Selig Film News

HEREAFTER – A Review by Gary Murray

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October 21, 2010

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HEREAFTER

By Gary Murray

Starring Matt Damon, Cecile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard

Written by Peter Morgan

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Running time 129 min

MPAA Rating PG-13

Selig Film Rating Matinee

Clint Eastwood is truly an auteur in the cinema. He has directed film after film that examines the human condition and how people in different situations have do deal with very human emotions. His latest is about what happens when we leave this mortal bond and is called Hereafter.

There are actually three stories in Hereafter. The first story is of French television reporter Marie (Cecile De France) a woman on holiday with her married producer boyfriend. As he sleeps, she goes into the seaside resort town to shop for presents for his kids. As the morning breaks, there is a rumble from the ocean. A tsunami breaks toward shore, with sweeping water destroying everything in its wake. She tires to run but in caught in the tow, hitting her head losing consciousness and discovering something on the other side of life.

The second story is of a reluctant psychic George (Matt Damon) a once famous clarviont now working at a factory. His brother (Jay Mohr) keeps using George to to better business, pushing the frail young man to contact the dead. All George wants is to be left alone. To meet new people, he takes an Italian cooking class paired up with Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard) a recent transplant to San Francisco, leaving bad things back in Pittsburgh. He doesn’t want her to know his secret. He calls his gift a curse

The last story is of twin boys living in England with their junkie mother. One twin, Jason, goes to the store and is chased into the street by a group of young thugs, killing the boy. After the tragedy, the other brother Marcus (Frankie McLaren) is sent into foster care while his mother goes into rehab. Marcus becomes obsessed in talking to Jason and goes to different lengths, finding out the fakers that milk people of their money while offering hope of talking to a loved one.

Everyone knows that eventually these three stories will converge with each individual meeting the others and how they all have connections begat the basic premise of Hereafter.

To be honest, Hereafter is a very mixed bag of a film with parts of this film being wonderful and other parts just dragging along. The opening special effects scene of the water coming onto the seaside shore is just breathtaking in its magnificent destruction. At the same time, the afterlife looks like an out of focus film school experiment. The film is framed in such a manner that it almost feels like three different movies, made by three different directors, all cut together and hoping to make sense.

The performances are great but again all over the place. Matt Damon gives it his low key best, but one has to wonder how much of a curse he claims his situation actually has become and how much of it is in his own making. When he does a reading for Melanie, he has to know how it is going to turn out because one must assume that it has happened before. He could have kept the girl by just coming up with a little white lie.

Cecile De France was just amazing as Marie, the woman who lost her world but gained her soul. By experiencing the near death experience, she goes from reporting others lives to living her own life. As she takes time off to recover from her experience, she begins writing a book. Not the book promised to her publishers but a book on what awaits for us on the other side. Her research is clinical but her determination is passionate. The reporter in her want to report on the afterlife and the human in her wants to understand it. This is one of the stronger performances of the year.

Bryce Dallas Howard is so hidden behind her character that it becomes almost impossible to see the real person behind the acting mask. Though she is only it the film for a few scenes, she makes the most of the character. We see through eyes the absolute pain that George can unwilling submit someone to. She is the audience’s personification and we see hidden pain that moves to the core.

Clint Eastwood is a master behind the camera. taking the audience on a mystic journey that doesn’t seem that farfetched. He is a master at mood but the material just isn’t up to what we have come to expect from him. The general precis of the Hereafter is ‘a life that is all about death is no life at all’. Hereafter sums itself up with forced final connections. It just seems a bit too pat and too clean in what is a messy world.

Conviction Press Tour–Director Tony Goldwyn

Gary Murray

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October 21, 2010

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Conviction Press Tour–Director Tony Goldwyn By Gary Murray

Tony Goldwyn is a man of many talents. He is an award winning actor, director and producer. As a director, he helmed The Last Kiss and Someone Like You. Appearing in film, he as had roles in Ghost, The Last House on the Left and Tarzan. Tony has had roles both in television and in New York theater. He is in town for Conviction his latest film that he directed. Accompanying him are actress Juliette Lewis who plays the part of Roseanna Perry and the woman the story is based on Betty Anne White. The story of Conviction concerns Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank), a high school drop out who goes back to school and on to law school just to be the lawyer for her brother Kenny Waters who is eventually exonerated from the accusation of murder. It is an eighteen year journey of faith and devotion with Minnie Driver playing Abra, Betty Anne’s friend and fellow lawyer. On tour with him are the real Betty Anne Waters and Juliette Lewis, who plays Roseanna Perry, a woman who testifies against Kenny. Tony first heard of the story of Kenny on Dateline, told to him by his wife. “I thought that this woman spent eighteen years of her life on an act of faith of her brother when he easily could have been guilty . ‘What is that bond?’, I thought.” The sibling love story drove him to it and he was pursuing the rights with producers Andrew S. Karsch and Andrew Sugerman. Written by Pamela Gray, Tony had some very specific ideas on the script. “It is very important for me to avoid melodrama and sentimentality,” he said. “I wanted the direction not to call attention to itself. I wanted to do it simply. My intention was a subjective reality so that we get sucked into Betty Anne’s experience and not be very conscious of the camera and what it was doing Not to do pyrotechnics of the story and trust the story and the actors to tell it.” When asked about the hardest part of putting Conviction on the screen, Tony answered, “The trickiest part was for me creating the balance of casting doubt on Kenny. It was very important to me from the beginning in the way we told the story we weren’t doing this conventional thing of this is great heroine, look at this great injustice and look at how she beats the system. I wanted at a point for the audience to think ‘What a minute, he might have done it.’ To not be sure and to certainly believe that he could have. That to me was walking that balance with Kenny’s character where you fell in love with him in a way or at least understood or emphasized her love for him. At the same time you realize that he was scary, violent and not a Boy Scout. That duality in Kenny was a critical element in the story I knew that I had to be successful at that to make the movie I wanted to make. Tony was direct about casting even the smaller roles. He said, “When I first read this scene that Pamela sent me about Roseanna Perry, I thought it was such a fabulous character. Pam had written a scene where Betty Anne and Abra interview Roseanna. The scene was very good but Betty had found a tape of the real Roseanna Perry and you couldn’t believe the tape. When Pam heard the tape she threw out her scene and literally transcribed that interview into that scene. Everything that comes out of Juliette’s mouth, came out of that real persons mouth, all that syntax or lack there of. I read this and thought ‘Oh my God, whoever plays this part, which is such a great part even tough it is only two scenes, I said ‘I hope an actress will appreciate what a brilliant role this is’. The right actor will.” He met with Juliette for the role of Abra and after the meeting, he thought she would be perfect for the smaller role When the casting director wondered if Juliette would take such a small role, Tony said, “I think Juliette Lewis will appreciate what a great part it is” And within a day or two she accepted the rule. She was the only person he considered for the part “and I could not have done better.” Since many of the scenes were taken verbatim there was little fear of portraying anyone in a negative light. “We have the depositions and the public record of that happened and what was said,”explained Tony. “There is little grounds for libel.” Though he is a stage and screen actor, he never thought of giving himself a role. “I didn’t feel that I was right for anything in this movie. When I put on a director’s hat, it is about the movie, I would only cast myself if I felt that I was really suited for the part.” The film has been generating Oscar buzz for the last few months. Though Tony is grateful for the Oscar speculation, he’s truly grateful for the actors who worked on the film. “I’m thrilled that people are talking about that because it speaks to the fact that people are resonated with it.” He finished the interview by saying, “For me the movie is about the transcendent power of love. Despite what ever life throws at you, if you have that, you have everything.”

Conviction Press Tour–Betty Anne Waters

Gary Murray

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October 21, 2010

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Conviction Press Tour–Betty Anne Waters

By Gary Murray

If someone would tell you the life of Betty Anne Waters, you would think ‘How tragic’. The high school drop out was working at a bar. slinging drinks in Massachusetts. Her rough and tumble brother is accused of murder, a crime she knows he didn’t commit. In prison, after her bothers attempted suicide, she vows to get her GED, go to college, get a law degree, pass the bar and become Kenny’s attorney. Her story of freeing her brother was turned into a story on Dateline. After a few struggles the story of Betty Anne is now the Hillary Swank feature Conviction. Betty Anne was in town recently with director Tony Goldwyn and actress Juliette Lewis who appears in a small but pivotal role.

On Hillary Swank playing Betty Ann, she answered, “How lucky am I?” with a laugh. “I saw her in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby and I thought I’d be so lucky if she’d play me. And I got lucky.”

To get the screenplay right Betty Anne talked to Tony for fourteen hours, Pamela Gray the writer for fourteen hours and with all three for another 14 hours. “I felt like I was in therapy,” she laughed.

She is a woman with an infectious laugh and bright smile, nothing one would think a lawyer looks life. The path of Betty Anne was a long road from enrolling in community college, to passing the bar in two states. “I had to do it to keep him alive,” she said. “The worst part of my life was when my kids lived with their father. Its hard to open a book when you’re depressed.”

The film doesn’t mention it it but Kenny was killed in a car wreck a few months from his release. Said Betty, “This movie is about freedom and proving Kenny’s innocence. It is not about his death. You want to walk away from the movie feeling good that Kenny won. That’s what Kenny would have wanted.” One can tell by her voice that she loved her brother. She said, “If Kenny walked into a room you would want to just to be around him. He was a trouble maker but not that kind of a trouble maker, killing people for money.”

Sam Rockwell physically looks nothing like Kenny but Betty Anne did like his portrayal. At first she said, “How is Sam Rockwell going to be Kenny? (But) When I saw him on screen I really felt he got the many sides of my brother.” She described Kenny as a loveable person who wouldn’t walk away from a fight–not an aggressor but not afraid.

After Kenny was released, Betty Anne filed a civil suit against the police and prosecutors. “DNA evidence proved my brother was innocent and exonerated him but it didn’t prove what Nancy Taylor and the town of Ayers did to him. If I didn’t bring the civil suit, no body would have ever found out. From day one, (Investigating Officer) Nancy Taylor knew that there were bloody fingerprints in this case and that my brother was not a suspect. He was on the list of elimination. She went to the grand jury and told them there were no useable fingerprints, only fingerprints of the victim.” Then during the trial it was mentioned that a different suspect was eliminated due to fingerprints. Betty Anne added, “I’m not a genius or a scientist but I think if one person can be eliminated, everybody can be.”

Even though she’s proud of the movie, she is more proud of freeing her brother, She said “Barry Check is my hero.”

She’s seen the movie three times always through tears. “I don’t know if I’ve seen the real movie.” A scene of Kenny and Betty jumping on her grandfather’s truck was exactly like she remember it. “It brings me back like it was yesterday,” said Betty Anne.

Conviction Press Tour–Juliette Lewis

Gary Murray

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October 21, 2010

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CONVICTION PRESS TOUR–JULIETTE LEWIS

By Gary Murray

“I love to do the unexpected,” is how Juliette Lewis described her acting philosophy but the first thing one notices about her is how simply normal the woman comes across. In a cream print dress and flowing locks she looks more like a young mother than a serious actress. Known for playing challenging and dark characters, she was in Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Til Dawn and Kalifornia. Lately she has been focusing on her music career, appearing on the Warped Tour and taking small roles here and there between gigs. Juliette Lewis was recently in town to discuss her latest role of Roseanna Perry in Conviction.

The story of Conviction is of Betty Anne Waters and her brother Kenny. He is accused and convicted of a murder, a murder that Betty Anne knows he didn’t do. She goes from high school drop out to bar certified lawyer with a single goal, to prove her brother’s innocence. Her journey leads to Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project, a group of lawyers who work to overturn wrongly convicted individuals.

With DNA evidence, Kenny is proven innocent but the prosecutor will not overturn the conviction because two different women testified that Kenny admitted to committing the crime. Juliette plays Roseanna Perry, one of the women. Even though she appears in only two scenes, it is a powerful award-winning turn. The two scenes take place years apart and we see the ravages of life on Roseanna Perry, with gray skin and broken teeth.

On playing a character that is so different from standard Hollywood beauty, Juliette said, “I loved it and it is sort of what I live for. I didn’t start making movies to play myself. This is actually a unique role for me because I have never transformed so completely. There is absolutely nothing like me in the role.” She claims that she didn’t grow up with a lot of vanity and she rebels against it. “This is a real person and a real personality in our world.”

To prepare for the role, Juliette worked with a dialect coach with breaking down the accent, listening to the deposition tapes that Betty Anne obtained She also relied on Director Tony Goldwyn and his ‘director’s eyes’ to make sure she was landing in the right place.

“When doing the role, you want it to disappear,” she said. “I don’t want the audience to ever think about my accent or my aged skin and teeth. I want to integrate it all into this organic seamless character. And that is the challenge for me, ‘Can I do it?’ At the end of that big scene, you get that she is manipulative–she’s conscious of her intentions–but all within it, she bounces around. You think she’s a bit out to lunch but then you realize that’s she not. That is what is interesting about it.”

Juliette was completive on playing such a little part. “It was funny to do a role that was so small but have so much in both of those scenes. I wanted to to have such a complete presence in both places. It is an eighteen year life-span. You start with the eyes showing this damaged soul and that she’s vindictive. You meet her eighteen years later and she lives in a world of her own fiction. She is faced with her own nemesis of a person who she wronged the most. I wanted you to make sure you really got a sense of her.”

Since she was playing a real person, she wanted to be exact in the role. She said, “Everything I say in the movie, about 98% of the movie, is from transcripts and interviews she gave. The bad use of grammar and the bad use of phrases is all her. I got an idea of what kind of a mess the person is. Roseanna Perry and Nancy Taylor were not in the process of making the movie because they committed crimes, At the end of the day, I’m intuiting and I’m putting together all these ingredients and realizing the part.”

She then added, “This is one of the most unique experiences and the reason you make movies is to shine a light on such an important subject about people being wrongly convicted. We don’t often hear about this. It is also to participate in a story that has such a heart. It is a love story about family, love, faith and conviction.”

Though she never met with Roseanna Perry, Lewis said, “I like seeing the person and getting a sense of that person but you want to be true to that particular film. The writer and director are taking an eighteen year saga and putting it into two hours. It is my job to explore what a damaged, destructive soul looks like and how do they behave. That has always interested me.”

On being a working character actress she stated, “I was never conditioned to think ‘Will they like me or not? or ‘Will I be pretty? I really wanted to get into the skin of that kind of destructive personality. She’s been on a really bad destructive path. I wanted to get into that energy.” She summed up by saying, “I wanted to vibe the audience out.” The she added on, “You can illuminate many different sides of a character in a small amount of time.”

Juliette had nothing but praise for her cast. She calls Sam Rockwell as one of her favorite actors. “I was so happy” she stated, “to see him in this role.” On Hillary Swank she said, “Hillary is a force of nature because she is so committed and such a live wire. She has no vanity and her priority is her family and not Hollywood.”

Juliette doesn’t mind being on press tour, talking to reporters about her role and the Innocence Project, the Barry Scheck group of lawyers trying to use DNA evidence to free the wrongly accused. “We are all doing our part to get this film out because we all believe in it and think it is important. I am honored to be on such a great team.” She would love love to see her cast members to be acknowledged by the Academy but on her being nominated, she coyly said, “That’d be neat.”

The next couple of jobs are meatier roles and she considers this a next chapter in her life after her music career. “There are a lot of incredible filmmakers I’d love to work with and new talents.” Then she added, “I’m open to all things and all possibilities.” She is working on her own screenplay based on her life and imaginations.

Even though she is thought of for her more dangerous roles, she has a special place in her heart for one different role. “The Other Sister goes down as one of the most remarkable love filled and challenging experiences I have ever had. I wanted to do a good job and not a cliche.” She still gets responses about it to this day.

JACKASS 3D – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 15, 2010

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JACKASS 3D

By Gary Murray

Starring Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius

Directed by Jeff Tremaine

Running time 100 min

MPAA Rating R

Selig Film Rating Cable

Jack Ass 3D starts with Beavis and Butthead talking to the audience and explaining how the 3-D effects are used in the film. Beavis beats Butthead and Butthead is amazed by how realistic the effects work. It is truly one of the high points of the film.

Then we meet the cast with a rainbow background. Soon they are attacked and beaten and splattered with paintballs. This is all done in real time, much like a documentary. The emphasis is to see how much pain they can inflict on each other and how funny it is to see your friends beaten and humiliated.

The opening stunt is a giant high-five hand on springs. Different members of the cast are unexpectedly hit with the artificial digits, some holding soup and some with flour. We get a series of stunts with the boys jumping into a giant pool using a slingshot and various wheeled devices. Another stunt is bee hive tetherball which is exactly as it sounds, resulting in very angry African honey bees. The most cleaver bit of stunt work happens when the guys decide to reenact the Evil Knievel stunt of jumping over the Snake River Canyon. Their mini-bike version has much the same outcome as the original.

While the majority of Jack Ass 3D is made up of dangerous stunts there are breaks of foul silliness. We get a train set diorama with a volcano and as soon as it erupts. The joke is that the volcano in someone’s backside and the exploding lava is fecal in matter. The most cleaver set up involves a midget cast starting a brawl and little people cops and tiny paramedics who arrive at the scene. The duped tall cast of the bar looked truly shocked.

There are odd bits there the guys hit each other Rocky style and in slow motion. Johnny gets run over by buffalo and clocked by an NFL player. It is backyard hi-jinks and rough house frat boy stunts that carry warnings at the front and back of the film that these stunts should not be tried at home and that the crew are professional stuntmen.

The film ends with a vile stunt of a sling shot port-a-potty full and launched into the sky. Steve-O takes the abuse like a deranged man, throwing up again and again as crap flies around his face and body. I guess no one is afraid of hepatitis in the world of Jack Ass 3D.

Jack Ass 3D is a movie for the kind of people who think that vomit and feces and urine are the three most ingenious comedy props of all time. More than once we see the cast and crew throwing up in 3-D glory. For the intended audience, frat boys and simpletons, this is comic manna. I just found the entire exercise disgusting.

NOWHERE BOY – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 14, 2010

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NOWHERE BOY

By Gary Murray

Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristen Scott Thomas, Thomas Sangsterm Anne-Marie Duff and David Morrisey

Written by Matt Greenhalgh

Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood

MPAA Rating R

Running time 98 min

Selig Film Rating Matinee

John Lennon was one of the most important figures of the 20th century. With the Beatles and as a solo artist, he was the spokesman of a generation. The records still sell in the millions decades after his tragic death. Though much has been written about both the Beatles and John as a man, there has been little focus on the young Lennon and the pre-Beatles history. The new film Nowhere Boy gives the audience a fictional account of those years.

The film opens in 1955 with the It’s a Hard Day’s Night chord and John (Aaron Johnson) running. Living with his Aunt Mimi (Kristen Scott Thomas) and Uncle George (David Threlfall), he is a happy boy who seems to always be getting into trouble. Almost instantly, there is a tragedy. Uncle George has a heart attack. Mimi shows that traditional ‘stiff upper lift’ and keeps her emotions in check. At the graveside service, John notices a flamboyant looking redhead. He thinks that she is his mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) a woman he hasn’t seen in a decade.

Then we get the young Lennon. In the snippets of his early childhood, he remembers his parents arguing and Mimi taking him away. He doesn’t know where either parents are and Mimi truly is his mother. He has dreams of a distant past but cannot connect the dots.

Lennon is driven to find out about Julia and through his friend Stan, John finds that she lives just a short walk away from Mimi. The two young men go and visit Julia with John finding out what a different kind of woman is she is as compared to Aunt Mimi. John begins to hang out with his mom and doesn’t let his aunt know.

Julia takes John to the cinema and they see a documentary on Elvis. This lights a flame inside the young boy and almost instantly he gets a guitar. He also gets his first rock record by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. There is also the making of John’s bitter tongue.

The film is of John being torn between to worlds as he is torn between his two mother figures. It is full of heavy drama as the young future Beatle confronts his bitter past.

Director Matt Greenhalgh takes command in Nowhere Boy. Between the brave close-ups and the stark use of shadow he paints a cinematic feature more along the way of the French Wave than modern filmmaking. He just captures the moving images with the talent of an artist, framing each bit with exact care.

Nowhere Boy is a star making turn for Anne-Marie Duff. As Julia, she is both a precursor to the wild hippie women of the next decade and the Jack Kerouac women of post WWII. She is a confused soul going different directions at the same time. Lennon wrote both the sweet “Julia” and the bitter “Mother” about her. This little role should have Oscar written all over it.

Aaron Johnson has the hardest role of Nowhere Boy. In playing one of the most well-known figures of modern history, everyone has a preconceived notion of the character. He finds that balance between childhood confused boy to raging young man. In one scene where he meets Paul McCartney, we get all the emotions in a few beats. He is proud and arrogant then jealous of someone with such a grasp on music. In just a few beats we get the brotherhood partnership and the brotherhood competition.

What else can be said about Kristen Scott Thomas that hasn’t been said before. She is a veteran of the stage and cinema giving a strong turn in an unsung role. She tries to do everything right but is eventually rejected. Over the years, John made few references to her. John is hurtful to her, almost to a manic degree. She tries to show a happy face but carries a heavy heart

Nowhere Boy has received many awards, both at festivals and the British Oscars. It tells a compelling story about the beginnings of a international figure showing where the teenage years affect ones entire life. Even if you are not a Beatles fan, this is a very interesting slice of life. It would make a great double feature with Back Beat, the story of the Beatles in Germany.

RED – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 14, 2010

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RED

By Gary Murray

Starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker

Written by Jon Hoeber

Directed by Robert Schwentke

Running time 111

MPAA Rating PG-13

Selig Film Rating FULL PRICE

Red stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous. That is exactly how Bruce Willis comes off in the newest action thriller comedy based on a DC comics graphic novel. This little flick is one of the best cinema rides of the year.

Our man Bruce stars as Frank Moses a man in fly-over country, existing in suburban hell. His only contact with the outside world is Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) a young woman who works at a distant Social Security office. Very early on, it is understood that Frank has feelings for Sarah. He routinely destroys his check just to have a reason to call her.

One night a group of South African hired gun-men attack the little house, taking the building down to toothpick shards. After disposing of the gun-men, Frank is off to find Sarah. Since he has been talking to her on the phone, the people who have been monitoring him know his affections. Frank basically kidnaps Sarah and heads for New Orleans and the only person he can trust Joe (Morgan Freeman). They worked together many years ago and Joe is just waiting for cancer to take him down.

The plot twists and turns as Frank and Sarah go around the USA to visit the rest of his team. John Malkovich plays Marvin, a man who has taken one too many hits of acid and seems to have a very slippery grip on reality. Helen Mirren is Victoria has settled down to a suburban life but still pines away for both the old way of life and her old but not forgotten love. Basically, Joe sums it up by saying “We’re getting the band back together.”

The crew is followed by a CIA agency that doesn’t know the RED past and the characters he is up against. We have the four heroes trying to find out who has set all of them up as while avoiding both the current agents and the nefarious characters that mean to do them harm

Director Robert Schwentke seamlessly blends action and comedy, giving a solid mix of bullets and giggles while never going overboard on either side. There are some single shots that move with ballet motion and guns blazing. At times we get a Sam Peckinpah style of action shots but without all the blood and carnage. But with a cast as strong as this, he had the best ammo in his direction chambers. To let the audience know the locations, he uses a very snappy group of animated titles.

The film is more sophisticated than it need to be, while never losing the fan boy fun.

Helen Mirren plays a semi-retired CIA agent, only taking the occasional contract to spice up the boredom. She just shines in scene after scene, stealing every beat of screen time. She just adds a degree of class to a typical macho world.

Mary-Louise Parker just oozes charm with her ‘fish out of water’ role of Sarah. We get a great group of reaction shots when she sees the length and breath that Frank goes to protect her. The stunned look of being overwhelmed gives the audience a ‘normal person’ in basically a ‘super hero’ style convention

Both Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich have played these roles before so there is not much stretching of static characters. Though both seem to be having a ball as they outwit the younger and stronger forces they are up against. Particularly John Malkovich just hams up every scene as the whacked out agent, seeing conspiracy in every corner of the world.

Bruce Willis just commands the screen in every scene he’s in. He has done this character many times before but he still has not worn out his welcome as the action hero. The only part of this role is one has to believe that he has a hard time connecting with women. That is just a stretch of the imagination that almost breaks the set-up.

Simply put, Red is just a heck of a great ride, a fun diversion. With all the horror flicks coming out, this is a fresh change of pace for October. This is a film you don’t want to miss.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 6, 2010

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LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

By Gary Murray

Starring Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel and Josh Lucas

Written by Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson

Directed by Greg Berlanti

MPAA Rating PG-13

Running time 125 min

Selig Film Rating Matinee

This has been a very bad year for the romantic comedy, with film after film flopping at the box office. It seems that the genre of cute star-crossed couples has just about run its course. Though in Hollywood, hope of that big score keeps the flicks coming down the pike. The latest is Life as We Know it, a film with a bitter little pill mixed in the subplot.

The film starts with a date that goes from bad to worse in a few seconds. Holly (Katherine Heigl) is a bakery owner and NBA technical director Messer (Josh Duhamel) are on a date that doesn’t even make it out the driveway. These two have nothing in common except two mutual friends. We get a slow montage of the life where the two friends get married and have a baby Sophie. Tragedy strikes soon and little Sophie, at barely one, is orphaned.

Then we come to the major beat of the film. The couple had decided that in the event of both parents dying, Holly and Messer are to take care of Sophie in their house. This comes as a shock to both of them, neither wanting to give up their lives to co-raise a baby. The first idea is to find someone else in either family to take over this job. When they realize that no body else is suitable, they bite the bullet and agree to move into the house.

Then the nightmare of parenting becomes apparent. We get all the basic Kid Rearing 101 jokes about diapers and fussy eating. There is using Sophie by Messer to pick-up women at the supermarket. As Holly and Messer bond everyone in the audience knows where this is heading, the joy of the film is the ride to the inevitable.

Director Greg Berlanti does a strong job behind the helm of Life as We Know it, especially with the kids. The best acting was done by the triples that played Sophie. He finds all the cute shots for the tyke, giving a strong personality to the infant. It was once said in Hollywood never to work with dogs or children because they steal the spotlight. This film proves the axiom true again.

Katherine Heigl plays yet another variation of the same character she has been putting on the Silver Screen for the last few years. She never takes a chance and this is just another role just like the last ones. Just once, I’d like to see her do something with challenge rather than be another Julia Roberts/Meg Ryan. She does a nice job with the material it is just that we’ve been to this trough one too many times before.

Josh Duhamel is our rogue as Messer. He’s the carefree bachelor who instantly becomes a father. It is not a role he wants nor craves. As he bonds with Sophie, he slowly begins to realize what is actually important and that there is something more important than himself in the world.

Josh Lucas plays the complication in their lives as Dr. Sam, Sophie’s baby doctor. It is not much of a role, just an excuse to place a choice in the picture. Everyone knows who will eventually end up whom.

I was expecting the worst with Life as We Know it and was pleasantly surprised by how heartfelt it was. If you have seen the trailer, you have seen a good portion of the finished flick. Here is the deal with the romantic comedy—it is a journey. One knows the ending destination, it is the joy of the ride that makes the experience. This film is a sweet little distraction, a refreshing bit of fluff in the first wave of Oscar pushing films. This one is never going to win an Academy Award but it will win the hearts of the patrons.

ITS A FUNNY KIND OF STORY – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 6, 2010

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ITS A FUNNY KIND OF STORY

Starring Keir Gilchrist, Emma Roberts and Zach Galifianakis

Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

MPAA Rating PG-13

Running time 91 min

Selig Film Rating FULL PRICE

Comedy films that take place in a mental institution almost never work. Where you get one great film like One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest, there are a monumental group of failures. All the ironic touches almost never translate on the big screen. This is another reason to see the refreshing little flick Its a Funny Kind of Story.

The film follows Craig (Keir Gilchrist) a confused young man with thoughts of suicide. After deciding not to throw himself off an overpass and into oncoming traffic, he checks himself into the local mental facility. Due to construction, both the teens and the adults are forced into the same floors.

Very soon Craig discovers that being locked up is a bad idea but the staff wants him to stay for five days for observation. The culture shock of being around the truly crazy people is what drives Its a Funny Kind of Story.

Almost immediately Craig befriends Bobby (Zach Galifianakis) a man who has been having trouble coping with the outside world. He is coming up on the end of his stay and must find a halfway house to accept him. A frail and frazzled soul, he instantly bonds with our young protagonist. Bobby has been in the facility so long that he basically runs the place. He knows which floor has the best coffee and how to get out to get ice cream.

He also meets Noelle (Emma Roberts) a confused young woman with scratches on her face and cuts on her wrists, sporting a ‘I hate boys’ T-shirt. There is something about her smile and attitude that draws Craig to her. The two meet in the hallways and in the crafts classes where Craig shows some serious skills in drawing.

Soon we discover the twin demons of Craig. He has an artistic soul and is being pushed by his father to become a business success. Craig also has a problem with wanting to be with his best friend’s girlfriend. Its a Funny Kind of Story is about how Bobby and Noelle make Craig confront the torments of his life. It is also about how Bobby and Noelle have to confront the forces that drive them.

Zach Galifianakis is slowly becoming the go-to guy for small, funny roles. He follows people like Dana Carvey and Jack Black, thespians who can take a minor role and turn it into major cinema gold. One has no idea if he can carry a major starring role, but he just brings on serious laughs in the second banana roles.

Young Emma Roberts has the same magic her Aunt Julia Roberts brings to the Silver Screen. This is another cliche role, that on the young confused woman, but she gives the reading a freshness. She has that spark that brings one in to the performance, that elusive bit that they call movie magic.

Keir Gilchrist is just weak as Craig, As the lead, he never finds the true beat of his character. He just reacts to every situation and never finds any momentum to drive along. His character is supposed to be a shy and reserved individual but it feels like he is never giving it his all.

Writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have a great feel for the story of Its a Funny Kind of Story. They find the right beats with all the supporting cast members, giving just about every person in the play a moment or two to land a comic line. The laughs are never at the expense of the patients, just of the situation. They do show restraint on the plight of the people trapped in this world.

Its a Funny Kind of Story is a very enjoyable film and a possible nomination for Zach Galifianakis, a guy who just delivers this Supporting Actor caliber performance. In a cinematic world where special effects trump emotions, this is a refreshing breath of air.

Let Me In – A Review by Gary Murray

Gary Murray

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October 1, 2010

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Let Me In

By Gary Murray

Starring Cloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas

Written and Directed by Matt Reeves

Based on the film Let the Right One In

Running time 115 min

MPAA Rating R

Selig Film Rating Matinee

Let the Right One In was my pick of the best foreign film the year it came out. The story of a girl vampire and the budding romance between her and an unsuspecting boy had the right balance of horror and morbid tragic love. Since it was a Swedish film, few outside the art house crowd saw this wonderful little take on the traditional fang story. Let Me In is the re-make.

The story stays the same, just the places and details have changed. We are still in the winter but in Los Alamos, New Mexico, not Sweden. The film starts in Medius Rea with a man (Richard Jenkins) in the hospital after a tragic accident. The investigating officer (Elias Koteas) wants to question the man but his face has been burned beyond recognition. The inspector leaves his investigative notebook in the room to take a call. At the nurses station, the machines start to react. A nurse goes back into the room, then runs out screaming. The officer runs back inside and the burned man has jumped out the tenth story window. He left a note behind that said “I’m sory Abby”.

We go back a few days. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a troubled little boy in New Mexico with major bully problems. He is a slight and reserved child with a Rear Window tendency of looking in the windows of his neighbors apartments through a telescope. One night he watches a man and girl move in. All they carry with them is a large trunk, moved in such a way that one knows it is empty.

The next day, there is the bane of Owen’s existence. Three bullies torture him in the middle school locker room. One gets the idea that it has been going on for quite some time. Back in his apartment, the other side of his life is unfolded. Mom and Dad are getting a divorce, complete with all the yelling and back biting. Owen soon meets the new neighbor, Abby (Cloe Moretz). She is on the complex playground, barefoot in the snow. Owen notices that the girl smells ‘funny.’ The next night she is there, but showered and with boots. Abby encourages Owen to be more of a man and stand-up to the bullies. Then she assures him that if things get out of hand, she will handle them because she is a lot stronger than she looks.

As the two youngsters build a relationship, the nature of Abby and the man becomes a bit more apparent. He is old enough to be her father but he is not. He admits to her that he is becoming sloppy and is tired. The man is the caretaker of Abby, the vampire. He goes out into the night and finds victims for her blood lust. The relationship seems to be coming to a bitter end and both know it. We soon find out that Abby is twelve but has been twelve for a very long time. Owen finds a very old picture of her taken years ago but she looks exactly the same

The movie is how two individuals find each other, even though everyone knows it will be more of a caretaker rather than a love relationship. Writer/director Matt Reeves may be a little too close to his subject in the fact that he gives the audience a bit too much. By giving more details, he slows the action down. A tighter edit would have made the film give a greater sense of urgency. The way he frames the action sequences are masterful, it is just too long to get to them.

Cloe Moretz showed her meddle in Kick Ass being the most interesting thing in the flick. Here she gives us more of the same, a little girl with attitude to spare. She is a blood sucker, but there is this sympathy in the nuances. She does what she has to do to survive, no apologies needed. In two roles, she shows some amazing range.

Kodi Smit-McPhee is our purposeful weak link. He is the put upon character, the one that get the reactions of others. He has no

destiny, just a future existence. Since Owen is so young, we can see something he can’t, his painful future with Abby.

Richard Jenkins just shines in an unthankful role. There is such a sadness in the world being the footman of a blood sucker. He does what he does for love, a love that can never be precipitated Through his performance, we see Owen’s future.

This film is produced by the Hammer Films banner, the most successful independent horror franchise company of the 1950’s and 1960’s. This company made about 70 films that scattered all over the drive-in, from The Satanic Rites of Dracula to Frankenstein Unbound. They were the first company to show blood with their creature features. I hope this film is just a precursor of greater things to come from the studio. The brand deserves to be a part of a new generation. Just seeing the banner at the start of the film was such a film geek thrill.

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