What’s most astonishing about the movie The Social Network isn’t that it was created, but the speed in which its creation occurred. The subject matter of the movie, Facebook and its founders, have been in the public consciousness for a little over five years. In film time that is astonishingly fast for a movie on Facebook to come around. In some ways the movie’s existence came about almost as fast as the creation of Facebook itself.
Jesse Eisenberg, previously seen in Adventureland, Zombieland and Holy Rollers, plays Mark Zuckerberg, the elusive co-founder of Facebook. Right away we’re meant to dislike this person, as his response to his girlfriend dumping him for being an asshole is to write malicious comments about her on his blog while simultaneously creating a website that allows students to rate the attractiveness of Harvard female undergrads. But it’s not simply his actions that make this portrayal unlikable. It’s everything about Zuckerberg. Throughout the movie he carries himself with a superior air around him; as if he believes he’s better then everyone around him. To him he’s above the rules of others and can do whatever he wants to get ahead, even if it screws over others. But it would be unfair to call him a sociopath, as he clearly does care about others and what they think about him. Eisenberg was very good in his portrayal of Zuckerberg, erasing all previous images of the very likeable characters he’s played in the past.
The story of how Facebook came about is shrouded in controversy, which the film goes to great lengths to address. After Zuckerberg’s Harvard attractiveness stunt he’s approached by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (hilariously played by Armie Hammer in both roles) about helping them set up a Harvard social network called Harvard Connection. Mark agrees to help them, then goes off and creates his own Harvard social network with his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). They launch their website, called TheFaceBook, and it is an immediate hit. Cameron and Tyler are furious since Mark not only stole their idea but intentionally led them on that he was working on their project so he guaranteed that his site would be launched first. The twins, along with their business partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) decide they will not stand for this atrocity and begin taking legal action against Zuckerberg. While this goes on the website grows to include other Northeast schools. The site catches the attention of Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who is brought on as a consultant. As Mark and Sean grow closer Eduardo begins to slowly become shut out of the project.
Throughout the film the action shifts to two depositions involving lawsuits against Zuckerberg. The first is by the Winklevoss twins and Narendra, who are suing Zuckerberg for stealing their idea. The second is by Saverin, who is suing Zuckerberg as a result of a much deeper betrayal. I won’t reveal what it is exactly, only that by the time it comes up Garfield’s character can’t even look at Zuckerberg.
The movie runs at a brisk pace without feeling rushed or to speedy. While some have said the end of the film doesn’t offer any real closure that’s entirely the point. This isn’t the story of these character’s lives, but rather a specific time in their lives. Their stories are still being written, so they should be incomplete.
Overall this was a very enjoyable movie to see. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those why have a Facebook page. In some ways, you owe it to yourselves to see how your beloved social network came about.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Let Me In: A Remake Worth The Price Of Admission
In general remakes of existing films are often met with suspicion and groans. The reason being is that in some ways films that are remakes can’t catch a break. If the remake stays to close to the story and shooting style of the original people ask why a remake was needed in the first place. And if the opposite approach is taken, in which a new story is created out of the existing picture, people complain that it destroys the credibility of the original film and ruins it.
Remakes that get the most scorn however are Americanized remakes of foreign films. The reason being is that films from other countries have a certain style and flavor of their own. Often times the qualities of the original will get lost in translation when it is remade by a filmmaker from a different country. Luckily the movie Let Me In manages to pull off the impossible, in that it is able to stand on its own two feet while keeping the magic of the original film intact.
Let Me In, based on the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, tells the story of young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a lonely 12 year old boy living in 1980’s New Mexico. In addition to having an absentee father and an emotionally distant mother he is a frequent target of bullies, often being physically abused and taughtingly referred to as a girl. One day two new neighbors move into his building: a young girl named Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her guardian (Richard Jenkins). The two develop a deep friendship, often leaning on each other for support. In the meantime a string of murders hit the town, with the dead victims found drained of their blood. This is directly connected to Abby, for in actuality she is a centauries old vampire who needs blood to survive.
While Let Me In is similar to its predecessor it’s not a shot for shot remake. Rather it is another interpretation of the original source material (the first movie was based on a novel). Some changes work quite well, like Owen realizing danger more quickly in this version and the removal of a few useless secondary characters. Other changes I found myself less thrilled with. The biggest change is how Abby’s vampirism is portrayed. In the Swedish film they were very subtle in showing her vampire nature. In this movie she physically transforms into an actual monster when she feeds. The effects and CGI are over done and take away from the sympathy of the character. It’s hard enough for the audience to root for this judicial killer. Adding a bunch of effects to further show her inhumanness makes this task all the more harder.
Like the previous film the strongest aspect of this movie are the two leads. Kodi Smit-McPhee brings sympathy and understanding to his role, even when he takes a knife and imagines threatening his enemies. Chloë Grace Moretz again plays an engaging character that is both tough and vulnerable, with more emphasis put on the vulnerability this time. But as strong as their characters are individually it is the chemistry they have together that is the real magic of the movie. The essence of the overall story is the unique friendship children form, with one of those children happening to be a vampire. And both of the young actors invoke it perfectly.
While I myself am often pessimistic about remakes, I must admit I was won over by this movie. By all means go out and rent the original. But don’t let the fact that it is as remake stop you from seeing Let Me In.
Remakes that get the most scorn however are Americanized remakes of foreign films. The reason being is that films from other countries have a certain style and flavor of their own. Often times the qualities of the original will get lost in translation when it is remade by a filmmaker from a different country. Luckily the movie Let Me In manages to pull off the impossible, in that it is able to stand on its own two feet while keeping the magic of the original film intact.
Let Me In, based on the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, tells the story of young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a lonely 12 year old boy living in 1980’s New Mexico. In addition to having an absentee father and an emotionally distant mother he is a frequent target of bullies, often being physically abused and taughtingly referred to as a girl. One day two new neighbors move into his building: a young girl named Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz) and her guardian (Richard Jenkins). The two develop a deep friendship, often leaning on each other for support. In the meantime a string of murders hit the town, with the dead victims found drained of their blood. This is directly connected to Abby, for in actuality she is a centauries old vampire who needs blood to survive.
While Let Me In is similar to its predecessor it’s not a shot for shot remake. Rather it is another interpretation of the original source material (the first movie was based on a novel). Some changes work quite well, like Owen realizing danger more quickly in this version and the removal of a few useless secondary characters. Other changes I found myself less thrilled with. The biggest change is how Abby’s vampirism is portrayed. In the Swedish film they were very subtle in showing her vampire nature. In this movie she physically transforms into an actual monster when she feeds. The effects and CGI are over done and take away from the sympathy of the character. It’s hard enough for the audience to root for this judicial killer. Adding a bunch of effects to further show her inhumanness makes this task all the more harder.
Like the previous film the strongest aspect of this movie are the two leads. Kodi Smit-McPhee brings sympathy and understanding to his role, even when he takes a knife and imagines threatening his enemies. Chloë Grace Moretz again plays an engaging character that is both tough and vulnerable, with more emphasis put on the vulnerability this time. But as strong as their characters are individually it is the chemistry they have together that is the real magic of the movie. The essence of the overall story is the unique friendship children form, with one of those children happening to be a vampire. And both of the young actors invoke it perfectly.
While I myself am often pessimistic about remakes, I must admit I was won over by this movie. By all means go out and rent the original. But don’t let the fact that it is as remake stop you from seeing Let Me In.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Easy A is Easily One of the Best Films of the Year.
While there have been many instances of taking a classic piece of literature and reimagining it in a modern setting (10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, Cruel Intentions), few have the charm and wit that accompany Easy A. Rather then just a modern rehash of the novel "The Scarlet Letter" it’s a social commentary on young people’s obsession with promiscuity, told in the funniest way possible by the only harlot who’s never even had her first kiss. It’s a delightful romp with sharp dialogue and strong performances, in particular Emma Stone as the title character.
Stone starts as Olive, a whip smart high schooler who is essentially a nobody. When her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka of the new series Hellcats) asks her how she spent her weekend Olive lies and says she spent the entire weekend with her non-existent college boyfriend (how she actually spent the weekend is so wonderfully lame that you instantly fall in love with her). Rhiannon thinks this means Olive lost her virginity and mere moments later the rumor has been facebooked, e-mailed and twittered to everyone at school. Soon afterwards her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) asks her if he can claim the two of them had sex so he won’t be picked on by his homophobic classmates. She agrees and ends up creating a business out of it, having guys give her gift cards in exchange for them saying she slept with them. But things soon grow out of control, leaving Olive trying to figure out how she can regain her old life back.
This is the first time Emma Stone has headlined a movie, having previously played supporting roles in Zombieland and Superbad. And with this single role she’s proven she deserves the title of leading lady. She manages to completely charm the audience with her combination of awkward gusto and shark wit. In some ways she is almost too charming for her role, as one wonders how a woman like her could ever go unnoticed.
The supporting cast is also very enjoyable to watch. Some other actors of note are Amanda Bynes as the head of the school Christian group who makes it her mission to get Olive out of school, Penn Badgley as the most non-judgmental school mascot around, and Thomas Haden Church as the beloved teacher who’s teaching "The Scarlet Letter" in his class. In addition we have Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s free spirited parents, the only two people in the world who let their daughter do whatever she wants while at the same time raising a well adjusted studious person.
In addition to the performances the movie is filled with clever and hilarious dialogue. A couple of gems I’ll reveal to wet your appetite are “What is it with gay men and lady parts? Do you think I have a Gnome down there?” and “If the Good Lord had wanted Micah to graduate, he would have given him the right answers.”
I’ll avoid the painfully obvious way of saying this film is a winner. Simply put this is a movie you should go out and see right away. You’ll laugh, you’ll smile, you might just learn a thing or two. Go see Easy A
Stone starts as Olive, a whip smart high schooler who is essentially a nobody. When her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka of the new series Hellcats) asks her how she spent her weekend Olive lies and says she spent the entire weekend with her non-existent college boyfriend (how she actually spent the weekend is so wonderfully lame that you instantly fall in love with her). Rhiannon thinks this means Olive lost her virginity and mere moments later the rumor has been facebooked, e-mailed and twittered to everyone at school. Soon afterwards her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) asks her if he can claim the two of them had sex so he won’t be picked on by his homophobic classmates. She agrees and ends up creating a business out of it, having guys give her gift cards in exchange for them saying she slept with them. But things soon grow out of control, leaving Olive trying to figure out how she can regain her old life back.
This is the first time Emma Stone has headlined a movie, having previously played supporting roles in Zombieland and Superbad. And with this single role she’s proven she deserves the title of leading lady. She manages to completely charm the audience with her combination of awkward gusto and shark wit. In some ways she is almost too charming for her role, as one wonders how a woman like her could ever go unnoticed.
The supporting cast is also very enjoyable to watch. Some other actors of note are Amanda Bynes as the head of the school Christian group who makes it her mission to get Olive out of school, Penn Badgley as the most non-judgmental school mascot around, and Thomas Haden Church as the beloved teacher who’s teaching "The Scarlet Letter" in his class. In addition we have Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as Olive’s free spirited parents, the only two people in the world who let their daughter do whatever she wants while at the same time raising a well adjusted studious person.
In addition to the performances the movie is filled with clever and hilarious dialogue. A couple of gems I’ll reveal to wet your appetite are “What is it with gay men and lady parts? Do you think I have a Gnome down there?” and “If the Good Lord had wanted Micah to graduate, he would have given him the right answers.”
I’ll avoid the painfully obvious way of saying this film is a winner. Simply put this is a movie you should go out and see right away. You’ll laugh, you’ll smile, you might just learn a thing or two. Go see Easy A
Monday, August 23, 2010
Piranha 3D: The Perfect Mindless Summer Movie
Not every movie that is made is destined be an award winning piece of high art. Some are meant to be down and dirty, using the lowest common denominators of excessive violence, gore, sex and nudity in order to bring in an audience. While many times the result is sad and exploitative, occasionally a movie has so much of these elements in it that it becomes an enjoyable outing. Your mind will not grow from seeing the movie, but you will have a fun time.
Piranha 3D might redefine the definition of a mindless summer movie. It has nothing intelligent to say to its audience. And it’s so full of plot holes one wonders if the script was written over a drunken weekend. The plot itself is as flimsy as they come: an earthquake releases thousands of prehistoric piranhas into a lake during spring break, where hundreds of horny college students have invaded a small lakeside town. Elisabeth Shue plays the town sheriff who’s trying to get everyone out of the lake, Jerry O’Connell plays the obnoxious host of a girls gone wild type series who hires the sheriff’s son (Steven R. McQueen) to find good filming locations, and Christopher Lloyd pops up as a crazed fish expert.
But none of that seems to matter. What matters is that there are many sights in this movie that have to be seen to be believed. Richard Dreyfuss singing “Show Me the Way to Go Home”. Two women performing an underwater nude ballet that lasts for three uninterrupted minutes. A man riding a jet ski and shooting at the piranha with a shotgun. A guy plowing into dozens of people as he tries to escape the carnage in a speedboat. A girl having her face ripped off by a propeller. A man’s severed penis eaten by a piranha and then spit back out (yes, this actually happens). If you think you’re being spoiled from these tidbits, don’t worry. There’s at least 50 other sights one will experience within this movie.
The movie is of course released in 3D, and the result is for the most part worth the extra admission. While no where near as strong as the 3D effects in Avatar, they aren’t fuzzy and unnecessary. Audiences will squirm all the more when flying body parts come flying out at you and the killer fish jump right in your face.
While I enjoy smart movies that make you think, I also see the value in turning your brain off and going for the ride at the cinema. And Piranha 3D is the most mindless enjoy the ride movie that’s been made in years. Go out and see it. You might hate to admit it, but you’ll have a good time.
Piranha 3D might redefine the definition of a mindless summer movie. It has nothing intelligent to say to its audience. And it’s so full of plot holes one wonders if the script was written over a drunken weekend. The plot itself is as flimsy as they come: an earthquake releases thousands of prehistoric piranhas into a lake during spring break, where hundreds of horny college students have invaded a small lakeside town. Elisabeth Shue plays the town sheriff who’s trying to get everyone out of the lake, Jerry O’Connell plays the obnoxious host of a girls gone wild type series who hires the sheriff’s son (Steven R. McQueen) to find good filming locations, and Christopher Lloyd pops up as a crazed fish expert.
But none of that seems to matter. What matters is that there are many sights in this movie that have to be seen to be believed. Richard Dreyfuss singing “Show Me the Way to Go Home”. Two women performing an underwater nude ballet that lasts for three uninterrupted minutes. A man riding a jet ski and shooting at the piranha with a shotgun. A guy plowing into dozens of people as he tries to escape the carnage in a speedboat. A girl having her face ripped off by a propeller. A man’s severed penis eaten by a piranha and then spit back out (yes, this actually happens). If you think you’re being spoiled from these tidbits, don’t worry. There’s at least 50 other sights one will experience within this movie.
The movie is of course released in 3D, and the result is for the most part worth the extra admission. While no where near as strong as the 3D effects in Avatar, they aren’t fuzzy and unnecessary. Audiences will squirm all the more when flying body parts come flying out at you and the killer fish jump right in your face.
While I enjoy smart movies that make you think, I also see the value in turning your brain off and going for the ride at the cinema. And Piranha 3D is the most mindless enjoy the ride movie that’s been made in years. Go out and see it. You might hate to admit it, but you’ll have a good time.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Be a good little Pilgrim and see this Movie
While many movies try to create the nostalgia for classic video games and comic books through references and in-jokes, few movies truly capture the feeling of actually being in a classic video game or comic book. It’s not hard to see why, since they're two very different visual forms of story telling. But Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the very equivalent these two mediums fused together and turned into a movie. To the point in where it’s as if someone videotaped a video game being played and put the footage on screen. The result is a quirky and silly ride that’s a complete laugh riot.
Based on the Scott Pilgrim comic series, the film follows Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), an apathetic hipster slacker who plays bass for the up and coming band Sex Bob-omb. He shares a apartment with his better off and annoyingly sarcastic gay roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and is dating an impressionable high schooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), though their relationship is very one sided as she adores him and he sees her more as someone he can simply call a girlfriend. At a party one night he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a cool pink haired girl from New York who keeps appearing in his dreams. He instantly falls for her and awkwardly pursues her, where eventually she starts to like him back. But at a battle of the bands event he’s attacked by Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), the first of Ramona’s exes. After an intense fight, in which Matthew is reduced to coins, Ramona informs Scott that in order for them to date he will have to defeat her seven evil exes. A few of the other exes are the “vegan power” aided Todd (Brandon Routh), the angry half ninja Roxie (Mae Whitman) and the egotistical mastermind Gideon (Jason Schwartzman).
As previously stated this movie feels as if you’re in the world of a video game. Information bars appear whenever a new character is introduced. Characters move from one vastly different location to another in mid conversation. The fights are extremely exaggerated, with fighters being punched thirty feet into the air and getting up with out a scratch, the exes and Scott having super human powers, and Scott getting prizes and power-ups whenever an ex is defeated. It makes for a very fun and zany ride.
Though Michael Cera again plays a hapless geeky guy, this time he adds a bit of a jerk quality to his performance. Though the difference is subtle, it’s nice to see a departure from his usual repertoire. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays her role mysteriously cool, never letting us entirely in but always leaving us wanting more. The two standouts though, and again proving the rule that the supporting characters are usually the most memorable, are Kieran Culkin as Wallace and Ellen Wong as Knives Chau. Culkin is delightfully selfish, displaying a charm that makes the audience root for him even when he’s a complete dick. And Wong is a real treat. Her ability to seamlessly go from sweetly excitable to obsessively starkerish is adorable to watch. Hopefully we see more of this bubbly actress in the near future.
All in all Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a huge treat for movie goers to experience. The only bad thing about the movie is that more people aren’t gong to see it. Hopefully people realize the ride of the summer they are missing and go see this movie. You won’t be disappointed.
Based on the Scott Pilgrim comic series, the film follows Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), an apathetic hipster slacker who plays bass for the up and coming band Sex Bob-omb. He shares a apartment with his better off and annoyingly sarcastic gay roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and is dating an impressionable high schooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), though their relationship is very one sided as she adores him and he sees her more as someone he can simply call a girlfriend. At a party one night he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a cool pink haired girl from New York who keeps appearing in his dreams. He instantly falls for her and awkwardly pursues her, where eventually she starts to like him back. But at a battle of the bands event he’s attacked by Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), the first of Ramona’s exes. After an intense fight, in which Matthew is reduced to coins, Ramona informs Scott that in order for them to date he will have to defeat her seven evil exes. A few of the other exes are the “vegan power” aided Todd (Brandon Routh), the angry half ninja Roxie (Mae Whitman) and the egotistical mastermind Gideon (Jason Schwartzman).
As previously stated this movie feels as if you’re in the world of a video game. Information bars appear whenever a new character is introduced. Characters move from one vastly different location to another in mid conversation. The fights are extremely exaggerated, with fighters being punched thirty feet into the air and getting up with out a scratch, the exes and Scott having super human powers, and Scott getting prizes and power-ups whenever an ex is defeated. It makes for a very fun and zany ride.
Though Michael Cera again plays a hapless geeky guy, this time he adds a bit of a jerk quality to his performance. Though the difference is subtle, it’s nice to see a departure from his usual repertoire. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays her role mysteriously cool, never letting us entirely in but always leaving us wanting more. The two standouts though, and again proving the rule that the supporting characters are usually the most memorable, are Kieran Culkin as Wallace and Ellen Wong as Knives Chau. Culkin is delightfully selfish, displaying a charm that makes the audience root for him even when he’s a complete dick. And Wong is a real treat. Her ability to seamlessly go from sweetly excitable to obsessively starkerish is adorable to watch. Hopefully we see more of this bubbly actress in the near future.
All in all Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a huge treat for movie goers to experience. The only bad thing about the movie is that more people aren’t gong to see it. Hopefully people realize the ride of the summer they are missing and go see this movie. You won’t be disappointed.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Inception: A Head Trip That's Worth The Ride
Just as Writer/Director Christopher Nolan redefined the summer movie two years ago with The Dark Knight, he does so again with his newest film Inception. Far from a mindless popcorn movie, it’s the very example of a film that needs to be viewed multiple times in order to fully understand the complex ideas and visions that are being presented.
Although the ideas and plot points are complicated it in no way diminishes one’s ability to enjoy this amazing film. It’s without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. A solid script and wonderful directing, combined with strong performances and masterful editing, it is a much needed life raft in this summer’s sea of mediocre to lackluster movies.
The movie follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who specializes in entering people’s dreams and stealing ideas they have hidden within their subconscious minds. He has been living abroad for an undisclosed amount of time after an incident involving his former wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) forced him to flee America. He is approached by a shady businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) who offers him a deal. If he can subconsciously convince the son of a former business rival (Cillian Murphy) to dissolve his father’s company Saito will make arrangements for Cobb to return home. Cobb is reluctant to take the job since “inception”, the creation of an ideal within one’s mind, is almost impossible to replicate by an outside influence. But he takes the job in order to go home and see his children again. He assembles a team, which includes trusted point man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and prodigy dream building architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), and together they work to accomplish the mission.
The film deals with the many different aspects of dreams we often wonder about and ask ourselves, including how long time lasts in a dream, at what point do we begin to remember our dreams, and what can cause us to wake up from a dream. But the film goes even further in the nature of our dreams and subconscious and addresses even more unlikely scenarios, such as how the mind would react if it realized an outside aspect was altering its reality. The concept of the movie I found most intriguing was the different levels of dreams, in which one can dive deeper within someone’s subconscious and enter dreams within a dream. The deeper one goes within the layers of dreams the harder it is to distinguish if one is in the real world or the dream world. It is this aspect that changes the difficulty of the mission in ways the team couldn’t imagine was possible.
This intelligent thriller will certainly be high on many people’s lists of must see movies for 2010. It is a jolting thrill ride that will have people talking for days to come. So forget the movies about angsty vampires and element bending children. For a truly satisfying cinema experience, see Inception.
Although the ideas and plot points are complicated it in no way diminishes one’s ability to enjoy this amazing film. It’s without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. A solid script and wonderful directing, combined with strong performances and masterful editing, it is a much needed life raft in this summer’s sea of mediocre to lackluster movies.
The movie follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who specializes in entering people’s dreams and stealing ideas they have hidden within their subconscious minds. He has been living abroad for an undisclosed amount of time after an incident involving his former wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) forced him to flee America. He is approached by a shady businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) who offers him a deal. If he can subconsciously convince the son of a former business rival (Cillian Murphy) to dissolve his father’s company Saito will make arrangements for Cobb to return home. Cobb is reluctant to take the job since “inception”, the creation of an ideal within one’s mind, is almost impossible to replicate by an outside influence. But he takes the job in order to go home and see his children again. He assembles a team, which includes trusted point man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and prodigy dream building architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), and together they work to accomplish the mission.
The film deals with the many different aspects of dreams we often wonder about and ask ourselves, including how long time lasts in a dream, at what point do we begin to remember our dreams, and what can cause us to wake up from a dream. But the film goes even further in the nature of our dreams and subconscious and addresses even more unlikely scenarios, such as how the mind would react if it realized an outside aspect was altering its reality. The concept of the movie I found most intriguing was the different levels of dreams, in which one can dive deeper within someone’s subconscious and enter dreams within a dream. The deeper one goes within the layers of dreams the harder it is to distinguish if one is in the real world or the dream world. It is this aspect that changes the difficulty of the mission in ways the team couldn’t imagine was possible.
This intelligent thriller will certainly be high on many people’s lists of must see movies for 2010. It is a jolting thrill ride that will have people talking for days to come. So forget the movies about angsty vampires and element bending children. For a truly satisfying cinema experience, see Inception.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Take a clichéd theme and remove the clichés and you get Splice
The theme of using genetics to play God and create new life, and then have everything go terribly wrong, is hardly new to movies. From Jurassic Park to Species to Godsend to Deep Blue Sea, scientists creating and tampering with life and having everything go to hell has been done so many times before that any attempt to make a similar themed movie usually gets a “why bother” from people. The only way to have this movie theme executed successfully is if we take what we’ve seen before and offer a fresh approach to the subject. Which is what works best for the movie Splice. Everything we’ve previously seen in genetic tampering movies is taken here and used in very unexpected ways. This makes for an original and enjoyable movie.
Splice starts Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as Clive and Elsa, two genetic scientists who’ve been creating new life forms through gene slicing in order to create new protein strains that can be used to cure diseases. After successfully creating two worm like hybrids Elsa wants to create a hybrid that has human DNA in it. When the company they work for forbids it Elsa and Clive decide to secretly do it anyway, reasoning that they will destroy the creature before it ever carries to term. But once they fuse the DNA the creature is born within hours and forms far faster then they ever dreamed it could. First it resembles an armless rodent with a stinger. But after a few days it starts to look more human, resembling a hairless girl with impossibly large eyes, backwards jointed legs and a tail with a stinger at the end. Elsa begins to bond with the creature, naming it Dren and treating it like a child. Within a month Dren grows into an intelligent and curious adult sized woman (Delphine Chanéac) and is moved to Elsa’s old family barn for her protection. As time goes on the three individuals form a sick and twisted family unit, with Clive disgusted with what they have done and yet also protective towards Dren, Elsa becoming colder and more stern towards her surrogate daughter, and Dren yearning to explore and experience the world beyond her prison.
The obvious theme of this movie is not to mess with Mother Nature, because nature is unstable and unpredictable. This is shown early on when a presentation of Clive and Elsa’s original experiment goes horrifically wrong. The theme is explored even more so in Dren and how she grows and develops, both physically and mentally. She begins to communicate her frustration at being isolated and how she wants to explore the outside world. This frustration at her limited options in life has an unexpected parallel with many young people today, for like Dren many of us are trapped within the limitations of our own lives brought on by shrinking outside advantages.
What makes this movie work so well is that it avoids most of the clichés one would expect this kind of movie would have. While Clive originally is disgusted with Dren and comes close to killing her he later begins to truly care for the wellbeing of the creature. And while audiences would expect Elsa to become a mother like figure to Dren it’s harder to predict that she will become abusive and harsh towards her. What’s even more refreshing is how the character’s changing feelings (Clive’s caring and Elsa’s coldness) leads to each of them abusing Dren in very different but equally disturbing ways.
While both Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play their roles extremely well, the real standout of the cast would have to be Delphine Chanéac. Communicating only through chirps and having to act through prosthetics and CGI she manages to create an engaging character audiences will feel real sympathy for. As she explores her limited world she conveys such wondrous excitement at her surroundings. But as she struggles to understand herself and her building frustrations her features contort and compress to clearly show off her feelings. By using her body to express her feelings she communicates more clearly then if she could form cohesive words.
While it is a good movie it is by no means perfect. The last fifteen minutes makes sure that will never happen. While I can’t reveal what happens without spoiling everything I will say that it goes from a disturbing thoughtful thriller into an almost campy by the numbers horror clichéd mess. What makes the ending worse is that it went so out of its way to avoid clichés before it reached the end. It’s almost as if the writer and director grew tired from all their previous work and went the lazy route with the ending.
But while the end of the journey is a bust, the lead up to it is anything but. If you are looking for a thoughtful and provocative sci-fi thriller, then Splice is one summer movie to see.
Splice starts Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as Clive and Elsa, two genetic scientists who’ve been creating new life forms through gene slicing in order to create new protein strains that can be used to cure diseases. After successfully creating two worm like hybrids Elsa wants to create a hybrid that has human DNA in it. When the company they work for forbids it Elsa and Clive decide to secretly do it anyway, reasoning that they will destroy the creature before it ever carries to term. But once they fuse the DNA the creature is born within hours and forms far faster then they ever dreamed it could. First it resembles an armless rodent with a stinger. But after a few days it starts to look more human, resembling a hairless girl with impossibly large eyes, backwards jointed legs and a tail with a stinger at the end. Elsa begins to bond with the creature, naming it Dren and treating it like a child. Within a month Dren grows into an intelligent and curious adult sized woman (Delphine Chanéac) and is moved to Elsa’s old family barn for her protection. As time goes on the three individuals form a sick and twisted family unit, with Clive disgusted with what they have done and yet also protective towards Dren, Elsa becoming colder and more stern towards her surrogate daughter, and Dren yearning to explore and experience the world beyond her prison.
The obvious theme of this movie is not to mess with Mother Nature, because nature is unstable and unpredictable. This is shown early on when a presentation of Clive and Elsa’s original experiment goes horrifically wrong. The theme is explored even more so in Dren and how she grows and develops, both physically and mentally. She begins to communicate her frustration at being isolated and how she wants to explore the outside world. This frustration at her limited options in life has an unexpected parallel with many young people today, for like Dren many of us are trapped within the limitations of our own lives brought on by shrinking outside advantages.
What makes this movie work so well is that it avoids most of the clichés one would expect this kind of movie would have. While Clive originally is disgusted with Dren and comes close to killing her he later begins to truly care for the wellbeing of the creature. And while audiences would expect Elsa to become a mother like figure to Dren it’s harder to predict that she will become abusive and harsh towards her. What’s even more refreshing is how the character’s changing feelings (Clive’s caring and Elsa’s coldness) leads to each of them abusing Dren in very different but equally disturbing ways.
While both Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley play their roles extremely well, the real standout of the cast would have to be Delphine Chanéac. Communicating only through chirps and having to act through prosthetics and CGI she manages to create an engaging character audiences will feel real sympathy for. As she explores her limited world she conveys such wondrous excitement at her surroundings. But as she struggles to understand herself and her building frustrations her features contort and compress to clearly show off her feelings. By using her body to express her feelings she communicates more clearly then if she could form cohesive words.
While it is a good movie it is by no means perfect. The last fifteen minutes makes sure that will never happen. While I can’t reveal what happens without spoiling everything I will say that it goes from a disturbing thoughtful thriller into an almost campy by the numbers horror clichéd mess. What makes the ending worse is that it went so out of its way to avoid clichés before it reached the end. It’s almost as if the writer and director grew tired from all their previous work and went the lazy route with the ending.
But while the end of the journey is a bust, the lead up to it is anything but. If you are looking for a thoughtful and provocative sci-fi thriller, then Splice is one summer movie to see.
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