Milk is Gus Van Sant's more straight forward narrative since Good Will Hunting. After engaging in art house flick after art house flick, he returns to the mainstream and gives us a wonderfully crafted and powerful biography.
Milk tells the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. It follows his introduction into politics all the way to his assassination. The story is so fascinating and powerful, that very little needed to be done to make this a great movie. That apparently wasn't enough, though. Because Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, and James Franco give stellar performances. I would have hands down given Penn the best actor award (though I haven't seen the Wrestler). But not just him, the rest of the cast fills out every corner of the ensemble, making every character fascinating for their time on screen (even if only for a shot or two).
Van Sant blended archival footage with the movie production. This could potentially be distracting (I mean why not just make a documentary- it would be just as interesting). But it didn't bother me at all. Van Sant really brought the era (which happened before I was born) and actually painted an image that made me feel like I could have lived through it.
The movie splits time between Milk's struggles as a politician, his dysfunctional relationships, and the general culture of Castro Street. The movie meanders through both tragic and triumphant points- ranging from his election as city supervisor, to the fight against anti-gay activist Mary Anne White.
Milk is a powerful movie that makes you want to be a part of something larger. It truly demonstrates the power of activism, but also the sacrifices that must be made. Milk had to give up his most cherished relationships (James Franco) and finally even his life. This is one of my top movies of 2008.
Well, I missed my third anniversary on this blog. And well, I've not been doing my best keeping up with it. Especially during awards season of all times.
Oh well, I'm gonna keep rocking along. Let's hope I get more up this year.
On a whole, not too many surprises. I was surprised and pretty happy to see Slumdog Millionare get both best director and best picture. Waltz With Bashir as best foreign language film has me even more excited and can't wait to see it. Heath Ledger as best supporting actor was no surprise, but I was a little surprised about Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (though I haven't seen it yet, so I can't really judge).
Anyway, here's the full list.
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Golden Globes, USA: 2009
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
This is a difficult one to review. The movie is billed as a big super secret ending. Unfortunately, said ending is obvious from the first scene. This doesn't really detracted from the power content of the movie, it just makes the advertising a little misleading.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say that Will Smith stars as Ben Thomas, a man on a mission to atone for his sins. He tries to dedicate his life to being the ultimate good Samaritan, sacrificing whatever he can. Rosario Dawson stars along side him as the new found love of his life, Emily Posa, and one of his targets for good deeds.
The chemistry between the two leads is wonderful- probably the best part of the movie. Will Smith is definitely one of the best actors of his generation, and Rosario Dawson manages to pull out emotional performances in a wide variety of roles. The relationship is even more powerful with the knowledge of what is to come later in the movie.
I harp on the lack of surprise, but after thinking about long after the movie was over, it almost enhances the theme. We know what Thomas has to do, and it's heartbreaking seeing him continue to go through with it.
Woody Harrelson continues what could be thought of as a career revitalization. It took nearly a decade for him to recapture the brilliance he portrayed in Natural Born Killers. In the last several years he's run the gambit from equally violent movies like No Country For Old Men, to brilliant sci-fi flicks (Scanner Darkly). Seven Pounds took him in an even different direction, portraying one of the kindest people I have seen captured on screen in some time.
Seven Pounds was okay. It wasn't terribly memorable, and clearly mis advertised. I enjoyed watching it, but it just couldn't meet my expectations.
There are certain films that seem to be made for the sole purpose of being Oscar fodder. Few movies typify this idea more than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. David Fincher completely lept out of his element of directing thrillers and psychological movies like Seven and Fight Club, to helm the touching life story of a man with a most curious disease.
Brad Pitt stars as the titular character, a man who mysteriously ages backwards. He was born as a crippled old man, and died an infant. This bizarre story is an adaptation of the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At first I wondered how they could turn a 20 page story into a nearly 3 hour movie, but after seeing it, I wonder how he was able to fit this story in so few pages.
Honestly, the movie is nearly a carbon copy of Forest Gump, with of course the very obvious twist. But it follows Benjamin as he experiences the world for the first time, experiencing everything in the reverse order that you would expect. The parallels between this and Forest Gump are unmistakable. Growing up in a boarding house, spending your whole life coming back to your one true love (Daisy, in this case played by Cate Blanchett), war, boating, and of course overcoming a rather severe handicap. I have not read the story, but I wonder how much of the movie was padded by material inspired from Forest Gump.
The story is revealed to us through Benjamin's journal as Daisy lies on her deathbed. They set this during Hurricane Katrina. I didn't care for this, because it didn't play a real role in the story (the novella took place in Philadelphia), and it seems to unnecessarily date a timeless story.
On a whole, the movie was fantastic. It was a joy seeing the world through Benjamin's inquisitive and eager eyes. But when your love is aging opposite you, it's heartbreakingly clear that aside for a short while, things just will not work out. These were issues Daisy and Benjamin had to face as their paths crossed and recrossed throughout their lives.
The cast of characters he meets along the way is what really brings sparkle to this movie. The folks at the retirement home he grew up in each had their own unique and fascinating stories. And it only got more wonderous on his travels. Many things can be taken away from this movie. The idea of one true love. and overcoming trials to find this person, for however brief a time, are entirely valid interpretations. But I think the movie was actually saying that every single person is fascinating, and every single person has a story to tell.
This is of course the highly hyped, highly grossing end of the year blockbuster remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic. To the benefit of the filmmakers it's more of a re-imagining of the story than a simple remake with better visual effects. In fact, the first half hour or so actually showed promise. But then Keanu Reeves started acting, and the whole thing just fell apart.
The primary story is essentially the same. In the original, an alien and an indestructible robot come to Earth to try to broker peace in a way. In a slightly hypocritical fashion the message is "make peace or we will destroy you all." This clear Cold War allegory has been updated to the current crisis facing the planet- the environment. This time, Klaatu (Reeves) has come not too warn the Earth about our polluting ways, but to tell us that it's already too late.
There were some exciting scenes. When Klaatu's ship first arrives, it brought back memories of the breathtaking entrance of the aliens. And to their credit, they did a fairly nice job of updating Gort, the giant robot, while staying true to its original styling. I even kind of dug the concept of it releasing a swarm of nano-robots, or small creatures, or whatever they were. I mean if you were going to destroy all life on a planet, would you do it just by shooting a laser?
Jennifer Connelly plays Helen Benson, a doctor who helps Klaatu, and tries to convince him to not wipe out our species. She is accompanied on this quest by her adopted son (Jaden Smith). The two of them looked positively animated next to Reeves. I understand that the point was to portray him as cold and emotionless, but how could they replace the inquisitive and almost fatherly Klaatu of Michael Rennie with this?
Aside from updating to 21st century visuals, there was no reason for this movie to be made. The Day the Earth Stood Still took one of the classic sci-fi movies of all time, and turned into forgettable drivel. If you haven't seen the original, please, see that instead.
This is Charlie Kauffman at his most bizarre. This is saying something considering he is the man that penned Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation. But this is also his most serious, and one of the most touching. In fact, it's my favorite behind Eternal Sunshine. This is also his directorial debut, and it seems he struggles some times under the weight of the script. Despite some flaws, Synecdoche is a pretty remarkable film.
First, we need to clear the air about the name. It's a play on words. The movie takes place in Schenectady, New York, but the term Synecdoche means to use a part of something as a representation as the whole (like saying 'sail' to represent a ship). This makes sense later on in the movie.
Synecdoche is a movie of essentially two parts. It stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a theater director struggling (not very hard, though) to keep his family together. This includes his feelings of inferiority in the face of his artistic wife (Catherine Keener). The movie really gets going, however, after his entire life crumbles, and he receives a MacArthur grant. Armed with his new found money he starts production on the largest play ever conceived- recreating New York in a warehouse (hence the name). This takes a turn for the bizarre when he hires what balloons to thousands of actors to live out their daily (yet scripted) lives in this microcosm. And he does this for decades, with it growing bigger and bigger all the time.
Besides the play the movie deals with the women in his life. Clearly Caden is too narcissistic to truly connect with anyone, whether it's his first wife or daughter, his second marriage to one of his actresses (Michelle Williams), or his true love and long time assistant, Hazel (Samantha Morton). These relationships are all played out in his real life, and by the actors that portray each of them in his play. In true Kaufman fashion, he has the real people and the their actors sharing many of the scenes in the second half.
The movie, though completely open to limitless interpretations, seemed to be about Caden's descent in full blown self-indulgence. He was struck by an illness that slowly rendered his motor skills inactive (whether this actually was happening or was just in his head, who knows). Every romantic encounter foundered, and his grand work (again, who knows if any of it actually happened) crushed him. Despite its grandiose nature and ideas, the movie really just seemed to be about an extremely lonely and socially inept man, hiding behind the director's chair of real life.
This movie just continues to enhance my adoration of Hoffman. He can play everything, from the flamboyant arrogance of Capote, to the genuine self-loathing of Synecdoche. The rest of the cast was wonderfully bizarre, each portraying their own unique oddities. The problem with this movie is that it dragged a little bit. I can see why Kaufman would want to direct it himself, probably only the writer of this script could visualize it. Unfortunately it drags in several spots, and over two hours is a long time to barely hang on to what's happening. I think the entire ending could have been left off.
This can be a difficult movie to watch, but there are parts that make it absolutely magical. The characters are fantastic, and there are some hilarious scenes balance with utterly depressing ones. It's filled with the a self-deprecating sort of humor, exemplified with Hazel buying a house while it's on fire, and living in it for another few decades. If you liked his previous movies I strongly recommend checking this one out. Besides, in an interview with Kaufman, he said that there is no wrong way to interpret this movie. See? No pressure.
Milk is Gus Van Sant's more straight forward narrative since Good Will Hunting. After engaging in art house flick after art house flick, he returns to the mainstream and gives us a wonderfully crafted and powerful biography.
