Review: World War Z

Paramount Pictures

I haven't read the novel from which World War Z is adapted, but fans of the novel seem to think it brought a level of intelligence and reality to the possibility of a zombie pandemic that hasn't been seen before in the genre. A viral epidemic spread worldwide much like other legendary plagues or diseases of the past, except this one spreads a hundred times faster since its victims become the ravaging undead that we all know and love (for some weird reason). The Walking Dead (although an extremely silly and mostly bad show) made zombies popular again with the mainstream public mostly because it's what people like about zombies: a close-quarters, blood and guts fight for survival against the zombies but also dealing with the potential evil in humans when put into such a post-apocalyptic-ish scenario. 

From what I've heard and read, World War Z strays a great deal from the source material, but the main idea of a world-wide war against zombies is there. Instead of focusing on one family or small group of people like  The Walking Dead, WWZ attempts to cover a lot of ground between New York, New Jersey, South Korea, Jerusalem, and Budapest in depicting the level and reach of chaos and destruction. All the while, the film focuses on Brad Pitt's character Gerry Lane, an employee of the United Nations, traveling to these destinations looking to find the source of the virus in order to discover how to stop it. So, one side of the story tries to connect the struggle of one man and his family while the other strives to keep the idea of a worldwide struggle alive. Combined, these two story-lines limit what this movie could have been and what a lot hoped it to be.

Review: Man of Steel

Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures/Syncopy

I'll come right out and say that I think Man of Steel is director Zack Snyder's best movie so far. Now, don't get too excited because that really isn't saying much. Snyder has a flawless track record of taking on projects and releasing trailers that look amazing. 300 looked to redefine action sequences (which it did to an extent for some genres). Watchmen looked to be an accurate, loyal adaptation of the beloved graphic novel on a grand scale. I was never excited for Sucker Punch but it did look cool! But in every case, the acting, script, story, etc, all had such obvious flaws that the visuals just weren't enough to save the movie. (Notice that I'm just ignoring The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Dawn of the Dead here because who knew what was going on there). That being said, Man of Steel definitely has its flaws, but they are much easier to overlook compared to Snyder's preview films.

Man of Steel sets out to do something much different. With the help of Christopher Nolan's producing and David S. Goyer's writing, it seems Snyder is finally beginning to figure out the style of movie his expertise are best suited for. Instead of setting out with a conventional plot of rising and falling action with the plot of a bad guy eventually revealed like the last effort to adapt Superman in the miserable Superman Returns, Man of Steel approaches the legendary American icon with little to no concrete plot or storyline.

Review: This is the End

Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment

When I first saw the trailers for this movie, I was immediately excited to see Seth Rogen, James Franco and Danny McBride back together again. Pineapple Express is one of my favorite comedies featuring the likes of Rogen and McBride to date out of all those Apatow-ish and inspired R-rated comedies. Pineapple Express cleverly incorporated stoner-comedy with buddy comedy in a highly entertaining mix of action and violence but with plenty of hilarious slapstick effects. Pineapple Express also showed that Franco has a knack for such comedy and that McBride is a serious comedic personality to be reckoned with. So, when trailers for This is the End began running and I learned that Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Craig Robinson had joined the team, it seemed like it could be a formidable film to reach the level of Pineapple Express. All of these actors playing themselves stuck in James Franco's house trying to survive the apocalypse happening outside in Hollywood? Sounds like a fun time!

And it is fun for a few scenes and gags between the actors. It's fun seeing the likes of Aziz Ansari, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rihanna, Martin Starr, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, and others all playing themselves and making fun of themselves. All the guys make fun of Franco for being a "nerd" and collecting weird art pieces. Hill is picked on for being the only one with an Oscar nomination while Baruchel is the outcast who's obviously not as famous as the others. And of course, McBride is just labeled the asshole reminiscent of his role in HBO's Eastbound and Down. The majority of the film feels like these guys are just hanging out and the way each scene is setup and how the lines are delivered feels like much of it is improvised (which it could very likely be). So, for most of the film, not much happens in regards to the apocalyptic storyline and the story focuses on the gang making fun of each other and basically seeing who can outdo the other in crude humor mostly related to penises and the like.

Review: Stoker

Fox Searchlight/Scott Free Productions/Indian Paintbrush

WARNING: possible spoilers ahead! I'll try not to give plot specifics, but in discussing this film's merits, I may drop one hint too many.

That being sad, Stoker is what so many explorations into the mind of a mentally deranged killer wishes they could be. Many TV shows and movies attempt to saturate the viewing experience in the mind and gruesome deeds of a killer, but in all the stories that I've seen, each becomes wrapped up in the psychology or bloody details without fully realizing the potential of the medium of film. Sure, tricks of editing, effects, and cinematography may be used to try and put the audience in the mind of the killer or at the scene of the crime. Yet in the end, the most common result is something to scare, gross out, or appease those who get a kick out of the sight of violence or the idea of those who could and are driven to do such things. While Stoker follows some of these same devices, the technique used pays off more than the story and literal acts themselves to make for an extremely visceral and sensual experience.

Rather than relying entirely on violence, director Chan-wook Park continually attacks and simulates the senses throughout the entire film through an incredibly detailed sound design, cinematography, and editing. For those familiar with Park's Korean films, you know just how shocking this director can be in his technique. Park's Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance are some of the most disturbing, impacting films I've ever seen. Unlike Stoker, these films depict some extremely violent material. As his American film debut, Park retains the same techniques from these films in Stoker but eliminates most of the violence

Review: Upstream Color

erbp

During the production of a short film for a 48 Hour Film Festival I participated in back in April, the friends who were working on the project with me and I agreed wholeheartedly that films should be about the image. The story doesn't have to be strong, the main focus, or even make that much sense as the long as the images are technically and aesthetically pleasing and masterful. Part of the reason why we tended to all agree on this idea may have been that we didn't write anything for the film we were making at the time and working purely off of locations and scenarios that we thought were cool or certain shots that we liked. Through the magical process of editing, the film came together quite nicely and, while not making complete sense or having an obvious structure or narrative, we found most people telling us how they found the rhythm and visuals captivating.

I'm willing to bet Shane Carruth, writer, producer, director, editor, star, and composer of Upstream Color had a similar goal in mind when he made this film. Seemingly lacking in chronology, narrative arc and character motivation and development, Upstream Color dives right into the abstract and bizarre. Some of the early sequences and shots are reminiscent of a sort of David Cronenberg type horror and suspense which leaves the audience grasping for a handhold to reality somewhere but failing to find any. For those familiar with Carruth's first film, Primer, a smart, intricate sci-fi drama, it soon becomes obvious that Carruth is once again relying on the collision of seemingly unrelated scenes that begin to form connections and weave together a compelling, dark mystery.

Review: Mud

Lionsgate

Dewitt, a dry, dirty, small town in Arkansas. The deep American south. Lower class families living along the Mississippi river make a living by selling fish out of coolers from the back of old pickup trucks or sifting through junk on the bottom of the river hoping to find something of value. This is the setting for writer/director Jeff Nichols' 3rd film which follows two 14 year-old boys who help out with their family's business and in their spare time explore the great Mississippi River in a dingy old motorboat. On one such adventure they go to discover a boat stranded up in a tree on an island in hopes of making it their own but find a stranger has beaten them to it. He's got long matted hair, tanned, dirty skin with a snake tattoo winding its way down his right arm. He asks for their help in getting him some food, and when asked his name, he replies "Mud. You can call me Mud."

The tale of youths discovering a stranger on an island in the Mississippi should be familiar to most people who had to read Huckleberry Finn in high school. Nichols' was and is definitely influenced by the likes of Mark Twain and other American authors when he made this film. I'd say, with his first two films Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter, Nichols is establishing himself as the Cormac McCarthy of film. His quiet, focused style is honest and straightforward and with carefully controlled bursts of emotion and action. His settings in the Midwest and Southern areas of the U.S. evoke not only Twain but John Steinbeck and Walt Whitman. He recalls the heart of America and themes that such authors as these have written about over the past two hundred years.

Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness

It took 4 years, but J.J. Abrams (Super 8, Star Trek) finally got around to giving us a sequel to the highly successful, and great, 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise. Over the past 5 years or so (or even further back if you count his involvement with the TV show Lost) Abrams has become a name associated with high quality Sci-Fi cinema outings and is quickly becoming ranked next to and favored by the likes of Steven Spielberg. Abrams even admitted that Spielberg had a hand in convincing him to accept the director's chair for helming the next Star Wars film recently purchased by Disney which plans to expand the new saga from a galaxy far far away into a new trilogy beginning in 2015. On top of this, Abrams has had his hand in many a project over the past 4 years as producer or director in the case of Super 8. Still, with the success of the first Star Trek, you would think that Paramount would've put more pressure on getting around to making the next Star Trek.

In this case, it seems no one was in any hurry and decided to use the long wait to drum up as much hype as possible. The fast-rising star of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse, The Hobbit) mixed with the rumor of the return of Star Trek super-villain Khan increased the size of the expectant audience which was already enlarged by the first film beyond just Trekkies. Suffice to say, Abrams had a much bigger fan-base to please this time around.