In Review: Looper

DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY OF TIME TRAVEL, THIS REVIEW WILL BE VISIBLE 30 YEARS FROM NOW.

In Review: Argo

The Gist

One of the best films of 2012--if not the best, Argo is intense, thrilling and fulfilling. If anything, Argo further cements the belief that Ben Affleck is one of the most bankable directors of his generation, being an evenly paced movie with a very tight plot and pacing, all while maintaining a certain sense of reality and a storytelling that works.

The Good

• Extremely tight direction and storytelling
• Tense, rewarding, fulfilling cinematic experience
• Perfectly cast, each actor brought something good to the table
• Humorous but does not abandon the non-fiction nature of its source material 

The Bad

• Started off a bit slow
• Minimal use of score, though not really that bad

Synopsis

1980. Iran is in turmoil and a reasonable amount of hate towards America has been cried in the streets by its conservative Shi'ite Muslim residents, asking for the corrupt Shah America has been cradling in its shores. When the riot spilled over to the insides of the American embassy, and its residents seized as hostages by the civilians, 6 diplomats managed to avoid capture and secure a hiding place at the Canadian ambassador's residence, awaiting rescue from America. That or a public execution in streets of Tehran. Tony Mendez (Affleck), a CIA officer, is tasked with the impossible mission of extracting the diplomats. His idea: a sci-fi movie production, heavy in Middle Eastern influence, disguising the 6 diplomats as film crew to secure a flight back to America. But as the plan seem to work as expected, things get interesting when the Iranian insurgents started piecing together the faces of shredded mug shots of the escaped diplomats making their return back home much trickier than expected.

Canadian Caper
Argo is based on the real life events of the declassified CIA Operations that the public dubbed as "Canadian Caper," owing to the fact that the Canadian government participated heavily in safekeeping and smuggling the 6 American diplomats that escaped the siege of the US Embassy in Tehran. The movie adaptation is interspersed with news clips, articles, and good-as-genuine recreation of the 1980 unrest that gives the whole film a real-life feel. Watching Argo felt like witnessing the whole 1980 Iran hostage crisis unfold. The way Affleck stayed faithful to the era, even casting actors that look their real-life counterparts, further fortified the feeling that you are in 1980 and this is the current events you are watching.

Third Time's a Charm
Argo is Affleck's third directorial effort. The first being his sibling-starrer Gone Baby Gone, which co-starred Morgan Freeman and the likable Michelle Monaghan. This was a strong debut for Affleck, garnering a dozen of awards from various critic circles. His second directorial film was another critically lauded film: The Town starring, wait for it, Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner. If anything, the film fortified the belief that Affleck is born to be a director and it further cemented Renner's screen presence. Third time around, Affleck crafted another critically laudable movie starring, wait for it, him. With Argo, people already have set their expectations, what with the things he managed in his previous efforts. It has become natural for people to expect something as good from him and Affleck delivered beyond expectations.

I would admit, the trailer was kind of so-so and didn't manage to build up my interest for Argo, but a quarter into the movie, I am already seeing the sort of build up Affleck is doing and it's the sort of treatment that I love watching. What he accomplished in Argo is something very special, and I hope this is not his career high. He has given me a very good reason to expect more from him in his future work. Affleck has a very specific control of his movies, and Argo was a master class in control and precision. There were no surprises. He made sure that the audience is aware of what is happening, providing cues on how these events would unfold. And because you know what's coming, you don't want them to happen. Tension builds early in Argo, in small repeating cues, that would rear its head full-on in what must have been 2012's most thrilling cinematic chase sequence. There was a crisis and you know it. There were good people in danger of getting publicly executed. These thoughts were repeatedly built upon in Argo so that the climax kept me at the edge of my seat, cursing, cursing, and cursing that no one was answering the phone over at Studio 6, or that the airport door was opening slowly: there was a considerably long amount of time that I was certain that I am ready to have a heart attack because of the mounting tension.

Even if Affleck took some liberty of exaggerating some scenes and inserting one "chase scene" too many, it didn't hinder the movie from feeling real. It was Iran at its most chaotic and Affleck took you back in time. It was, in a sense, a vision further empowered by the media coverage of the Arab Spring, a picture of violence and unrest that happened so recently, relating to the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis set in 1980 became inevitable at 2012.

As for the cast, it was Alan Arkin and John Goodman playing Lester Siegel and John Chambers respectively that won my heart. They were mostly behind the scenes but part of their involvement with the plot made them endearing. They were Mendez's fairy godfathers, helping him pull off an impossible feat. Then there's Clea Duvall and Kerry Bishe playing Cora Lijek and Kathy Stafford that add a layer of feminine vulnerability and strength to the crew trying to escape Tehran. The sort of determination mothers display even if they are aware of their limitations--Duvall and Bishe are both to portray the sort of weakness and strength the situation call for and they pulled it off quite well.

If the movie had any weak spot in the casting department, I'd say it would have to be Ben Affleck himself. I don't know. For some reason, Affleck felt out of place in his own movie. He wasn't particularly bad or unlikable. He just lacked charisma perhaps. But his casting himself didn't really destroy the movie for me. He did good as an actor, even if it felt that for most of the times, he was a plot device, a utility to move the plot, rather than a central character.

The pacing of the movie was very even. It begins a bit slow with a narrative about the conditions of Iran that would trigger the hostage crisis, but things get exciting quite quickly when Operation Argo was given the go signal. From there on, tension mounts quite rapidly, with Affleck dishing out plot thickeners one after another.  One thing I noticed though, Argo's musical score was far from notable. I'm not sure if it's the tension I was feeling while watching the movie, but I don't remember hearing any particular musical score that marked, not that it matters, but it's still a missed chance.

Summing it up, Argo is intense, exciting, and really tense. It does have its humor but it does not stray from its non-fiction source. I couldn't find much fault for it, except perhaps, another actor could've done Tony Mendez. Easily, the Affleck's best and this year's best. It's hard to beat.

My verdict:

Ben Affleck dons a CIA hat, forgets to shave, goes to Iran and piggybacks 6 diplomats home: best movie of the year so far. I'd say

5 out of 5 stars. Passed and highly recommended

In Review: Pitch Perfect

The Gist

Easily crowd-pleasing, Pitch Perfect scrambled to resolve its plot and resorted to taking the formulaic route, but is nevertheless a fun ride filled with entertaining musical numbers and a showcase for its talents, particularly Anna Kendrick and the scene-stealing Rebel Wilson.

The Good

• Outstanding musical numbers that inspire delight
• Rebel Wilson outshines the likable protagonist, Anna Kendrick
• Jokes are more often effective than not

The Bad

• Tends to be a typical feel-good movie with a typical feel-good ending
• Scrambled to resolve its plot rather than having a healthy progression on the transfer of power between Beca and Aubrey

Synopsis

Beca doesn't want to go to college. Instead, she wants to be Los Angeles where she can try her luck on mixing tracks and becoming a music producer. Her father disagrees and asks her to just give a try for one year in college, and if she doesn't like it, he'd send her to LA himself. Beca agrees and unwittingly joins an a capella club when a senior caught her singing Titanium on the shower. Joining the Barden Bellas, an all-girl a capella group from Barden University, Beca is now a part of a quirky a capella gang who's had a shameful time at the previous regionals. And she finds out, college ain't bad at all. That is until the pressure to get to victory starts on giving it to everyone.

Rebel Without a Cause

I have a particular penchant for Rebel Wilson since I've seen her in Bridesmaids last year, and if anything, it's because of her that I watched this movie. Prior to the watching the movie, I've seen her interview over at Ellen and I got a nagging feeling that if I let this week pass and not see Pitch Perfect, I'd be haunted by it for the rest of my life or until it's available on DVD. Thankfully, she did great, probably as good or even better than her work on Bridesmaids. Pitch Perfect gave Rebel Wilson the same scene-stealing exposure that Bridesmaids gave to Melissa McCarthy and I don't see any reason why she won't be the next big comedic thing, perhaps soon starring in her own Judd Apatow produced movie.

Smashed
I don't watch Glee and I'm not very fond of musicals or any movie that involves singing to portray a certain event or scene (the last of this kind that I liked was Chicago, or Muppets if that counts), but with Pitch Perfect, it worked for some reason, maybe because you can skip (fastforward on DVD) the singing and the story would still be in tact, but for some reason, I liked the musical numbers well enough to not get bored by them. There is something in the a capella performances that worked. Or maybe simply because the numbers were not so over the top and that they conform with the overall tone of the movie. It kept pitch, so to speak--demoting the song numbers to practice scenes and competition scenes made it un-cheesy. I in fact look forward to the song numbers in some cases because the numbers were that good.

And speaking of great musical numbers, the one that got me the most is the 30-second audition piece from Beca (Kendrick) where she did  a verse from Lulu and the Lampshades' "You're Gonna Miss Me" with a paper cup as her background instrument. Her lilting voice and the simplicity of the paper cup and clap trick made this scene her brightest moment in the movie that when she finished the verse, you wanna go and cheer for more. And if anything, this number quashed my feeling that Kendrick can't deliver. She actually can sing. I've seen her in a number of films, but I've never liked her this much. I've a conflicted opinion of her in Up in the Air, though I liked her better in 50/50, but I'd say I like her most here, especially paired with Skylar Astin--whom she shares a great on-screen chemistry with.

The film, however, is not without foibles. Like one of its characters, Aubrey (Anna Camp), Pitch Perfect tries to be, well, perfect. Like most feel-good movies, it aims to make everything and everyone in its storyline happy and tends to tackle the supporting cast on a shallow level. I would have loved a bit more depth from the characters, but the movie may not have enough time to do so effectively. For instance, there is some depth in Aubrey's character development, the group's leader and little Ms. Perfect. Her father was a military official, who made sure she's disciplined and such. Glimpses of their background history are absent for the other characters, something that Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) could've benefited from and would've made her more lovable. Instead, we are only allowed access to the present state of some characters, making them less lovable and a tad less relatable.

As the film progresses, the more formulaic side of Pitch Perfect shows. Things get resolved rather easily in the end, rather than a gradual progression from being uptight and traditional into the hip group the Barden Bellas ended up becoming. I don't believe any group would have been able to change its style and manage to knock the crowd out, with what, like a month of preparation at most? And, yes, that final number of the Bellas felt like a mess. I particularly disliked the song choices (2012 and Price Tag), save Simple Minds' "Don't You." I felt the final number is very messy and uncomfortable to watch. They also lost me because I was hearing percussion in the background.

Luckily enough, the good points of Pitch Perfect are strong enough to forgive the weaker points. Other than the very enjoyable song numbers, Rebel Wilson as I mentioned above saves the movie from unhinging itself into a disaster. Her Fat Amy is one of the most confident / clueless / sassy supporting characters in recent film viewing memory--a little less scary eccentric than Bridesmaids' Megan, but no less fluffy. Her comic timing and improvs are spot-on, more often than not saving the movie from being too flat. The interaction between the cast members are also enjoyable to watch, as if something funny is always about to happen when two characters talk about something, Chloe and Aubrey for instance take a capella so seriously that they have to use the prefix "a ca" in some words / expressions (i.e., aca-scuse me?) like a pair of sorority girls with a secret vocabulary.

Overall, I'd be repeating myself in summarizing this movie. The pros outweighs the cons and it's not a perfect movie, just one trying to make everything perfect and delightful. It's a crowd-pleaser, it would behave like one. And in that goal, I think Pitch Perfect achieved its reason for existence.

My verdict:

A laugh out loud time with enjoyable musical numbers and a memorable performance from Fat Amy. It's a crowd-pleaser and if you are not in the best of moods, it would cheer you up for sure. I'd say

3.9 out of 5 stars. Passed and recommended.

Author's Note: Pitch Perfect is a Robinson's Malls exclusive movie.

In Review: Sinister

The Gist

Grisly and disturbing, Sinister brings a flavor of SAW to Paranormal Activity. While not being as good as its predecessors, Hawke's strong performance and the eerie cinematography manages to make this film from sliding into cheap-scare film territory

The Good

• Hawke remains a legitimate actor throughout the whole film
• The cinematography inspires thrill rather than cheap scare
• The film follows a healthy progression that wouldn't get you lost

The Bad

• Has its dragging moments
• Unfortunately not as scary as its predecessors
• The uneven pacing desensitizes the conclusion

Synopsis

Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) used to be an accomplished fiction writer but he has since been relegated to less critical acclaim with his less successful crime novels that earn him the disregard from cops wherever town he moves to write a new novel. In his new novel, Ellison investigates a family hung by their necks on their backyard, while one of their daughters still missing. As they moved in to their new home, Ellison finds a box of home movies that opens a can of worms for him and his family.

Before Sunrise

I can't help but notice two things about this film. First, Ethan Hawke's performance (whichs kept this film from unhinging) and second, the time when it was filmed. I'd like to focus on the second matter, which, for me, spoiled the film. I have to wonder why most of the times, the Oswalt household is dreadfully dim, amid Ellison already scared out of his wits. Even at noon when the sun is at its brightest, the Oswalt household remains dark and dreary. While it did help the movie achieve a feel of creepiness and dread ready to rear its head, I don't think it does much for logic or realism. The fact that the Oswalt household was already feeling disturbed by Ellison's and Trevor's behaviors after moving into this new home should have made them keep the lights on more often and their curtains raised.

Taking Lives

Before anything else, I'd like to go back to my previous paragraph's first point: Hawke. Throughout the gradually degrading storytelling, Hawke remains a legitimate actor, dishing out extreme portrayal of depression, desperation for success, familial concern, and disgust. While his character remains to be extremely courageous throughout the film, you find that he's not your typical horror movie hero who loses all sort of humanity in favor of heroism (or sometimes stupidity). In fact, he remains very human through it all: greedy, stubborn, fatherly, frustrated, determined, frightened. Hawke has managed to flesh out Ellison, the central character, into something with more meat and more humanity--determined to stay alive, finish his work, and keep his family safe. This portrayal itself helped keep the film from losing its hinges and going all cheap thrills.

After the success of Paranormal Activity, fake found footage have been embraced by supernatural / horror films recently. Chronicle, The Devil Inside, and V/H/S, are among these films that embrace the combination of two genres with success. Sinister joins the fray, except instead of found footages of supernatural creepiness, it features sick documentation of people getting killed--some in very grisly ways that involve a gardening equipment. This part of the film always makes me flinch. The way the killings are done are very crude and are reminiscent of the SAW franchise, meant to evoke shock, and this is, I guess, one of Sinister's goals. It gives the crime a mask of visceral realness fitting perfectly into the horror and supernatural setup of the film.

I've noted above the Cinematography which made the simple suburban home fill up with dread and creepiness. But did I mention that the dreary atmosphere becomes annoying at times, too? Usually, horror films succeed by presenting and abject setup that is very commonplace in real life: for instance, watching a video that would trigger your death, or mirrors being passage ways for spirits, or even something as trivial as getting in contact with someone who's been cursed. Sinister goes for something less often encountered: a Super8 film projector that crisps while it plays. Horror movies are noted by how much effect they'd have on you after watching them. Some people would leave the lights on for days just because of seeing The Ring, but I cannot say the same is true for Sinister. It has a very specific setup that is hard to come by in real life and should only scare people who just moved in to their new home. Maybe it attempts to beat or better that formula, but does it make it any scarier, I can't say so. That projector trick eventually got old and Icouldn't be happier that Ellison has started burning it. And so much was my frustration when it came back. Not because of the horror that would ensue, but because it means another repeating trick that has tire itself very early on.

The pacing for Sinister is quite slow, it does not get scary at once and it takes its time, which can get pretty annoying. It does build up dread, but does not scare you much. The visuals were creepy, but nothing in the movie would suggest that anything creepy is about to rear its full head at the screen. Just more and more creepy visuals until you get desensitized for what is about to pop out later. Good news is that the progression is slow enough for you to appreciate the logic and mechanics of the movie's, er, curse that it will be a revelation in the end for you. Thing is, the payoff isn't as much as what the director could've hoped for and in the end, you sort of feel like Ellison's a nosy rat and that he had it coming anyway.

I couldn't say the movie skipped borrowing from other horror films and that it did not commit horror genre cliches, and it did, but it did with finesse and that you wouldn't mind. What I find fault in however, is the pacing that gave the movie its dragging moments--which eventually desensitized me for the final act--which albeit is still grisly and disturbing, wasn't as scary as needed.

My verdict:

Unfortunately does not outdo its predecessors or invents anything new for the genre. It does sidestep vulgar display of horror cliches and a great performance from Hawke supplies for a conflicted central character cast in a dreary and disturbing suburban atmosphere. I just feel that the pacing spoiled the surprise and desensitized far too great for the conclusion to have a greater payoff than it delivers.

3 out of 5 stars. Passed but against recommending.

In Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Gist

Smartly scripted but poorly paced, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," the directorial feature of Stephen Chbosky--the author of the source material, will not feel overlong, but it will feel long. There's something about the film's tendency to be "quiet" and too sensitive that didn't sit well with me, but the lessons are deep and still relevant even to adults and the film itself is a bit of a charmer even if it may seem too teen-deep at times.

The Good

• Strong performances by Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller
• The serious tone of the film and its tendency to tackle issues with sensitivity and tact makes it feel more mature than its genre would normally allow
• Smart script and good casting

The Bad

• May feel long, pacing is not as flawless as the script
• Like most teen movies, it can get teen-deep
• Has a tendency to be too quiet and too self-involved, like its lead, not allowing you insight on what the characters think.

Synopsis

Charlie grew into highschool awkwardly. As a freshman, he finds out that the best way to survive high school is to keep to himself. Unfortunately, that only works to keep him out of trouble and admittedly he needs a friend to survive the loneliness of American high school. But as an awkward and unpopular kid, Charlie finds out that getting friends is not as easy as getting A's. As he struggled to keep himself from going back to depression due to events in the past he'd best leave forgotten, he soon finds himself tangled in the company of high school misfits--not so popular high school kids who are just like him and love him for what he is. And just as things get better for Charlie, his past finds itself slowly surfacing to the foreground forcing an unwanted confrontation.

Not Another Teen Movie

Teen movies, there will always be one every year, and every generation would always have one teen movie to summarize them: in the 90s, it was Clueless, 2000s, it's Mean Girls, and for the 2010s, it would be ...Perks. And my common complain for these teen movies is the same: how they portray teen problems in a way that only teens can relate to. I am not sure if I've just grown too old to appreciate them, but I feel like the way they portray teen problems in serious movies such as Perks.. is a bit overblown. Sure, the awkward feeling and needing to belong when you're a teen is a sad thing, but with the way it is romanticized here. For one, I find it hard to believe that girls won't take a liking to Logan Lerman. Sure, he's a nerd, but come on, he's way more decent than any other freshman, and definitely than any other nerd in campus. And if you think about it, all this feeling of not belonging would have been solved had he spoken up and tried to reach out to people. But instead, he sat alone in the cafeteria, waiting for the world to approach him. I know people like that, and they still stay alone in their cafeteria corner.

Out of Reach

I have to give it Chbosky for translating his novel into film with such finesse and sensitivity even at the cost of pacing. For most of the movie, I was able to make do with the pacing even if it hindered me at times. Similarly to my previously reviewed film, Perks has a very quiet lead. Although this one speaks, Charlie (Lerman) is rather too introverted.

I can not guess how they couldn't make them like Juno anymore--it tackles a serious issue but it allows its viewers to know what its characters think and is paired with a lively narration. And that is my problem perhaps with Perks. As it was apparently hiding a secret, it needed to keep the tone down to not spoil the surprise--and it didn't help people know what everyone is thinking. And I learned a thing or two about hiding secrets from your audience, it must be a have a big pay off for it to work. In this case with Perks, it did work, but the way it was narrated and handled afterwards wasn't so refreshing. It lacked something that would've given the ending more oomph.

The script has deviated from the book here and there and I do not completely understand why Chbosky felt this was necessary. If anything, I expected it to be a straight out translation, but that wasn't the case. Many funny dialog were missing from the film, and certain beautiful quotes were omitted. The performances that came with the script were pretty effective, giving life to the quotable lines and making them memorable. Sam's (Hermione Granger, I mean, Emma Watson) confrontation with Charlie before she goes for college is perhaps one of these years most memorable and heartfelt scenes, and I'd say the performance and the build up that lead to it were to blame. If anything, Watson's performance in Perks shows that she can do stand on her own better than her two Harry Potter co-stars and that she refuses to remain under a smart witch's shadow. Charlie was effective in playing a reserved-often-disturbed teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder. And Ezra Miller may have to be the scene-stealer in this film, having an arc and personality that only him owns--and of course the acting prowess to back it up, though it's unfair as he might be simply playing himself in this movie, still it's amazing how he gives life to Kevin and his quirkiness.

If anything, the quite silent treatment with powerful lines and performances worked for the message Perks... would like to impart--not sure if it did the same for storytelling. It was tender enough and not too in the face for its target audience, yet deep enough for adults to relate to. In a sense it is a movie that would like to let everyone know that we belong somewhere, and it is our job to find that place and that's only possible if we take action--and everything else should follow if you reach out.

I am divided with this film as I felt it sometimes tend to dwell on some things that are too teen deep, dwell in a way teens would only know how to, but isn't this what this movie is about and is made for anyway? Ultimately, I get the message and I enjoyed the empowerment it tries to send across. And it has it's charm, mostly worked on by the quirky Miller. The problem I have was with the way storytelling, which is made up for by above average performances of its cast and the solid script. So I guess

My verdict:

May feel too serious and quiet for something paltry, yet universally true and empowering with great performances--I know, contradicting. Couldn't give this movie a 4, but a 3.75 is warranted.

3.75 out of 5 stars. Passed.