Prisoners

*** out of ****

I waited until late on a chilly fall night to see Prisoners. There’s something special about gloomy thrillers that go well with the brisk autumn season. I recall similar chills in the air when my Dad took me to see The Fugitive in the fall of 1993. That was a film that introduced me to that tense feeling you get in your stomach when the suspense of a movie is truly effective. Fifteen minutes into Prisoners, I knew that in spite of my fatigue from a long day of walking in the park followed by work, I was going to be wide awake through this movie.

The film starts off with one of the its two lead characters, Hugh Jackman, reciting The Lord’s Prayer in narration as he is shown with his son hunting a deer, whose meat they will share with another family on Thanksgiving. Soon he will meet the other lead, Jake Gyllenhaal, as the young police detective sent to investigate the unsettling disappearance of his small daughter and her friend.

Jackman plays an independent contractor living in a Pennsylvania suburb. The abduction sends his already stern survivalist attitude off the rails as he has nothing but doubt toward Gyllenhaal’s handling of the case. A suspect played by Paul Dano, was in an RV -mysteriously parked in the neighborhood during the disappearance. When he is captured, he turns out to be a mentally disabled man under the care of his elderly aunt (Melissa Leo). There is no workable evidence pointing toward his involvement in the disappearance.

After Dano is released from custody, Jackman kidnaps him and lets the father of the other girl (Terrence Howard) in on the plan to torture the young man until he confesses. The other father is horrified by Jackman’s decision but assists him and eventually caves in from the trauma on top of trauma, telling his own wife (Viola Davis) what they are doing. Jackman’s character, who has kept this extreme measure a secret from his now-hysterical wife (Maria Bello), gains the cooperation of the couple, who in spite of their doubt and terror of the situation, are so desperate to get their girl back, they can’t bring themselves to stop him.

I knew this much from the film’s trailer, but I wasn’t prepared for how unlikeable the film deliberately makes Jackman’s character. His vigilantism isn’t portrayed as heroic. When the movie shows us Gyllenhaal’s simultaneous investigation, we are frustrated to know how much bigger this case might be than Jackman’s suspicions of one creepy-looking guy. His disturbing actions, based on little faith in professional police work, start to become more damaging to the crisis.

What follows however, isn’t a deeper exploration of morality versus desperation. This movie is like an extended television crime drama with preposterous revelations in store. I will still say that this doesn’t stop it from being downright chilling.

The screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski is a completely original creation and not the remake of a foreign thriller or the adaptation of an over-the-top mystery novel. It does seem to find influence from films like The Pledge with Jack Nicholson and some parts reminded of George Sluizer’s The Vanishing.

Director Dennis Villeneuve from Quebec, makes his first American film here, and like what Nicolas Winding Refn did when directing Drive -or many other foreign directors have done when visiting the U.S. to make a standard genre film - he is viewing American life with fresh eyes. The entire film really captures the look and feel of working-class suburbia in a way that Hollywood directors tend to stylize beyond familiarity.

The realism meeting the nightmarish dread is a great accomplishment on his part. This is a mystery that does what it is supposed to: It keeps us guessing. What’s shaky about Villeneuve’s genuine atmosphere assisted with classy cinematography by Roger Deakins and haunting music score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, is that it elevates Guzikowski’s B-movie story to a height that might disappoint someone who thought they were watching a great work of art.

I feel as though many thought-provoking themes were imposed on this project by its director but they never turned out to be part of the film’s core foundation which is just another machine intent on keeping us on the edge of our seats. It does just that.

20 Feet From Stardom

**** out of ****

20 Feet From Stardom is a documentary about the career stories from some of the best black female backup singers and their lifelong trade which added some spice to the recordings and live shows of The Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and many more. 

Through Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Claudia Lennear and many others, we get a first-time spotlight on the contributions of hard-working women who poured their souls into the music of others and could never manage to go solo. We also get a perspective on their contributions from artists and producers such as Mick Jagger, Sting, Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. Many of them feel that these talented women lacked the narcissism necessary to become divas.

This is one of those documentaries that succeeds not only due to its valuable content, but also for its technical precision. The sound mixing is important for a soundtrack that is so absolutely beautiful and this movie delivers it.

The Family

*1/2 out of ****

Also failing to inspire laughs in theaters, is Luc Besson’s The Family, a weird dark comedy about a mob-tied family of four forced to live in Normandy, France under witness protection. I walked in with little faith that the man who hasn’t directed a good movie since The Fifth Element, would be making anything remarkable. Halfway through, I knew that I wasn’t laughing, but at least I wasn’t bored. A few minutes later I became extremely bored.

For a good portion of the movie, I was too dumbfounded by its dated sensibility to have any emotional reaction to it. I swear, if it hadn’t been for the wear and tear look of the film’s stars, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones, I would have thought this was an action comedy that had been shelved some time prior to 9/11. There’s even a music track by Gorillaz.

In a nutshell, a snitch (De Niro) and his family try to integrate themselves to a simple French culture but can’t break out of their good ol’ violence and intimidation tendencies. Later, the Mob finds out where they are hiding and comes after them. That’s it. This kind of comedy worked better with The Addams Family.

This is one of those movies where everything I may have liked about a director in the past comes to be what I hate about him now. Besson’s comedy revolves around the notion that the shocking actions of a sociopath, no matter how uncreative, are funny. His obsession with young girls (Dianna Agron plays the smokin’ hot teenage daughter) is creepy now that I’m not a teenager anymore. Finally, his need for a gigantic climactic shoot-out delivers no stylistic method that hasn’t been improved-on or done to death since his work on The Professional (“Léon”) in 1994.

Austenland

* out of ****

It’s one of those months of the year when going to the movies leaves me wondering why I didn’t just stay home. Such was the case with Jerusha Hess’ (Co-writer of Napoleon Dynamite) directorial debut. Austenland is a bizarre romantic comedy about a Jane Austen-themed fantasy vacation resort. This movie happened to get its Louisville release the very same week that I completed viewing the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice with my girlfriend. I planted the seed by showing her the Joe Wright movie version starring Keira Knightley. Since then, she’s become an Austenite. With such strong doses of Austen exposure, I took a chance on a silly romantic comedy about the subject. I imagined a crowd-pleaser about escapism gone wrong with the slight possibility of a clever subtext that eccentric fans could enjoy. Fifteen minutes into the movie I had to resist my inclination to walk out of the theater, a cardinal sin for anyone intending to write a review. I saw the film through and found Austenland to be unfunny, brainless and simply awful.

I feel sorry for Keri Russell, whose charming screen presence as a fan named Jane, has no power against all the inept direction that this comedy has. In spite of her character’s obsession with Mr. Darcy, she seems too level-headed for me to believe she would throw away her life savings on such a desperate adventure. Upon her arrival, the intentions of the comedy become confusing. It seems as though the story is designed for the protagonist to feel intimidated by her fantasy coming to life, while at the same time the jokes seem to focus on the tasteless failures for the resort to live up to such a dream. Those two comic directions collide.

Hess has no sense of pace or comic craft, except to make everything happening onscreen over-the-top in one way or another. Her use of the horny super-rich ditz of a woman, played by Jennifer Coolidge, whose very being there is one of many factors which would destroy anyone’s illusion of inhabiting the Georgian Era, is misplaced under the impression that it’s a funny performance.

Other wasted talents in this film are Bret McKenzie as a romantic groundskeeper, J.J. Feild as the resident Mr. Darcy-type guy and Jane Seymour as the resort’s owner. 

I can’t imagine that the book on which this film is based, is anything like the mess that I saw on screen. This movie stinks! But you don't have to take my word for it. Check out the A.V. Club's review!

MY TAKE ON Criterion

I recently enjoyed watching On the Waterfront, the new edition from Criterion. Having rented it from Wild and Woolly Video, I was provided with the three discs of a set which includes alternately framed versions of the film and valuable extras. There’s even a conversation with Martin Scorsese on the subject of the film’s inspiration. If there is a video label which reminds us of the value physical media still has in an age of internet-accessible streaming video, it is still Criterion.

Since their days of releasing highly priced Laserdiscs, the company has kept a grand reputation. If you’ve never made notice of this label, they are a company that acquires video rights from – or in cooperation – with other studios to release special editions of movies widely considered to be great. Their mission has always been to release the definitive edition of a movie and recognize its unique artistic significance with the guidance of any filmmaker or critic who could be deemed an authority on the given film. Their library represents a long international history of cinema and while the cost of owning one is about ten dollars more than your average disc, I’ve never regretted a purchase.

One of the earliest titles I purchased was their three-disc DVD edition of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Through the commentary by Gilliam, the two-hour documentary and the thankfully unused, yet studio-imposed “love conquers all” cut of the film, I learned a tremendous amount on the struggles between artistic visionaries and the studio system. Recently, I purchased the Three Colors Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski and the Qatsi Trilogy by Godfrey Reggio, both on Blu-ray. I felt rewarded for having the highest quality versions of these gorgeous films available for home viewing.

One of my very favorite things about a Criterion release is the art. Aside from the uniformity of their company logo printed at the top corner of every case, their designs are often full of original and eccentric imagery by commissioned artists. Their work makes buying a movie feel like buying an album. Comic book artist Guy Davis did an original illustration for the new Blu-ray release of Guillermo Del Toro’s The Devil’s Backbone and the cover rivals any poster created for the film during its original 2001 release.

While we may have been warned to not judge a book by its cover, we do anyway. If there is any hope in winning over a consumer’s materialistic desire, it is in good package design, something that the video divisions of major movie studios seem to have little interest in lately. I can’t believe how many Blu-ray releases of great movies have covers that anyone with artistic sensibility would regard as tacky. After all the cool Mondo posters devoted to Pacific Rim, during the summer, I would have ecstatically pre-ordered the Blu-ray if Warner had bothered to utilize that amazing imagery to help sell it. Alas, everything that makes the movie look like a Transformers rip-off will be what we see on the cover when it comes out in October.

There are other companies such as Twilight Time, Kino Lorber, and the Shout/Scream Factory who admirably seek out obscure titles and make a Blu-ray with great design and treatment. They are in the physical media business, so they should. What I want to know is if major studios that can benefit from selling their titles to streaming services like Netflix or Download rental on iTunes, care anymore about selling discs.

The Blu-ray release of the box-office hit Star Trek Into Darkness has angered fans and Blu-ray enthusiasts alike for Paramount’s decision to divide extra features among different retailers (read this). If you want certain making-of segments, you have to buy the movie at Target, if you want the other behind-the-scenes materiel, go to Best Buy. If you want the audio commentary, download it from iTunes. There are some insane Trekies out there but I don’t think most of them are insane enough to buy different editions of the same movie. This ridiculous marketing tactic will only make them lose interest in owning the movie at all. I don’t know what Paramount is trying here, but it’s in poor taste.

In recent years, Criterion has made the leap to streaming media, making many of their titles available on Hulu Plus. I still see such a viewing experience as a mere preview compared to the uncompressed audio/video quality and film-school-worthy extra features that can be found on the Blu-ray version.

I regard the miracle of dependable decent-quality streaming media to be an answer for people who can’t stand the price of their premium cable package or anyone who is reasonably turned off at the idea of browsing through the fluorescent-lit banality of any remaining Blockbuster Video (See the South Park episode, A Nightmare on Facetime). It’s a great replacement for the extra work that went into just finding something to watch.

For those who love a movie enough to enjoy it in a more honorable form, you just have to think of it as something more than data. 

Whether you purchase it or rent it from a local video store that is caring enough to provide even the most obscure titles in the best form (Wild and Woolly), there’s something more special about the things we love when we can touch them. If you love books or records, I think you know where I’m coming from. If you like printed bank statements, you’re weird.

The Spectacular Now

***1/2 out of ****

The Spectacular Now is a new coming-of-age teen drama. It is directed by James Ponsoldt, who made last year’s alcoholism-themed relationship drama Smashed. Working from the original novel by Tim Tharp, the screenplay is written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who wrote the bitter-sweet 500 Days of Summer.

The movie follows a high school senior named Sutter, played by Miles Teller, who gave a great performance in the 2010 tragic drama Rabbit Hole. Sutter is a popular party-guy, who keeps a constant buzz going, drinking whenever possible and charming everyone with whom he is acquainted -including potential enemies. He’s a happy drunk who is clearly afraid of the emptiness that he may feel when sober. Academically and socially, he’s a goofball without a plan and has let his popular girlfriend, played by Brie Larson (starring in the upcoming Short Term 12), slip away from him in favor of a guy who is a little more serious about life.

The first thing that’s right about this film is that it’s about teenagers and has an “R” rating. Teen movies that withhold booze, drugs, sex and swearing may manage to be something entertaining but rarely do they capture the nature of that world. The second thing that’s right about this film is how it has the design of a cautionary story of teen alcoholism but refuses to dwell on the subject. It is appropriately portrayed as an element of the environment. The third thing that’s right about this film is how it has a simple teen romance formula that never manages to drown characters whose decisions work against our expectations.

Shailene Woodley, who played George Clooney’s troubled daughter in 2011’s The Descendants, is Aimee, a cute-yet-shy girl who is Sutter’s age. One morning, while preparing for her paper rout, she discovers Sutter passed out on her lawn. After waking up, Sutter talks her into letting him tag along while he searches for his car. With a little bit of conversation, he knows he has enchanted her and begins a relationship that is questionable. 

He clearly wants to gain the attention of the girl he lost through jealousy, but doesn’t want to hurt the new one. While introducing Aimee to the more popular scene, he feels the gratification he always gets from encouraging someone to open up and go for their desires. As she is smitten with him, she returns the favor by giving him life challenges, which he less willing to accept.

The only thing that seems wrong with this movie is how it lags at times, which is a problem that could have been solved with editing. This is a minor complaint, as clichés are dodged throughout the film through good direction and very good acting. I’m almost convinced that what makes this movie lag is that the acting is so good, that the film has the tendency to hold on its players and their natural behavior for too long in most scenes. There is a genuine sense of youth to be seen when you watch Teller and Woodley together or apart.

The supporting cast is just as flawless with Larson as the more grown-up ex, Dayo Okeniyi as her boyfriend, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Sutter’s Mom, Kyle Chandler as his father, Bob Odenkirk as his boss at a men’s clothing store and the beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead (from Scott Pilgrim and Ponsoldt’s last film Smashed) as his older sister.

It’s hard for me to like movies about high school. They rarely resemble my experience during that time in my life –and this film certainly doesn’t either. What it ultimately does though, is remind me of people I knew at that time and it gets them completely right.