Rewind - Junebug

This year, Amy Adams was nominated for her third Oscar for her against-type performance in The Fighter. With this movie, it seemed that she had the world at her feet: she's just about overdue for an Oscar already, she's worked for some brilliant directors and she's always the best thing about every movie she is in. But let's take a look at Amy Adams before she was a big Oscar nominee, on the cusp of international stardom and having all of these opportunities to work with some amazing people. In 2005, Junebug, a little indie flick came out, and from then on, people became aware of just how brilliant Amy is. So much so that she got her first Oscar nomination, for her brilliant performance as heavily pregnant Ashley, a part of the family which British art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) marries into.

Junebug is all about family and their dynamics, but it also deals with 'outsider art' too. Madeleine's job is to go and find odd art, which is how she meets her husband George (Alessandro Nivola). After being married for a little while, it is time for Madeleine to meet George's parents, and coincidentally secure a deal with an artist. They travel into the deep South and Madeleine has her mind set on getting this artist, even though George just wants her to meet his family: his parents Eugene (Scott Wilson) and Peg (Celia Weston), his high school drop-out brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie) and his pregnant wife, Ashley. Madeleine is instead drawn into all of these social gatherings within her time with the family, and has to rely on Ashley to help her navigate through the baby showers and family dinners.

In a normal film, there wouldn't be any room just to observe a family stuck in a small town. No, that would have to have proper plot structure, major tragedy right from the get-go and, heaven forbid, explosions. But even without these, Junebug is a totally engaging indie drama, with a pretty tragic ending which turns both ambiguous and hopeful just before the credits roll. To some people, there might not be any 'point' to Junebug, and that, to an extent, is true. But I found it totally fascinating to watch this family work together, just doing family sorts of things. Also, there's this subtle war between family and work underlying the whole thing, which is wildly interesting to observe. Otherwise, Junebug is just your normal indie, backed by an eclectic sounding soundtrack, set within the confines of an authentic and old looking house, all about people being suffocated by their small town life. You know, nothing 'special', but Junebug is another reason why indie dramas are the best.

As a typical indie drama goes, the performances are usually all very good. Junebug is no exception to that rule. Embeth Davidtz is brilliant in her slightly cruel-to-be-kind sort of role. Alessandro Nivola had a pretty normal character, in comparison with everyone else, but I really came to like him in the end, especially in the scene where Ashley breaks down and he's there to comfort her. The parents, Scott Wilson and Celia Weston, were very believable Southern parents, the latter trying so hard to tolerate Ashley and the former just trying to tolerate life. However, I thought that the film belonged to Ben McKenzie and Amy Adams. I remember McKenzie from back in the day when I was obsessed with The OC, and I was pretty surprised when I saw that he has been in hardly anything since then. Here he plays the under-achieving brother, forever in the shadow of his more successful brother, finding his wife just a tad annoying. You name a problem, he most likely has it. McKenzie was brilliant in this role, which made me sad that he hasn't got any more good roles after this one. However, the Oscar nomination speaks for itself: Amy Adams was awesome in this film. She's like a child, with the way her family treats her and the way that she pushes herself onto everyone else. Her non-stop talking does get pretty annoying after a while, but it was interesting to see her finally take off her positive facade at the end, as Amy played this really well. See the film just for her. Well, as long as you like indie dramas, you should be right.

THE VERDICT: Amy Adams delivers an amazing performance in this artsy indie, which goes right into the South to show just a normal weekend with a family. It's engaging and well performed, a definite must see for any fans of the genre.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

DVD - Welcome to the Rileys

People have been unfair to Kristen Stewart. Yes, she is diabolically bad in Twilight (and she gets worse with every movie), with the ever-present hair pulling and eye twitching that drive me to distraction. But, to be honest, everyone in those movies is on auto-pilot, because 1) the screenplay's are so bad it makes it impossible for any actor to try and work their way out of the muck, and 2) the main fanbase simply don't care what the acting is like, as long as Taylor Lautner has his shirt off and Robert Pattinson is being the most 'romantic' vampire ever. Kristen Stewart in everything but these vampire...uh...things? Brilliant. If I was impressed with her performance as rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways, her performance as runaway 16 year old prostitute in Welcome to the Rileys completely blew that out of the water.

To say that Kristen is the best thing about this movie is a huge stake to claim. She is supported by two strong performances from James Gandolfini and recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo, who is particularly good. Kristen, however, is fearless in this movie, but at the same time, she is playing a tough girl on the exterior who is probably more out of her depth than anyone else, and even though she think she can, she really can't cope with it. However, she isn't the only one out of their depth. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo play a couple who have been married for just about 30 years, but they don't appear to be the happy, homely couple that people would like to think they are. This is mostly due to the fact that thier daughter died in a car accident at the age of 15, and since then Lois (Leo) has refused to leave the house and naturally, Doug (Gandolfini) feels a lot of guilt towards what had happened. Enter Allison (Stewart), who is known as 'Mallory' when she's at work, who meets Doug at the club which she works at. She lost her mother and has since been living in a crappy house trying to pay her way by selling herself. Doug offers to help her become a better person, as she appears to be far beyond her years, but needs reeling in before she loses herself completely. In Allison, Doug sees the chance to have a substitute for his daughter, and feels like he is of use trying to help her, even though Allison isn't interested in being anyone's "little girl".

Doug, Lois and Allison aren't related, but their story makes for a very interesting family drama. The base of this movie is guilt: the guilt that Doug and Lois feel for their loss and the guilt that Allison doesn't know that she has building up inside of her until Doug comes along. Allison was very happy living a life so messed up that it's hard to imagine her as being someone my age. You can't say that Welcome to the Rileys treads unfamiliar ground, as one person trying to help another wayward person is hardly original. But the relationship between Doug and Allison, is one that quickly forms to be something similar to a simple father-daughter relationship, even if it really all comes down to guilt. What is more beautiful, though, is the relationship that forms between Lois and Allison. Lois is probably the most guilt-ridden out of the two, since she believes that her daughter's death was absolutely all her fault. At first, she doesn't buy into Doug forming a bond with Allison, but instead of bursting in demanding change like he did, Lois very gradually warms to Allison. Where Doug saw Allison more as a project, Lois saw Allison as a daughter. In all honesty, it was the conflicting interests between the two which I really connected with, and probably why I loved this film so much (though, my weakness for an indie drama probably contributes greatly).

I imagine that many people would find this meddling material, as it does tend to take it's time and it has a few unintentional awkward silences. Other than that, this is actually a little gem of a film. It's obviously made with love, and it's just a very genuine film. The performances are, of course, the highlight, because if they weren't so good, this film would have had trouble getting off the ground like it did. James Gandolfini is a great father figure, taking no nonsense from anyone else, but being very lenient towards himself. He has a commanding, yet quite cheeky, showcase, which is nothing short of heartfelt and human. Melissa Leo was particularly impressive. She was so shaky, insecure and confused that it was painful to watch her sometimes, but you could really see the points she was trying to make. She was the beautiful mother figure to Gandolfini's father figure, yet she was just so shaken by even the slightest knock against her. But, as I said at the beginning of the review, Kristen Stewart is the stand-out performer in this. She just had a presence of someone who appeared beyond her years, but she was still very much a child underneath it all. If you want proof that Kristen Stewart can indeed act, very well, look no further than Welcome to the Rileys.

THE VERDICT: The heartfelt and electrifying performances from Gandolfini, Leo and Stewart elevate Welcome to the Rileys from the meddling material it could have been, and make it an family drama that's not to be missed.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

DVD--Paper Man

or: Imaginary Friends

One word to sum it up: Oddball

"When the world is imperiled. When evil surrounds you. When danger is lurking. Who do you call?" "Captain Excellent." Those are words you would expect to come from a real superhero and a young kid. In Paper Man, that is not the case. The superhero is imaginary, and comes in the form of Ryan Reynolds as a man who wears his undies on the outside. The imaginer of the superhero is in fact a grown man, failing writer Richard Dunn (Jeff Daniels). What happens when the grown man gets a real friend (Emma Stone) with some problems of her own? He gets some lessons on how to grow up, even if his long-suffering wife (Lisa Kudrow) and Captain Excellent disapprove.

Paper Man houses a very interesting sort of story which sees it's protagonist dealing with leaving his past behind--his past being an imaginary friend. In some ways, it succeeds in being a charming, coming-of-age-of-sorts. But the movie takes the focus too much off Richard's relationship with Captain Excellent and puts it on the relationship he forms with Emma Stone's stuffed up teenager. The film almost feels like it has been done before, with all the trimmings to make us feel bad for the characters (particularly Stone's, with her twin dying by her 'fault'). It's many flaws may prove too much for some, but I really enjoyed this flick, mainly because it's exactly my type of thing.

Jeff Daniels is good in the lead role, but his character keeps the stereotype that 'all writers go a little mad when they can't think of ideas to write about'. Emma Stone proves that she can do drama quite well, and can really carry an emotional monologue to make us feel for her. Lisa Kudrow is good, even though she's always Phoebe from Friends, but she really pulls off the role of the bored wife. Really, it's the imaginary friends who steal the show. Ryan Reynolds has always been the kind of picture of a superhero, and seems to make fun of that image, especially with the outlandish costume and the peroxide blond hair. He serves as the comic relief of the film, which is good since the rest of it is quite depressing. Kieran Culkin, last seen as Wallace Wells in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, plays the emo imaginary friend, and is fantastic being clingy and clinically depressed. Emma Stone isn't the only star on the rise, Culkin is too.


THE VERDICT: It can be funny, it can be heart-breaking, but that doesn't make Paper Man perfect. The performances lift it from what it could have been.

7/10

DVD--Greenberg

or: The unlikable lead.

One word to sum it up: Indie.

Ben Stiller. How do you explain Ben Stiller? He’s like every other 'funny guy' out there...he's funny once, but fails to strike gold again. However, when people came out with their reviews for Greenberg, they kept saying over and over that this was the best work he had done 'in an age'. That may be true, if we were speaking in acting terms, but people keep forgetting the remarkable work he did in Tropic Thunder. Which just shows that the critics will go for indie more than mainstream blockbuster, even if the latter was a bit better.

We like Florence (Greta Gerwig): she's considerate, sweet, pretty, and terrific with kids and dogs. She's 26, personal assistant to an L.A. family who's off on vacation. Her boss's brother (Ben Stiller) comes in from New York City, fresh out of an asylum, to stay at the house. He's Roger, a carpenter, 40, gone from L.A. for 15 years. He arrives, doesn't drive, and needs Florence's help, especially with the family dog. He's also connecting with ex-mates--two men and one woman with whom he has a history. He over-analyzes, has a short fuse, and doesn't laugh at himself easily. As he navigates past and present, he's his own saboteur. And what of Florence, is Roger one more responsibility for her or something else?

One of the worst things about Greenberg is the titular character himself. One of the best things about Greenberg is the titular character himself. So what happened when I had to come to the decision of whether I liked the movie or not? Well, let's just say, it certainly wasn't as great as the critics made it out to be, but it's a typical lowkey effort from Noah Baumbach which deserves some recognition. After all, he made a largely character based movie with no plot kinda work. Yeah, it gets a little tedious sometimes, and most of the time we just want to shoot Greenberg, but if you give it a little thought, Baumbach has a clear dedication to his characters and they really are quite clever.

Ben Stiller does do his best acting work in a while, looking quite tired and weathered, making Greenberg a more believable slacker. However--and this isn't the first time you have probably heard this--it is Greta Gerwig who steals the show. We've seen plenty of actresses play the nice girl who is successful and loved, but Gerwig's take on the character makes it seem like a completely original idea. Part of that comes from Baumbach's accurate depiction of the nice successful girl who isn't perfect. Then Gerwig takes the reins and ensures that this character comes to life in the sweetest way possible, and is so down to earth and charasmatic that she's impossible not to like. If only other actresses could take a leaf out of Gerwig's book, as she is the actress of the future. Greenberg's lead characters shine, and they aren't without their backup from Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh (who also wrote the story). However, the material is a little awkward (especially the sexual encounters between Greenberg and Florence) and a little boring, and doesn't manage to stick in your mind long after you watch it.

THE VERDICT: Ben Stiller gives a great performance, and Greta Gerwig steals the show, but Noah Baumbach's film is a bit slow, due to the fact that it is largely character based and has no real plot to speak of.

6/10

DVD--Rocket Science

or: Another quirky indie...but no one said that quirky indies were bad...

One word to sum it up: Indie (yes, that is a possible word to sum this movie up).

The joys of searching through the preview drawer. Usually, the movies are awful and painfully cheap action films or the really really quirky indies that may be so indie that no one has ever heard of them and therefore no one ever watches them. But sometimes, on very limited ocassions, the preview drawer will get some normal and quite good movies (last year, I discovered Let the Right One In in there...and how well our relationship turned out!). Rocket Science seemed to fit in the category of perfectly normal and good movies in the preview drawer...but may run the risk of being an indie which is so indie that no one will watch it.

High school student Hal Hefner (Reece Daniel Thompson) stutters. On the evening his parents stop arguing and separate, 43 miles away at the state tournament, his school's legendary debater, Ben Wekselbaum (Nicholas D'Agosto), goes blank mid-sentence, Ben's teammate Ginny Ryerson (Anna Kendrick) doesn't get a first-place trophy, and the world changes. That fall, to Hal's amazement, Ginny recruits him for the debate team, mentors him, and will be his partner. He still has his stutter, but he works hard and he falls in love with Ginny. On the day of the first debate of the season, the world changes again. From then until the day of the state tournament, Hal has a lot to sort out.

There is no denying that Rocket Science is a typical indie. It has all the quirks, a deft sense of humour, and those homely set pieces which make never fails to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However, there are many reasons as to why this film should be seen. The first is a nice and harmonious connection between the writer/director Jeffrey Blitz and his characters. He obviously treats the characters as if they were people at his school and attends to each of them with such adoration that you can't help but feel connected in some way to them as well. Trust me, you may find yourself in each of these characters.

Secondly, there are the people who are playing the characters. Reece Daniel Thompson is in perfect form, even though he looks a lot younger than his age, as Hal, and you can't help but put your heart out to the poor stuttering guy. Anna Kendrick shows why she is an Oscar nominated actress and why she has more of a future than her Twilight co-stars. She just exudes such a naive want to be an adult in this role, and plays the over achieving teenager we all love to hate so well that really makes me wonder: why is no one picking up on this film and her superior talents?

Finally, this movie draws so many similarities to films like Napoleon Dynamite, but yet, it has that John Hughes kind of feel about it. There, I said it. This film is remarkably like a smaller scale modern take on a John Hughes film. And it does that thing really well. So, with some reasons to watch Rocket Science, are there any reasons not to? It may not be one of the most perfect films ever, and it does sometimes drag. But you should definitely see Rocket Science. Put it on you Netflix queue (man, I wish I could get one of those) or whatever, and you won't be disappointed (hopefully).


THE VERDICT: Quirky indies are good, and Rocket Science is no exception. The connection between the writer and the characters and the audience makes this film a clear winner and an understated gem.

7/10

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

I have a real weak spot for indie films that portray people's lives. I don't know whether it's because I like to watch other people's lives crash and burn and pick themselves up again and not have to worry about my life, or whether it's because they're actually good. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009) was panned by critics, which is a shame because I really liked this movie.
Pippa Lee (Robin Wright) has had a life like a rollercoaster, but has since settled down to be married to a much older man, Herb (Alan Arkin). She remembers her life before then, and all of the people she met that shaped the way she is now. The arrival of Chris (Keanu Reeves) puts Pippa's life in perspective, and she starts to wonder what she wants to become.
It sounds a little tedious, but it's not. It is captivating from start to finish. This is due to it's major ensemble cast of Wright, Arkin, Reeves, Winona Ryder, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Maria Bello and Monica Belucci, who all turn out in force with wonderful performances, even though some of them are brief (such as Julianne Moore, who was fantastic as always even if she was only in about three scenes). I can't understand why this was so heavily panned, because it is a gem of a film which is by no means slow-moving at all.
8/10

(500) Days of Summer

Just so you know, 500 Days of Summer is not about 500 days of sunshine; rather, 'Summer' is a girl. So I guess that makes you think it's a romantic comedy then. That's definitely wrong. 500 Days of Summer is the first great anti-romatic comedy. You self-confessed rom-com fans will love this if you loved He's Just Not That Into You.
Take the storyline of He's Just Not that Into You, change it to 'she's just not that into him' and take out the 180 degree backflip at the end and you have 500 Days of Summer. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bored greeting card writer whose life is truned upside down when he meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel). They begin to go out, but Summer doesn't believe in love. This is a problem for Tom, because he has believed in love ever since he watched The Graduate. So, they break up. Tom can't let go of Summer, so he looks back on their relationship to see what went wrong. And try to get his girl back.
Part of what makes this film so great is the undeniable chemistry between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. You may recognize Gordon-Levitt from TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun and 90's comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. He's grown up since those days, and is shaping up to be one of this decade's best actors thanks to this film. The same goes for Zooey Deschanel. She's been in many films to date, like Yes Man and Bridge to Terabithia, but has never fully been in a good leading role. With this, she gets even more lovable.
500 Days of Summer screams 'original', with a very funny and different script. It's totally believable, and you're constantly drawn into the character's world. Adding to a perfect script is the perfect soundtrack. This gives a retro feel to the movie, which is complemented by Summer's awesome style.
Director Marc Webb has delivered a movie most directors would love to have in their filmography. He has just been named as the director of Spiderman 4, which will be a substantial change of pace.
All in all, 500 Days of Summer is definitely up there in my list of top films of 2009. And also one of my favourite films of all-time. That's saying something. Thanks to this film I have a new love for retro music; Joseph Gordon-Levitt is my new favourite actor and I can't wait to see him in Inception with my other favourite actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard; and most of all, I have restored faith in the greatness of the independent comedies coming straight from Sundance.
If you go into this film expecting a love story you will probably come away disappointed. However, I know it's impossible not to like this film.
This is not a love story. It's a story about love.
10/10