Room 237

Four out of Four Stars

When you think of The Shining, what first comes to mind? Is it the mass genocide of Native Americans, the Apollo Moon landing, or Jack Nicholson smashing in a door shouting “Here’s Johnny”? Most of you would think of the third example, but to the commentators/die-hard fans of The Shining, there is more to the picture than meets the eye in the documentary Room 237. Directed by Rodney Ascher, the film is a series of clips of The Shining narrated by five fans of the film and talk about their first time seeing the film, as well as dissect Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic.                                                                                   

                  

The theories posed by the five commentators, who we do not see throughout the documentary, are wild and unique since Kubrick was infamous for his obsessive compulsive eye for detail and did not reflect the details over his films during interviews leaving many forms of speculation.  One of the commentators shows two copies of the film; a copy being played from beginning to end and another copy being played from the end of the film to the beginning to point out the connection between Hitler and Jack Nicholson’s character. Another commentator discusses how The Shining is an overarching metaphor over the slaughter of Native Americans based on the décor of the Overlook Hotel, its history of being built during an attack by Native Americans, and how native American symbols can be seen during the shining sequence between Danny (Danny Lloyd) and Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers).        

        

Some of the theories go beyond the pale of rational fact, yet the speculation into a film that Kubrick rarely commented on makes the documentary a worthwhile watch for anyone who loves The Shining, or is fascinated in film studies as BBC film critic Mark Kermode gave Room 237 its subtitle, “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Film Studies.”  

Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

Roger Ebert, the Pulitzer-Prize winning film critic who coined the phrase "Two Thumbs Up," has died at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer. For over 40 years, Ebert's reviews have been seen in the pages of the Chicago Sun Times as well as on television, opposite Gene Siskel and Richard Roeper. Ebert's reviews have been collected and published in books, such as "The Great Movies" and "Why Your Movie Sucks." In addition to his film reviews, he has provided the audio commentary on seminal classics like Citizen Kane and Crumb.

In 2004, Ebert underwent radiation treatment but continued to write and cover films and film festivals. In 2006, a blood vessel burst near his salivary gland and he was unable to speak. By 2007, he went back in the spotlight and was able to communicate through his Mac computer. He continued reviewing movies through weekly blogs and reviews until yesterday in which he composed his last blog for the Chicago Sun Times entitled "My Leave of Presence." He is survived by his wife of over 20 years, Chaz, and his legendary reviews. His work and his excitement about movies will live on for generations of film lovers, such as myself.      

Phil Spector

2 out of 4 Stars

In the bleak late-winter of 3D animated movies and revamped fairy tales on the big screen, the television is the only refuge to see worthwhile films. However, there are hits and misses like David Mamet’s made for television movie on the murder trial of Phil Spector. A fictional account of the 2003 killing of Lana Clarkson, Phil Spector examines the eccentricity of one of the most notorious and celebrated music producers and his relationship with his lawyer, Linda Kenney Baden. Mamet has gone on record over the past year believing that Phil Spector was convicted based on his infamy and that Clarkson committed suicide in his home and it is evident in his script that resembles another generic prime-time courtroom drama.  What seemed like a great cast and script falls short to a long episode of Law and Order.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

There are shades of interest in Al Pacino’s performance as Phil Spector, not just for the different hairdos that he dons on screen. Pacino emulates Spector based on the documentary, The Agony and the Ecstasy, by rambling on about fame and being prosecuted based on his contribution to rock music. The only time we see shades of Phil Spector’s past is when he talks about Freud in a recording studio and wields a gun at his musicians.  Besides that, Pacino’s performance is more worthy on stage rather than on film.                                                                                                                                                   Helen Mirren is no stranger to acting in crime-based television programs, such as Prime Suspect. Her performance as Baden is no Jane Tennison or Queen Elizabeth; it is more of an objective bystander caught between a rock and a legally ethical hard place.  However, it is fascinating to see her and Pacino interact onscreen despite working with a flimsy script. David Mamet has crafted some of the most edgy and unapologetic stories about hubris and con artists, such as Glengarry Glen Ross and House of Games, yet he falls short of meeting the expectations of his previous canon of films and plays with Phil Spector.   

Oscar Noms and Predictions

It seems that things have changed this year during award season as the Academy Award nominations were announced before the Golden Globes were handed out. Usually, the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards are the indicators over which films and actors will get nominated for the nude, golden man named Oscar. Once again, I will predict the winners and moan over who got snubbed by the Academy.

Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams - The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

Predicted Winner: Anne Hathaway may win for her performance in Les Miserables since she has won almost every award in the past month, as well as praise for her role as Fantine.

Personal Favorites: Sally Field could be a surprise winner since she gave a praise-worthy performance as Mary Todd Lincoln, yet she already has two Oscars under her belt. Also, I think Amy Adams should win for her surprisingly provocative and audacious performance as Peggy Dodd in The Master; under her sugary exterior is a woman who lusts for power.

Best Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained

Predicted Winner: This is a difficult choice since every actor already has an Oscar and each of them have given excellent performances this past year. Waltz was funny and flamboyant in Django Unchained, yet he's been sweeping the awards this past month, with the exception of the Critics' Choice Award. Hoffman received praise at the Venice Film Festival and Critics' Choice Award emulating Orson Welles in The Master. De Niro's role as an OCD bookie in Silver Linings Playbook was the first great performance he has given in the last fifteen years. Jones gave a dignified and subtle performance as Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln. As for Alan Arkin, he managed to bring the laughs amidst the suspenseful Argo as a characture to every major Hollywood producer.

Small Rant: Despite the great performances given this past year in the Supporting Actor category, it would have been nice to see Javier Bardem get a nod for his role as Silvo in Skyfall, or Dwight Henry as the ailing father to Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild.  

Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linigns Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Predicted Winner: It is neck to neck between Chastain and Lawarence as they both gave stand out performances. Jennifer Lawrence emulated Gena Rowlands with a twist of sexiness as Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook. However, Jessica Chastain's performance as Maya in Zero Dark Thirty is nothing short of a triumph as you feel her determination and weariness over the ten year hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Say what you will about the film praising torture, it is a raw look at the insanity that is the War on Terror.

Best Actor:
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel-Day Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix -The Master
Denzel Washington- Flight

Predicted Winner: Daniel Day Lewis has this category under his thumb since he has received Best Actor awards from the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards leading to the conclusion that he could get Oscar number three for his triumphant role as Honest Abe. However, Joaquin Phoenix's role as Freddie Quell is provocative and wild in The Master, as he portrays a boozed and sex-crazed WWII veteran drifting aimlessly around the country. Either way, I would be surprised if any of the other nominees would beat Day-Lewis or Phoenix. When will there be another tie? It's been 45 years, Academy, spread the gold around!

Best Director:
Michael Haneke - Amour
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell- Silver Linings Playbook
Stephen Spielberg - Lincoln
Benh Zietlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

This category is the crowning stool in the septic tank! I am pulling my hair out and scratching my head over the idiocy of the Academy snubbing Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director nominations, and I'm not alone if you consider Ben Affleck's acceptance speech for Best Director at the Critics' Choice  Awards. The only director I'm rooting for in this category is Benh Zietlin for his brilliant directorial debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild. However, the Academy likes to play safe and will probably honor Spielberg for Best Director for the third time since Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, despite the fact that it is not his best film.

Best Picture:
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Picture: Argo or Zero Dark Thirty. Both were snubbed in the Best Director category, yet both films were the best films of the previous year. I would be hard pressed to see either one of these films getting passed over. If that's the case, the Oscars can, in the words of Alan Arkin, "Argo screw themselves!"    
          

Silver Linings Playbook

Leonard Cohen once wrote, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” In his new film, Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell focuses on the process of finding the light through the eyes of two people living on the edges of sanity. Pat is a former history teacher, recently discharged from a mental institution and living with his football fanatic father and mother. His mood swings and pining over his ex-wife are subdued when he comes across someone as equally unhinged as him. Enter Tiffany, a young widow who finds solace in sex and dancing and manages to strike a roller-coaster of a friendship with Pat. There unhinged emotions and attitude are a match made in Freudian heaven as they express their mental wounds through dancing and non-filtered dialogue.

David O. Russell is no stranger to looking at dysfunctional families if you look at his previous work; from the incestuous Spanking the Monkey, the existential I (Heart) Huckabees, and the Oedipal boxing match that is The Fighter. In Silver Linings Playbook, he combines the raw, mentally straining look at working-class families in a similar manner that John Cassavetes did with A Woman Under the Influence. Russell’s dialogue, based on Matthew Quick’s novel, is raw, funny, and poignant and is expressed by a brilliant cast.

Bradley Cooper gives an incredible performance as Pat as his emotions bob and weave through every breath of dialogue and idiosyncratic movement, which is a sigh of relief after the slew of unbearable films he has worked on in the past three years. Jennifer Lawrence is a hybrid of Audrey Hepburn and Gena Rowlands as she delivers an unforgettable performance as Tiffany. Only 22, she has managed to deliver a slew of amazing performances from Winter’s Bone to The Hunger Games. Robert De Niro gives his best performance in almost twenty years as Pat’s father, a Philadelphia Eagles fan who tries to bond with his son.

In addition to the leading actors, the supporting cast was equally superb. John Ortiz (Jack Goes Boating) is funny and charming as Pat’s heartfelt friend who confides in Pat over the frustration of his marriage. Chris Tucker gives an unforgettable performance as Danny, Pat’s friend from the mental institution, who adds the humor amidst the bleakness in Pat’s life. Despite the film ending as an atypical romantic-comedy, it is the performances by Cooper, Lawrence, and De Niro that make Silver Linings Playbook a pleasure to watch.                

Three out of Four Stars 

Zero Dark Thirty

Four out of Four Stars

On May 2^nd, 2011, President Obama and the CIA confirmed that Osama bin Laden was successfully terminated during Operation Geronimo, the raid orchestrated by Seal Team Six.  The CIA’s ceaseless attempts at tracking down Bin Laden and the raid on his Abbottabad compound is captured by Kathryn Bigelow in her latest film, Zero Dark Thirty. Based on the research conducted by screenwriter/journalist, Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty follows Maya (Jessica Chastain), a CIA operative and her decade long search for the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.

 Despite the recent controversy the film has received by Senator John McCain and others over the dramatization of CIA’s use of torture to obtain information, it is necessary to see both sides of the ethical coin. As Neil Gaiman once wrote, “There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right.” The names of those involved in capturing Bin Laden are changed to protect their anonymity, despite the recent succession of books and first-hand accounts of Operation Geronimo.

Zero Dark Thirty is a film set in three acts: the CIA’s actions after 9/11, Maya’s obsession into tracking down Bin Laden despite the shadow of doubt by her superiors, and the raid on Bin Laden’s compound. Boal’s script and Bigelow’s vérité-styled camera leave you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Bigelow and Boal collaborated together on The Hurt Locker four years earlier by focusing on man’s obsession with war. In Zero Dark Thirty, Bigelow and Boal show war through the eyes of those behind the desk and on the front lines.

Jessica Chastain’s performance as Maya is astonishing as she gives a voice to the unknown operative involved in taking down Bin Laden. In the past two years, Chastain has delivered a succession of outstanding performances; from the lovable Celia Foote in The Help to the ethereal mother in Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. Her performance in Zero Dark Thirty is intense and bold as it matches up with Jodie Foster’s performance in The Silence of the Lambs; it is, by far, the best performance of the year.

Zero Dark Thirty is not a guts-for-glory film like Rambo, or an anti-war tissue-grabber like Platoon; it is a neutral, yet suspenseful, view of global terrorism. The last thirty minutes of the film leaves you glued to the screen, but it’s the close-up on Chastain’s face that symbolizes the weariness of war and the uncertainty over the end of the War on Terror.                     

Lincoln

 
For almost twenty years, Steven Spielberg tried to bring the life of Abraham Lincoln on the big screen; now, he has succeeded with his sprawling two and a half hour depiction of the last three months of Lincoln's presidency. The first shots of the film are a montage of soldiers being bayoneted and pummeled into the muddy ground as the Civil War is at its peak in January of 1865. However, do not expect a drawn-out battle sequence as in Saving Private Ryan as Spielberg focuses on the nation's divide and bitterness towards Lincoln (Daniel-Day Lewis) as he tries to pass the 13th Amendment, which would abolish slavery. While not sitting with his staff trying to get the pro-slavery Democrats trying to side with him, Lincoln is trying to be a dutiful father and husband to his two surviving sons and his wife, Mary Todd (Sally Field) as she is still in shock over the death of their son, William.

Spielberg reunites with Pulitzer-playwright, Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Munich), as his prose is as eloquent as the history he compresses into his screenplay, which is thanks to the research done by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Think of it as The West Wing set in the 19th Century. Spielberg also reunites with cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, as his use of shadows and piercing light reflect the period of time as well as act as a metaphor to the divide Lincoln stands between the Union and Confederacy. In addition to the screenplay and cinematography, John Williams' score (minimal compared to his past work) is stripped down and subtle in contrast to the boisterous activity thriving on Capitol Hill throughout the film.  

Lincoln has been portrayed in the past by such leading men as Henry Fonda and Hal Holbrook (who gives a great performance as Preston Blair), yet it is Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of the 16th President that stands out as the best. One score and seven years ago, Day-Lewis graced the screen with a canon of roles that cement him as the best actor since Jack Nicholson; from Christy Brown in My Left Foot to Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. His tenor voice and physical transformation into Abraham Lincoln is amazing as it is audacious.

Next to Day-Lewis, Sally Field shines as Mary Todd Lincoln as she veers in and out of her sanity when she is behind closed doors or anxiously observing the divided members of Congress. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a solid performance as Robert Lincoln, who is portrayed in the film as a historical Biff Lohman; stubborn and rebellious by going against his father's ambitions. Tommy Lee Jones is sensational as Thaddeus Stevens as he gives a tongue-lashing to Congress with such glee and gusto over the passing of the 13th Amendment.

Although Lincoln is not Steven Spielberg's greatest work, it is a visually descriptive look at American politics and humanity as was his 1997 film, Amistad. The story of Lincoln's life is well known, but it is the journey of seeing him at the peak of his presidency and his life depicted by Day-Lewis that makes Lincoln a memorable film.

Three out of Four Stars