Hugo Review

Hugo and Isabelle investigate an automiton in Martin Scorsese's Hugo

Hugo

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Martin Scorsese directing a family film, those are two things you don’t hear in a sentence very often. Yet here we stand in 2011 and the director of masterpieces such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas is doing just that with his latest film Hugo; a visual treasure that takes its place among Martin Scorsese’s growing list of masterpieces.

Hugo follows title character Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a young orphan who secretly tends to the clocks of a train station in 1920’s Paris. His father (played in flashbacks by Jude Law) died in a fire and the last connection Hugo with his father is a broken automaton that they found at a museum. All the while Hugo must constantly escape the clutches of the station inspector (Sacha Baron Choen). Hugo soon bumps ways with the mean old man who runs the toy booth (Ben Kingsley) and meets his charming young god daughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Mortz) whose heart shaped key may be the key to finding the message hidden inside the automaton.

There is not all that much plot to be had here, but what is works extraordinarily well. The story is the personal Martin Scorsese has directed yet as he injects some of himself into the protagonist. There is also a throwback to the silent film era, one that is near and dear to Scorsese’s heart. It is also interesting that the goings on at the train station are almost a little silent film in themselves and they create a colorful, sometime hysterical backdrop for the events that transpire. These create a sense of wonder while never taking away from the overall plot.

The overall plot in itself is quite slowly paced for a family film. The pacing feels more a kin to the traditional Scorsese drama than to the fast paced family films of today. This is welcome as the film takes its time to set up the atmosphere and the characters that are vital to the overall experience.

Martin Scorsese has had many great performances in his films. Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Joe Pesci in Goodfellas and Jack Nicholson in the Departed just to name a few. In Hugo he gets spectacular performances out of Asa Butterfield and Ben Kingsley. Both performances are spot on and magical. The relationship both their character’s share is full of tension at the beginning but slowly eases off as the film moves along. As for the supporting cast Mortz is charming as Isabelle a wondrous child whose head is constantly in adventure books and Sacha Baron Choen often is great comic relief.

The true winner here though is the visuals. This is the best use of 3D in a major motion picture I have seen; even better than the 3D in Avatar. The attention to detail here is fantastic as the 3D is not used as a gimmick instead as an extension to Scorsese’s creative vision. Everything from the sweeping shots of Paris to the Goodfellas like tracking shot through the train station is jaw dropping. I could go on and on about different scenes in this film and how gorgeous they are. Evan the restored silent films peppered throughout look fantastic. Visually, this is Scorsese’s greatest achievement to date.

After so many years of being proclaimed a master of film it is refreshing to see Martin Scorsese continue to try new things. Hugo is a film that well pulls from Scorsese’s roots, is something radically different. Hugo is also a magical piece of visual art and storytelling. One that deserves to be held at the same level as Scorsese’s many great films.

The Ides of March Review

George Clooney delivers a speech to the American Public in The Ides of March 

The Ides of March

A-

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Politics, one of the most convoluted and corrupted functions in all of modern society. Lying, cheating, and corrupting are all involved in the potentially nasty business. George Clooney’s 4th directorial effort The Ides of March examines, with great cynicism, the behind the scenes life of campaign managers. For the most part The Ides of March is a successful effort plagued by a flaw that prevents it from reaching greatness.

The Ides of March follows a young campaign manager Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) who is trying to make Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) the next president of the United States. Surrounding Meyers is a colorful group of people such as his senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the opposing campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti). Meyers believes in Morris’s cause but his campaign soon starts to crumble after he meets briefly with Paul Zara and starts sleeping with an intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood).

The Ides of March is a great film for the first hour and ten minutes. It’s an interesting and cynical case study about the inside of American politics. After that the film runs into some problems. It all of a sudden follows a weird subplot that involves Evan Rachel Wood’s character. A subplot which all of a sudden transforms the film into a B grade thriller. The whole subplot feels forced, rushed, and unnecessary and it keeps the film from reaching its full potential.

Acting wise this film has a ton of A-list talent. Gosling, Clooney, Hoffman, and Giamatti are all fantastic. Gosling gets the most time. Getting to watch his character go down to the jaded, cynical dark side is engaging. Gosling dose a great job at making the character arc believable. Clooney dose a very Clooney style role here. He’s calm and suave and has just as many flaws to him as he has likable qualities. Hoffman and Giamatti play rivals who are already jaded and cynical. They do a fine job as well and each help carry the film forward.

Technically The Ides of March oozes atmosphere. The tone is very dark and the shots are close and cramped. This gives the film a dynamic and stressful feel. One that tries to grip you at every one of its twists and turns. The score seems to try and emulate Trent Reznor’s score in last year’s The Social Network. For the most part it does a good job to keep the movie going.

The Ides of March is a really good political film that could have been great. The frustrating twist at the end somewhat spoils an overall dark and thrilling experience. This is a little sad because had it not been for that this film would have been a serious contender for film of the year. That being said The Ides of March is still a solid film that should definitely not be missed.

Moneyball Review

Brad Pitt looks serious about baseball in Moneyball

Moneyball
A-

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Sports movies love them or hate them they are probably always going to exist. Evan if most are predictable there are always the few who stand out from the pack. Moneyball is one of them as it manages to stay away from many of the clichés that usually haunt the genre. It also manages to deliver one of the most intriguing and insightful sports stories in a long time.

Moneyball follows Oakland A’s general manager Billy Bean (Brad Pitt) on a crusade to try and replace three of his biggest superstars after they were eaten up by other teams. Problem is that as Bean eloquently describes “There are rich teams and there are pore teams. Then there is fifty feet of crap and then there is us.” In other words they have very little money. Soon Billy finds his answer, a numbers crunching Yale graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Together they set out to make history by looking at baseball from a pure statistics point of view without considering things such as the personalities or integrity. He then has to convince old school coach Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the rest of the world that his team full of misfits has an actual chance to do something.

The success of Moneyball is in the writing and pacing. This movie made me cheer for baseball a sport witch in my opinion is boring and mundane. It is also fueled by a script written by two of the best screenplay artists in the world Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian. While amazing Moneyball runes into some problems. While the managing parts of the film are insightful and fantastic the parts that involve Bean’s family feel a little clichéd and don’t work with the overall vibe of the film. It only really slows the film down and ruins the quick pace with parts of Bean’s life that I don’t end up caring about. Even with the pacing issues the film still held my interest even through the slower portions.

Acting is key here and it is solid on all fronts. Brad Pitt is convincing as the A’s general manager searching for a winning team. He has a certain charisma that lights up the screen every that he is present. This plus a solid emotional range give him the opportunity to be an early bet for an Oscar nod. Speaking of Oscar nods Jonah Hill is fantastically subtle as Peter Brand. He kind of channels a bit of Jessie Eisenberg’s performance in the Social Network (except not quite as socially awkward or destructive). He takes a tone downed approach and it works extremely well.

On the writing front it’s great to have such a great script here. The writing and dialogue carry through one finely crafted scene to another. In the management parts of the film Sorkin’s trademark fast talking witty dialogue shines especially during a great scene later on in the film involving risky trades. That scene alone made me almost completely forgive the clichéd family drama. On the tech side the film looks and sounds good with nothing really eye popping or special. All the actual baseball scenes while well done are nothing all that special. Even so if you can get me to care about baseball it’s a good thing.

Moneyball is a fun and smart fall film made better by a great script. It manages to avoid the potholes that many a sports film has fallen in before. While this is brought down by pacing issues and family drama Moneyball is still a step ahead of many of the films that have come out this year.



Caching Up on DVD: Hanna Review

Saorise Ronan jumping off a crate in Hanna

Hanna

A-

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Action movies can be a very touchy subject. There are the ones that are amazing and fantastic such as Fight Club or Die Hard. Then there can be films like Transformers 3. So what happens when Joe Wright the director of such films as The Pride and the Prejudice and Atonement tries to make an action film? You get Hanna a really good action film that cares just as much about characters and plot as it does about blowing things up.

Hanna starts out in the middle of a secluded snowy forest where Hanna (Saorise Ronan) and her father Erik (Eric Bana) are living and training. After training montages and emotional moments we find that Hanna is ready for her ultimate mission which is to take down CIA agent Marissa (Cate Blanchett). Then a game of cat and mouse in sues all across Europe.

Hanna has a super solid edge of your seat plot that really has you going from the start. It’s fast paced and constantly moving. Evan so the film never seems to forget what’s important and while fast pace has a lot of great story elements to it as well. I have two main complaints though. When the film reaches its end it goes a little too over the top for me and while both Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett are brilliant they have very, very unfortunate accents that can take you out of the film sometimes.

Speaking of performances they are great across the board. Saorise Ronan is turning out to be a phenomenal young actress. She really shines here by adding some real emotional depth to the young killing machine Hanna. Overall Cate Blanchett is just plain fun to watch. She really goes over the top here and makes her role as the cold dark CIA agent one of the high points of the film. There is a solid supporting cast here to who add depth overall to the motion picture.

Hanna is also a showcase of style. This film is just plain gorgeous through and through. The action scenes instead of relying on quick cuts and gimmicks use long and lingering shots. My favorite action scene in the film is actually just one big tracking shot with no cuts at all. There is also a fantastic electronic soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers that sucks you right into the film right away.

Hanna is a very good action movie. It mixes good performances with a pace that keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time. It also has a wonderful sense of style and grace that truly set it apart from other films in the genre. For a man who made two really methodical dramas Joe Wright can sure make a good action-thriller.

The Tree of Life Review

Jessica Chastain wandering in the distance in The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life

A+

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Few directors have achieved as much buzz and popularity with as few films as Terence Malick. In only his fifth film in almost just as many decades Malick is reaching for the stars (quite literally at some points). The Tree of Life is the most deeply ambitious film I have seen sense Stanly Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001 a Space Odyssey. It’s a coming of age story mixed with the evolution of life on earth and loads of dreamlike metaphors. The film at one point even has dinosaurs! Surprisingly though all of the film works together in a package that is both a brilliant piece of film making and the best film I have seen so far this year.

The meat of the film focuses on a family in a small town in Texas. Raising three young boys are their parents, a mean yet affectionate father (Brad Pitt) and a mother who seems disconnected with the world around her (Jessica Chastain). For the most part the story focuses on the elder brother Jack (Hunter McCracken as a child and Sean Penn as an adult) who has the weight of expectations on his back. As he goes through childhood he gets angrier and angrier at his parents and the world around him until his breaking point is reached.

The rest of the film is way all over the place. Some of it follows a middle age Jack struggling to find his identity and his place in the world. Then there are the scenes witch depicts both the creation of the earth, prehistoric times and the afterlife. There are also scenes of dreamlike metaphors that while slightly odd add a point to the adult Jack sections of the film.

In a way The Tree of Life is defiantly plot less. Instead of concrete scenes it uses wisps of memories and emotions to convey its point. It relies less on concrete ideas and more so on bits of sight and sound. Dialogue in this film is scarce and mostly in voiceovers. Instead the film is dominated with images and music that helps convey the mood and emotion of each scene. The Tree of Life makes us truly rethink the way film is presented. It’s scattered yet tightly controlled and while in a way that is both grand a beautiful.

If there were any complaint I have with the film is that sometimes the Sean Penn scenes feel a bit unnecessary. Sean Penn has all of two lines of dialogue and kind of feels tacked on. It never really affects the film at all but sometimes it just feels kind of there. Also while some complain about the necessity of the creation scenes I think they add a lot to the film and truly put in prospective the problems and struggles of humans in contrast to the scope and grandeur of the universe.

As far as performances go everyone is great here. Brad Pitt is brilliant as the mean and sometimes abusive father. Pitt has a great energy that he brings to the role. Jessica Chastain who is a fairly fresh face is very good as a mother who feels a bit out of this world. The best actor in the film though is truly Hunter McCracken who is stunning as a confused and angry young child. His role is quiet and subtle yet daring and personal. For a child actor he has a wonderful maturity.

The real spectacles here are the visuals and sound. From beginning The Tree of Life is a gorgeous film with beautiful cinematography and fantastic visual design. Malick creates an almost dreamlike atmosphere for most of the film that really bring you in to the experience. As well Alexandre Desplat’s score is through the roof as it adds a whole new layer to the experience. Not since films like 2001 a Space Odyssey and Amadeus has music made such an impact on the film itself.

While it may take a couple more viewings to determine whether Malick has created a true modern masterpiece, The Tree of Life is undoubtedly one of the best films I have seen in a while. It’s refreshing to see something so ambitious and intelligent hit the cinema in an age where films like this are so rare. It truly challenges the way film is structured and the way us the audience view film. Challenging, emotional and beautiful The Tree of Life is by far the best film to come out in 2011 so far.

Cowboys & Aliens Review

Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford along with a lot of cowboys in Cowboys and Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens

B

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

What happens when you try to mix a western and a sci-fi film together? You get Cowboys and Aliens, a film that tries to bring out the best of both genres. The question is how well does it succeed. While Cowboys and Aliens may have some flaws it’s a fun, solid summer action film.

The plot begins when Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) finds himself in the American west, in the middle of nowhere, and with a funky bracelet firmly attached to his right hand. He soon finds himself in trouble with both the local law and with the town cattle provider Cornel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Then Aliens show up. This changes everything as now the whole west must work together to stop the evil beings.

Storytelling here is surprisingly strong for this kind of film. The problem is the tone. This film attempts to be dark and compelling when in truth there’s not enough material to push the film forwards. While there are some solid thematic moments it lacks the characters to really get behind. There is the gritty old guy and the hulking hero and some more caricatures in between but again no one I really connected to. Also when it tries to have those “trying to be dark and compelling moments” it drags the film down making the 118 minutes feel a little long.

Acting is solid across the board. Daniel Craig channels a little Bond here as the outlay Lonergan. While he doesn’t say much he dose do a solid job in this film as the hero, who just like the rest of us is trying to find out what the heck is going on. Harrison Ford is awesome as the old grisly Dolarnyde. He truly has a little fun with the role and it shows as I was having fun with him. Olivia Wilde plays the townsfolk who likes to give out random information at random times (yes another one of those characters) and manages not to be annoying unlike Gemma Arterton in Clash of the Titans.

What truly takes the cake are the direction and the special effects. The whole film feels like an old western mixed with an Alien style sci-fi film. Got to hand it to Jon Favreau for setting the atmosphere right off the bat. As well the action set pieces shine with gorgeous cinematography and clean editing. I always knew what was going on at every second and never got thrown into a state of confusion or nausea. Finally the best thing about it all it’s not in 3D so no motion blurring or dull colors.

Cowboys and Aliens is good summer fun. While it doesn’t have enough dramatic material to justify the tone or the running time it still manages to entertain with great atmosphere and direction. With a summer full of 3D origin stories, sequels, and Transformers it’s nice to see something stepping out of the box and giving this summer a breath of fresh air.

Caching up on DVD: Source Code Review

Captain Colter Stevens and Christina Warren prepare to be blown up in Source Code

Source Code

B+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

2 years ago new director Duncan Jones jumped onto the scene with the amazing film Moon. Now he has a bigger budget, another solid cast, and another twisted sci-fi storyline. Jones has a great creative vision and a passion for sci-fi and it shows in Source Code. While not quite as good as Moon, Source Code is still both more innovative and intelligent than most other films in the sci-fi genre.

Source Code follows Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) who right at the beginning of the film finds himself on a train as another person. Before he has any time to collect what is happening the train explodes killing everyone on board. He then wakes up in a capsule and being talked to by one of the leaders of the operation Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). Apparently Stevens is a pawn in the Source Code experiment. The U.S. government is concerned about the train bombing because they think that it will lead to another bombing in Chicago. Stevens goes to an alternate reality version of the train incident for 8 minutes disguised as a teacher to try and find the bomber.

Source Code is a very fast paced thriller. At only 93 minutes long Source Code goes by in an instant well still developing the plot and characters. It gives you the since of frantic desperation as not only is Captain Stevens being forced to race against time, but he has to find out what is going on in the process. The main problem with the film is the ending. All the way up to about the last 20 minutes the film is fast pace and frantic. Then it slows down rapidly into an ending that doesn’t work for me at all.

Performances are solid across the board here. Gyllenhaal is actually quite impressive here compared to prior performances. Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffery Wright are all solid here. No one stands out for better or for worse.

The real standouts here are the cinematography and direction. The way the Camera moves gives off the right feel at any time. When we need to feel rushed we feel rushed. When Stevens is in the capsule it feels cramped and claustrophobic. The direction works well with a mix of quick cuts and lingering shots. It gives off a very sleek and modern feel a change from the older feel of Moon.

Source Code is a good action thriller. It’s fast paced and a lot of fun. While the ending is unsatisfying and the performances unmemorable the good greatly out ways the bad. In two films Duncan Jones has managed to establish himself as one of the premier young talents of the last couple of years. He brings a breath of fresh air to sci-fi and I cannot wait for what he tries next.