Skepsis' Reviews

Take Shelter
Jeff Nichols, 2011
Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart




Take Shelter is about as tense a movie-watching experience I've had lately. In general it's extremely well made, its locations beautifully photographed, and its story executed very well, slowly tightening its grip, teetering constantly on the edge of fully fledged horror but crucially never falling off. Even in relatively "safe" periods the tension is palpable, the earmark of a great thriller.

Of course it doesn't hurt that Michael Shannon's performance is as courageous and brilliantly realised as it is, the way he portrays the aftermath of the nightmares and the slow mental deterioration is nothing short of astounding. I'm not going to be the guy who says anyone was "robbed" of the subjective awarding of a small gold man, but he would have been on my Best Actor list for sure. The way he and Jessica 'in absolutely everything' Chastain play off one another is fantastic to watch and she gives an individual performance as winning as any of her many appearances last year.

Only the ending made me really question the score I was going to give it. Could it have been more powerful? Thought provoking? Maybe. One viewing doesn't answer that question as definitively as I really want it to.

Nice review Skepsis. In terms of films I missed in 2011 this was one of my biggest regrets. It is out on DVD in a couple of weeks though, so will probably get it through lovefilm quite soon.

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Thanks JayDee. I would definitely recommend you check it out, I think you'd really enjoy it.

This was a nice movie made by a man who knows how to make nice movies and sometimes exceptional ones: Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Mystic River, Letters To Iwo Jima, Flags Of Our Fathers.
Clint Eastwood is the man, actor, director, producer, composer, Hollywood icon.

Thanks for that review--I liked Shannon from Boardwalk Empire--got to see this one!

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Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
David Fincher, 2011
Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård




What a truly remarkable story and an even more remarkable character. The plot is complex but not hard to get a great deal of enjoyment from. For all intents and purposes it’s a murder mystery and a very good one at that, but it draws on the themes of history and family relationships as well, adding essential extra dimensions. The way it starts with two separate stories linked only anecdotally, slowly building before dovetailing about halfway through I thought was a stroke of genius.

It’s the people that really make the story pop, though. The unexpected complexity of Lisbeth’s character really knocked me for a loop, as did her portrayal by the marvellous Rooney Mara, whom I’d only seen in a bit part in The Social Network up until this point. Her multi-dimensionality not only makes her more interesting to watch, but also more human. To say Mara’s dedication to the role is admirable would be a gross understatement. Her supporting cast were widely overshadowed, but Craig’s turn as the investigative journalist Blomkvist is quietly, understatedly excellent, and Plummer and Skarsgård give typically professional, stellar performances.

Fincher has taken the clearly excellent source material and made it all his own – uncompromisingly gloomy, dark and atmospheric – trademarks accomplished through predictably brilliant cinematography and another pitch-perfect score by Social Network and Se7en collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The director has marked the film with scenes of genuine brutality, one of which truly surprised me with a memorable and enormously powerful juxtaposition between calm, quiet music and cruel, almost surreal violence.

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Young Adult
Jason Reitman, 2011
Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson




Sadly didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It is very funny in parts though, and Theron’s performance is excellent, as is Oswalt’s, from whom I hadn't expected to see dramatic chops. A very pleasant surprise. Maybe it was the high anticipation for another Reitman/Cody collaboration, but the conclusion seemed a little too easy and for a film that was marketed around being dark and risky, it is to an extent but neither quite come through with enough of an impact.

Same here for Young Adult--I was hoping for a bit more out of it-- wasn't bad though.

The Virgin Suicides
Sofia Coppola, 1999
Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Josh Hartnett




***Minor spoilers ahead***

An incredibly frustrating film. It's premise is a great one, seeming to deal with such themes as religion, death and obsession, but what I saw didn't go into nearly enough depth with any of those things mainly down to a basically irrelevant middle act.

It starts well, slowly building a potentially great story around the first sister's death. This first half an hour or so plays host to the film's best moments; with sharp humour, gathering mystery and a general air of creepiness.

But just when I thought I was going to be gripped until the end, it tails off into what I can only describe as a pointless, sappy romance. The story of Trip and Lux's fleeting courtship apparently serves no other purpose than to fill time, time that could have been spent so much better in exploring any number of things - the motivation behind the boys' obsession, the girls' relationship to their parents or the underlying reasons for Cecilia's suicide. Instead the ending feels rushed, and while I'm all for leaving the audience to make their own minds up, we're left with very little to think about as far as why the sisters did that they did.

The script is where the problems are, and thankfully a few redeeming qualities elsewhere has managed to maintain my opinion of Sofia Coppola as a director, and in certain respects, a writer. Performance-wise everyone is actually pretty good, Dunst, Woods and Turner the highlights of an ensemble that also includes a Danny DeVito cameo. They all do the best they can with characters that are developed very little. The group of boys supposed to be central to the story seem like a afterthought. Only Trip has any kind of depth and he ends up being irrelevant to the outcome. And only in structure does the script fail, the dialogue is almost as sharp as it is in Lost In Translation.

Ultimately I'm forced to question what this film was trying to be. Is it a comment on something? Parenting? Religion? It works for neither of those things. It feels like it should have been creepy and atmospheric, which, excluding a few moments towards the beginning, it isn't. In any case it displays an extraordinary lack of focus and left me wholly unsatisfied.

Network
Sidney Lumet, 1976
Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall




Simply put, a master-class in film-making from the great Sidney Lumet. The script by Paddy Chayefsky, with its scathing satire and pitch-perfect, razor-sharp dialogue and three dimensional characters, is magnificent. The long list of quite incredible actors - Peter Finch, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, Marlene Warfield - I really cannot compliment enough. It's almost unbelievable that such a big ensemble could come together in one movie and each give such wonderful performances. Finally the direction, from Lumet, is truly something to behold. The Howard Beale Show scenes are absolutely astonishing. Everything comes together to create an absolutely brilliant film.

Happy to see Network was such a big hit for you, even if I didn't find it so. I just found it too over the top, overwrought, heavy handed, self-congratulatory and just plain daft to take the satirical message seriously. And yet I still quite enjoyed it. Perhaps on a repeat viewing I will truly fall for it

A few quick reviews:

The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)



There were times during this that I felt as immersed as I ever have by a film. I don't think I've ever seen a performance as mesmerising as Jack Lemmon's. He portrays C.C. Baxter with not only razor sharp comedic timing, but a realness and a relatability you rarely find elsewhere. The writing and supporting performances make it really quite a wonderful experience.


We revisited some Disney stuff over the weekend:

Beauty and the Beast (Trousdale/Wise, 1991)
Has never clicked with me as anything special, in terms of story. It feels dated and all too generic these days, in comparison to others in the Disney collection. Musically and visually it holds up, not that I would expect anything else.

Mulan (Bancroft/Cook, 1998)
A prime example of what Disney is capable of musically, this has one or two of the best numbers in their arsenal.

Tarzan (Buck/Lima, 1999)
This one still hits all the right notes for me. A favourite of mine growing up, I still love the music, the voice acting and the classic story. A beautiful example of Disney's ability to seamlessly blend comedy with drama and heart.