The Ghost Writer ***1/2

Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer is a deliberately paced thriller set against the political climate of the Iraq War. The film’s primary plotline follows Ewan McGregor (known as The Ghost) as he accepts a position to finish ghost writing the memoirs of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. Pierce Brosnan portrays fictional Prime Minister Adam Lang as an intelligent man, often frustrated and sometimes ill tempered. He was close to his first ghost writer, a man the authorities claim got drunk and either fell or jumped off the ferry between mainland Massachusetts and the Prime Minister’s residence on Cape Cod. The current ghost comes to suspect foul play. Lang and the deceased writer had a row before his death, after all.

But suddenly Lang is accused of committing torture because of the tactics he approved to interrogate terrorists in the Middle East, and his own government is supporting an investigation by the International Criminal Court. The Ghost is thrust into a position of politicking on behalf of Lang’s career and reputation. He can’t escape. He wrote a statement for Lang denying the allegations. “You’re an accomplice now,” he’s told matter-of-factly, words that both ring of truth and irony.

Before long, the stories start to converge and we begin to learn more about the Prime Minister’s early career, his wife, the dead ghost writer’s discovery, and the current ghost’s investigatory skills. It’s pretty clear from the beginning that Lang committed the acts he’s accused of, but he believes he’s done nothing wrong. He has a wife that stands by him, and an assistant he’s apparently been sleeping with. Surely two can play that game.

The third act is rife with mystery and intrigue and a fitting climax before the resolute dénouement is turned to mush with the film’s last frames. We finally learn what’s really been going on, and while many will no doubt like the unveiling, some will cringe at the big finish. Polanski has been a notable director for forty years, and while he may be just as famous for his real-life dramas, his films are never boring, always unique, and sometimes brilliant. The Ghost Writer is no exception, and it’s on par with his better work, if not his most outstanding.

Most Anticipated Films of 2010

It’s already March, but most of the movies I’m excited for in 2010 won’t be released until Summer. Only two movies have already been released that I was really looking forward. Those were Shutter Island and The Wolfman, both of which were released in February after lengthy delays, and neither of which disappointed. As for the rest of the year? Check it:

1. Tron: Legacy:  The original Tron was released in 1982, and if you saw this movie when you were a kid (or in 1982), you were probably blown away. That film follows computer hacker and arcade-gamer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) as he is transported inside of a computer and is made to compete in real-life computer games. The sequel, due out this December in IMAX 3D, looks like an updated version of the same, with Flynn’s son following in his father’s footsteps. Buzz is abounding on this sequel thirty years in the making, so let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint.

2. Inception:  Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to The Dark Knight stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page in what looks like a psychological sci-fi noir. “Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime” is the tag line, and the trailers have piqued interest in many people who just want to know what the hell is going on. I’m no exception. Due out in July, also in IMAX.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I:  After a decade of Harry Potter films we’re finally on the homestretch. The seventh book is being split into two parts, with Part I being released in November of this year and Part II set to debut the following summer. Us Harry Potter fans are already arguing over how the changes made in the sixth movie will affect the seventh and where Deathly Hallows will be split up. It’s directed by David Yates, who helmed both The Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince previously. The studio has also decided to convert the film to 3D, an unnecessary move.

4. Iron Man 2:  Iron Man was the surprise success of the summer of 2008, making a sequel inevitable. The first film ended so brilliantly that many fans wanted another go around, making Iron Man the most successful comic book film based on a lesser-known superhero. Most of the major players from the first film are back for Iron Man 2, including Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow, and director Jon Favreau. Terrence Howard is replaced by Don Cheadle as Rhodey, which is an upgrade. Look for it in IMAX in May.

5. The Green Hornet:  This film could turn out to be brilliant or a complete mistake, but everybody’s hoping the former. Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is directing this comic book film, starring Seth Rogen as the titular superhero. The film should be a new take on the traditional superhero film, with the imagination of Gondry and the comedy of Rogen. Kevin Smith was originally going to make his own version of The Green Hornet a few years back before dropping out due to lack of confidence. I’d much rather see this version anyway. It’s to be released in late December, directly competing with Tron: Legacy.

6. The Social Network:  David Fincher is directing this adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s novel about Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) as Zuckerberg as well as Justin Timberlake and Rashida Jones. I was a little leery of this project at first, but I have confidence in Fincher to deliver a solid movie that’s a little outside of his comfort zone. Due out in October.

7. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps:  The original Wall Street was released back in 1987 and was topical for the time period. With the rampant greed on Wall Street and the current economic crisis, Oliver Stone decided to go back to the well to bring us Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. The sequel takes place just as Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is being released from prison (spoiler alert!), and follows Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf), whose engaged to his daughter, as he tries to enter Gekko’s world. Also starring Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin, and Frank Langella, the film has just been pushed from its April release date back to September.

8. True Grit:  A remake of the 1969 John Wayne picture, True Grit stars Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Jeff Bridges. The film is a long way off and it’s only just started shooting, but with the Coen Brothers at the helm, there are high expectations. Set to be released on Christmas Day.

9. Predators:  Robert Rodriguez is producing this revamp of the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Topher Grace and Adrien Brody star in the new version, with Nimród Antal directing. Antal has yet to prove himself (Vacancy was terrible), but with Rodriguez overseeing the project, it will hopefully exceed expectations. It’s set to be released in July.

10. Toy Story 3:  I saw the first Toy Story in theaters when it was released in 1995, and even as a kid I knew it was different. Animated films haven’t been the same since. It’s been fifteen years since the original, and after a hugely successful sequel, Pixar decided to go for the threepeat. Due out in June, Toy Story 3 should be another great film from Pixar.



I'm not expecting this list to replicate (or necessarily resemble) what will ultimately be my Top Ten Films of 2010, but these are the films I'm most excited to see this year.  Not until much later in the year does the general public become aware of many of the really good films that will sneak into release before the end of December.  All of the films listed on my list are major releases for this reason.  But I'm just as excited for the films I haven't even heard of yet.

Top Ten Films of 2009

The Oscars were last night, so I thought I’d finally put together a list of my favorite films of the past year. These are the top ten films I’ve seen, mind you, and there are a lot from last year I’ve yet to see. For example, I haven’t seen Crazy Heart, An Education, A Single Man, Precious, or Fantastic Mr. Fox, to name a few.

Here’s the list.

1. Inglourious Basterds:  Inglourious Basterds was the best film of 2009 and it should have cleaned up at the Oscars. I think that sometimes people forget what movies are, and man, this is a fucking movie. It’s got Nazi-killing, badass people saying badass things, and stuff getting blowed up real good. Tarantino is the man and he knows it.

2. Avatar:  Avatar has become the highest grossing movie of all time, eclipsing Cameron’s own Titanic. Because of this distinction, many people have already begun to hate on it, and in ten years it may become the joke in many people minds that Titanic has become. Best movie ever made? Of course not. Great cinema? Absolutely.

3. (500) Days of Summer:  Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are excellent in this chronologically confused love story. A great script+ fine acting+ hilarity+ Hall & Oats dance number=third best movie of the year. There’s more to this movie than many have given it credit for, and it’s a crime it wasn’t nominated for Best Original Screenplay by the Academy.

4. Watchmen:  Remember the awesome trailer that was attached to The Dark Knight? It turned out to be an awesome movie too, though many wouldn’t know it because it failed to turn any heads at the box office. What a darkly comic, 21st century noir. Zak Snyder did the graphic novel justice and then some, turning in a movie far superior to his previous graphic novel adaptation, 300.

5. The Hurt Locker:  The big winner on Oscar night, The Hurt Locker has the distinction of being the only good movie that takes place during the current Iraq war. Though it starts to drag near the end, it is nevertheless an emotional look into man’s addiction to war.

6. Drag Me to Hell:  So, there was a salute to horror films during last night’s ceremony. You have to give props to the Academy for its intentions, even if they failed to execute. It went like this: Kristen Stewart reads from the teleprompter, admitting that the Academy often fails to recognize horror films, stating that not since The Exorcist has a horror film been nominated for Best Picture. And then one of the first clips is from The Silence of the Lambs, which won Best Picture in 1991. And then there’s a clip from New Moon? Seriously? The irony is that Drag Me to Hell kicked so much ass it should have been nominated for Best Picture this year. Sam Raimi, welcome back. But Spiderman 3 still sucks.

7. Star Trek:  Star Trek exceeded everyone’s expectations, save for maybe Star Trek fans. J.J. Abrams delivered an updated version of the classic series pumped full of special effects and an end-of-the-world scenario in every other scene. Awesome.

8. A Serious Man:  The Coen Brothers always throw something a little different into the mix, and this film’s no exception. It’s funny and absurd. I still don’t know what it means.
9. Sin Nombre:  Nobody really saw this movie, but I had the good fortune of catching a screening when I was attending the University of Chicago. One of the studio execs from Focus Features introduced the film, touting first-time director Cary Fukunaga as the next best thing. It tells the story of Central American immigrants riding on the tops of trains, desperately trying to get to the U.S. Based on the quality of the film, expectations are high for Fukunaga’s next film, an adaptation of Jane Eyre.

10. Moon:  It’s crazy Sam Rockwell wasn’t nominated for Best Actor, considering he carries the movie by himself and plays more than one version of his character. He is Astronaut Sam Bell, who's finishing up a tour of duty for a fuel company stationed on the moon. He only talks to his computer Gerty, voiced by Kevin Spacey with more than an homage to Hal in 2001. It’s 2001 meets Soderbergh’s Solaris. Check it out.



Well, that wraps up the list. It was a pretty good year at the movies, but not a great one. There were only a handful of truly great films. It’s time to start looking forward to 2010, so pretty soon I’m going to make a list of my most anticipated films for 2010. Stay tuned.

Cop Out *

Oh, Kevin Smith! From indie-God to wannabe Judd Apatow to studio whore. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved Kevin Smith for years. Clerks remains one of the best examples of mid-nineties B&W indie angst; Chasing Amy gave Ben Affleck and acting career (to the dismay of some—not me); and Dogma was one of the most original screenplays ever written. I was even fond of Clerks II and laughed through the retread that was Zack & Miri Make a Porno. No more. With Cop Out, Smith took on a script that wasn’t his, cast a couple of big names, and shat out one of the worst films of the year.

Cop Out follows buddy cops Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) and Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) as they attempt to retrieve a rare and expensive baseball card that was stolen from Jimmy. Jimmy’s plans were to sell the card to pay for his daughter’s wedding. He doesn’t really have to—he just doesn’t want her rich stepfather to pay up instead, effectively embarrassing and emasculating poor policeman Monroe. As he and his better half Paul investigate the crime, they learn that the card has found its way into the hands of Brooklyn’s own Mexican drug lord Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz).

An unfunny and boring sequence of events ensue. Paul and Jimmy try to get as much information as they can out of Dave (Seann William Scott), the man who originally stole the card and sold it to Poh Boy for drugs. Seann William Scott plays Dave as if he’s the comic relief in a comedy. It’s senseless. They also find the former mistress to a drug dealer in Mexico in the trunk of a car. She was kidnapped by Poh Boy for some information she has, and she improbably becomes the love interest of Paul, who throughout the movie fears that his wife Debbie (Rashida Jones) is cheating on him.

Everything comes together in the end, I guess. The plot is contrived, there are too many characters, and we don’t really care what happens to the baseball card because there is no legitimate danger in the balance. Poor editing and terrible music doesn’t help the film, not to mention Smith’s inability to direct even the simplest of action scenes. They should have seriously considered subtitling Tracy Morgan—it would have been both practical and cleverly self-aware. To be fair to Bruce Willis, he gives his best effort.

I hope Kevin Smith records a commentary track because it will surely be funnier than the movie. Cop Out is his worst film by far.

Shutter Island ****

Martin Scorsese’s follow-up to his popular and critical juggernaut The Departed is different than any other film in his oeuvre. Shutter Island is a taut and suspenseful thriller set in a mental institution housed on a Boston Harbor island in 1954. It is film noir and psychological thriller, it is horror and mystery—a whodunit and a fish out of water. Scorcese’s most comparable picture in the past is his lesser remake of Cape Fear, an overall forgettable film.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the film opens with U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) vomiting aboard a boat taking him and his new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient. They meet Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the head doctor at the mental institution who explains that the missing patient, Rachel Solando, escaped her locked cell “as if she evaporated straight through the walls.” So Teddy and Chuck investigate in typical 1950’s police fashion. They find clues and interview the other patients, many of whom are afraid to talk. But they feel they’re being given the runaround.

Throughout the film we are shown flashbacks of Teddy’s life. He was a soldier in World War II and was present at the liberation of Dachau. “I’ve seen what human beings are capable of doing to each other,” he says, persisting that the institution on Shutter Island holds sinister secrets. His wife had been killed in a fire in their apartment building and he’s constantly dealing with migraines. Teddy’s flashbacks often seem valid, but they also appear to be partly delusional. Are the walls of Ashcliffe mental hospital closing in around Teddy or is he closer to learning the truth behind Rachel’s disappearance and the real intentions of Shutter Island?

Martin Scorsese is one of the best American directors of our time, and with Shutter Island he is in complete control of the material. DiCaprio delivers another Oscar-worthy performance and Mark Ruffalo is a great complement, proving once again he needs a proper leading role in a major motion picture. The film has one of those endings you’ll be talking about the minute the credits roll, much like the last film adaption of a Lehane novel, Gone Baby Gone. With ten nominees, I’d be surprised if Shutter Island isn’t nominated for Best Picture at next year’s Academy Awards. It’s like Jurassic Park meets Schindler’s List meets The Shining, done Scorsese-style. What’s not to love?

My Addiction to Documentaries. Part 2.

You know the recent trend to include “documentaries” (I include scare quotes, though they do in fact document) on DVD’s about the making-of the movie you just watched? With the abundance of “Special Features” or “Extras” or “Bonus Features” or whatever you want to call them, DVD’s ushered in a new era of full-disclosure filmmaking that film geeks have come to relish. Personally, my favorite special feature is the commentary track. They were first included on Criterion laserdiscs, and they have become ubiquitous in the DVD era. Some of my favorite commentaries include Roger Ebert’s track on Casablanca, and the commentary by Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov, and restoration expert Robert Harris on the Criterion Collection release of Spartacus. Robert Rodriguez has to be one of the more user-friendly commentators because he always makes it so enjoyable and informative. Kevin Smith, too, solely for entertainment purposes.

But back to the documentaries. To be blunt: most suck. But some are actually quite good, and I will briefly discuss one in particular.

One of the best made-for-DVD documentaries is Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. The film takes us from George Lucas’s original vision through the release of Return of the Jedi and beyond. Told chronologically, the film includes some of the best archival footage one would hope for, especially for a movie released a few decades before the documentary was pieced together for the trilogy’s DVD release. It’s great for fans to see how the films were made. From major setbacks to major success, Star Wars invented a new way of filmmaking that continues to influence Hollywood to this day.

As for the “improvements” to the movies themselves? Digitally re-mastered? That’s fine. New digital effects? That’s fine. Hayden Christensen in Jedi? That’s bullshit.

Bullshit.

The Wolfman ***1/2

There is something about nineteenth-century gothic horror—dark, foggy, small village, big manor, candle and gaslight—all around ominous and supernatural, that feels like an old-school, big movie scare fest. And I like it. The Wolfman has had its share of bad publicity with reports of unhappy studio execs and numerous re-edits. It definitely shows to an extent. The film is imbalanced in terms of story and it’s as if several of the actors think they’re in different movies. But in the end, special effects master Joe Johnston delivers a movie that almost makes me forget about Jurassic Park III.

Based on the original 1941 film, The Wolfman begins with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) returning to his English home in Blackmoor after the vicious murder of his brother. Lawrence was raised in America with his aunt and had not seen his brother in years. Upon his arrival, he is welcomed by his father John (Anthony Hopkins), and his brother’s fiancée, Gwen (Emily Blunt). As Lawrence begins to investigate, he learns that many of the villagers believe that the gypsies who've set up camp outside of the town are to blame for the attack. They have a big bear, anyway.

So when he travels to the gypsies’ camp, he expects to find some answers. But before long, a beast attacks, decapitating and killing anyone in sight. The scene is a relatively well-done mash of special effects and over-the-top gore. When Lawrence chases after the beast, he is attacked and bitten.  We learn what happened to Lawrence’s mother, why he grew up in America, and most intriguing, why he spent some of his youth in an insane asylum. Are his delusions conflicting with real supernatural occurrences? Or is his fear of the full moon justified? It’s pretty clear what’s actually going on, and the film gives us some more great action sequences, one in London and another old-school showdown at Talbot Manor.

All together, The Wolfman is a fun ride with some great set pieces stringed together with an adequate plot. I enjoyed the special effects. They were well-done and in some instances over-the-top, which is exactly what you want in a supernatural horror film. I loved the contrast between the traditional cinematography and art design of nineteenth-century England with the modern effects and visuals. My suggestion? Go bold.  Go black and white.