January Fever, Part 1: Andrés Muschietti's Mama and Jee-woon Kim's The Last Stand

Mama started as a terrifying three minute short, and now, thanks to executive producer Guillermo del Toro, has become an overcooked one-hundred minute feature. Expanding a short film is always tricky, as the risk is run of making a movie that's too big. Mama goes for being a straight-up ghost story, one that, in the tradition of J-horror, has a vengeful spirit that has some demands before it will be put to rest. I'm okay with that as a concept...what I'm not okay with is a story that doesn't seem to play by any rules and worse, creates a ghost that is seen too often and when it is, looks like bad CGI.

The prologue is promising, as two little girls end up stranded in a remote cabin and are eventually rescued by their artist uncle, Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his rock band girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain, who is super cute even with black hair). There's clearly been some trauma, but Lucas thinks it's his duty to raise these girls. Annabel, of course, is not ready for mommy duty (clearly set up the first time we see her), so the movie spends a great deal of time showing how bad she is at it once the girls move in.

As expected, the girls don't come alone. While in the cabin, they were cared for by the spirit of a mother who lost her baby, and she has a nasty jealous streak. When the girls begin to warm up to Annabel, there are numerous shots of them looking over her shoulder, either smiling or with a scared expression. The first few times, there is some tension, but it keeps happening every other scene until eventually, it grows tiresome. The same can be said for the random sightings of the ghost, who appears in a large number of jump scares with thundering chords on the soundtrack.

The moments that resonate most in Mama are the ones where we only get glimpses of part of the ghost...her hand or her flowing hair. Her attack methods don't make much sense; if anything, they are patterned in a way to move the plot forward so Annabel can finally realize that she likes taking care of children after all. But the movie doesn't earn that moment; it just happens so the ghost can get angry and go berserk.

This the kind of movie where characters make dumb decisions. Not one but two people go to search the cabin, and both have the brilliant idea to go at night when they can't see anything. Even worse, the movie flashes back to show us why this spirit is pissed by making them dream sequences the spirit feels compelled to share with Lucas and Annabel. The back story itself is straight out of many other, more interesting movies.

The best thing about the movie is its atmosphere. First time director Andrés Muschietti, who made the short, has a keen eye for strong visuals...there are some compelling shots throughout the movie. Lots of credibility goes out the window during the climax, though, due to the lousy visuals effects and the laughably bad melodrama. Yes, we're actually supposed to care about these characters and the fact that motherhood has finally become something Annabel wants. As far as I was concerned, she was happier in the rock band. A missed opportunity in more ways than not, Mama is a prime example of what happens when a filmmaker wants to deliver the goods too badly. Next time, some subtly would be much appreciated.

Jee-woon Kim is one of best genre filmmakers around, and if you don't believe me, check out his ghost story, A Tale of Two Sisters, his western, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, and his serial killer flick, I Saw the Devil. This guy has serious chops when it comes to delivering legitimate thrills and action, which he brings stateside for his US debut, The Last Stand. For most, this movie will mark the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger to a starring role, but those expecting tons of one liners and a larger-than-life presence might be disappointed. Instead, he plays a small town sheriff, a man who's seen more than his fair share of violence and needed to get away from it. You can read it on his weathered face.

Arnie's Ray Owens looks after Summerton Junction, an Arizona town so small that all the residents, save for a handful, travel with the high school football team for the playoffs. There are only three deputies, and an exciting day for them is rescuing a cat from a tree. This is just the way Ray likes it, but all that's about to change in the form of Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), a Mexican drug lord who has escaped FBI custody and will have to go through Ray's town to cross the border. With the help of his deputies and a few ragtag locals, Ray hatches a plan to try and stop this guy from making it through. At least, not without a fight.

There's a classic western sensibility to the set-up and to Ray, a man who could turn the other cheek and let Cortez blow through his town but would rather protect what's his. The showdown doesn't even occur until the last third of the picture, giving plenty of time to build anticipation as Cortez, in a car capable of driving two-hundred miles an hour, outwits various roadblocks. Kim and cinematographer Ji-yong Kim have the most fun with nighttime scenes, beginning with Cortez's daring escape and then in his pursuit. Look also at how vividly they stage a shootout illuminated only by flood lights. Despite the familiar script elements, Kim is able to bring the material to life in fresh and exhilarating ways.

Schwarzenegger still proves to be a towering force in frame, even if his character never has any of those spotlight moments recognized in his '80s work. His age is mentioned on a few occasions, but thankfully, the movie doesn't dwell on it. If there is a running gag, it's that everyone in this town is packing, right down to the sweet old lady that owns the antique store. Many different firearms are displayed here (even a flare gun), and Kim makes sure to show us the maximum damage each one inflicts. In classic western tradition, violence becomes a necessary means of keeping the peace, even if it involves a few casualties. Despite this, the movie is never self-serious. The supporting cast, which includes Johnny Knoxville and the always welcome Luis Guzman, bring nice bits of humor to the mix.

While it won't win points for originality, The Last Stand does succeed at being one of most confident, brisk, and satisfying action pictures to come along since John Carpenter's career was in full swing. It also made me happy to see Schwarzenegger back on the big screen where he belongs. He proves here that there's some still some spark left and that, along with the arrival of Jee-woon Kim, is cause for celebration. Fingers crossed that Hollywood does not drive him away like they did John Woo.


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(c) Hell and Beyond, 2013

The Light is Dim: Lee's Best Movies of 2012

The first part of the year was a bit slim...there was a gem here or there but mostly, the movies I saw were duds. I held out for brighter experiences, and it took until the last few months of the year and a serious amount of cramming to find many of the best. It was overwhelming, to say the least...so much so that I found myself going back to watch certain movies a second time to see if they still left the same impression. In the end, it turned out to be a pretty spectacular year at the movies. The cream of the crop took chances and attempted to show us subjects familiar in ways we had not seen them projected before. And many of these subjects familiar dealt with existential dread...could it have been because it was predicated the world was going to end? Who can say, but what I witnessed more often than not in 2012 were movies where the future was something to fear or worse, something not looking forward to at all. There was an evident sadness, and while it was an effective one, I'm thankful to report there were glimmers of hope sprinkled in from time to time. 2013 DID happen, so let's see what this new year of movies has to offer, for better or worse.

"Ain't no rainbow in the sky
In the middle of the night
But the signal's coming through
One day I will be alright again." - Mr. E



-Lee



Wish I Could Forget (in alphabetical order): Casa de mi Padre, God Bless America, Lawless, Piranha DD, Prometheus, Savages

Wish I'd Loved (in alphabetical order): Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Cloud Atlas, The Deep Blue Sea, Flight, Killing Them Softly, The Loneliest Planet, The Master, Paranorman, The Queen of Versailles, Red Hook Summer, Take This Waltz

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): Attenberg, Bernie, Beyond the Black Rainbow, Chronicle, Compliance, Damsels in Distress, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, The Grey, Magic Mike, Premium Rush, The Raid: Redemption, Safety Not Guaranteed, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Silver Linings Playbook, This is Not a Film, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Zero Dark Thirty

20-11

20) 21 Jump Street dir. Phil Lord and Chris Miller
19) The Loved Ones dir. Sean Byrne
18) Alps dir. Giorgos Lanthimos
17) The Five-Year Engagement dir. Nicholas Stoller
16) Skyfall dir. Sam Mendes
15) Jiro Dreams of Sushi dir. David Gelb
14) The Dark Knight Rises dir. Christopher Nolan
13) The Turin Horse (A torinói ló) dir. Béla Tarr
12) The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo) dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
11) Killer Joe dir. William Friedkin

Top Ten

10) The Perks of Being a Wallflower dir. Stephen Chbosky

It's one thing to adapt your own novel to the screen...it's another thing all together to make it your directorial debut and do it thirteen years after the book was first published. And yet, that's exactly what Stephen Chbosky did, with stunning results. He proves himself a natural born filmmaker, not just behind the camera, but also with a knack for finding the right actors to bring his characters to life. Logan Lerman is Charlie, a troubled high school kid who finds solace in brother/sister team Patrick (an outstanding Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson, also amazing). On the page, the material was on the brink of spilling into sappy sentimentality, and the same risk was even greater for the movie. But by scaling things back and trusting in his cast, Chbosky's picture nails the pain and unexpected exhilaration that comes with growing up. We see this material tackled a lot, but rarely with this much raw truth.

9) Django Unchained dir. Quentin Tarantino

Sally Menke's absence is evident, but the change in rhythm doesn't stop Tarantino's latest from being a potent blast. QT gets stellar work out of regulars Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson (in possibly his best role since Pulp Fiction), plus juicy work from Jamie Foxx as Django, a freed slave bent on rescuing his wife from slave owner Calvin Candie (a delightfully devious Leonardo DiCaprio). As expected, ultra violence erupts, but not without a price. There's real weight to the vengeance in Tarantino's movies...he doesn't just want us to relish in it; he wants us to see how deeply it cuts the insides of those who carry it out. By taking a brutal period of American history as his subject, Tarantino is able to challenge us in ways at once surprising and gleefully disturbing. Those who accuse him of being derivative need to look closer.

8) Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan

It starts out with a bunch of seemingly clueless cops searching for a dead body, and later reveals itself to be a study in procedure. The characters of Nuri Bilge Cevlan's picture are creatures of habit, locked in an endless cycle of their day-to-day routines. The longer an investigation takes the better, as it avoids having to face realities such as families or domestic duties. This is one of the most visually gorgeous movies of the year, one that almost acts like it might favor being swallowed in the massive countryside (where the corpse is supposedly buried) as opposed to the drab surroundings of an office. Brilliant and haunting, the movie has moments that live up to the title's fairy tale implications...any encounter that isn't part of the routine is dreamlike and too much to bear. The only thing certain is that it will end and reality will make its inevitable return.

7) Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) dir. Joachim Trier

Life has run its course for Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) in Joachim Trier's quietly tragic follow-up to his wonderful Reprise. A recovering drug addict just two weeks away from finishing his rehab program, 34-year-old Anders wakes up one morning and decides it's too late for him to start over. He spends the day re-connecting with old friends and even goes to a job interview, although he decides pretty quickly that it will never work out. A somber and occasionally beautiful portrait of being hopelessly lost, Oslo, August 31st is as much about embracing our memories of the past as it is rejecting our future. But will the memories created on this present day be enough to encourage us to move forward? That's the question that sticks as Anders slowly spirals downhill.

6) Holy Motors dir. Leos Carax

Denis Lavant gives a performance for the ages as Oscar, a man who spends his days in a limousine going to various "appointments." Often surreal, strange, creative, hilarious, and even poignant, the movie is a tribute not just to the nature of performance, but also a meditation on identity, aging, and, loneliness. It's a beautiful nostalgia trip that also mourns the future, and does so with visuals that channel David Lynch and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. After two viewings, my head is still spinning, and that's a good thing...I'm certain that multiple viewings will unlock more of this movie's enticing mysteries.

5) Looper dir. Rian Johnson

If good sci-fi movies are rare, great sci-fi movies are a revelation. With that in mind, let's just say that Looper blindsided me. The ambitious premise, which revolves around hitmen who kill targets that are zapped to them from the future, is given loads of texture due to Johnson's complex-but-not-too-complex script. There are hints of darkness too, specifically in the way the movie shows how the hitmen, called Loopers, deal with coming into contact with the older versions of themselves. Can you change the course of your life and the lives of others by going back and talking to your younger self? Can the younger self fix mistakes made down the line if they don't kill their older counterpart? These are just a few of the fascinating questions this heady and exciting movie asks. It doesn't hurt that it also features career best work from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis.

4) Lincoln dir. Steven Spielberg

I am still a bit shell shocked by how much I love this movie. While most write off Spielberg's projects these days, I believe his work continues to be vital and holds value. Even despite this, he still tends to tread into corny territory, particularly with his endings, as if he's not satisfied unless he sends us home happy. The trailer for Lincoln made it come off like a heavy handed train wreck, a cheap piece of Oscar bait. How thrilled I was that the movie itself turned out to be something much more special. Everything is in synch here: Tony Kushner's smart and absorbing script, Janusz Kaminski's elegant cinematography (some of his best ever, methinks), Spielberg's patient direction, and Daniel Day-Lewis' sympathetic performance. Day-Lewis, who is amazing in just about everything, is a revelation here. And it's not just about the look...the details of his performance are remarkably rich. From the perfectly staged opening scene to the final speech I didn't appreciate until my second viewing, Lincoln is an essential portrait of how politics can be about more than personal gain.

3) Girl Walk//All Day dir. Jacob Krupnick

The most joyous movie in recent memory, Girl Walk//All Day had me from its opening moments. A Girl (Chaplin-esque dancer Anne Marsen) goes into a ballet class and awkwardly tries to stay in synch with the other dancers. All of the sudden, the music on the soundtrack changes and the Girl begins to dance to her own groove, blasts out of the studio and into New York City. What follows is 71 minutes of non-stop dance (set to Girl Talk's album All Day) as the Girl works her way through all areas of the city, occasionally interacting with others (some of it staged, some not) and rarely stopping for a breath. Her energy is first met with shrugs, but as the journey continues, her happiness becomes infectious. Shot with as much flair and innovation as a movie with a budget one hundred times its size, Girl Walk//All Day is a testament to how powerful cinema can be as a medium for all the senses. It gets us involved on multiple levels at once, and there wasn't a single moment of it that I wasn't smiling and tapping my foot. If you don't get the desire to jump up and dance after the first ten minutes, you might want to get your pulse checked.

Watch the entire movie at: http://girlwalkallday.com/watch-the-film

2) Cosmopolis dir. David Cronenberg

Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson, terrific) looks like a cobra perched in the throne at the back of his limousine, which is appropriate given this is the world of David Cronenberg. Even more appropriate is the fact that Eric's prostate is asymmetrical, a revelation that will be the least of his worries as he travels through New York City to get a haircut. The city as a playground we saw in Girl Walk//All Day has been replaced with a metropolis on the verge of extinction. Eric is ridiculously wealthy, and every word that he and his colleagues speak sounds as if they read it off a trade report. They've been shaped by a capitalist society, turned from human beings into commodities. You can hear the struggle when Eric tries to have a "normal" conversation with his wife (Sarah Gadon)and makes desperate attempts to have sex with her because that's the only way he can express any feelings. Ultimately bleak but also strangely comic, Cosmopolis shows Cronenberg in top form, mixing his signature themes of flesh and technology with issues of a world crumbling under its own greed and a frenzied excuse to exist. The climax where Eric faces off with a former employee (Paul Giamatti) is one of the great showstopping scenes of the year. Seeing it once is not enough.

1) Moonrise Kingdom dir. Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson's movies exist in world completely his own, yet it's a world he wants us to embrace and understand. I'm of the firm belief that his movies are best grasped after multiple viewings; the first one is merely to hook you, and then you return to dissect the deeper meanings. Those who write Anderson is whimsical for whimsical sake are not paying attention. In each of his pictures, there's a sadness beneath the trademark quirky dialogue, and it deceives you when you first stumble across it. His movies are very much about him, and the ones that are spoken of the least are the ones that reveal this the most (like his incredible The Darjeeling Limited, which I have come to value even more than The Royal Tenenbaums). There's a certain messiness to his work too, but it's appropriate, since his movies are about messy lives. His central focus is, for the first time, children in Moonrise Kingdom, and given how he's dabbled a little with it in his past pictures (and given their storybook quality), I'm surprised it took him this long to get there.

First time actors Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward (star making performances for both) are Sam and Suzy, young lovers in 1960s New England who run away together so they won't have to worry about disappointing the adults around them anymore. As is often the case in Anderson's world, the sins of the parents (usually the father) have become the sins of the children. Sam and Suzy are already anticipating that adulthood will be as melancholy and strenuous as being a child, so the only shot at freedom is a special place where those problems don't exist and hopefully never will. Anderson creates a luscious visual palette for his heroes to get lost in, and his dialogue between them is his most natural and controlled yet.

A manhunt is arranged to find them, giving the adults of the town a break from their deadening routines (like the characters of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, they're stuck in an endless cycle). As expected, Anderson fills his movie with great actors, all of who fit comfortably into his universe and deliver his signature dialogue effortlessly. Moonrise Kingdom is Anderson's most tender work to date and possibly, his funniest. It is also, at moments, his most surreal, showing a filmmaker who has established himself as one of the most important voices in American cinema. Each picture has shown tremendous, often startling growth, but this time, it's a leap. Still undervalued, Wes Anderson may be one of those filmmakers whose true genius is not recognized for years to come. I see his Moonrise Kingdom as a launching pad for many more significant and comically challenging works. It is the best and most magical movie of the year.


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(c) Hell and Beyond, 2013