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More Mud images here

Written and Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, and Joe Don Baker

It starts with a boat in a tree, on an island in a lake, inhabited temporarily by a mysterious stranger, who will forever change the lives of two young boys out on an adventure. It’s a story of obsessive love, of first love, of women who are unworthy of love, of divorce, of men and boys caught up in the throws of it all, and most certainly a “coming of age at every age” parable. It’s a sweet southern fairytale; a “Gumbo” if you will, that has all the earmarks of being an adapted classic novel, yet it’s an original story.

The movie wants to take its background from Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” but it feels more like “Winter’s Bone.” It is a complex tale told in a sly quiet way that forces itself into your mind, because you’re compelled to find out what the characters are really all about below the surface.

Yes, the movie is that good. I’m not going to tell you anymore about the plot, I’ve already said too much. You need to experience Mud for yourself, let it charm you just as it did the audiences at Sundance, South By Southwest, and Cannes.

I will however, talk about the acting, because it’s so outstanding that no one person’s presence towers over the others. It is the perfect ensemble. The acting is consummate throughout. McConaughey, grubby and adrift in his life as Mud, turns in one of his greatest performances to date. Tye Sheridan (remember his name) as young Ellis is a special find as is his buddy NeckBone played by Jacob Lofiand. Sam Shepard, who appears to be born for this role, is above his usual high standard, and Reese Witherspoon is excellent playing against type in a pivotal cameo. Everyone in this film seems so real you’ll forget they are actors playing a part in a movie.

Indie Director Jeff Nichols, on his third outing here (Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories) has written a fable that is ageless while still being current with the times, quite a feat. And as a director he was able to bring all the elements together in a style uniquely his own, wrapped up in some of the most beautiful cinematography of rural Arkansas you’re ever likely to see, because it’s fast vanishing.

I had to think about Mud for a day or two before I could write this, I wanted to be sure of my feeling about the movie. It’s different. I mean the themes are familiar; they are just dealt with differently, excellently. So here’s my take; there are a lot of films worth seeing in the theaters right now, and I know a small film like this gets overlooked easily; however, if you’re looking for a great drama with tremendous soul, don’t overlook this one!

(2 People gave this 2.50 out of 5)

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“Is it possible to miss a place you’ve never been?  To mourn a time you’ve never known?”

Click the pic for tons more sexy images from the film!

Swift shot:  Heavy on Sci-Fi with a script that makes you care about the characters, Oblivion is my Sci-Fi sleeper pick of 2013 . . . so far.  In a future world, Earth is mining her last natural resources for a trip off world due to an alien invasion.  “We won the war, but we still have to leave the planet,” is how it is summed up by Tom Cruise’s character, Jack.  He is part of a two person team whose job it is to repair drones.  These drones would give Rand Paul fucking nightmares!  They monitor all the remaining “Scav” activity on the surface and terminate any invaders foolish enough to crawl around in plain sight.

‘Scavs’ are the remnants from the invasion that the drones take care of on a nightly basis.

Jack is living on a Skytower with his “effective” partner, Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), whom he lovingly calls Vika.  They check in with Sally (Melissa Leo) who is on the Tet, a giant pyramid shaped ship which is collecting all the water from Earth in preparation to find another planet, because the Scav invaders literally blew the Earth’s moon in two!  The devastating effects from that blow created massive earthquakes and tsunamis – leaving the Earth an uninhabitable war-ravaged nuclear wasteland.

But, there is something that keeps haunting Jack, he keeps dreaming about a strange woman that he has never met, Julia (Olga Kurylenko).  He knows that his memory was wiped for security reasons, and he is pretty sure Vika doesn’t suffer from similar nightmares about the mysterious Julia.

On a routine mission to repair Drone 166, which will make several appearances throughout the film and becomes every bit as alive as Wilson from Cast Away, he happens to be where the last Super Bowl was played in 2017.  Oh, I forgot to mention, this day is March 14, 2077.  [The next day would be . . . The Ides of March]  He gives us a brief run through of the game . . . never mentioning the teams, of course.  It is clearly a New York stadium, as there are buried reminders of the once big apple . . . now a rotten core of a proud nation.  A symbol of what was once a beautiful planet, ruined.  Credit to Director Joseph Kosinski for showing us images of the “Freedom Tower” in Jack’s dream sequences.  It was a nice touch, and he uses not so subtle nods to Classic films that really makes a good movie . . . great!

You will recognize the music as Kosinski worked with co-composer Joseph Trapanese when he directed Tron: Legacy.  And the art design is very similar in style, with the Bubbleship and drones having a familiar feel to Legacy fans.

All that aside, what makes this movie incredible is the authentic feel to the characters in an otherwise fantasy world.  There are more twists in this film than the Bubbleship makes in the Statue of Liberty chase sequence.  That scene drew a relieved “whew” once it was concluded by someone sitting to my left in the theater.

I won’t spoil the film, but I will tell you I predicted a few of the twists . . . but not all of them!  This is one of those fun movies that you can watch once, then get some friends who haven’t seen it yet and watch it with them, as you will want to see their reactions.

Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko both turn in great performances as pivotal characters that help Jack wake up from his nightmares.  Each one of them offers something special for Jack, but you won’t know what they are until you see the film.

The director wrote this as a short 12 page graphic novel in 2005, well before Tron and Disney came calling.  What he learned in making Tron: Legacy, he obviously applied with a genius stroke of artistic sexuality that is visually incredible.  And, like I said, the story will keep you thinking and feeling for these characters.  Also there is a love scene in the pool on the Skytower that is sexy as hell, yet serene and tasteful.

If I haven’t made the case for you yet – yes, this is a great film!  It’s one of those films that Sci-Fi nerds and romance nerds can both gel over.  See it in IMAX, like I did, and prepare to be moved and impressed.  I was.  And while there are a few similarities, this is not Wall-E despite what others are saying.

(1 People gave this 4.00 out of 5)

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Swift shot: A story that evolved from a conversation with John Cleese, developed into a great find at the theaters almost a decade later.  The Croods stars some of the most sought-after talent in Hollywood’s voices, Nic Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and rounded out by the ever popular, Cloris Leachman.  You are almost immediately immersed in the Croods’ world from opening title sequence to final credits, as the Looney Tunes style of cartoonish laughs pervades your experience, you still really care about this family on the world’s first road trip!

At its heart, The Croods is that, a road-trip flick, but not by choice, as the father of the group Grug (Cage) has to finally leave the eternal safety of his beloved cave.  His cave, his sanctuary, his back-drop for many stories that always have the same theme, explore outside the cave after the sun “leaves” and you die.  Pretty simple rule to remember, until his teenage daughter, Eep (Stone) reaches that troublesome age of exploration . . . where curiosity killed the cat is not just an outdated saying, it’s reality.

Her dim-witted brother, appropriately named Thunk (Duke) worships his dad and follows his instructions to the T-bone.  Well, actually, because Grug doesn’t have very many bright ideas, they don’t feast on T-bone too often, in fact, one drop of egg-yolk per family member per week sustains them!  Grug’s family is rounded out by a toddler named Sandy who is more like a wild animal than a human, even a neanderthal, his wife Ugga (Keener) and his mother-in-law, Gran (Leachman).  No word on why they gave Gran a tail, yea, I can’t imagine why they did that!

Eep is a rebellious teenager, of course; she manages to sneak a peek outside the cave one night, and learns about many new things . . . chiefly though, she meets a boy!  A boy named Guy (Reynolds) who is filled with imaginative ideas, he has harnessed fire and has discovered the first pet . . . Belt.  Belt is a scene-stealing sloth, voiced by co-director Chris Sanders.  Sanders incidentally voiced Stitch, and Madison and I interviewed both directors, Kirk De Micco and Sanders prior to release in South Beach.

We got to meet Stitch/Belt!  Kirk De Micco was great too! Read the interview here!

After Guy and Belt make the acquaintance of The Croods, he pretty much informs them the world is ending and the Earth is swallowing itself with fire.  Ya know, kinda a damper on the whole, who are you, why are you hitting on my daughter conversation Grug would much rather be having with this interloper.  Fairly shortly after meeting Guy, he is proved accurate in his wild prediction, and Grug has to reluctantly accept his cave is no longer inhabitable.  See, Grug has a great motto, “Never not be afraid.”  It has served him well in life, and he assumes just being big and strong and hiding behind rocks is enough to survive.  He’s not too bright, but his heart is the size of a Macawnivore.  A what, Rick?

Oh, I forgot to mention, the story-tellers used some incredible creative licensing by incorporating a kind of evolutionary phase that is the mad scientist era.  Where evolution is still testing out new mutations, if you will, of various creatures.  I can list them all for you here, but it might be more fun for you to name (and spot) them on your own.  My favorite were the flying sea-turtles . . . I wish evolution left those alone, of course it would make flights a lot more . . . interesting.  “Sorry folks, we are about to hit a flying turtle, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.”

As Guy and the family travel the wild plains, they discover new creatures and new challenges, all while forming an emerging bond with Guy’s help.  Yes, Grug is none too happy about being one-upped by this little genius who has designs on his daughter, but he grows to no longer fear change but to accept that change breeds growth and stagnation leads to living in constant fear.  That’s no way to live.  Thankfully, De Micco and Sanders spared us the annoying cave-man speak, Me Grug, Me No Like, etc.  They do have their own appropriately novice language, but it isn’t buffoonish.  It simply uses their, VERY limited, experiences to develop their idea on words and the world.  It’s kinda fascinating, actually.

So, as the Earth splits from Pangea to the new continents, The Croods make for high ground to . . . “jump on the sun and ride it to tomorrow.”  Sure, that sounds legit.  I know their fate, but you won’t unless you give this family friendly adventure a chance.  Personally I wasn’t expecting to be laughing near as much as I found myself, but when I heard Cleese’s name associated with the story I thought – - – well, there you have it!

With not so slight nods to Looney Tunes (where De Micco cut his teeth) and some really funny physical humor, The Croods is sure to please the kids and the kid in you.  Don’t look for any really thought-provoking drama though, and remember this is a kid’s movie, so expect the expected.

Now, get out of your cave and take a road-trip to watch The Croods, it’s a journey of ideas where your imagination is free to fly.  Oh, and Chris Sanders learned a lot about 3D when he directed How to Train Your Dragon, and what he learned there he did a wonderful job incorporating into the envelope-pushing 3D in The Croods!  In short (too late), see it in 3D!!!!

(3 People gave this 4.67 out of 5)

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Welcome to Pi’s Ark

I haven’t yet read the book “Life of Pi”, so when I went to the film’s screening, I didn’t really know what to expect.  The previews I had seen only showed a young man, in a lifeboat, with a fully-grown tiger.  I was full of questions:  how did that happen??  Is this entire movie going to take place on alifeboat??  When is the tiger going to eat the guy??  Will this movie be boring or interesting??  I was pleasantly surprised that it was NOT boring; it was very interesting, as well as emotional and amazing.

As the movie begins a journalist, known as The Writer (Rafe Spall) is interviewing Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) to learn his life story.  He had been advised to seek out Pi to hear his story.  Hence, the majority of the movie is told in flashback form.  Pi (Suraj Sharma), short for Piscine (French for pool.  Pi’s uncle was obsessed with a specific pool in Paris and Pi was named after the pool) is a quirky lad.  He lives with his mother (Tabu), father (Adil Hussain), and brother Ravi (Vibish Sivakumar) in Pondicherry, India.  His parents own and run a zoo.  The opening credits of this movie focus on the animals at the zoo, and this is one time where the 3D made the movie even better looking.  Pi loved to learn, especially about different religions.  He changed his religion weekly.  His parents weren’t happy, but they went along with it.

Pi’s first experience with the tiger was when it was first brought to the zoo.  The tiger’s name was Richard Parker.  There was a mix-up with the tiger’s actual name, which was Thirsty, and the person who brought the tiger to the zoo.  The names were accidentally switched on the paperwork that was processed at the zoo so the tiger was thereafter known as Richard Parker.  Not Richard, Richard Parker.  When Pi is a teenager, his parents decide they didn’t want to own the zoo anymore and they wanted to move to Canada, so they packed up the animals (to relocate to other zoos) and their belongings and loaded everything up on a freight ship across the Pacific.  Sadly, tragedy strikes and not everyone makes it out alive.  Pi finds himself in a rescue lifeboat with an injured zebra.  Soon, an orangutan comes floating over on a bunch of bananas.  This dynamic is ok, no carnivores in the bunch.  Unfortunately, a hyena also stowed away and pretty soon, it’s only Pi and the hyena….until Richard Parker shows up.

Luckily, the rescue lifeboat contained food, water, and other emergency supplies which was enough to sustain Pi for a while.  He also devised a way to avoid being eaten by the tiger.  Throughout the nearly 300 days Pi and Richard Parker were lost at sea, Pi has all kinds of fascinating experiences.  Many times I found myself wondering “is this really happening, or is it all in his head??”  The visual effects in this movie were just stunning.

Since Pi is narrating the film, we know he survives.  But how he survives, and copes with his situation, is amazing to watch.   At one point, they come across a mysterious island inhabited by meerkats. Thousands of them!!  Too bad the island has a secret, with no other civilization besides the meerkats.  Overall, about 75-80% of the film is Pi and Richard Parker lost at sea.  For a newcomer, Suraj Sharma did a fantastic job portraying desperation and loneliness but never giving up hope while floating out in the Pacific with a tiger.

Overall, “Life of Pi” is a thought-provoking, emotional journey with sensational cinematography.  Be warned, there are some scenes of animals attacking and eating other animals, but that is how it happens in the wild.

While this post was sponsored. All opinions are my own and not influenced by any outside parties. – Madison

(2 People gave this 5.00 out of 5)

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Before you sits a man, not a monument.

Swift shot:  Whether you love Lincoln or consider him a tyrant, Daniel Day-Lewis brings an eerie reality to the man that can’t be equaled, all within the confines of attempting to pass the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  With an impeccable quality bringing up a haunted past, Spielberg and Director of Photography Kaminski paint a history lesson that compels cineamtic respect.

The moment you say the man’s name, Lincoln, a bombardment of mental images are immediately conjured.  He was a great man to some, reviled man to others, yet he was very much that . . . a man.  A man who was clothed with immense power, as he reminds someone in the film at one point, but also a grieving father, a husband and man gifted with wit and humor with which few could compete.  And Daniel Day-Lewis, as you might have expected, embodies these qualities masterfully.  In our time, he is probably one of the best actors to ever live.  He takes an almost mundane portion of a man’s life and builds a crescendo of conflict whilst managing to endure an even tempo throughout the immense pressure and political intrigues surrounding this moment in a man’s premature twilight.  While his machinations are grandiose, there is a real humble quality to Day-Lewis’ Lincoln that borders on the super-natural.  Even his odd, high-pitched voice was calculated to a historical perfection.

It may sound strange to think of Lincoln as reviled, but in his time he was very much reviled by an entire half of the nation . . . a nation at conflict with itself.  Even as a husband to Mary who was effortlessly portrayed by Sally Field, Lincoln and the nation were at odds with the slaughter of innocents (on both sides).  Yet the harsh paternal nature required by great men to make sacrifices out of human beings, led to the bloody gates of Heaven for a cause few could argue has any more noble parallels, was evident in nearly every scene with Day-Lewis as Lincoln.

All these grandiose calculations are present in Lincoln, but handled with a subtle nuance that some may find boring and stilted at times.  But make no mistake, these sequences are painstakingly molded to be mundane to give the viewer an earnest understanding of the daily life of Lincoln.  Even the lighting was sourced using only light available for the time, to set the contrast with our reality.  We are looking from the future, he was living in the present.  His chief goal was to pass the 13th Amendment, and like all great politicians, he wasn’t afraid to hedge his bets and compromise when necessary.  But the 13th . . . he was willing to do everything short of outright murder to get it passed before the war’s end.

His “ally” in the theater of Congress was the ‘Radical Republican’ Thaddeus Stevens who believed that there should be no compromise with the hated Democrats who forced the persecution of a war he felt was bloody, yet necessary, to secure freedom . . . real freedom, to all men regardless of race.  Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t just wear the foppish wig of the man, he relished playing a tyranical “good guy.”  It’s hard to describe the character of Stevens any other way, he was mean and delighted in making others squirm in his presence, yet he shared a burning desire to see America free for all.  His presence on the floor and in the film was as necessary as Lincoln’s.

Perhaps one of the most mollifying scenes showing Lincoln as the most powerful man on the planet, yet utterly powerless, centers around his proud, and foolish, son, Robert (JG-L).  JG-L doesn’t get a lot of screen time, and yet he manages to sequester Lincoln as a frightened father.  Reminding us of that unspoken facet of fatherhood that many of us will face, when a boy becomes a man, his will is unstoppable.  Even the President of the United States of America can’t compete with that, nor the tears of a mother, wracked with regrets and melancholy.  Truly, Mary is the most tragic figure in the film when it reaches the conclusion we all know is coming.  The war ends, but with it comes a terrible price and the nation suffers.

Lincoln is a film that a few of the ADHD audience members may find too ‘boring’ and not ‘engaging enough’ to warrant seeing in theaters.  But while this film requires some discipline to enjoy, you will be the better for having watched it, because it doesn’t make a saint out of a man, it shows a man who did the best he could with what destiny placed at his doorstep.  Few could fault a man who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to see that HIS nation did not perish from the Earth and that all men would be free.

(2 People gave this 4.50 out of 5)

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Directed & Written By: Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) Lana & Andy Wachowski (The Matrix)

Cast: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Halle Berry (X-Men), Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady), Hugo Weaving (Captain America), Jim Sturgess (21), Susan Sarandon (Arbitrage), Hugh Grant (Love Actually)

A few years ago my son turned me on to an astonishing book called “Cloud Atlas”, the third novel by British author David Mitchell. Last night I saw a screening of the film. It is as astonishing as the book, and the difficult transition from novel to screen was handled with great understanding and finesse! Additionally, there are Brilliant Performances by a stellar cast each of who play multiple roles, and it’s all lead by TOM HANKS, who will remind you again, that he’s one of the greatest actors of our time.

As with the book, Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Each member of the ensemble appears in multiple roles as the movie moves through time.

The film’s storyline begins in the Pacific Islands of 1849 and winds its way through eras old and new as far forward as the beautifully imagined eye-popping Neo Seoul of circa 2144. The cast is big, hugely talented, and amazing as they each slip into a variety of character skins. You’ll find men playing women, women playing men, even African-Americans playing Caucasians. It’s a fun and exciting who’s who guessing game that you’ll sometimes figure out, but most times, you’ll just wonder. Fear not though, all is revealed in the credits.

I’m sure this film will find its critics, but for me it’s definitely one of the best films of the year. It has also set the record as the most expensive independently financed feature of all time, at approximately $100 million, and it shows everywhere you look on the screen. I believe that Tykwer and the Wachowskis have created a true work of filmic art, that they dared to take big chances, and have fashioned a true cinematic eye-opening blockbuster of a movie. Its grand style, in both scope and ambition, will challenge you as it entertains you and transports you to other times and places. It’s a true movie going experience not to be missed.

A word of caution, walk into this film with an open mind and try not to read or listen to too much about it beforehand. A good deal of the fun of the film is in your discovery of its themes and characters. To miss that, is to miss much of the fun.

Review by Alyn Darnay of Chaos Films

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Argo Fuck Yourself!

Swift shot:  Powerful stuff, from a celebrity that I usually don’t agree with politically, and some of his roles have made me question his decisions as an actor.  But, whenever he directs something, Ben Affleck commands respect.  He did a great job with The Town and Gone Baby Gone, and when I saw he was directing Argo, I was pretty stoked to see what he could create.  He created something magnificent, but he left out a pretty key figure . . . hopefully not just because the guy happened to have an (R) after his name.  Tacked onto an incredible story about how the CIA used a phony film to attempt the release of six Americans, trapped behind hostile borders, is the story of an estranged father.  Tony Mendez (Affleck) is out there risking his life so that his son can avoid living in a world of peril.  Affleck only touches on this aspect of Tony’s character, but it was immediately understood the kind of relationship he had with his family.  I loved how he used “TV” to connect with his son and the audience, back in a simpler time when there were only six channels on TV, anyway.  Back in a time when the word “press” actually carried weight.

Affleck starts out the film with a pretty scathing attack on US foreign policy towards Iran, but he does it in a stylistic, clever fashion.  Plus, it needed to be explained, as most of the audience forgot a few details about how Iran’s 1979 revolution came about.  Ultimately though, they were (and some would argue, still are) disgusted with the USA, in particular, and the “West” at large.  Just having an American name in a phone-book could, and did, get you hanged for treason against the Ayatollah.

It’s November 4th, 1979, and protestors are about to storm the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran.  The embassy staff looks on helplessly as the vacant parking lot surrounding them is the only barrier keeping the radicals at bay.  The Marine guards inside the embassy itself are preparing for a really bad day.  They are given orders “not to shoot anyone” because they could start a war.  Imagine a tiny building floating adrift in a sea of angry people, and you get the idea of what it means to be screwed, royally.  If you are a history buff, you may know how things turn out, but even if you were just a kid (like I was in 1979) you couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing about the “Hostages.”  Suffice it to say, the embassy is overrun, the Marines never fire a shot, and the hostage-situation in Iran is born.  But unlike in 1979, it is right in your face, in digital color, and not on some rabbit-eared screen in your living room.

It’s an all consuming topic for the time, the Soviets were preparing to invade Afghanistan, John Wayne had passed away a few months earlier, and we had a (few would argue) pacifying Commander-in-Chief in Carter.  While the bulk of people in the embassy were captured by the Iranians, six people managed to sneak out and hide out in the Canadian Ambassador’s residence.  But, even the Canadians were wearing out their welcome, because they too were “The West.”  The clock was ticking for the Iranians to realize the six unaccounted for staff members were still in country.  The CIA was tasked with assisting the State Department (the masters of all things Cluster Fuck) to ex-filtrate, or ex-fil, the missing Americans.  Publicly, there were hostages already taken from the embassy, but the identity and situation of the six ‘houseguests’ was not public knowledge, and the Iranians didn’t even know they existed.  But they were working on all the retrieved intelligence gathered from the embassy . . . and the clock was ticking.

Now, as this story is “Based on a True Story” and there was a subtle disclaimer in the end credits that “some scenes were fabricated for dramatic emphasis,” I can only speak to what I know from watching the film play out.  But, the drama in Argo is real, the suspense is real, and as I sat there watching our embassy overrun, I thought, wow, less than a month ago, this same scenario played out in Libya, with immediate dire results.  Anyone who watches Argo and doesn’t vote can Argo Fuck Themselves!  “Elections have consequences,” and while I can’t speak to the scenes that were or weren’t dramatically enhanced, I can tell you what was put before us was really powerful stuff and a reminder that, yes, these clowns we put in positions of power really can make life and death decisions for real Americans.  Just ask the Stevens family about that!

Tony, under the cover of a film producer, sets out with a daring ex-fil op to use a phony film location scouting team as a Canadian film crew, in one telling scene it is accurately described as “the best, bad idea” available by Bryan Cranston’s character, Jack O’Donnell.  No one really expects it to work, but the other options are even less likely to fly.  Imagine you are Tony, setting off to the enemy hive and having to rescue six people that you never met and juggle some kind of relationship with your family.  You believe in your plan, at least on paper, and you hope for the best, because anything less means slow, painful death . . . if you are lucky enough to receive death.  That is the very real threat hanging over every player in this most dangerous game of deception, including the six ‘housegusets’.

Tony has connections in the film industry, one Academy Award winner John Chambers (the guy who invented Spock’s ears – and is my new hero) played by another John, Goodman.  If he was given a little more to work with, Goodman might be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but I will wager solid odds Affleck will get the Best Director nod.  Chambers actually existed, and he actually lent his talents to this, and perhaps other, CIA operations as a solid connection for his government.  As good as Chambers is though, he needs a solid producer, enter Lester Spiegel (Allan Arkin) whom may or may have not existed, or may still exist and thus wants his name changed to prevent, well, you know, slow, painful death.  Look, folks, some of the players in this real-life drama are still walking around, let’s not think some IRGC agents wouldn’t love to get their leather gloves around their necks.

With everything in place, the “Argo” crew at Studio 6 relies on the greatest whore around to do their dirty work for them, you know, the press.  Uhm, yea, so, moving on, they make the film’s buildup as real as possible, making a giant spectacle of the read-through.  Affleck brilliantly juxtaposes this sequence with another, factual event from the day that will have your guts in your throat.

Tony needs to get into Iran first, which doesn’t prove too difficult as he is a pro.  His newly adopted “crew” of “Canadians” on the other hand are just regular folks.  They are terrified . . . and with good reason.  See, by escaping the initial hostage taking at the embassy, they don’t officially exist, publicly anyway, it’s easier to have them “disappear” into the gulags of the Iranian regime.  You always hear that it is “good news” when we see hostages paraded around, because that is both proof of life, and the bad guys have claimed ownership, so they are responsible for what happens to their prisoners.  Think about when the British Sailors were captured a few years back and we heard about them in Iranian hands, we knew they existed, we knew who had them, they were political pawns, essentially.  And, because of that, we got them back, or, the Brits did anyway.

Once inside Iran, Tony has to convince these regular American citizens that they need to pretend to be a Canadian film-crew.  That’s all I will say further, in case you too forgot how everything played out in the end.

What made this film so damned good is the attention to detail, painstakingly recreating the late 70s, even using the opening Warner Bros. logo from the 70s to start the film, nice touch, that, Ben.  I really believed these events were happening all over again, this time, live and in bright, terrifying color.  Watching the embassy stormed, watching as the Marine Security Detail tries in vain to stand their ground.  Watching as little TVs were peppered throughout the film’s landscape to further build the tension and authenticity of the time.  Everyone in America was involved in what was happening to “the Hostages” and everyone just wanted to “bring them home.”  I was five when this happened, and I can remember hearing those phrases over and over.  I might not have understood much, but I knew that Americans were in jail in a land far away and we were all, one nation, praying for them, daily.

I give solid praise to Affleck for capturing the event, letting us behind the scenes on an operation as daring as it was foolish, in a time when the Soviets were still very much a threat, the Nuclear Holocaust wasn’t just a horror movie plot, and Americans stood together to stand for something bigger than themselves.  Affleck deserves an Oscar for Best Director for this film.  But, I have one thing I can’t forgive him for, he left out a certain actor, and major player, during this crisis because of his politics.  For that, I say, shame on him.  If you are going to tell a story, then tell the story, don’t create propaganda, you are better than that, evidenced by your incredible detail with this film.  I only hope he will give credit where it is due in the Blu-ray version special features.  Still, Argo is an exceptionally well-shot, well-told, story about Honor, Courage and Commitment.

(1 People gave this 5.00 out of 5)

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When will your loop be closed?

Swift shot:  A film that defies expectation.  If you’ve seen one preview for Looper, you know what it is purportedly about, but that’s just the cordite on the blunderbuss – while it has a strong science-fiction platform, the story is what I was most drawn to.  Ultimately it is a story about throw-away people and what the cycles of neglect and apathy can do to a person . . . and society.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt must have felt awkward donning the pubescent Willis look, and at times it played with my mind a bit, but it never really deprived me of being able to immerse myself in the characters and the story.

It’s the story that really sucks you in and the methodical ruthlessness of the pseudo-Dystopian which probably bears the most credence for these types of imagined futures oft portrayed in films.  The best thing about Looper has to be that is was original, sure it borrows on themes from other films, but it becomes its own creature, and it breaks out as something people can’t point to and say “God, why can’t Hollywood come up with any new ideas?”  In fact, they even poke fun at that within the film in one character-building scene with Jeff Daniels; dark character.  You’ll like Looper, and you may find yourself shelling out silver just to see it twice, in case you missed something the first time.

Joe (JG-L) is a ruthless killer, but he isn’t heartless – he’s just a broken person, a “bad man,” really.  He’s a Looper in 2044 Kansas.  Loopers are folks that kill people from 30 years in the future who are zapped directly in front of them, bagged, tagged, and bound to make it a simple enough task.  Point your blunderbuss, pull the trigger, collect your silver, even a child could do it.  Joe actually started as a child, picked up off the streets by his Fagan, Abe (Jeff Daniels).  Abe is a task-oriented bad guy.  Sent from the future to set up the whole Looper operation, seemingly without the public knowing . . . but a few times in the film we are led to believe the existence of Loopers is common-knowledge . . . at least on the streets anyway.  Joe has a friend, Seth (Paul Dano) who is more like the fuck-up version of Joe, also a Looper, Seth comes across as a wannabe gangster who really struggles to find any identity other than serving to be Joe’s friend in the film.  He’s a junky, just like Joe, they are both addicted to some odd eye-drop drug that allows them to escape the loneliness that is their existence.

Still, life is good enough for the two junkies, kill future-people, collect silver, get drugs, party – rinse and repeat.  Until . . . you know, every good story has an “until” or a “but” – and in Looper, all is dreamy until Loopers start “closing their loops.”  Which, as you may have guessed means they kill their future selves.  It’s not horrible though, you don’t know it’s you until you see that you’ve been paid in gold, then you are free to leave the looping crew and spend the rest of your thirty years as you like.  Until . . . you get sent back to be killed by yourself.  Thing is, this is rare, but lately everyone has been closing their loops.  When Seth meets Old Seth; though, he recognizes himself immediately, because the target is humming a tune Seth’s mom used to use to soothe him.  Mothers play a very critical role in Looper, Director Rian Johnson (Brick) no doubt wanted to make it clear how important a role mothers (translated as society) play in developing a person.  So, as I mentioned, Seth isn’t exactly the swiftest of people, he manages to let his Old Seth escape.  I can’t divulge how Abe captures Old Seth, but I can reveal that it was the most physically and emotionally painful sequence I have watched in a long time.  And just like Judas, Seth’s traitor is paid in silver.

After Seth falls apart, Joe is not about to fret when he has to close his own loop.  He knew this was coming, but when Old Joe (Willis) is delivered in front of him, first, the timing is off, and second, he isn’t bagged up nor bound.  He’s forced to make eye contact with himself, and his moment of hesitation costs him dearly.  Old Joe can’t kill himself, so he just knocks him out and leaves him a quick note to hop a train and run.  Joe isn’t too swift either, or maybe he wanted to avoid being ‘let go’ like his buddy Seth.  Joe searches for Old Joe, as Old Joe searches for the future crime-lord, known only as “The Rainmaker.”  The Rainmaker is only a child at this point, but Old Joe is determined the child must die to protect his life in the future.  He has it narrowed down to three kids in the area.  That’s all the story I will give, because revealing anything else would be criminal.

Emily Blunt plays Sara, the mother of one of the children, Cid (Pierce Gagnon) on Old Joe’s list, and Joe makes their acquaintance and is resolved to help protect Cid from Old Joe at all costs.  Bruce Willis may end up losing sleep with this role for what Old Joe does to protect his future life.  Pierce Gagnon is going to leave you haunted by his performance.  I don’t know where they found this little dude.  Not only can he act, but his presence on screen is ‘just beyond’ given the amount he has to work with.  I sincerely hope he sticks around Hollywood as more than just a child actor.  Impressive work.

Looper will leave you asking several questions.  In the end; though, you will be forced to ask the toughest question of all, but to reveal that question would be to reveal the answer and to spoil the film.  Love and loss often go hand in hand, and regret is sometimes only a ticking clock away.  Go see this film, immediately.  You will be disturbed and intrigued.

[Swift aside: Incidentally, I blew the chance to interview Rian Johnson and JG-L in Miami, but my buddy Kai didn't.  So, please check out his interviews here and let us know what you thought about Looper]

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“I am glad our son beat the shit out of your son, and I wipe my ass with your human rights!”- One mother to another.

The H-Bomb:  One afternoon, while playing in a park in New York City, two boys get into an altercation in which one boy picks up a big stick and whacks the other across the face with it.  We come to find out that the boy who was hit lost two teeth and suffered some minor nerve damage as a result.  Instead of going the “knee-jerk” route by suing, the parents of the victim, Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly), invite the parents of the attacker, Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) over to their apartment in order to “talk things out.”

Their meeting starts out pleasantly enough, with coffee and cobbler being served, and everyone discussing the situation in a calm, rational manner.  After all, these are four civilized, mature adults, not two kids on a playground.  There’s no way this discussion could go downhill and turn into an ugly, petty verbal brawl, is there…?  Yeah, right… lest you forget, these are New Yorkers we’re talking about here.

So, naturally, the polite façades of both couples gradually deteriorate.  At first, it’s a mere disagreement over wording in a letter (“Our son was not ‘armed’ with a stick, he was ‘carrying’ a stick“), but from there, the conversation becomes increasingly unpleasant, as snide little jabs turn into accusations, accusations turn into insults, and full-on shouting matches soon dominate the proceedings.

Eventually, the coffee pot is replaced with a bottle of Scotch… then the gloves really come off, as the “nice n’ friendly” act is dropped entirely and everyone starts to say what they really think.  What they really think of the fight their kids got into, and what they really think of each other.  Spontaneous vomiting, mocking of spousal pet names, and lectures on animal cruelty ensue in this epic war of the words, in which alliances constantly shift (couple vs. couple, women vs. men, spouse vs. spouse, etc.) and from which no one shall emerge unscathed.

Before I go into this review, let me just say, that one major reason for my lack of interest in having children is that, if I ever did, I would at some point have to deal with shit like this.  Whether my kid would be the bully or the victim, something like this would inevitably happen, and I would get pulled into it, and that is something I would just as soon live without, so a big thank you to director Roman Polanski for reaffirming my stance on this.

I must also thank Mr. Polanski for taking the stage play “God of Carnage”, by Yasmina Reza, and adapting it into one hell of an entertaining, if unapologetically bitter, film.  That bitterness will, without a doubt, be off-putting to many, as will the characters themselves, who by the time the film is finished, will have all proven themselves to be contemptible cretins who should not even be allowed in the same room with children, let alone be raising them (kind of like Polanski himself, amirite?  Sorry, couldn’t resist).

But to me, that is the point behind this “comedy of no manners,” that people are, in general, contemptible cretins who harbor nothing but pure disdain for their fellow man, and who mainly hide their feelings through bullshit pleasantries that include, but are not limited to, forced smiles, false compliments, pretend concern, and idle chit-chat.  That is indeed a deeply sour and cynical view of the human race, but one that probably has more truth to it than any of us would like to admit.

So, with all that laid out, why would anyone voluntarily spend ninety minutes watching these fucking jerks?   Well, aside from the fascination of witnessing this “friendly meeting” devolve into childish finger pointing and name calling, there’s also the terrific script (by Reza and Polanski) chock full of  acid-laced dialogue that’s as hilarious as it is mean-spirited.  This is aided by Polanski’s sharp, snappy direction that never allows for even a single dull moment, despite the film being essentially one long conversation set in a single location.

Another, and more important, reason this conversation never loses steam or becomes static is the cast.  All four of these actors are top drawer talent, and they are all in fine form.  Foster, as Penelope, the outraged mom who believes herself to be, morally, completely in the right, gives her best performance since she played Clarice Starling so many moons ago.  Winslet is just as good as Nancy, the other mother, who doesn’t necessarily believe that her kid should shoulder all the blame in this incident.  Reilly is a riot as the overly cheery Michael, whose happy-go-lucky demeanor seems just a little too good to not be a complete and total act.

As fantastic as they all are, there is one amongst them who steals the show completely.  The same guy who stole Inglourious Basterds back in 2009 and nabbed an Oscar for it, Mr. Christoph Waltz.  Here, as the attacker’s smarmy, caustic father, he once again works his magic and gives a performance that everyone will be talking about long after the movie’s over.  In a way, his Alan is the most sympathetic of the four, in that he is the most honest, as evidenced in how he does very little to hide his utter disinterest in the entire situation, not to mention his contempt for his hosts.  He constantly answers his cell phone during the discussion, and makes several attempts to leave throughout.  Watching Waltz at work here was a fiendish delight, and makes me even more anxious for Django Unchained, where he looks poised to steal the show yet again.

Anyhow, getting back to Carnage, what more is there to say, other than mark this down as another win for Polanski.  He may be getting up there in age, but as a filmmaker, he’s as on point as ever.  Everything about the film; the script, the direction, the performances, are all damn close to perfect.  It‘s an exceptionally nasty movie about exceptionally nasty people, and should only be seen by those who like their comedies pitch black with a razor sharp edge.  If you are one of those, then you will likely find yourself rewarded, especially by the film’s final shot, which wraps everything up in one nice, big, ironic bow.