Eighties nostalgia, young love, and the horrors of summer jobs describe the cinematic ride of Adventureland .
Although written and directed by Greg Mottola, best known for the comedic hit Superbad (2007), this film can only be loosely called a comedy. (And if you are expecting a laugh-filled movie experience like his last film, then Adventureland is not for you.) Instead, Mottola delivers a coming of age story set in Pittsburgh in the 1980s.
Adventureland is the story of college graduate, James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) who has big plans to move to New York City and attend Columbia University’s graduate school. He wants to become a travel essayist and thinks a master’s degree in journalism will help him because the field is “still an old boys’ network.â€
Everyone loves a good love story. How about adding some twists and turns as well as some tricks and tests between two star-crossed spies? That’s the recipe for Duplicity, the sophisticated, cleverly written romantic thriller starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen that doesn’t disappoint.
Like most Hollywood love stories, the secret affair between Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) and Ray Koval (Clive Owen) begins with the guy spewing some clever pick-up lines – to which Stenwick denies at first. However, after a bit of back and forth between the two, they end up doing the horizontal tango in the most beautiful and luxurious of places, a decadent hotel room in Dubai on Independence Day in 2003.
This chance encounter develops into a clandestine love affair that spans five to six years on screen – although it’s not told chronologically. Rather, it simply sets the stage and tempo for the espionage story that unravels. Duplicity takes the viewer on a seductive path to figure out who is going to win in a knockdown, drag out “corporate death match†between two battling pharmaceutical companies to develop a one-of-a-kind product first. Their longstanding competition and race to win requires teams of spies, double agents and former CIA operatives. And that’s where Claire Stenwick, Ex-CIA, and Ray Koval, Ex-MI6, get a piece of the action. The two are hired to spy on each other’s company but are secretly in cohorts. Because after all says Stenwick, “All we have to do is find the product. If we get there first, we make a fortune.†Their scheming and maneuvering takes the audience on a thrilling ride.
Written and directed by Tony Gilroy who worked his same magic in Michael Clayton and The Bourne Identity series, Duplicity delivers sophisticated, action-packed and perfectly paced scenes as well as sharp writing and well-timed comebacks.
In addition to the artful writing which leaves you on the edge of your seat attempting to solve the mystery (which you can’t), Duplicity characters are flawlessly cast. The hilarious, ultra-competitive CEO, Richard Garsik, is played perfectly by the Sideways (2004) star, Paul Giamatti. And British actor; Tom Wilkinson (most recently seen in Valkyrie with Tom Cruise) carries off the calm, collected and scheming role of Garsik’s arch nemesis. The opening scene with two characters locked in a physical, slow motion, middle-aged men fight is hilarious, unexpected, and a pleasure to watch.
And the pairing of Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, seen together before in Closer (2004), is pure genius. The two light up the screen with genuine chemistry that is both exciting, enticing and sexy. Roberts, who’s unbelievably forty-one years old, proves that she’s still a knockout and a box office hit.
Although the relationship between Stenwick and Koval is full of sparks and lustful encounters, it’s not for the lighthearted. The basic components of a good relationship – love and trust – are continuously tested on a personal and business basis for them. From worries about the other cheating while undercover to wondering if they are each keeping their part of the bargain, the mere concept of trust is never taken for granted. “Admit it. You don’t trust me either,†said by Stenwick to Koval, which just about sums up their liaison.
-like locales are a feast to behold. Duplicity takes the viewer on a visual smorgasbord and broke travelers dream with scenes in Dubai, Rome, Miami, Zurich and London. The cobblestone streets, Roman architecture, and clear blue seas are just a few of the treats.
Suspenseful, sexy and full of espionage – Duplicity keeps you guessing right until the very end. The guy gets the girl but do they pass go, reach the goal and collect their reward? Who gets gamed? You will definitely want to know. And besides, it’s a lot of fun to watch.
It’s really bad when the state of humanity hinges on a bunch of pseudo-sadomasochists parading around as costumed heroes who haphazardly decide to save the world for mere kicks and giggles. This is the twisted sense of humor and entire point of the mystery adventure Watchman.
This 2009 American superhero film is based on DC Comics’ award-winning, limited series graphic novel (1986-1987) illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Zack Snyder, who is famous for the adaptation of the 300 graphic novel, directed the movie. And Lawrence Gordon (Die Hard), Lloyd Levin (United 93) and Deborah Snyder (300) had a hand in producing it. However, viewers should not expect the same level of cinematic beauty or the type of compelling storytelling in Watchmen that Snyder showed us was possible in 300. Instead, the long and needlessly drawn out film, which lasts a restless two hours and 43 minutes, has the audience wishing for their own superhero powers to teleport themselves out of the theater.
Watchmen begins in the year of 1985, and tells the tale of a group of former vigilantes who used to dress up as superheroes. Although the somewhat-counterfeit crime fighters have “retired,†a couple of them decide to pay attention to the nuclear threat (read: end of world scenario) and tension between the United States and Russia.
The stakes are high but the audience’s investment in the protagonists or their success is relatively low. This weak story drags on for a full hour and forty minutes and consists of confession after confession from weary and depressed individuals who must decide if they are really going to solve the weak mystery, which is somehow connected to the complete obliteration of mankind (for the remaining hour).
And here is where this artificial set of superheroes is exposed. Aren’t most superheroes like Superman concerned with unnecessary violence and killing people? Don’t most champions of justice risk their lives to save others and humanity? And don’t all superheroes have a special power or two that us mere mortals could only dream of?
On these accounts, viewers could legitimately question whether the movie had any bonafide superheroes at all. The protagonists, with the exception of the neon blue Dr. Manhattan, actually lacked any “real†or perceived super powers. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) can see into the future and teleport himself all over the universe after a science lab mistake. Next to him, the other hero hopefuls are pretty laughable. Heck, all they want to do is fight for fun and stave off boredom.
And speaking of characters, there were only a few that are truly memorable. There is the demented and bloodthirsty Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), whose street name was Walter Kovacs. Although his journal accounts provide the framework for the story, the inkblot masked Rorschach’s killing scenes will make the audience wonder if the film was written or produced by Quentin Tarantino.
And then there’s Laurie Jupiter (Malin Akerman), whose action hero’s name is Silk Spectre II. She had only one power—her drop dead gorgeous looks that captured the attention of her fellow superheroes. Other than a decent left hook and a swift kick, she disappointed the audience who expected a more Wonder Woman-like performance due to their close resemblance achieved through casting, makeup and wardrobe.
The rest of the major quasi-vigilantes—The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) known for his “Life is a joke†attitude, peace at all deadly costs Oxymandias (Matthew Goode), and pushover turned wannabe Superman, Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson)—leave the role of hero as a lot to be desired.
And for the parents and children expecting a Batman or Spiderman type film, please be aware—this movie is not for anyone under seventeen. In addition to the constant nudity of Dr. Manhattan, there are gratuitous sex scenes that weren’t worth actress Malin Akerman even baring her breast. And more importantly, the violence depicted in scene after scene was extremely bloody, gross and overdone—enough to make a grown man cover his eyes.
And as you may have guessed, the movie begins and ends with violence and death depicted in a realistic manner unlike its comic book beginnings. This is a film that could easily create nightmares for children and adults alike.
Thus, the only characteristic Watchmen smiley face this movie deserves is one that is turned completely upside-down and covered with the blood of its own fake super heroes. Like the main theme of the Watchmen: “Life’s a joke,†clearly this movie was too.
If you ever wanted to understand why teaching puberty-ridden, curious, and rebellious high school kids is a tough job, just watch the Oscar-nominated French film, The Class (Entre Les Murs). This movie dives into the deep end of the complexities of teaching a multi-ethnic, socioeconomic diverse class in the new immigrant rich France.
Most viewers realize the teachers are in for a rough time from the very first scene. Smartly foreshadowing the year to come, a group of teachers meet to prepare for the incoming students. The team shares its words of encouragement and advice, especially for the rookies. A retiring teacher said “[He’d] like to wish the new arrivals plenty of courage†because he knew they would need it.
The complexity of courage and respect are played out in the film’s French classroom and in “real-world†classrooms internationally. François, and the other teachers, wear a shield of courage each day to face the brutal, disruptive and demanding students. Like the new France, François’ class had students of all nationalities—Moroccan, Mali, Chinese as well as other African and Middle Eastern nations. The Class proves that teachers also needed respect to understand the daily battles their first and second-generation immigrant students encountered in their tough French neighborhoods. These constant clashes between teacher and student for understanding left the audience with mixed sympathies.
This push-pull tension around respect in the classroom played out perfectly. Several students, like Khoumba, a sharp-tongued, moody African girl, were quick to demand respect from their snappy and exasperated teacher. In one power play, she is scolded by François for her insolence in class after refusing to read aloud. In a tug-of-war after class discussion, François demands a sincere apology from her. Feeling a lack of respect shown, she offers a half-hearted apology and runs off to join her friends who waited and snickered in the hallway. Seeking to provide balance to the commentary on respect, the film shows another side of Khoumba, as a sensitive, emotional teenaged girl. In a well-written note to François, she explains how she feels disrespected by him.
In various scenes, teacher François attempts to unravel the multiple layers inside each child while trying to teach the class French. The major class project is a self-portrait, which each student is allowed to approach in his or her own way. Despite numerous interruptions and outbursts about everything from homosexuality to spoken imperfect subjunctive French, all of the students miraculously create a picture of their personality – and a window into their personal challenges, fears, uniqueness and beauty.
One student, Souleyman, a sullen Malian teenaged boy is surprised when François gives him praise for his pictorial self-portrait. Originally uninterested in the project, he told François, “I have nothing to say because no one knows me but me.†Depicted as the troublemaker in the film, he is used to more negative feedback than positive.
Similar to real life, The Class showed that the students were also misunderstood and at times underestimated. Revealing his own bias and shortcomings, François was shocked when students like Esmeralda, a quick-witted Middle Eastern teen, read books like Plato’s “Republic†because it exceeded his expectations of her. In earlier conversations, François had difficulty selecting books for the class to read because he assumed his students had low reading abilities. Other students like Wey, a gifted Chinese young man with French language challenges, and another intelligent male student who dressed in Goth fashion were often ignored in favor of their loudmouthed, rambunctious counterparts. Thus, the slower students led the pace of François’ teaching – remarkably similar to critiques of American public schools.
The Class shines with multilayered complexity, and reveals that teachers are human and also make mistakes, especially after being pushed too far. It also depicts the reality of public schools in which mutual respect between teacher and student is often not the standard. The film illustrates that in order to get respect, you have to earn respect.
The Class succeeds because of its real world critiques on respect and the complexities of student – teacher relationships as well as the challenges of navigating unfamiliar immigrant worlds fraught with language and cultural differences. In the daily trials between student and teacher in the real world and cinematic classroom, the audience is left wondering who is really teaching who?
Despite Taken’s (2009) action-packed, hyped-up trailer featuring an angry, vengeful father who is on a fast-moving, butt-kicking warpath to find his daughter who is taken, this action flick actually begins at an agonizing snail’s pace. Not surprisingly, the most exciting moment of the film was actually experienced in the beginning of the flick—making viewers wait impatiently for the action to commence.
For an action flick, Taken begins slowly by showing father and ex-CIA operative, Bryan Mills, (Liam Neeson) reminiscing about his daughter’s childhood. The audience is led through a series of uneventful scenes that depict a somewhat pathetic Mills trying to make-up for lost times and rebuild his relationship with his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). He has even given up his career, which kept him away from his family, and moved to be closer to his precious Kimmie. Although it appears as though no love is lost between Mills and his daughter due to his absent years, he struggles with playing second fiddle to his ex-wife’s new husband and new money.
And just as the movie starts more closely resembling a drama, the foreshadowing begins as Mills is characterized as an overprotective and paranoid father who is extremely concerned about his 17-year-old daughter traveling abroad without parental supervision. Kimmie tells her father, “Mom said your job made you paranoid.†To which Mills blandly responds, “I was a “preventer†of bad things from happening.â€
The pace (finally) begins to quicken as the viewer waits wearily for the daughter to be “taken.†Although the kidnapping was not a surprise, Mills’ timing and sideline involvement added an interesting flip on the standard abduction scene. It is only after poor Kimmie is captured that the viewer gets what they’ve been waiting for–the angry, taking-no-prisoners Mills who not only vows to get his daughter back but threatens her kidnappers. In the most memorable line of the movie, Mills says, “I don’t know who you are but if you don’t let my daughter go, I will find you and I will kill you.â€
The rest of the movie unfolds at a slightly faster pace as Mills begins his strategic rampage to get his daughter back within a key 96-hour timeframe. In true ex-government operative style, Mills swiftly unravels several clues from the beginning of the kidnapping. He cleverly re-traces steps, obtains CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) level evidence and produces the best translation ever of barely audible words recorded digitally.
And although a bit unbelievable, Mills enlists minimal help to track down his daughter’s kidnappers. He calls a friend or two from his ex-CIA days to provide background information on the country of the abductors, which end up providing more harm than good.
Liam Neeson is at his most believable as an adoring father. In several action scenes, he single-handedly takes out seven and eight men by himself, which seems a bit unlikely for a 50 to 60 year old man, even one who is an ex-CIA agent. It’s like casting Jason Bourne of The Bourne Identity with a graying, middle-aged Matt Damon. It just doesn’t work.
Taken does provide some small plot twists and turns, but not enough for the viewer to forget what the next step in the story was going to be. The movie is predictable, but thankfully not embarrassingly so.
And Taken, like all good action and adventure flicks, has the foreseeable, fairy-tale ending in which the girl is rescued and brought to safety before any real harm is done. And any retribution or repayment of the harm and violence caused in the process is all but forgotten. Despite killing over 20 people, torturing others, stealing cars, destroying several homes and buildings, Mills manages to keep the audience rooting for him – after all he is the good guy.
In one of the major fight scenes between Mills and a leader of the kidnapping ring, the point of the movie is given. While pleading for his life, the bad guy says, “Please understand, it was all business. It wasn’t personal.â€
Mills says blankly: “Well, it was all personal for me,†and then shoots and kills the guy.
Before his daughter’s abduction, killing and fighting bad guys was just his job. However, the kidnapping of his pride and joy made Mills life worth living as he risks it to save his daughter—because well after all, it is personal.
