The Other Family
April 1, 2016
Midnight Special (2016).
D/W: Jeff Nichols. DP: Adam Stone. Starring: Michael Shannon/Kirsten Dunst/Joel Edgerton/Jaeden Lieberher/Adam Driver/Sam Shepard/Bill Camp/Scott Haze/Paul Sparks/David Jensen.
Despite the shadow of Batman vs. Superman, the little films are making splashes at the box office this spring. Among those like 10 Cloverfield Lane, is the new film from writer/director Jeff Nichols, Midnight Special. The film joins Nichols’ other successful pursuits in 2011’s Take Shelter and 2012’s Mud with this new film now with studio backing at Warner Brothers.
This chase movie follows Roy (Michael Shannon) who is attempting to take his son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) to a prescribed place and time. Aiding in his escape from a cultist ranch is childhood friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) and eventually Roy’s wife Sarah (Kirsten Dunst). Chasing the group is not only Ranchers, but the FBI led by Paul Sevier (Adam Driver). Alton is savior or weapon to those groups, but something else to his family who want to help him. Nichols’ script is subtle like his previous works and very contained as the film only covers about three days. Shot by his consistent partner Adam Stone, there are some gorgeous aeriel shots specifically a long shot of many helicopters hovering over a Louisiana swamp. Like hungry dragon flies the intrusive government paranoia leads up to an exhilarating final action sequence.
Midnight Special is also Nichols’ third collaboration with Shannon and it is clear the pair have a second hand. Through the years the lines on Shannon’s face have deepened and an unspoken weight to Roy. His Mormon like litheness works well and is a nice contrast to the brute force of Edgerton’s Lucas. Edgerton continues to be the MVP of the movies he’s in, I still maintain that he was the performance of 2013’s The Great Gatsby. Dunst is quiet yet resolute as Alton’s mother and her connection with the young actor resonates. Lieberher was discovered for the film, much like the young boy in Room. His otherness is hyper aware and calm and translate more to a sense of belonging rather than sci-fi shtick. A scene with Driver is quick and clever and gives Alton an intimidating yet powerful intellect.
Overall Midnight Special feels organic and makes you wonder what you would believe if it was your own child speaking in tongues and shining lights from his eyes. Covered in layers of darkness and threat the film gracefully builds with an amplifying soundtrack. The ending might be divisive, but it was a good payoff for me. Who knows what people can actually see. Maybe only those who trust or believe Alton can truly see? Go decide for yourself.
Down In The Bunker
March 24, 2016
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).
D: Dan Trachtenberg. DP: Jeff Cutter. W: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle. Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead/John Goodman/John Gallagher Jr.
I will admit I am negligent when it comes to the horror genre. However, I would not classify 10 Cloverfield Lane or its tangential predecessor, 2008’s Cloverfield, as horror, more as thriller with a splash of extraterrestrial destruction sauce. Regardless of the genre debate, go and see it.
10 Cloverfield Lane is tangential to Cloverfield as it appears to be happening within the same attack on earth. So Cloverfield is set in Manhattan and this new film is set in rural Louisiana. With a nice shot of the New Orleans Crescent City Connection to open the film we aren’t given any dialogue until after Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) crashes her car en route to somewhere after leaving her fiancé. She awakens with her hurt leg chained to a wall to discover she is a bunker built by Howard (John Goodman). Nothing more, no spoilers here!
Once again yes it’s a thriller genre film (often deemed something like a B-film), but 10 Cloverfield Lane is also a piece of great scene study. With only three actors in a small-ish space the world must live and breath within its characters. Much like last year’s Room, little backstory is given so the dynamics must be played out in the trio. Trust and reveal see-saw their way into a gripping film that rarely needs to use music or effects to build suspense. Tight close-ups are well balanced and there is an excellent placement of music that builds ironic humor without camp.
Lead Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been steadily working, but she stole my heart in James Ponsoldt’s 2012 Smashed. A film about an alcoholic couple who breaks up when one partner tries to get clean. Here she is a naturally believable spunk who is a perfect balance of think on her feet smart both physically and mentality. Given that the audience has hardly any backstory on her you immediately must join her for her ride as she unravels the bunker and questions Goodman’s Howard. Goodman’s open demeanor and physical presence are never over done, a nice change from his warm loud goofs he usually plays. Emmet, played by HBO’s The Newsroom‘s John Gallagher Jr., rounds out the group really well.
The fundamental structural difference between these Cloverfield films is that the first was built on what is now termed: found footage. Shot as if the characters were filming from their own camera with breaks in story and scenes to mimic their home video experience. In Cloverfield this is effective as it gives the disaster/invasion film a new and visceral audience experience. For obvious reasons this would not work with 10 Cloverfield Lane, but also despite the name the film’s focus is rooted on human to human destruction within a “safe” environment rather than running from the big bad. Or is it?
Yesterday’s Story
July 13, 2014
Edge of Tomorrow (2014).
D: Doug Liman. DP: Dion Beebe. W: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth (based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel All You Need Is Kill.) Starring: Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt/Brendan Gleeson/Bill Paxton/Jonas Armstrong/Tony Way/Kick Gurry/Charlotte Riley/Noah Taylor/Franz Drameh/Dragomir Mrsic/Masayoshi Haneda.
The new edition in the Tom Cruise canon of movies has arrived. Edge of Tomorrow is a slick, large scale sci-fi flick that steals as much as it repeats old ideas. It certainly is thin competition to this year’s heavy summer lineup.
This time we find Tom Cruise as Cage, a wide grinned all American looking boy selling the army and all its bells whistles. Finding himself coerced into combat he makes it to his first mission and wakes up to repeat it all again. Soon Cruise discovers that Emily Blunt’s Rita, the poster gal of this new war on aliens, is the key to Cruise’s mission. Every time he dies he is sent back to the same day only to have to find her again and try to stop the massive attack or navigate their way through it.
Blunt is terse and believable here. Her no-nonsense practicality helps them coordinate their attack and offers a good counter to Cruise’s Cage. At least she is spared a romantic sub plot we’d have to grin and bear. One can’t help but wonder how much better of a film it would be if she was the true lead.
My problem with any Tom Cruise film of the last decade or so is his brand sort of acting. You walk into the theater knowing and/or expecting a certain and same performance from him. This performance is rarely creative, layered or of any great depth. His films of note for me are good regardless of his performance. However, this sort of generic delivery works well in an international market and is clearly a bankable product. But that is exactly what it feels like, a product. In Edge of Tomorrow his sparkly grin and physical approach to acting, like stunts come to life, actually works. Also, his Peter Pan esq or never changing looks help trap Cage visually in his perpetual time warp.
Edge of Tomorrow suffers as its core because the premise is so overdone in cinema. From 1993’s Groundhog Day to 2011’s Source Code there are too many films about the repetition of a day or alternating time lines that are more original (case in point 2000’s Memento). As a science fiction film its also a bit of a snooze, but with great bells and whistles. A gorgeous shot of London’s Trafalgar Square empty begins the film and there are beautiful sequences of action. But in the end the charm and wit of the first act is not sustained and the plot is eaten alive by the very aliens that are central to the story.
The Beginning of the End…
July 2, 2012
Prometheus (2012).
D: Ridley Scott. DP: Dariusz Wolski. W: Damon Lindelof & Jon Spaihts. Starring: Noomi Raplace/Michael Fassbender/Charlize Theron/Idris Elba/ Guy Pearce/Logan Marshall-Green/Sean Harris/Rafe Spall/Benedict Wong/Kate Dickie.
With a film like this it is hard to know where to begin unpacking. Highly anticiapted and theorized about, Prometheus marks Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien stories. Originally conceptualized as a prequel to his illustrious Alien (1979), with Sigourney Weaver, Prometheus was then reworked as more of an exploratory origin story. If you even can call it that. Rather, I would say, the film attempts to put into perspective questions the previous films brought up. It creates a new story that enlarges the original scope, while closing in on specific themes. Ultimately, the film will remind audiences that oftentimes there aren’t direct answers to the questions we seek to answer…or are there?
Firstly, the film must be applauded for its visual achievements. It was worth wearing the 3D glasses for the opening sequence alone, which not only was pure beauty, but set the tone of how massive a story would be tacked. The beauty is not limited to just the sets, but to the costume and make-up work. Without spoiling anything, it is safe to say audiences will stay impressed throughout the whole film with the level of artistic work put into everything. Prometheus is truly a cinematic experience.
Similar to the previous Alien films, life and society on board the ship is just as integral to the story as what is found off of it. Thankfully this film is well balanced between the two worlds. Although not your typical leading Hollywood lady, Noomi Raplace’s Elizabeth Shaw is believable and memorable. Hailing from the original Swedish versions of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, Raplace is every bit Weaver’s Ripley’s opposite. This works in her advantage as she appears in direct contrast to statuesque ice queen, Charlize Theron, whose company is paying for the expedition. But also, her physicality aids in her character’s determination to explore and discover her own origin as it reflects that of mankind. Michael Fassbender’s robot David nearly steals the show. Which at times truly helps the film as Theron and even Logan Marshall-Green’s Charlie can get a little heavy handed.
What remains heavy handed, in a good way, is Scott’s clear sense of suspense and mood. Prometheus, much like his original Alien, is like one big gear. It needs a certain amount time to heat up and gain momentum, but once its warmed up there’s no stopping it. For someone unfamiliar with these films it might seem slow, but for anyone “in that world” so to speak, it takes off at just the right time. Yet, very similarly to Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), I felt at times I was plopped into the middle of a story that had so many tangents to it, it was hard to stay focused.
Lastly, on a personal note, I did not enter the cinema thinking I’d have all the answers laid out in front of me. But that does not mean there weren’t still moments of frustration. However, overall I feel Prometheus is a platform. The film expects its audience to take a huge leap off into the unknown. So rather then get frustrated, I enjoyed the fall. And quickly went off to chat about all the details I could not write about here, as you should do as well.