Film Review #5: Les Miserables

Les Mis was probably one of my most anticipated movies in a long time (well that and every other movie that has come out in the last 2 weeks). I mean come on, this trailer is pure gold:







This trailer gave me chills for months. Coupled with all the hype about the live singing and I was sold.

However, the real thing did not live up to all the hype. Let me be clear - I realize that this is a highly regarded music and my criticism does not transfer over because I have seen the musical on stage in London, England and loved it. The story did not transfer over to film. I am the first to admit that I generally don't like overly lengthy movies. I think the perfect run time is about 105 minutes. An hour and 45 minutes is PERFECT. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule and some movies do a great job of capturing an audience for longer (i.e. another recent release Django Unchained). I think that most movies these days fail to edit well enough to simultaneously do justice to the story AND keep an audience engaged. Is this because I am a product of the MTV generation and respond to rapidly moving images? Maybe, but that's just a part of life we need to accept and move on.

Let's talk about the performances. I thought that Anne Hathaway was beyond brilliant. She was delicate and vulnerable and pure perfection. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast. I thought Eddie Redmayne was totally miscast as Marius and the rest simply underwhelmed. There was a lot of talk about how all of the actors sang live during the scenes. This is quite an achievement on its own but, for the most part, the singing wasn't very good so does this still make it such a great achievement? I'll let you be the judge.

Film Review #4: Spring Breakers

Harmony Korine, James Franco, Vanessa Hugeons, Ashely Benson, Selena Gomez and Rachel Korine at TIFF 2012

Spring Breakers is not a film that everyone will enjoy. It's probably not even a movie that most people will enjoy. The film was directed by Harmony Korine. This is the guy that brought us Gummo and Trash Humpers. He also directed the very controversial film Kids. Spring Breakers is by far his most commercially friendly movie. This is almost entirely due to the fact that it stars three young starlets; Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgeons and Ashley Benson. Harmony Korine's wife Rachel Korine rounds out the female cast.

The story follows the four main girls who desperately want to go on spring break. In order to finance this trip, three of them decide to rob a diner. They then hit the road and head to Florida where they enjoy a week of indulgent partying. However, the partying comes to a crashing halt when the girls are busted for doing drugs at one of the parties and are all arrested. Enter James Franco who plays a local rapper and drug dealer named Alien. He bails the girls out of jail and they join his gang in Florida. That's when the REAL fun begins. I don't want to give away a lot of the plot past this point because you really need to see it to believe it. Let's just say there is a scene that brings a whole new meaning to Britney Spears' Everytime.

The films dialogue is heavily improvised. I don't know that this film will completely allow these teen starlets to break out of their stereotyped roles but I think that it shows courage on their part to be apart of this risky film.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Does it portray youth at their absolutely worst? Yes. But does it take itself seriously? No, of course not and that's what I most enjoyed about it. It does not pretend to be anything than what it is and we get that from the very beginning with a montage of real spring break footage. The film provides a fantastic sound track and cotton candy visuals. It is film self indulgence at its best.

Spring Breakers opens in all theatres on March 5, 2013.

Film Review #3: On the Road

Walter Salles, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst and Kristen Stewart at TIFF 2012

At this year's Toronto International Film Festival, I was able to see the North American premiere of On the Road. Directed by Walter Salles (director of The Motorcycle Diaries), the film provides the most commercial retelling of Jack Kerouac's popular cult novel. The film stars Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund as Sal and Dean respectively. Kristen Stewart plays the promiscuous Marylou. Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi and Elizabeth Moss also make small appearances throughout the film.

The film has received a lot of criticism before it even came out. Many people believed (and likely still will after seeing the film) that it is impossible to transfer Kerouac's work onto the big screen. The novel lacks any real linear story and is told in a kind of stream of consciousness. This is Salles biggest obstacle to overcome and you can definitely feel points in the film where it is evident that he has fallen a bit short.

There are two great aspects of this film. First, the acting by Riley and Hedlund are truly magnificent. They both completely embody their characters. Riley is thoughtful and sincere and Hedlund is devastatingly charismatic. I also thought that Stewart's portrayal of Marylou was commendable. She was able to hold her own with the two strong male leads. Second, the cinematography is breathtaking. We know from The Motorcycle Diaries that Salles has a true gift for portraying landscapes and On the Road is no different. The scenery of both the American landscape as well as the hedonistic dens that the characters inhabit is delightful to watch.

However, these two things alone do not make a great film. The story definitely dragged and there just didn't seem to be enough material for everyone to work with. While the two main characters are brilliant, it seems as though everyone around them are merely there to support them.

On the Road will be in theatres on December 21, 2012 (limited release).

TIFF12: Just around the corner...

Today marked the final step before the Toronto International Film Festival will roll out its red carpets. The movies have been announced, the expected stars have been listed and today the single tickets went on sale. As usual I chose not to make the journey to Toronto to lineup to buy tickets but decided to battle with the TIFF serves. This morning it actually went MUCH better than usual. We had our tickets purchased under an hour. However, there were several films I would have loved to see but they ended up being sold out. Next year I may venture into the land of packages.

These are the films I ended up with (synopsis taken from IMDB):

On the Road: Dean and Sal are the portrait of the Beat Generation. Their search for "It" results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S.
Director: Walter Salles
Starring: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Steward, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen,  Amy Adams
Why I'm excited to see it: I am a huge fan of Kirsten Dunst so this is what is initially drawing me too it but it has also been getting a lot of buzz and I know people are skeptical about an adaptation of this novel.

Spring Breakers: Four college girls who land in jail after robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation find themselves bailed out by a drug and arms dealer who wants them to do some dirty work.
Director: Harmony Korine
Starring: James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson
Why I'm excited to see it: I find Harmony Korine fascinating! He wrote the 1995 film Kids and makes really interesting films. Should be interesting to see how he directs a movie with a very teeny bopper cast

West of Memphis: An examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.
Director:Amy Berg
Why I'm excited to see it: The story of the West Memphis three is really fascinating. There have been many documentaries made about this story. Not to mention Johnny Depp will be there leading a discussion at the end of the film.

Passion: A young businesswoman plots a murderous revenge after her boss and mentor steals her idea.
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Paul Anderson
Why I'm excited to see it: Brian de Palma. Enough said.

Love, Marilyn: an intimate look into the never-before-seen letters, diaries and notebooks of Marilyn Monroe.
Director: Liz Garbus
Starring: Marisa Tomei, Uma Thurman, Glenn Close and a ton others
Why I'm excited to see it: Marilyn Monroe. Enough said.



Movies I missed out on: Place Beyond the Pines, Silver Lining Playbook, Perks of Being a Wallflower

This should be another great TIFF season! Will you be there? Did you have luck getting tickets? What/who are you excited to see?

Film Review #2: Hit and Run

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard

Along with last week's free screening to For a Good Time, Call I also saw an advanced screening of Hit and Run (thanks again to Alliance Films and Scene Creek). Dax Shepard (of Parenthood and Punk'd) wrote, co-directed and stars in this action/comedy. The film also stars the lovely and hilarious Kristen Bell. Shepard and Bell have fantastic chemistry, which really shouldn't surprise anyone because they are real life snuggle buddies.

The film follows Charles Bronson (Shepard) who is currently living in a small town with his girlfriend Annie (Bell) and is living under witness protection. Charles has to threaten his safety when Annie gets a job offer in LA and he must come out of hiding in order to drive her to her interview. This sets off a string of events that puts the couple in danger. This also forces Charles to utilize some fancy driving techniques, which I hear Dax Shepard did himself (impressive!).

The film also stars Tom Arnold as a bumbling federal marshal who is protecting Charles while he is in witness protection. Bradley Cooper plays the man that Charles is hiding from. Going into the movie I wasn't sure if I would be able to buy Cooper as the "bad guy" but after a scene involving dog food this was cleared up quite quickly.

This film is really enjoyable. I am not the biggest fan of action films - they really need to have a good strong story for me to care about them. Car chases and explosions don't really do it for me. However, this film had a great story and wasn't your typical action/car-chase film. The characters were engaging and dynamic and they all had fantastic chemistry. I'm not sure how well this film will do in the box office  because it has gotten such little promotion but if you see it playing at your local theatre I highly recommend it.

Film Review #1: For A Good Time, Call...

Lauren Miller and Ari Graynor

Last week I was given tickets to an advanced screening of For A Good Time, Call (thanks to Alliance Films and Scene Creek for the tickets). The film stars Ari Graynor (better known as the hilarious drunk girl/friend in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist as well as a few other smaller roles) and Lauren Miller (wife to Seth Rogen). The film was directed by Toronto-based Jamie Travis and co-written by Miller and Katie Anne Naylon.

The film comes in the wake of female centric comedies such as Bridesmaids and you can definitely feel some of the female centered raunchy comedy influences throughout the movie. That being said, this film definitely has something new to offer the genre of comedies. The film follows two frenemies, Katie and Lauren, who find themselves forced to live with each other in Manhattan. Katie works as a sex phone operator and Lauren, who has been recently fired, soon finds herself convincing Katie that they should open their own sex phone line.

The film is filled with more well-known names (Justin Long, Seth Rogan, Kevin Smith and Nia Vardalos) but it is really the more unknown actors that carry this film. Graynor has a real knack for physical comedy. She is endearing, energetic and charming. I hope that she finds more roles that highlight her in a leading capacity.

For a Good Time, Call is a hilarious film that is entertaining the whole way through. I thought it was a really fresh comedy in a sea of predictable, dull movies this summer has offered us. I highly recommend checking it out.