Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Poster thanks to Impawards.com

Dallas Buyers Club is a film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée about a Texan electrician & rodeo cowboy whose world is turned on its head after being diagnosed with HIV. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner. It had an impressive award season run, even clinching two of the most prominent awards at The Academy Awards: McConaughey won Best Actor in a Lead Role and Leto won Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Their 3rd Oscar was for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.

The story is a biographical one, depicting the life of Buyer Club runner Ron Woodroof. It is perhaps as successful as it is due to the subject of the film covering a recently taboo topic, HIV and AIDs. HIV and AIDs are often glossed over due to misunderstanding of the disease and discrimination on those who have been diagnosed. In recent years, however, HIV and AIDs have begun being discussed, a subject that is not only talked about, but is being encouraged to be talked about. Another film that was released recently on the subject is the documentary How to Survive a Plague (2012), about the early years of the AIDs epidemic and the efforts made by volunteer groups to bring awareness to the population and representatives, as well as to legalize medication otherwise not authorized by the FDA during the time of the crisis. How to Survive a Plague was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2012 Academy Awards.

Dallas Buyers Club is an extremely poignant story of a heterosexual male diagnosed with HIV, which eventually progresses into AIDS, and his struggle with being heterosexual while a majority of those diagnosed with AIDS have had homosexual interactions. Being diagnosed not only staggers Woodroof, but isolated him from the masculine rodeo community he at one time thrived in. Woodroof goes through a serious transformation through the span of the story, beginning as a very aggressive homophobe, and then, through dealing with his new disease, progresses into an accepting and caring man for people of all different types.

Woodroof, not being able to comprehend why medication proved to help the AIDs virus is being restricted by the FDA, starts what is historically known as a Buyers Club, in which Woodroof offers a membership to the club for a small fee, which includes free medication for all members, the medication being that what is not approved by the FDA. In order to keep up his stock, Woodrood travels across the world, making contacts with doctors who desire to help AIDs patients who have no access to these medications. Without giving away too many spoilers, Woodroof runs into many obstacles, mainly legal ones, concerning his distribution of non approved medication.

The performances in the film are one of the things that makes the movie as enjoyable as it is. Jared Leto in particular, who plays a transgendered man, succeeds in stealing the show, even with the small amount of screen time given to him. If I hadn't known going into the viewing that Leto played the transgendered character, I wouldn't have been able to tell it was him. That was how convincing his performance was. As such, he won an Academy Award for his effort.

I suggest this film, as well as How to Survive a Plague, to any and all. A.

The Hunt (2012)

Poster thanks to Impawards.com

The Hunt is a film directed by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, starring Mads Mikklesen. This is Vinterberg's most recognized film, as it was nominated for the 2014 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Mads Mikklesen is a more prominent name in film, especially with his recent stint as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in NBC's Hannibal. Without spoiling the ending, the film is about a nursery school teacher, Lucas (played by Mikklesen), attempting to win custody of his son after a bad divorce. This dream is shattered when he is wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a little girl. 

I personally have a difficult watching films with sensitive topics, such as this. It isn't just that I feel uncomfortable watching such subjects, but that the film literally makes my skin crawl while watching. Topics such as the holocaust also cause a similar reaction. As such, I tend to avoid films like this entirely. Somehow I was pulled into watching The Hunt. At the close of the film, I was glad I had made it through, and even suggest this movie to viewers in the future. At the start of the film, however, I almost found myself walking away. My anxiety became so great that I, and I sorrowfully admit this, looked up the summary so that I could know the ending before I continued watching. I'm not sure what drove me to do this, but what I read helped me stay in my seat, and even though I spoiled myself, I find that the experience of watching the movie became better for me. 

Mikklesen's performance was incredibly believable and transcended expectation. Thomas Bo Larson, who played Theo, Lucas' best friend, was also outstanding. His performance put his name on the map for me, and I hope to see his future work. These great and established actors aside, I believe the entire show was stolen by Annikka Wedderkopp, who played kindergardener Klara. Not much can be found about Wedderkopp on the internet, although from the film it can be gathered that she is very young indeed. Her youthfulness does not at all hinder the immense performance she gave. As a passionate filmmaker myself, I would love to talk to director Vinterberg to see just how he got such a performance. It is always astounding when child actors walk before a camera and give an explosive performance. Although it can never truly be determined if a child will last long in the industry, I certainly hope to see Wedderkopp resurface.

For me, The Hunt was a film more about character building than about anything else. The semi-soul crushing plot aided the characters changes throughout, and even brought characteristics to light that had otherwise been ignored and laying dormant. I suggest this film to anyone who wants to see incredible acting at the forefront of a movie. B. 

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Poster thanks to ImpAwards.com

Inside Llewyn Davis is the most recent release from the esteemed Coen brother team. Joel and Ethan Coen are known for their collaborations, quirky stories, and all star casts. Oscar Isaac, a relative new comer, stars as the title character, Llewyn Davis, a struggling folk musician in the times just preceding Bob Dylan. The film also stars the likes of Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, and John Goodman. Inside Llewyn Davis was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Actor for Isaacs, and Best Writing for the Coens). Possibly it's most prestigious award was received at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, in which the Coen brothers took home the Grand Jury Prize, the second most distinguished award at the festival, under the Palme D'or. The film is about Llewyn Davis, a musician struggling to make it big.

One of the most important aspects of this film is it's soundtrack, as it is a movie about music. Below I have included my favorite song from the film:

The Auld Triangle, originally thought to be written by Dominic and Brendan Behan, is here performed by Chris Thile, Chris Eldridge, Marcus Mumford, and Justin Timberlake. This rendition of the song is in stark contrast to some of the more popular renditions, such as those performed by the Dropkick Murphys and the Dubliners, the former giving the song an angrier feel and the latter a more humorous sort of feel. Below I have included the Dubliners version of the song as a point of reference:

The film's soundtrack is certainly important to the flow of the film, as well as the story. Songs such as "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me," "Five Hundred Miles," and "Fare Thee Well" are all performed at crucial points within the story and act as explanations for the unspoken emotions that are being seen on screen and felt by the characters. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" acts as foreshadowing to the title character, Llewyn, and "Fare The Well" is his final goodbye before the film closes. "Five Hundred Miles" explains the emptiness felt by various characters, mainly the lead, and his intimate relationship (or lack there of) with the cold Jean.

A point of interest is the possible snub the film and its creators received for this years Academy Awards. The original song "Please Mr. Kennedy" deserved a nomination in the Best Original Song category, but was instead surpassed by the likes of "Let it Go" from Frozen and "Happy" from Despicable Me 2. There were two other songs nominated, though I am unfamiliar with them or the films they come from. Nevertheless, "Please Mr. Kennedy" is such a novelty that I am entirely confident that it could have easily replaced either of the songs previously mentioned. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel that a film dedicated and reliant wholly on it's soundtrack, whether the songs were entirely original or covers, deserved some sort of recognition. I have included below the song "Please Mr. Kennedy" for my readers to listen to:

I highly suggest this movie on the basis that it is a good film, as well as for the purpose of enjoying a very good folk soundtrack. A+.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Poster by Alternate Designs

The Grand Budapest Hotel was directed by Wes Anderson, with a script inspired by the writing of the Austrian author Stefan Zweig. The film can be considered a comdey-drama, as most of Anderson's films are. Anderson is known for his very peculiar and quirky film-making style. Some of his most popular works include Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). The Grand Budapest Hotel has an extensive cast list, filled with some of the most prominent actors of the day, as well as some newcomers who showed exceeding potential. Some of the cast is as follows: Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave H., Saoirse Ronan as Agatha, William Dafoe as J.G. Jopling, and newcomer Tony Revolori as Young Zero Moustafa. All in all, I believe this film relies heavily on the strong presence of the encore cast.

If I were to use one word to describe Anderson's style it would be quirky. Every aspect of the film is heavily detailed and stylized, to the point where one might reach so far as to call it campy. Nevertheless, the quirky, overly stylized final product isn't so much kitsch as it is enjoyably nostalgic. What one experiences when watching an Anderson film is a sense of extreme excitement and fun, that the director must have felt when creating his work. I think achieving this sense of enjoyment is certainly a challenge for directors in this day and age, considering a lot of films that are being churned out seem like factory productions rather than works of art. A viewer might miss that excitable feeling of the director when watching a Transformer film, but not when watching The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson succeeds in germinating his works with his passion and creativity to the point where the audience can actually feel his excitement for filmmaking.

As an aspiring director/writer, I am enamored by Anderson's talent and passion. Whereas I find that I enjoy my personal work to be less stylized and bent towards realism, I hope that one day I can create films that showcase my love for the craft as much as Anderson's do.

This leads me to the amount of time and preparation that goes into a Wes Anderson production. I was amazed at the amount of people listed in the credits after The Grand Budapest Hotel came to a close, although it made me realize how many people are actually involved in the Anderson film practice. A full list of cast and crew can be found here. The credits of his films have some of the most interesting crew positions imaginable, and this all plays back to Anderson's uniquely distinct style. He was quoted in The New York Times as preferring the old way of making movies, as opposed to relying on CGI. This lends itself to the fact that Anderson has multiple credits for model makers, drapesmen, sculptors, milliners, tailor, fabric painters, and balloon operators. He even credits every member of the orchestra, as opposed to crediting the orchestra singularly. The uniqueness of the positions on the crew shows you just how interesting his style is and how much attention to detail goes into making his productions.

I am going to leave you with a trailer for the film, which should give you a taste of this unique style I seem to be ranting about. I give this film an "A" and suggest it to everyone who wants to what a very fun and creative work of art.

Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013)

Poster courtesy of BLT Communications, LLC.

I saw this movie what seems like ages ago, but I absolutely cannot get away with not writing about it. Blue Is The Warmest Color (La vie d'Adele) is an epic romance adapted from the critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Julia Maroh. The film was created in two chapters and directed and written by Abdellatif Kechiche. The main stars are Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos. There is much controversy surrounding this film, which I believe might make for interesting conversation, but first I would like to discuss the plot.

Blue Is The Warmest Color is a romantic coming of age tale that focuses on a young high school girl, Adele, who slowly comes to terms with her sexuality through the help of a confident, older lesbian Emma. As Adele becomes more confident in her sexuality, she begins lacking confidence in her relationship, leading to jealousy and suspicion, eventually to a heart-wrenching climax and conclusion.

With no hesitation, I say that this film is my favorite from 2013. I tend to prefer movies that focus more on character development in comparison to films that seem overly saturated with plot. As such, Blue Is the Warmest Color is certainly a character study, with characters that I so deeply related to that I went to bed crying after viewing the film. I am so intensely passionate about this film that I even have a poster hanging in my room, expectant of the blu-ray to arrive in the mail any day, and own the English language version of the graphic novel. I don't want to give away any spoilers, although I wouldn't say there are many spoilers to give. As I said before, this film is not reliant on plot so much as it is reliant on characters. That being said, nothing truly happens in the movie so much as characters happen.And that is why I was drawn to this film; to me, the important facets of life are people and their lives.

The film premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, unanimously clinching the prestigious and sought after Palme D'or award for Best Film. It was during it's premiere at the festival that multiple controversies surrounding the production came to surface. Director Kechiche was accused of harboring a harsh working environment, tampering with overtime pay, and avoidance of labor law requirements, which caused multiple crew members to quit while on set. In September of 2013, only 4 months after the premiere of the film, lead actresses Seydoux and Exarchopoulos went public with what they called a "horrible" experience on set with Kechiche. Kechiche's response to the negativity about production was that the film shouldn't be released at all, saying "I think this film should not go out; it was too sullied." The resistance Kechiche showed to releasing the film affected its distribution as a whole, resulting in the films inability to qualify for the 2014 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

The controversies aside, Blue Is The Warmest Color is a masterpiece of a film. A recent re-watch only cemented my opinion that this movie will stand as an example for years to come. The naturalism of the acting, which was achieved by Kechiche through countless retaking of shots, marks an important departure from formalism, which is a new trend in the recent years. Kechiche, regardless of the negative press he has received, inspired me and invoked my passion for film once again. His techniques, such as only allowing the actors to read the script only once, and then demanding improvisation for each scene, creates an environment of real life where the actors are given free creative reign, allowing them to emerse themselves entirely in the experience of the film. And that's what it is all about, isn't it? Naturalism, realism, being true to the character, but evoking past experiences as source material.

I loved Blue Is The Warmest Color. I recommend this film to anyone and everyone. A++.

Sources:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/blue-is-warmest-color-shouldnt-635532?

Gravity (2013)

Poster design by The Refinery

Gravity is a film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Sandra Bullock plays Mission Specialist Ryan Stone and George Clooney plays veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. The film is about a space mission, in which Stone and Kowalski are sent to the Hubble Space Station in order to service it. While Bullock is working on the station, they are informed by their Mission Control that a Russian mishap involving a missile strike on an obsolete space station caused a cloud of debris that is orbiting around the earth at their altitude. This event changes the entire course of the film, without giving away any spoilers.

I think it is important to note some interesting facts about this movie. It must be first stated that 80% of this film was CGed, which is comparative to James Cameron's 60% in Avatar. Gravity was awarded 7 Academy Awards at the 2014 ceremony, one specifically being awarded to its achievement in visual effects. Due to the heavy reliance on computer generated visuals, Sandra Bullock was often strapped into a rig for 10 hours at a time, a rig that was used to simulate her actions in space. This aspect of generated visuals only further insists that Cuarón was extremely dedicated to the idea of realism when depicting space travel.

There are some inaccuracies to be noted, however, inaccuracies that I would argue do not detract from the film as a whole. Some of these inaccuracies are as follows:

• Stone is never shown wearing ventilation garments

• Kowalski would only have had to have been tugged back in by Stone, instead of unclipping himself from Stone

• Stone's tears wouldn't have floated off of her face, but instead stuck due to surface tension

These are only a handful of the few inaccuracies that were noted about the film, those being noted by Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and astronomer Phil Plait.

I enjoyed this film immensely. I was initially hesitant due to my (questionably shallow) dislike of Sandra Bullock, but was pleasantly surprised with her performance, and the general master-fulness at which the film was shot. Overall, Cuaron created a masterful, realistic rendering of space travel, all the while grounding the film with worldly issues. As Gravity is a movie about rebirth, both Stone and Kowalski are faced with colossal danger in which they need to survive or overcome in order to overcome the chains and shackles of their past.

 As Stone is the main Character of this tale, her journey of rebirth is perhaps the most dominant storyline within the movie. The trials she is faced with directly correlate with the earthly problems that haunt her past. As she conquers each problem, she is one step closer to closure. As the film is a mere 91 minutes long, the audience is left begging the question whether or not Stone's ordeal in outer space is enough to help her through the reality that awaits her on earth. Without giving away any spoilers, I believe there are certain moments in a person's life that are so traumatic and life altering that the things they might have faced in the past are ultimately altered in their present mindset.

Photo thanks to IndieWire

 The photo above demonstrates a pivotal scene. Bullock here is depicted as a small child within the womb of a mother. What could be more symbolic of rebirth than Stone curled like a baby in a womb?

I give this film an A rating and suggest it to anyone who might be interested in themes of rebirth and identity, or even those who might be curious about outer space.

EDIT: I recently received a comment where a reader showed interest in the reaction to the 3D version. As I haven't seen the 3D version, I did some quick research to find out all I could about the films release in 3D. 

All that I found showed that Gravity was always intended to be shot in 3D and IMAX and that the reception was almost entirely positive, aside from a few outliers. Gravity is currently the third film worldwide in terms of revenue grossed from IMAX 3D showings, third only to The Dark Knight Rises and Avatar. It was released in 330 IMAX 3D theaters in North America alone. Gravity has been lauded as a film made specifically for the IMAX experience, with "the crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio creat[ing] a unique environment that make audiences feel as if they are in the move." Basically, Gravity's images and audio effects work in perfect sync with the IMAX technology. With the money grossed in IMAX showings alone, it can be seen that audiences went specifically for what the film was made for, the IMAX 3D experience.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/02/07/gravity-passes-100m-worldwide-in-imax/

A little update

I know I am been missing for about half a year. There aren't any excuses I can come up with other than things just go ahold of me and I didn't have much time to upkeep this little blog here. But today I had the realization that I needed to turn a new leaf. It's been hard for me to write regularly, so I decided that this blog need revamping in order to keep me on track.

I used to use this blog for mainly movie reviews, and while that aspect will stay the same, I plan on added some other points of interest as well, such as my personal ventures into the film/production work with jobs and internships, as well as my own personal projects, whether they be productions, writing, or anything creative like that. So stay tuned! There are fun things in store!