film reviews

There are few directors out there that, when you hear they are making a new film, you put that film on your must see list. These are names like Spielberg, Cameron, and of course Martin Scorsese, directors that never seem to make a bad film. For his current film Scorsese has chosen one of Dennis Lehane’s novels, Shutter Island, which is written for the screen by Leata Kalogridis. The story, like all of Lehanes, takes place near Boston and tells the tale of an investigation into a patient who escapes from a mental institution. The film begins on a boat, where we see two Federal Marshals traveling to Shutter Island to begin their investigation. The two marshals are named Teddy Daniles (Leonardo DiCapro) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), who neither one no much about their destination Once they arrive they are briefed about the protocols of the institution and are asked to surrender their firearms before they can enter the gates. Once inside the gates they are shown the three buildings that house the inmates, one for the males, one for the females and, one for the most violent criminals. They are taken to the psychologist in charge, a Dr Cawley (Ben kingsley), who tells them the story of a patient named Rachel Solando., It turns out no one knows how she became missing, it almost seems that she disappears into thin air. As the Marshals begin to look deeper into their case, they start to see that everything is not right at Shutter Island. The find holes in the stories of the orderlies and are concerned about the reluctance that both chief psychologist show in sharing information. The story takes place in 1954 and both Daniels and Aule are veterans of World War II, and Daniels especially seems to still be haunted by that past. As the marshals try and piece the puzzle together, the island is struck by a hurricane, which only makes their investigation more difficult. Everything takes a turn when all of a sudden Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) reappears and shows no signs of ever missing at all. We find out later the Daniels is also there to look for a man that he believes killed his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams), by setting his apartment building on fire. From there the story takes some turns and has one of the better endings and ties up the story very well. DiCapro is amazing in his performance, as he always seems to be when he works with Martin Scorsese. The other actors are good as well and the story seems to keep the suspense at the right amount as you try and figure it all out. My only knock on the movie is that it took the road it did in explaining everything, I just thought it was too predictable. The great acting and the music make up for what the story lacks and all come together nicely under Scorsese. This film isn’t as good as most of Scorsese best, but then again an average Scorsese film is better then most filmmaker’s greatest piece of work.

Brian Taylor

Every one loves a good monster movie, and none or more popular then the Universal monsters. Those would be Dracula, Frankenstein, and of course the Wolfman. All of these movies were popular in the thirty’s and forty’s and all have been remade at some point, except the Wolfman. Well the wait is over and I can tell you that after seeing this movie, you will wish they had waited longer. Written by Andre Kevin Walker and David Self, the newest version doesn’t add much fear in the story. The Talbot family has a nice estate in rural England, but things start to change when Ben Talbot (Simon Merrells) is killed in the forest by a mysterious beast. Ben’s fiancée Gwen Conliffe(Emily Blunt) then writes a letter to Ben’s brother Lawrence Talbot ( Benicio Del Toro), to inform him of his brother’s death. Lawrence hasn’t been home in years because of a riff with his father, Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins). Once back home Lawrence finds out that something strange is happening, and that the town thinks that the devil has unleashed a beast on their town. He starts to investigate and the path leads him to a group of Gypsies, who may have the answers to what is happening. Lawrence does find the answer, when they are all attacked by the beast and Lawrence is bitten, only to be saved at the last moment. While on the mend he has nightmares or a wolfman attacking him, and somehow heals unusually quickly. After following his father to his mother’s burial spot, hit father tells him the story of being bitten by a strange boy and that every full moon brings out the beast in him. He also tells that he him that he will carry on the family tradition and to be ready for the night, which bears a full moon. The film tries to give a story to the creature, and does its best to mix it with a fair amount of action. Director Joe Johnston does a good job directing, he just doesn’t have a good story to go on, but does he best to try and make a decent picture. The story just isn’t very good, even the fight scene that you know is coming between father and son lacks any excitement. The movie seemed to have all the right ingredients, but instead of forming the perfect dish, they end up coming up with something that you wouldn’t feed your dog. I was excited that they were again trying to bring back one of the classic monsters, but that excitement turned into disappointment rather quickly. So once again Hollywood found a way to turn something with promise into something that once again fails to live up to it. I am hoping one day they will get it right, and take a story like this and make it what it can be, instead of just settling for the usual.

Brian Taylor

Crazy Heart has been enjoying critical success, as well as receiving awards for its music and the acting by Jeff Bridges. This week I had the chance to sit down with the film’s writer/director Scott Cooper. The film open in San Antonio this Friday 1/29/10

Brian: This your directorial debut, what made you choose this material?

Scott: I always wanted to tell Merle Haggard’s life story, but I couldn’t because he had too many ex wives. I couldn’t get the rights and didn’t have the money to, and I felt I should tell a very personal story. I grew up listening to this kind of music, I knew these guys well, and I knew the world they lived in well. I felt like if I am going to write a movie, I should write one about something I know and that’s exactly what this is.

Brian: How do you feel about the reaction the film is getting?

Scott: We are so gratified, because Jeff has given many Oscar worthy performances and he and I both think that is probably his best performance. It’s a confluence of a perfect role and the perfect actor, which is rare and I couldn’t be happier of all his acclaim and I hope it continues, because he is a great guy and I really care for him and it means a lot to him.

Brian: When you were writing the screenplay did you always have in your mind who would play the characters?

Scott: Well I wrote the role of Bad Blake for Jeff Bridges, he was my first choice and only choice, I wasn’t going to make it if I didn’t get him. Then I came to Maggie a little while later and Colin too, but Colin was inspired casting. I thought I hadn’t seen him play a role like this, he is a really good actor and he looks like a movie star and I could easily see him playing this role, so it turned out beautifully.

Brian: I thought the landscape played a vital part in the film. What made you choose the locations you filmed at?

Scott: Yeah critical, the American southwest is the place that I love and it has a stark beauty and loneness to it, that I felt like the character needed, and the music needed and would help inform the story. People wanted to finance the film sooner, but shooting it up in Canada, I just felt like that wouldn’t be the right way to tell that story.

Brian: I have read that you are a big music fan. Who are some of your favorite artist and what influence did they have on you wanting to make this film?

Scott: Oh I would say Tom York from Radiohead is one if my favorites, Michael Stipe from R.E.M, I love Eddie Vedder, I love Miles Davis and John Coltrane of course Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, I love what Jack White is doing now with The White Stripes and the Raconteurs. I love Cash; Ron Sexsmith is a great singer/songwriter from Canada. They all have kind of an influenced my work, a very ecliptic bunch.

Brian: When it comes to your style of directing, what directors influenced you?

Scott: Guys for the 70’s, Peter Bogdanovich, Terrence Malick, Robert Duvall, Sean Penn, and Frances Coppola. They all really influenced me and I would watch a lot of films from the 70;s with the sound off to see how they would tell the story with the frame and the lens and the performer, because I wanted it to feel invisibly directed. I didn’t want you to see my fingerprints all over it.

Brian: The music is such an important part of the movie. How did you and T-Bone Burnett come together?

Scott: Well its important, the music is vital and critical and once Robert Duvall asked me what I needed to get the movie mode. I said I needed two people, Jeff Bridged and T Bone Burnett and T Bone is peerless and what he does with Americana roots music, he understands it’s a very honest place. He knows tis world inside and out and I gave him a lot of my musical influences and he helped shape that world view and help it tell a story, because that’s what it does. Great songs, country or not tell a story.

Brian: Did you shoot any of the music scenes in the movie live?

Scott: I did, I shot the big sequence, the big concert sequence with Colin and Jeff live in front of 12,000 people, in New Mexico, in-between a Toby Keith concert and a Montgomery Gentry show, and I had to do it in about 10 minutes.

Brian: How many days did it actually take you to shoot the film?

Scott: about 24 days, shot in Texas, New Mexico and California.

Brian: The movie open at a bowling alley and the first thing I thought of was “The Big Lebowski” was that the intent?

Scott: I didn’t because I had never seen the film, it’s the only Coen brothers film I have never seen and sadly, because they are among my favorite filmmakers and I eventually will see it, but a lot of people have brought that to my attention and I didn’t know it and I have to say it’s a homage by accident, but I will take it.

Brian: Did you ever go to film school or take a screenwriting class?

Scott: I never directed a commercial or a high school play, or a musical. I am primarily an actor and I came out of an acting and behavior background, yeah it helped because I won’t be directing anything with flying blue people or robots that is for sure.

Brian: What does Thomas Cobb think of your finished product?

Scott: He cried, at first I said were you crying for joy or pain? He said, well I was happy, he said because it far exceeded his expectations, which I am sure were low, because I was a first time director. He probably didn’t know who I was, he loved it, absolutely loved it, and now his book is being reissued, next week. It’s been out of print for 20 years.

Brian: When Paramount Vantage disintegrated, were you ever worried the film wouldn’t find a distributor?

Scott: No, not when I knew what I had in the can, a performance like Jeff Bridge’s and the music and not with that powerful group of people, it was never a concern.

Brian: What was the most challenging scene to shoot in this film?

Scott: The concert sequence in 10 minutes, shooting that concert sequence live in 10 min, in front of 12,000 people and with 5 cameras, remarkable experience and a logistical nightmare, but we pulled it off. That’s what happens when you have a great crew and guys who can just bring it take in and take out, they are the best actors in the world.

Brian Taylor

Some novels just seem translate to the screen better the others and Nicholas Sparks seems to write quite a few of them. With movies like The Notebook and Message in the Bottle already made, we are now treated to one of his latest, Dear John. It tells the story of a boy and a girl and the love they have for each other. John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is a soldier enjoying leave in his hometown of Wilmington N.C when he meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). They meet after John jumps in the ocean to retrieve Savannah’s purse. To show her thanks, she invites John to a beach party, and wanting to get to know her better, he agrees. While at the party, Savannah introduces him to a few of her friends, including Tim (Henry Thomas) and his son Allen, who has Autism. John and Savannah hit it off right away and start spending all their time together. John even takes Savannah to meet his father, in which after she does, comments that she thinks John’s father has Aspergers. John does not think that is true and gets angry at Savannah and only before he leaves for deployment again do they apologize to each other. Upon leaving, both John and Savannah profess their love for each other and agree to marry once Johns’ commitment is up to the army in twelve months. The two of them trade letters to each other, keeping each other informed of each others lives while they are apart. The beginning of the story takes place in 2000, so not long after John leaves, 9/11 happens. After those events John feels complied to fight for his country and extend his service to the army. Savannah gets angry after he does this, angry because he made the decision with out asking her what she wanted him to do. While John is gone, Savannah spends time with John’s father, Mr. Tyree (Richard Jenkins) and learns about his huge coin collection. As time passes and they are apart, Savannah sends a letter to John that changes both of their worlds. The first part of the story feels like the making of a great love story. Jamie Linden does a good job in adapting Nicholas Spark’s novel for the screen, and it seems with little effort. The story flows well, until it just seems to wrap everything up to quickly. For seventy minutes this is a good film, if it had only been able to keep it going for thirty five minutes more. Lasse Hallstom does a good job of pacing the film and letting the story unfold, but even he couldn’t save the film in the end. You can’t blame the studio though; they know these movies always seem to do well, so why make something great, when you can settle for mediocre. I didn’t have high expectations when this movie begin and what was a glimpse of something great, turned into just another average love story.

Brian Taylor