In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Directed by: Ron Howard
Country: USA

Movie Review: Ron Howard’s new blockbuster, “In The Heart of The Sea”, equipped with the conventional strategies and artifacts that characterize Hollywood for the better and for the worst, brings us the tragedy involving the Essex, an American whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, sunk in 1820 by the invincible power and resilient desire of vengeance of a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean. Charles Leavitt’s script, drinking from the novel "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick, starts conveying the urgency of the celebrated writer, Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw), in knowing the facts that led to the wreck of Essex, told by the last survivor of its crew, Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson), who at the time was only 14 when he was accepted as a cabin boy. Reluctantly, the still tormented and alcoholic, Thomas, agrees to tell the whole story in exchange of money, persuaded by his tactful wife. His recollections would become the inspiration for the fictional ‘Moby Dick’, an astoundingly descriptive classic book whose readers are more likely to classify this cinematic experience as an overambitious fiasco since its storytelling and imagery were insufficient to create an adventure of the same size of the whale it displays. According to the storyteller, this is a story of two men: Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), who relies on his family name to adopt a superior attitude, and his first officer, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), a brave sailor who got his feelings hurt when he was denied the position of captain to embark this newly arrived ship. As expected, and before the violent attack by the monstrous whale that leaves the crew drifting at sea for 90 days on small boats, there’s a storm that slightly debilitates the ship and increases the antagonism between the two main leaders. Fairly acceptable until this moment, the film starts abruptly to sink more and more into the blurry waters of sluggishness and sentimental manipulation, without delivering truly exciting moments or adding relevant elements to pull us out of its insipid drama. Mr. Howard’s ample career, fluctuating between hits (“Frost/Nixon”, “Rush”) and misses (“Da Vinci Code”, “The Dilemma”), goes through another setback with this ocean-going misadventure. While the ambitions are wide, the results are embarrassingly narrow.

Mustang (2015)

Directed by: Deniz Gamze Erguven
Country: Turkey

Movie Review: “Mustang”, the highly expressive debut feature from the French-Turkish filmmaker, Deniz Gamze Erguven, was attractively executed through an unobtrusive direction and a graceful acting. The screenplay, co-written by Erguven and Alice Winocour who directed the audacious “Augustine” three years ago, was pretty straightforward, depicting the lives of five teen orphaned sisters who are suddenly placed in the local ‘market’ by their grandmother and the uncle who raised them, awaiting the first chance to get married. The film starts on the last day of school in an ultra-conservative rural village in Turkey. The sisters are sad to say goodbye to their teacher who will be transferred to Istanbul the following year. The day is sunny and we can almost feel the scents of summer floating in the air. The beautiful and joyful flock, composed by Sonay, Selma, Ece, Nur, and Lale, is willing to enjoy the good weather and decides not to take the bus home, but rather walk, making a stop by the beach where they play games in the company of some boys, and then taking a detour into private grounds to grab some apples. Arriving home, they find the uptight grandmother acting furious, saying the whole village is talking about them because they were rubbing themselves on the boys during their little adventure on the beach. The afflicted grandmother and the stern uncle take security measures to avoid risks, so, higher walls are built, iron bars cover the windows, and the door is tightly bolted in order to confine them home until their marriage. The word is spread out to the village and the suitors arrive one by one to respectfully ask their hands, not before a virginity check-up is made to assure that the girls are conveniently pure. Meanwhile, the sisters disobey the orders, managing to escape and going to a soccer match. Their adventurous spirit wouldn’t be enough if they didn’t come across with an amiable van’s driver called Yasmin, who helped them getting to the stadium, and later on, befriends with the youngest sister and narrator, Lale. Among the girls, the latter is the emotionally strongest, the one who never stops trying to find a way out of the terrifying situation she and her sisters are involved. Ms. Erguven’s vision never goes astray and the approach was carefully outlined to extract the finest impressions from the excellent cast of newcomers. Only some segments of the script, especially the one that leads to the conclusion, could have been set up differently for better. Anyway, “Mustang” works as an eye-opener, demonstrating that some traditions can be extensively traumatizing.

Night Owls (2015)

Directed by: Charles Hood
Country: USA

Movie Review: This newly discovered indie romantic drama is the second feature-length from Charles Hood, whose directorial debut happened in 2007, with the practically unknown “Freezer Burn”. The schematic script, co-written by Mr. Hood and Seth Goldsmith, obeys to a very known structure, focusing on a couple confined to a house after a one-night stand that brings more complications than it was supposed to. Essentially, the film falls in the category of ‘two-actors-one-location’ that lives mostly from changing moods, fluid conversations, casual tones, and eventually an openness that leads to true romance. Adam Pally and Rosa Salazar work diligently with the director to assure that everything seems real. He’s Kevin, a hard-working guy who’s more than pleased to spend the night in the company of Madeline, a sexy young woman who takes him to a splendid villa and acts wildly under the effect of alcohol. There was nothing wrong with that if in the next morning he wouldn’t find out that the house belongs to his boss and mentor, the acclaimed football coach, Will Campbell, and learn from his co-worker, Pete, that the woman he just slept with, is Will’s obsessive ex-lover. To worsen his jittery state, he finds Madeline lying unconscious on the floor of the bathroom after taking a whole bottle of Xanax. The quick visit of a friend doctor elucidates him how to deal with the situation – first take a cold shower, then drink a cup of strong coffee, and afterwards start making questions and engage in a continuous conversation, just not to let her fall asleep. By turns aggressive and tender, the rest of the narrative is nothing we haven’t seen before, gradually evolving into a mutual understanding when the characters open up in respect to plans for the future, disillusions, what they’re good at, how many persons have they slept with, and how they feel about life in general. While drinking wine, the woman shows a lively enthusiasm in playing games, while the man's eyes sparkle when he talks about football. The pace shows some fluidity and a few funny lines are thrown in, however, I didn’t feel too much involved, despite the chemistry felt between the actors. For its own impairment, the finale was shaped in the most obvious manner, what defrauded my expectations of connecting with something unique, or at least, a bit more creative.

Life (2015)

Directed by: Anton Corbijn
Country: USA / UK

Movie Review: Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer, music video director, and filmmaker who deserves accolade for his first two films – “Control”, the amazingly photographed biopic of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic leader of the English grey band Joy Division, and “The American”, an unforgettable low-key European crime thriller, starring George Clooney as a hitman. The following move consisted in the less spellbinding, but still solid, “A Most Wanted Man” with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as the protagonist. I was expecting a motivating return this year, with “Life”, another biographical drama focused on the Magnum photographer, Dennis Stock, circumspectly played by Robert Pattinson. Stock drew the world’s attention in the mid 50’s with his photo essay about the emerging actor James Dean, stylishly embodied here by the competent Dane DeHaan. The title of the film alludes to the Life Magazine that published Dennis’ self-assigned work, two days before the premiere of Elia Kazan’s ‘East of Eden’, which just confirmed James Dean as a big Hollywood star. Stock and Dean first got in touch in a party hosted by Nicholas Ray, who was considering Dean for ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. Recognition was something that both actor and photographer were searching in their professions, and the trips they’ve made together, from L.A. to New York and then to Marion, Dean’s hometown in Indiana, will tight a friendship that expands to a fruitful professional collaboration. Dean possesses a quick intelligence, but also a shyness that sometimes makes him run away from everything. He normally looks doped, moving with an artistic pose and dragging his low voice, always with a cigarette between his lips. Despite the easy conversation, he’s a typical misfit who just needs a good friend to hang out. Stock, despite fond of him, often acts obsessively, eager for an opportunity to photograph the future celebrity. He’s the type of guy who almost doesn’t have a minute to spend with his 7-year-old son whom he barely sees after divorcing his wife. Both men confess their frustrations to each other, but somehow the film starts to devitalize, never delivering the humble consistency it has suggested. Unsurprisingly, I found much easier to focus in Dean than in Stock, whose personal life is not so interesting to justify a film. Even not knowing on which character I should be focused, “Life” presents articulate fractions of moods and vibes while resting in its passionless pose.

Chi-Raq (2015)

Directed by: Spike Lee
Country: USA

Movie Review: Spike Lee goes histrionic in “Chi-Raq”, a modern adaptation of the Aristophanes’ Greek play, ‘Lysistrata’, here transferred to a problematic Chicago. It seems that the film didn’t please the Chicagoans who, during two hours, had to watch the women from their city going into a sex strike that aims to stop the local gangsters from shooting one another and kill innocent people in the streets. Through the lame slogan ‘No peace, No pussy!’, a group of women, led by the activist Miss Helen (Angela Bassett), decide to punish the dopey thugs and bring justice to the killing of a little girl who was playing in the surroundings of her home. This cowardly act shocked the neighborhood, including the lively Lysterata (Teyonah Parris), who becomes a fierce booster of the movement despite being the girlfriend of Demetrius (Nick Cannon), a rapper and violent gang leader, who carries a difficult childhood on his shoulders. Funny here and there, the film carries a strong message and empowers a feminist facet that is much welcomed, but not everything runs smoothly in Mr. Lee’s manifesto. There’s an annoying cheesiness and a tricky coziness in this approach that feel so intense that is what we most remember after the credits roll rather than the favorable moments. “Chi-Raq” is a volatile, dramatic comedy that manages to be classified as watchable only because of the pacifist banner it holds. Mr. Lee, who co-wrote with Kevin Willmott, doesn’t convince me since “Inside Man” and keeps stumbling in the execution regardless the potentiality of the plots. It happened with “Red Hook Summer” and “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus”, not to speak of the unnecessary American remake of the memorable Korean version of “Old Boy”. Failing to properly amuse, the film still takes some time to show off Dolmedes, played by an expansive Samuel L. Jackson, exhibiting different fancy suits while commenting on the problems that daily fustigate the city. The speech lines took the form of rhymes, which despite adding some more rhythm didn’t save the film from being a flamboyant caprice. My favorite scene was a delirious sermon given by John Cusack, who plays a fervent preacher fed up of burying innocent victims. It’s a pity that Chi-Raq’s urgent message, even if sometimes strident and loud, is turned into an unruly satire.

Assassination (2015)

Directed by: Choi Dong-hoon
Country: South Korea

Movie Review: Set in 1933, “Assassination” is a historical espionage thriller that focuses on the Korean resistance movement created in the aftermath of the Japanese invasion of Korea. Plotting against the Japanese leaders, a group of exiled rebels, operating from Manchuria, China, seek to avenge the fall of their country in the hands of the illegitimate occupiers and recover what was taken from them. The assassinations are planned to occur in Gyeongseong (Seoul), and the targets include the Japanese high-ranked commander, Kawaguchi, and a pro-Japanese Korean businessman, Kang In-gook. The only one capable of leading this mission is An Ok-yun (Jun Ji-hyun), an infallible sniper who has first to be released from a Shanghai prison, where she’s serving time with her dauntless mates: the guns' aficionado, Big Gun, and the expert in explosives, Hwang Deok-sam. In charge of taking them out of the prison is Yeom Seok-jin, an agent of the provisional Korean government who had managed to escape out of prison in 1911. Embracing the risky mission with all her strength, An Ok-yun will also have the chance to meet with her estranged twin sister, Mitsuko, who was separated from her when they were babies, and now is going to marry commander Kawaguchi. The mission becomes even more complicated when she finds out there’s an informer among her comrades. Moreover, two inexorable assassins, Hawaii Pistol and his follower, Old Man, were hired to destroy the team and stop the mission. Director and co-writer, Choi Dong-hoon, who had fairly entertained me in his previous “The Thieves”, could have done much better here. Sadly, the several conspiracies, ambushes, traps, and shootouts, are presented with a phoniness that pushed me away from the story in an early stage. Mr. Dong-hoon, regardless having recreated the period with nice looking images by the cinematographer, Kim Woo-hyung, assembled a cheap Hollywood imitation thwarted by a scattered narrative, convoluted plot, lack of conviction in choosing the direction to be taken, and indistinguishable characters that didn’t show sufficient arguments to make us care. In addition, the excessive duration of the movie increases the viewer’s discouragement in the face of an inept execution that never spoke with a voice of its own.

Catch Me Daddy (2014)

Directed by: Daniel Wolfe
Country: UK

Movie Review: The bleak independent drama, “Catch Me Daddy”, envelops us in a gripping multicultural story set under the grey skies of the Yorkshire Moors, England. The newcomer Sameena Jabeen Ahmed plays Laila, a carefree Pakistani girl who runs away from his dad’s house to go living with her doped English boyfriend, Aaron (Connor McCarron). Her father is both concerned and ashamed, as well as her brother, Zaheer (Ali Ahmad), who goes after her with a group of unscrupulous mercenaries. At some point, the solution found to make Aaron and Laila give up was making Aaron’s mother a hostage and blackmailing him. The thugs attain their intents, but the story ends up in tragedy, bringing irreparable damages for everyone. In a small town with limited places to go, the chances of being found are higher. The harsh and stressful circumstances separate every single character from happiness. The ones who were trying to find some peace and change their lives are consumed by the darkness while the ones already living in the dark, like the middle-aged cocaine addicted and mercenary, Tony (Gary Lewis), sinks deeper and deeper in the obscurity of their actions. The plot, co-written by the debutant director Daniel Wolfe (also connected with the world of video music) and his brother Matthew, is disconcerting and profoundly severe, balancing quite well the violent and the emotional, as well as alternating between love and hate associated with the family. Some of the nocturnal images were deliberately pitch-dark, an understandable and justified option of Mr. Wolfe who also selected an eclectic score containing songs by Patti Smith and Tim Buckley. The cast, encompassing both experienced and non-professionals, was competent and convincing enough to make us believe that this story could have really happened. The nightmarish “Catch Me Daddy”, whose director has described it as a modern Western, leaves us suspended by its inconclusive finale. It won’t be a good option for the fans of mainstream cinema, and only the more optimistic ones will find a tiny margin for hope here.

Love (2015)

Directed by: Gaspar Noé
Country: France / Belgium

Movie Review: Disgracefully, Gaspar Noé’s “Love” is one of the worst movies of the year. This whimsical creation from the shocking French filmmaker, author of the interestingly disturbing “Irreversible” and “Enter the Void”, depicts the tortuous relationship of a couple translated into a melodramatic sexual trip to nowhere, part of a null plot punctuated with hideous dialogues and an emotional chaos that feels staged all the time. The film starts with a steady long shot of Murphy (Karl Glusman), a filmmaker wannabe, and his former girlfriend, Electra (Aomi Muyock), masturbating each other at the sound of a classical tune. Open-minded with regard to experiencing drugs and exploring their sexuality, the couple occasionally turns into a threesome or embarks in obscure parties whose only purpose is discovering different people and pleasures among orgies. After taking us into these orgies through spasmodic flashbacks that unsuccessfully try to build a balanced narrative, Mr. Noé clarifies that Murphy has a son with Omi (Klara Kristin), a neighbor who had spent one night with the couple. However, the pregnancy wasn't a result of that particular night, but of an infidelity when Electra was out for the weekend. The relationship comes immediately to an end, leading to Electra’s disappearance and leaving the disconsolate Murphy abandoned to his miserable life and thoughts, which are transmitted by a voice-over along the film. Many scenes translate in a nauseating self-pity and a sporadic hysteria that aggravate even more the tasteless plot commonly illustrated by repetitive and unnecessary 3D sex scenes, psychedelic drug trips, and an overall artificial execution. The tacky acting and the lousy score by Lawrence Schulz and John Carpenter were other factors that roundly failed in “Love”, a self-proclaimed sentimental sexuality that it’s not even sexy. Here, the stupid insistence on presenting explicit sex should not be mistaken by boldness. Other filmmakers did it with better results – Vincent Gallo in “Brown Bunny”, Abdel Kechiche in “Blue is the Warmest Color”, and even Lars Von Trier in “The Idiots” took advantage of this factor in a non-monotonous way. What’s the point of introducing a close-up shot from the top of a penis ejaculating? In his eagerness of becoming original, Mr. Noé fell in muddy territory and the result is an infuriating pretentiousness a.k.a. a total waste of time.

Creed (2015)

Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Creed” takes the ‘Italian Stallion’, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), one more time into the boxing ring, this time not to defend his heavyweight champion title but to train the fearless, self-taught Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s former tough opponent and later turned into a cherished friend. The film, sturdily directed by Ryan Coogler, who already had worked with Mr. Jordan in the excellent “Fruitvale Station”, begins with a very young Adonis putting up a fight with another kid in the L.A. youth facility where he spends his unhappy days. Adonis was born from an extramarital relationship and never had the chance to know his father, who died before he could see the daylight. Placed in isolation to calm down, Adonis, receives the visit of Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), his father’s wife who compassionately takes him to live with her. Seventeen years later, Adonis is well established in life, working in a respected financial company that provides him all the comfort he needs. However, he boils inside with an unstoppable energy, frequently mingled with anger, which has to be canalized somewhere. Unsurprisingly, he quits his job to become a professional boxer, even if that implies to cut ties with his adoptive mother who gets tremendously disappointed. But ambition and nerve are not everything, and the inexperienced Adonis acknowledges the need of additional training, the reason why he moves to Philadelphia and tries to persuade the old Rocky to teach him everything he needs to grab the title. He also catches sight of a noisy neighbor, Bianca (Tessa Thompson), a nightclub performer who becomes a supportive girlfriend. Along the way, both trainer and trainee have different battles to fight, but happily for them, the emblematic streets of Philadelphia are divided in two complementary ways, in which giving and receiving are shared in equal proportions. The word family acquires a very strong signification, increased with the last-minute encouragement from Mary Anne, who insists that Adonis’ legacy should be accepted once and for all. “Creed” cannot hide its crowd-pleasing nature, but shows a very entertaining side both in sports and drama. Even applying a few sentimental baits and picking up a couple maneuvers from the previous formulas, the film was still able to put a fierce energy and exciting agitation in the scenes, leading us to the probably most straightforward final combat from all the Rocky installments. In addition, the humor was very effective, and speaking of legacies, this is just the beginning of a new cycle named Creed, and it's heartbreaking knowing that Stallone’s Rocky may not survive the next sequel.

La Sapienza (2014)

Directed by: Eugene Green
Country: France / Italy

Movie Review: In Eugene Green’s “La Sapienza”, a strenuous camera guides us through architectural views and details before introducing us to Alexandre Schmidt (Fabrizio Rongione), a respected French architect who's being awarded for a lifetime’s work. Lyrical music floats in the air and Alexander’s speech, which referenced the human progress and praised the environmental consciousness, despite routine, pleased his wife, Aliénor (Christelle Prot), a dispirited psychoanalyst who still suffers in silence with the early death of their only child. The insomniac Alexander also lives embittered, haunted by the ghost of a former colleague and kind of a rival, who ended up shooting himself in the head. This story has a parallel with the rivalry between the renowned architects Borromini and Bernini. The former’s work is still being studied by Alexander, who considers it genius and mystical while he compares the latter’s with his own work - rational and respectful of powers, hierarchies, and rules. The couple faces some rebuffs on their respective professions and decides to make a trip to Italy in order to think things over. While passing by Stresa, on their way to Rome, they stop to assist two young siblings - Goffredo (Ludovico Succio), a recently graduated who’s about to go to Venice to study architecture, and his sister, Lavinia (Arianna Nastro), who just had another of her frequent and inexplicable dizzy spells. Aliénor thinks she can help her and refuses to leave the city until Lavinia is completely recovered while Alexandre takes Goffredo to Rome in a sort of a study trip. All four protagonists will learn how to liberate their own ‘ghosts’ that stubbornly remained imprisoned in them for so many years. Whereas the adults unexpectedly become students, the youngsters become teachers, and the light that brings perceptiveness gradually invades the dark spots of their lives. Mr. Green, influenced by the style of Manoel de Oliveira, Antonioni, and Pasolini, engenders a fascinating conception, a healing process that contemplates the human existence. Risky, complex, and perhaps too much articulated in its dialogues, “La Sapienza” is formal in the methodology and yet liberal in the message.

Victoria (2015)

Directed by: Sebastian Schipper
Country: Germany

Movie Review: Genuinely electrifying, “Victoria”, perhaps inspired by Gaspar Noé’s raw filmmaking style, is a triumphant drama by the German actor-turned-director, Sebastian Schipper, who impressively shot 2 hours and 18 minutes in one single take. The title character, earnestly performed by Laia Costa (the first foreign actor to win a LOLA German award), is a Spanish former piano student who moved to Berlin three months ago after seeing her musical ambitions fail. She's currently working at a small café, which she has to open every day at 7 a.m. We’re first introduced to Victoria at a night club, having a good time dancing and drinking until 4 a.m., time when she resolves to have her last drink, pick up her bike, and leave to the café. When preparing to hit the streets, she bumps into Sonne (Frederick Lau), an amusing liar, and his friends, who were trying to steal a beautiful car parked on the street. Victoria and Sonne had already seen each other at the club where he was flirting with her. Immediately, we sense a sort of chemistry between the two, but it was too soon for saying if this was authentic, or if Victoria, who doesn’t speak any German, could be in trouble by following him and his friends to a store where they steal a few beers, and then to smoke a joint on a building’s rooftop. The film succeeds in part because it was initially cooked with this haunting tension that wisely never goes in the direction we expect. The group of lawbreakers ends up smoothly accepting Victoria, who continues acting very natural and unworried while playing a casual flirting game with Sonne. The latter escorts her to the café and the romance can be spotted in the air. This relaxed moment is suddenly interrupted when Sonne has to quickly leave in order to take care of a murky business with his hyper old pal, Boxer (Franz Rogowski). He returns a few minutes later to ask if she can drive them to an old parking lot where Boxer is supposed to meet with the man who had given him protection when in jail. At the meeting, the boys are forcefully assigned to rob a bank, and once again, they’re counting with the help of the irresponsible Victoria whose behavior balances between scared and thrilled. Moving at its own hypnotic rhythm, helped by the fantastic ambient/melancholic score by Nils Frahm, and carrying a persistently gripping tension, the film, which is nothing more than a delirious night in Victoria’s life, becomes as much unforgettable (due to disparate reasons) for the viewer as it would be for the title character if the story wasn’t fiction.

Carol (2015)

Directed by: Todd Haynes
Country: USA

Movie Review: Directed by the highly regarded Todd Haynes, “Carol” is a stylish drama, dazzlingly shot on Super 16-mm film, based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1953 celebrated novel, “The Price of Salt”, and starring the mighty Cate Blanchett and the adroit Rooney Mara as two New Yorkers who engage in a homosexual relationship in the 50’s. Phyllis Nagy was in charge of the screenplay, which provides a flawless narrative to express the pleasures and commotions in the relationship between Carol Aird (Blanchett), a married high-class woman who’s about to divorce her overwhelmingly persistent husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler), and Therese Belivet (Mara), a young department store clerk whose modesty and innocence confer her a sweet graciousness. Both women deal with a painful loneliness, but when in the company of each other, they seem to find what any men couldn’t give them so far. The elegant Carol is far more experienced, and even before her failed marriage, she had a solid lesbian affair with her friend, Abby (Sarah Paulson), who currently remains her reliable confidante. The center of her afflictions isn’t what the conservative society might say about her sexual adventures but rather facing the possibility of not seeing her little daughter anymore due to Harge’s claim of full custody of the child based on immoral behavior. Consumed by jealousy, the latter even hires a private detective to carry forward his intentions. In opposition, Therese is an untouched solitary who keeps hesitating when men try to approach her, including the unsympathetic Richard (Jake Lacy) who says he loves her and wants to move in with her. Boosted by an irresistible attraction, both women set off on a trip to the West coast, but Carol’s familiar pressures oblige her to return, interrupting the ardent love she was living. Cate Blanchett, who had previously worked with Mr. Haynes when she embodied Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There”, is brilliant as the sophisticated lady, while Rooney Mara can be slushy sometimes in her wobbly insecurity, but managed to play her role harmoniously. Consistently supported by the well-cared production values and the eye of Mr. Edward Lachman, his regular cinematographer, Mr. Haynes moves effortlessly, always attentive to details (Blanchett’s hands and posture are pretty noticeable), and preferring sober sex scenes than explicitly raw approaches such as those adopted in Gaspar Noé’s “Love” or Kechiche’s “Blue is the Warmest Color”.

Landmine Goes Click (2015)

Directed by: Levan Bakhia
Country: Georgia

Movie Review: The English-language “Landmine Goes Click”, set in a remote Georgian mountain region, is a low-budget tale that contains very few positive aspects, both intellectually and cinematographically. Divided into two separate parts, Levan Bakhia’s sophomore feature film addresses nothing else but a double revenge by assembling gruesome situations in an indistinct way. Most of its setbacks were detected during the first part, in which the scenario becomes a ludicrous farce, even if putting some more creativity when compared with the second one, which is a reproduction of situations already seen in other examples within the genre. Three American friends – Chris (Sterling Knight), Daniel (Dean Geyer), and the latter’s girlfriend, Alicia (Spencer Locke) - get into a jeep heading to a former war zone located in Georgia and decide to explore the region. Regardless the fact that Daniel and Chris are best friends for a long time, we’re clarified during the first minutes that Alicia betrayed her boyfriend by having a one-night stand with Chris, who nurtures strong feelings for her and wonders how she might feel about it. She answers it was a mistake and that they should forget the incident for their own sake. However, Daniel discovers the truth and elaborates an evil plan to get rid of Chris, whose jealousy grows stronger. With the help of a newly arrived friend, he assures that Chris becomes trapped when stepping on a landmine ready to explode at any moment. Dumped by Daniel, Alicia who, in the meantime, contently pronounces Chris as her officially new boyfriend, tries to do the right thing in order to free them from the difficulties. With no effective solutions, she’ll have to rely on Ilya (Kote Tolordava), a malicious Georgian stranger who popped up with his useless dog, just to play a few freaking sexual games and then rape her without a bit of condescension. The film then shifts to the uninteresting second part, when Chris, who had survived the traumatic experience, finds Ilya’s place and sets his personal revenge, aiming at the aggressor’s teen daughter. Amateurishly written by Adrian Colussi, “Landmine Goes Click” gets stuck in its own lies and gimmicks while propagating the bad vibes of the principle 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'. I would call it a coarse deceit.

Spectre (2015)

Directed by: Sam Mendes
Country: USA / UK

Movie Review: “Spectre” is a quite unproductive installment (the 25th!) of the James Bond/007 franchise. For the second time in a row, director Sam Mendes guides Daniel Craig, who together with the voluptuous French actress Léa Seydoux, disseminate charm without particularly delivering anything worthy along its overextended 148 minutes. The film opens energetically active in Mexico in the Day of the Dead, with Bond jumping from building to building until he reaches the skies in a rampant helicopter where his main target, Marco Sciarra, who was plotting to blow up a stadium, is finally killed. Before Sciarra's fatal fall, the secret agent managed to pull out of his finger a ring with an octopus engraved. Then he flies to Italy, disobeying his boss’ orders, to attend the victim’s funeral, where he feels dangerously attracted to Sciarra’s beautiful wife and also learns about Spectre, a global criminal organization that operates in the shadow. By making use of the ring, he’ll try to infiltrate himself in a meeting of the organization that, after all, divides itself into another sub-organization with multiple connections to different possible targets. Encounter after encounter, all of them with some friction associated, Bond will bump into a dissident Spectre member who before killing himself, asks our hero to find and protect his precious, intelligent daughter, Dr. Madeleine Swann (Seydoux). After the usually difficult first contact, Bond saves her in a ridiculous way, using a jet plane, when a few thugs were taking her hostage in a jeep. The couple, far from incendiary, confronts the man behind Spectre, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, an inadequate villain unimpressively embodied by the gifted Christoph Waltz.  More boisterous than intriguing, “Spectre” only sporadically amuses, relying on a collection of messy action episodes that have nothing to add to the previous installments. The four screenwriters - John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Jez Butterworth – have much to be blamed for the story’s lack of grip, but the truth is that the execution also didn’t appeal to me with its super-exaggerated scenarios and the excess of confidence of a more and more decaying super agent that once made my youth days merrier.

James White (2015)

Directed by: Josh Mond
Country: USA

Movie Review: Allow me to start with a fair warning: whoever goes to the theater to watch Josh Mond’s “James White” assuredly won’t have a joyful experience. The film’s agonizing plot, mostly set in New York, was well imagined by the debutant Mr. Mond, whose handheld camera closely follows the empty look of the title character (Christopher Abbott), a miserable slacker who, after another night soaked in alcohol and acid, arrives at his mother’s home in the morning to mourn the death of his estranged, long gone father. James’ fragile mother, Gail (Cynthia Nixon), soon finds out that her cancer has spread, turning into stage four, which anticipates that death might be on its way sooner than expected. This sad news comes when the jobless James and his best friend, Nick (the rapper Kid Cudi), regular presences in the wild nightlife, are in Mexico having fun. This trip was supposed to provide a relaxed time, which would serve as a preparation for James’ changing for a new life: organizing himself, keeping away from his vicious addictions, and later giving a shot on a job offered by the kind Ben (Ron Livingston), an old friend of the family. Despite his intentions, James was never close to keep his promises, because seeing his beloved mother dying little by little, pushes him harder to the abyss of despair and discontentment. Not even Jayne (Makenzie Leigh), a young New Yorker he has met in Mexico, is capable of giving him the solace he needs. It’s an emotional downward spiral that’s clearly excruciating to the character, but no less to the viewer either, since we can actually sense the miserable states that crush mother and son. The anxiety discharged by Abbot and Nixon’s performances is compelling enough to achieve this substantial exchange of complex feelings and tough moods. Despite the difficulties coping with the situation, James takes care of his mother with extreme devotion and not for once abandons her in his mind. Even when he feels the necessity to go outside to breathe fresh air, his mom remains very present. Mr. Mond, who produced Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and Antonio Campos’ “Simon Killer”, sees these two directors repaying him by co-producing this pungent drama that avoids giving hints about James’ future. The film’s conclusion leaves us in a perpetual curiosity and we leave the theater with nothing but four hellish months in the thorny life of a certain James White.

Cartel Land (2015)

Directed by: Matthew Heineman
Country: USA / Mexico

Movie Review: Matthew Heineman’s documentary, “Cartel Land”, clarifies what’s happening on the both sides of the US-Mexico border, depicting two different realities and leaving us speculating about the tenuous line between the right and wrong. The film opens with a scene set in Mexico, in which some men, cooking meth with the consent of the Mexican government, explain they’re aware of the harm they’re doing but have no choice since they’re living in poverty. The film then turns our attention to Tim 'Nailer' Foley, an American vigilante who operates by his own initiative on the American side of the border, trying to catch Mexican intruders and protect the nation. He says that his past was characterized by abuses and addiction, and 18 years ago, and for the sake of his daughters, he resolved to hunt fiercely any cartel’s men who attempt to invade his land. On the other side of the fence, in the problematic state of Michóacan, we can follow an indominable and fearless doctor, Jose Manuel Mireles, who leads the Autodefensas, a group of vigilantes that protect the people from drug lords and thugs who belong to the most dangerous Mexican cartels. Some witnesses describe the horrors lived by the people, and the common massacres to entire families as retaliation for problems related to narcotics. Slowly, the local citizens start to be encouraged by Mireles’ illegal militia, whose members refuse to succumb at the hands of the barbarians without a fight. Conquering more municipalities than it was initially thought, the Autodefensas face a new issue, which is not exactly new in their minds: the government corruption, outspokenly denounced here by tough words, disquieting images, and perceivable examples. Despite Mr. Heinman’s bravery, “Cartel Land” is unorthodox in the manner it addresses and toggles between the stories. The final part even has a hint of soap opera when we learn about Mirele’s domestic troubles, caused by his tendency to have affairs with much younger women. Even momentarily heedless, the film proves to be strong when exhibits in loco the brutality and constant insecurity of the operations whose intention is to stop the terrifying actions and shameful business carried out by the merciless organized crime. Even the ones who seemed to be fighting for the right cause, like Mirele’s right hand, Estanislao Bertran Torres, show their real face and irresolution by joining the vicious government. Isn’t easier this way?

Theeb (2014)

Directed by: Naji Abu Nowar
Country: Jordan / others

Movie Review: “Theeb” is a notable tale set in Jordan about a Bedouin boy – the title character - who's the younger son of the former sheik of his tribe. He embarks on a perilous adventure along the unruled desert when he follows his older brother without permission. If we exclude the brief and yet strong participation of the British actor Jack Fox, this incisive drama is a film of newcomers. Both the Arabic cast and the director, Naji Abu Nowar, who co-wrote with Bassel Ghandour, accomplished their roles in such an extraordinary way that I could never tell this was their first movie. Following the tradition of receiving guests with courtesy, the Bedouin tribe welcomes an Englishman named Edward, who asks for a guide in order to reach a well, located in the middle of the desert. The parched trail to get there is more crowded with ferocious raiders than honest pilgrims, and therefore, the best man to conduct the expedition is Theeb’s older brother, the brave Hussein, who keeps raising him as a son after their father’s death. We can sense the sadness in Theeb’s eyes when he sees his brother on a camel, disappearing behind the rocks. Suddenly, in an uncontrollable impulse, Theeb sets off after his brother, finding him camping with the arrogant Edward, and the translator, Marji, an old acquainted of the tribe. With no other immediate option than taking the stubborn Theeb with them, the three adventurers are surprised when they reach the intended location. The well was clogged with slaughtered men and, later on, they’re ambushed by a group of bandits that wanted their camels. The brothers climb the mountains in a do-or-die effort to escape the enemies’ shots. Hussein hits one of the guys in the leg, but in the next morning he’s found dead by his little brother who managed to escape the oppressors when he fell inside a well. Alone and hungry, Theeb seems abandoned to his own luck, when he suddenly sees a camel coming in his direction, carrying an unconscious man who, believe it or not, is the thief his brother had wounded before. What to do when, in this ominous case, the enemy is your only way to stay alive? Visually resembling “Timbuktu”, but lacking its witty humor, the film slows a little bit in the last third. However, Mr. Abu Nowar, awarded best director in Venice, overcomes that phase by engendering a staggering, strong finale. The effective combination of chamber music and oriental melodies simultaneously enhance the tension and the drama while the marvelous landscapes, counterpointing to the atmosphere of tragedy, are a rich asset for the beautiful cinematography by Wolfgang Thaler (Ulrich Seidl’s habitual).

Man Up (2015)

Directed by: Ben Palmer
Country: UK / France

Movie Review: “Man Up”, Ben Palmer’s second comedy in four years after the humdrum “The Inbetweeners Movie”, starts feverishly interesting but eventually decreases in quality in the second half where the clichés and fabricated romantic situations take hold of the screwball scenario set in the modern London. The charismatic Lake Bell (“In a World…”) plays the unmarried 34-year-old Nancy, whose first appearance is in front of a hotel room’s mirror, talking to herself while trying to gain sufficient confidence to participate in her friends' themed wedding party. Even fed up of dating and having no high expectations on love, Nancy will become the protagonist of a mind-boggling situation when she mistakenly goes on a blind date with Jack, played by the great Simon Pegg (“Hot Fuzz”, “Shaun of the Dead”), an online marketing manager who’s about to divorce his wife. Nancy was simply taken by the odd circumstances of being in a train station, at the right time, with the book ‘Six billion people and you’ in her hand, the same book that Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond), the one Jack was initially to meet with, was supposed to carry to signalize her presence. Nancy decides to miss her family party, and totally embraces this unanticipated opportunity. Despite the mention of a huge jalapeño between her teeth, the couple has lots of fun and the conversation flows without embarrassments, only until Nancy bumps into Shaun (Rory Kinnear), a disturbing old school friend who happens to be the barman at the bowling pub where they were playing. Shaun demands to Nancy nothing else but a blowjob not to reveal her secret to Jack, who gets really upset when he finds them in the restroom. The truth is unveiled not without the indispensable arguments, and the things only calm down again when they decide to have a drink at the bar where Jack’s wife usually pops up. The film’s pose oscillates between casual and sassy while the dialogue, often peppered with unsuccessful sex jokes, was never too creative or smart to cheer me up. Unfortunately, the actors’ efforts weren’t enough to make us forget the constant ups and downs of Tess Morris’ screenwriting, which reaches its weaker point with the weary, ridiculous finale.

Spotlight (2015)

Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Country: USA

Movie Review: Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight” is flagrant, perfect, and essential. Mr. McCarthy’s fluid script was co-written with Josh Singer and interpreted in the best way by the glorious cast, conveying the journalistic effort that was put into this true investigation of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Boston, carried out in 2002 by an investigative team of The Boston Globe known as Spotlight. The investigation unmasked several priests who sexually abused children during several years, and denounced the continuous cover-up of this sort of crimes perpetrated by the church, as an institution, in an almost unimaginable scale. All began with the arrival of a confident new editor to The Globe. Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber is outstanding), a Jew who had gained an excellent reputation in New York and Florida, knew exactly what he wanted when he politely urged the Spotlight team to consider picking this particular case. The tenacious reporters of Spotlight are chief Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton) who has some amends to make with his own past, the super-responsive Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), the efficient and temperate Sasha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and the restrained Matt Carroll (d'Arcy James), who got unsettled when he found out that one of the houses used for molesting kids was located right next to his place. All these members respond before the supervisor, Ben Bradley Jr. (John Slattery), who is presented as a minor key in the achievement. Sometimes agreeing, some other times arguing with one another to reach the best way for putting the truth outside without the interference of concurrent newspapers, the team wouldn't be succeeded without the priceless help of the righteous attorney Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci at his best), who had already started defending some of the devastated victims. Of course, there’s also a bunch of attorneys so-called ‘friends of the church’ who do everything to maintain the crimes unrevealed or to sweep the dirt under the carpet. Never exploitative and highly assertive in its unobtrusive approach, Mr. McCarthy, who won me over in the past with “The Visit” and “Win Win” but last year had a thorn in his side with “The Cobbler”, turned “Spotlight” into a masterpiece whose theme, even if not fresh nowadays, still has to be shouted out loud in order to alert and avoid future abuses. And… justice for all!

Glassland (2014)

Directed by: Gerard Barrett
Country: Ireland

Movie Review: Simultaneously plaintive and modest, “Glassland” is an Irish independent drama written, directed, and co-produced by Gerard Barrett, and starring Jack Reynor, Toni Collette, and Will Poulter. The story is set in a cheerless little Irish town where John (Reynor), a good-hearted taxi driver spends most of his time running after his desolated alcoholic mother, Jean (Collette), whose life is in danger due to serious liver damages. In the first scene, John arrives at home after work just to find Jean in her bed, vomited and in an alcoholic coma. He was able to save her at the last minute, a story that repeats itself for a long time. Extremely tired of the situation, John almost doesn’t believe in a different scenario anymore. Mother and son behave furiously by turns - at first it was Jean who loses control when she doesn’t find booze at home after returning from the hospital; and then was John who gets pissed off when Jean misses work and vanishes one more time, what means another long sleepless night looking for her. Next day he shouts angrily: ‘my mother smiles and loves. This is not my mother. This is an animal, and you’re breaking my heart every single day!’ John still finds the strength to visit his 18-year-old brother who was born with Dawn syndrome and was early abandoned by Jean in a care facility, right after her companion has turned his back on her when he found out about the child’s condition. In one of the saddest scenes of the film, the powerless John joins his mother in a drink at home, and the little party ends up in an extended, dispirited monologue, in which Jane clarifies some aspects of her life. A gleam of hope still burns in their hearts, but the financial means to maintain Jean under treatment is another issue that pushes John into obscure solutions. In parallel, we vaguely follow the path of John’s unmotivated best friend, Shane (Poulter), who gets more than happy to leave the lugubrious town. A few scenes are emotionally strong, but Mr. Barrett, more lucidly than boldly, arranged everything too easily in one direction (Jean’s recovery) and too vague in the other (the obscure side of John’s life). Accordingly, I got slightly disappointed when the final credits rolled, meaning that I expected something deeper from the ending and something that was less basic as the whole picture.