" is a high point of the film.
Despite the enjoyable performances by the cast, RENT is plagued by bad writing, directing, and editing. As I watched this train wreck I could picture the producers of the upcoming adaptations of DREAMGIRLS and HAIRSPRAY cowering in a corner. My advice when it comes to RENT: save your money for THE PRODUCERS, which will hopefully follow in the footsteps of better recent musicals like MOULIN ROUGE and CHICAGO. And if you must see RENT, well consider that renting that seat in the movie theater costs a lot more than renting the DVD will.
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Brothers Grimm Grim Indeed
A few weeks ago when I saw "Asylum" starring Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellen, I thought that it had to have been the worst movie of the summer. Enter "The Brothers Grimm," which is by far the worst film I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't seen every film ever made, but I have seen "The Wiz," "American Wedding," and "Reefer Madness: The Musical," and "The Brothers Grimm" was much worse.
In "The Brother's Grimm," an evil witch kills 12 beautiful girls in a small German village. They were the lucky ones. As I write this my a** still hurts from being raped out of $8.25. Yes, I got f***ed in the a** by Heath Ledger and Matt Damon and strangely enough did not enjoy it.
This movie was chock-full of bad acting, bad accents, and very crude, unnecessarily violent images, most of which involved cruelty to animals. For me, a good time at the movies does not involve seeing horses being burned, fed spiders, or dropped from three stories up. Seeing a rabbit being skinned or a cat being cut to bits isn't fun either. Add some people being sliced in half, and the images here are more terrifying than a mud wrestling match between Bea Arthur, Eartha Kitt, Janet Reno, and Mickey Rooney.
It's really disappointing that this film was such a dismal failure. I love hearing familiar fairy tales twisted into unfamiliar stories, but this was downright awful. While fairy tales should be used to educate and entertain children, the future fruits of my loins will only see this movie as punishment. It's sad, but somewhere along the line the filmmakers got lost in the woods.