#33 - Paprika

In futuristic urban Japan, a team of scientists has created a device called the DC Mini which allows dreams to be viewed and entered, intended for use in psychiatric treatment (hi there, Freud...). While still in its development phase, the device is stolen and used to illegally manipulate people's dreams. Researcher Atsuko Chiba and her coworker - the DC Mini's childlike inventor - Kosaku Tokita are sent to track down the missing DC Minis and untangle the mess of merging dreams that is eating away at the minds of the people of the city, aided by the mysterious Paprika.

How would I describe Paprika...perhaps something like 'A mind-bending psychedelic thriller in a futuristic world where the subconscious can be entered and manipulated, blurring dream and reality.' Sound familiar? This is the exact description of what I expected from Inception, getting instead a rather straightforward action film (which, tangentially, fell apart for me on second viewing - too many plot holes). Paprika, however, delivers on this premise. It also came first, and considering there is a scene with shifting gravity in a hotel hallway, I imagine it may have been required viewing for the Inception production team. While at times a little too bizarre and grotesque for my tastes, Paprika is generally a gorgeous and captivating film. The animated medium allows for otherworldly visuals and expansive scenes without the gimmicky feeling of CG (or the budget of actual sets), and the fast pace while jarring at first quickly lends to a gripping and engrossing experience.

The character development and resolution of the film is at times out-of-nowhere and I think will take at least as long as the dream/reality division to unravel; I'll have to watch the film again to fully understand it. But I will say that I wasn't left completely bewildered, and I think Satoshi Kon allowed for enough exposition that this film is more responsive than staring at a brick wall. Well, staring at a brick wall while on acid, anyway. I would say it does a better job exploring the consequences of its premise than Inception, though it has much more of a fantastic feel. Definitely worth seeing, probably worth seeing again in a couple months so I can try and actually figure everything out.

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to this blog which has been occupying me for the last year. It is now 2011 and Paprika, which I viewed on December 30, will be the last movie I will review here. Wish the last entry could have been a little more coherent but I'm sleep deprived and jet-lagged and, well, it's this movie, so what can you do? It's been a fun year keeping track of my thoughts on movies; I don't think I will be doing this again but I enjoyed this chance to improve my nonfiction writing. See you all around...

#32 - True Grit

The Coen brothers' 2010 remake of a 1969 John Wayne film, True Grit takes us to the wild west, where a farmer named Frank Ross has been shot dead and swindled by his hired hand, Tom Chaney.  Enlisting the help of US Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), Frank's spirited 14-year-old daughter Mattie (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) rides into Indian country in pursuit of Chaney and justice for her father.  

First and foremost, Mattie is the type of heroine I want to see more often, one who I think has appeal for viewers of both genders.  She's brave and smart with a brazenness that for once doesn't manifest as a hair-trigger temper, willing and able to fend for herself.  Indeed, Mattie is that rare protagonist who is never thrust into the world of the plot but instead drives the action with her own choices and deeds.

Unfortunately, the action in question is slow to take off, with the first half of the movie consisting largely of dull dialogue.  It's a bit of a let-down from the promise of a Western adventure.  Though the climax is as gripping as anyone could hope for, you'll have to count on not being asleep by the time you get there.  The tedium is occasionally broken by humor, which especially comes out when Bridges and Damon interact.  I wouldn't have minded more banter between the two of them.  Or more than just the few glimpses we got of the beauty of the pre-industrial West, which would have helped flesh out the world and the mood of the film overall.

I'm not sure how I feel about the movie's non-resolution of an ending, it's a somewhat refreshing break from the idea that all endings have to be either perfect and neat or apocalyptically tragic but it somehow didn't seem to fit in with the tone of the movie.  Interestingly enough certain aspects of the ending were changed from the original film.  Notably I'm not sure the conceit of having a 40-year-old Mattie recollecting her exploits really works or adds anything, even though it is true to the novel.  

#31 - Tron Legacy

After his defeat of the Master Computer in 1982's Tron, genius game programmer Kevin Flynn goes missing, leaving behind his son Sam as his reluctant heir.  Rather than taking the helm of the ENCOM company, Sam spends his days hanging out in his garage-turned-loft and getting speeding tickets on his Ducati.  All of this changes however when Kevin's old partner Alan receives a page originating in Kevin's office, and Sam follows his father into the digital world of TRON.

I had three reasons for wanting to see Tron Legacy.

1. I felt something of a duty as a fan of the original Tron.
2. I wanted to see 'the grid' rendered with modern CG techniques.
3. Daft Punk soundtrack!

On these particular counts, Tron Legacy did not disappoint.  The visuals are expansive and exquisite; the is CG sharp and sleek and at times indistinguishable from actual actors and set pieces.  Tron Legacy, like its forerunner, is a sort of runway show, a gratifyingly over-the-top display of the possibilities of modern digital artistry.  The soundtrack is fittingly sweeping and its electronic groove matches perfectly with the movie's computer game setting.  And as a sequel to Tron, it is fittingly camp and glorifying of renegade geekery (with the 21st century reference point of the open vs. closed source debate to carry it home).

Tron Legacy's script is a haphazard collection of vague leads and storylines that attempt to collude in a rushed finale.  It frequently pushes aside characterization and coherency for the sake of visual showcase, but also, and less reasonably, for conversations and fights that drag on too long and could have used some tightening.  This might have also helped to reduce the movie's somewhat excessive runtime.  However, at least Tron Legacy seems to revel in its incoherency, foregoing movie cliches for psychedelia and bizarreness.  Which again provides ample opportunity for gorgeous visuals, and that is certainly what Tron Legacy has going for it.

#30 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1

This is kind of cool.  I'm reviewing a movie before it's been officially released in certain parts of the US, and certainly before most of the US official releases have finished showing.  This is because a number of houses (dorms) at my university pooled together and booked a 9pm 'pre-premiere' over at Navy Pier.  That is, over at Navy Pier's IMAX theater, the biggest of big screens.  Definitely how I think this movie should be seen.

Anyway, enough bragging.

As the last chapter of the Harry Potter story unfolds, our heroes are no longer heading off to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts but instead are refugees, fleeing persecution from both the dark army of Voldemort but also from the corrupt Ministry of Magic.  Aided by trusty pals Ron and Hermione, Harry's task is to find the seven Horcruxes - artifacts where Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul so as to make himself difficult to kill - and destroy them.

I would say that Deathly Hallows suffers from the usual issues of the Harry Potter movie series - it's uncertain as to what sort of movie it's trying to be.  I think there's a great deal of pressure to include the most well-loved parts of the books, or to somehow summarize the books, and what results is what our friends at TV Tropes call 'mood whiplash'.  One moment there are massive car wrecks and spells flying left and right, the next we roll our eyes as the three teenaged stars turn up the romance/angst/drama level.   Furthermore, are we watching a children's movie about magical wizards, where heavy-handed acting is par for the course?  Or is this a very serious Issue Movie, as the constant barrage of Nazi symbolism seems to be trying to pound into our heads?  Even at a 146 minute runtime there isn't room for it to be all of these things at once.

But do note that when it succeeds, it succeeds.  Helena Bonham-Carter finally proves that her Bellatrix Lestrange is not just a 'wacky' gothed-out cartoon but a seriously deranged and actually frightening nemesis.  The movie's climax is just as emotionally hard-hitting as it should be.  The characters do sometimes break out of their cardboard packaging and show some real humanity.  The action sequences are a visual delight, and the expansive wide-angle shots of the gorgeous British landscapes through which our heroes travel in search of the Horcruxes.  So even if Hallows may not hold up under a detailed analysis, it is an enjoyable experience from within the moment of its viewing, and did an excellent job of getting me antsy for Part 2.

#29 - Dog Sweat

Today we travel to smoggy Tehran, Iran, where director Hossein Keshavarz covertly filmed without a license in order to place Dog Sweat in front of its true backdrop.  The film follows five stories which connect at various points: a singer who sneaks out of her house to illegally record pop music, a gay man facing the pressures of a hostile and prejudiced environment, a girl carrying out an affair with her cousin's husband, a young couple trying to escape the boredom of their regimented lifestyle, and a young man - with a craving for the bootleg liquor that gives the film its title - who is finding himself increasingly frustrated at the Iranian government's inability to keep its citizens from falling through the cracks.

We seem to have a theme this week: Dog Sweat, like Let the Right One In, is a film about what happens to the people who don't fit into their society's mold.  Without the supernatural elements of Let the Right One In, Dog Sweat is real in such a way that it is brutal.  It is quiet, not flashy, filmed almost like a home movie, rarely overt and as such doesn't call attention to itself, leaving room for its scathing commentary on the Iranian situation.  It isn't really a politically charged film and in fact tends to leave viewers to make their own conclusions, which I appreciated.

Its simplistic style doesn't always work in its favor; certain scenes seem randomly inserted and unnecessary - perhaps Keshavarz was simply going for verisimilitude, but real life doesn't always make good cinema.  I am still trying to decide whether the fact that I constantly fluctuated between sympathizing with and disliking its characters was a good point (neutrality) or a bad point (not always fleshing out the characters enough to make them understandable).  I am certain though that the film's silence - there's rarely any music or background sound except when very specifically relevant to the plot - was intended to be jarring, so even though at times Dog Sweat is hard to watch, I wouldn't call this a criticism.  It's something I wouldn't watch again; it's far too emotional, but it definitely drew me into its world and made me think about the complicated issues it portrays.

#28 - Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)

Let the Right One In is the story of Oskar, a young misfit living in a town in Sweden who is driven by bullying to thoughts of revenge.  Oskar finally finds meaning in his life when he is befriended by Eli, a young girl who also happens to be the vampire whose lust for blood is behind the town's recent spate of bizarre murders.  Together, the two of them try to navigate a confusing and lonely world ravaged by the forces of love and death.

Let the Right One In is a quietly intense film, with a narrow enough scope to allow us to go deep into its complex issues.  It is shot largely in darkness, with few bright colors, echoing the bleak solitude of its characters and setting.  And yet every frame is gorgeous and perfectly aligned - it is the kind of film that truly justifies the existence of cameras.  While violent, it is never gory or gratuitous; while suspenseful, it does not aim to be frightening.  Its supernatural elements belie the film's true center, which is the connection forged between two of the people that the rest of the world forgot.

#27: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

In the height of the Cold War, tensions run high and eventually something snaps.  Deeply unstable General Jack D. Ripper gives the order to the US Air Force to drop the hydrogen bomb on Russian targets, setting off a frenzied chain of events as both the United States and the USSR realize the horror of their impending doom through mutually assured destruction.  Meanwhile, the intrepid crew of one B-52 aircraft, under the command of Major T.J. "King" Kong, head toward their target, determined to serve their country despite any setbacks.

Director Stanley Kubrick originally planned to create a serious, sober adaptation of the Cold War thriller novel Red Alert, but while putting together plans to make the film began to see through to the absurdity inherent in the nuclear scare, and instead created the bizarre, off-the-wall satire that is Dr. Strangelove.  Kubrick was living in England at the time, and the influence of British comedy shows through clearly, albeit dissolved somewhat in American cultural themes.  Dr. Strangelove - except for "King" Kong's perfect, climactic exit near the end of the film - is a movie without punchlines, just an ever-creeping horror that continually builds even as the credits roll.

Oh, and it's funny, too.  The acting (by Peter Sellers in three roles including the titular mad scientist, Slim Pickens as Major Kong the Texan, George C. Scott as General Buck Turgidson, and a myriad of other skilled actors playing characters with punnish names) is spot-on and just barely over-the-top, not ridiculous enough to go flat.  The script's inside jokes and one-liners are perfectly timed.  And somehow in showing the extent of the madness that results from Armageddon, Kubrick brings the end of the world down to a level where it can be ridiculed.

I imagine that as a member of Gen Y, and someone who hasn't watched a great deal of war movies, to some extent the jokes went over my head.  Dr. Strangelove does still work today as a comedy but only when observed from a historical context; while we still see this trigger-happy paranoia in the post-9/11 world, schoolchildren are no longer watching 'duck and cover' videos, Europe is no longer a foreign wilderness, and most people alive today don't remember World War II.  Yet Kubrick is an artist - and even at those moments when the tension goes slack (because we've all come out on the other end of the Cold War) this film can be enjoyed for the beauty of its shots, the use of light and shadow, and the way Kubrick and his actors work together to portray the darkest depths of the human psyche.

...No, really, this is a comedy, I promise!