DVD--The Messenger

or: War and grief.

One word to sum it up: Emotional.

Movies about the Iraq war have become about as popular as Jennifer Aniston romantic comedies in Hollywood these days. One of them, The Hurt Locker, even won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2010 over the highest grossing movie of all time. However, this movie wasn't the only one tackling the Iraq war as a topic at the Oscars in 2010. The Messenger was nominated for two Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson) and Best Original Screenplay (which it lost to The Hurt Locker). The most amazing thing is that it has taken this long to get to our shores, only to wind up as a straight to DVD release. Which is a shame, because this movie is truly amazing, no doubt about it.

Instead of focusing on the actual war going on, The Messenger follows the people who go around telling families that their son/relative has died in Iraq as a consequence of war. US Army Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) is sent back home after he is injured by an improvised explosive device. He is upset when he gets the job of being in the 'Casual Notification Team', because he hasn't had much experience in counselling or grief management, so he doesn't know how suited he is to the job. He is paired with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who has been doing the job for much longer, and teaches Will a thing or two about what they are doing. One case which takes Will by surprise is that of Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), who also has a young child. He is taken by her, even though it may not be in either of their best interests to start a relationship.

The Messenger took me completely by surprise. I thought it would be just another war film with all these explosives and espionage and that kind of thing, but it wasn't. It handles such a dark topic, but yet it is still completely engrossing and emotionally powerful. It deals with all type of grief, but yet, it isn't as depressing as it may have you believe, and has a good deal of humour spread throughout it. It's deftly handled by writer/director Oren Moverman, who was also the brains behind the brilliant screenplay for I'm Not There. He clearly knows his agenda: to make a movie about such a timely matter which also has a nice romantic story which is nicely, if slightly ambiguously rounded off in the end. The way the characters are developed is a high point. This is particularly seen in Will's monologue towards the end, which is so beautifully done.

The performances, however, are the best reason to see this movie. Ben Foster does a stunningly good turn in the lead role, and is slowly building up to be one of the future's finest actors. He gives the character the right amount of mysteriousness, and did remind me of the 'war is my drug' character James in The Hurt Locker. Samantha Morton is sweet and realistic as the love interest who was charming to watch. Jena Malone, in a small role, makes the most of her opportunity and shows that she is ready for bigger things now, like the upcoming Sucker Punch. Steve Buscemi, also in a small role, is brilliant as always. It is really Woody Harrelson who steals the show though, in his Oscar nominated performance. His turn as a recovering alcoholic with an incredible attitude towards grief was brilliant to watch. The strength he had over everyone was obvious. Yet, he could still lighten things up with some trademark Woody humour.

THE VERDICT: A well performed, well written movie tending to an issue which is both depressing and interesting to watch, but never failed to blow me away.

What I hoped for:

 
 
 
 
 
What I got:

Cold Mountain

I had borrowed Cold Mountain from a friend way back in April, and now, close to the end of August, I have finally gotten around to watching it. Yes, I know I may just be the slackest person ever. Oh, and I should probably tell you that I didn't watch it just because Cillian Murphy is in it for two minutes. I watched it because it basically looked like an R16 version of Gone with the Wind. And no, I don't mean that in a bad way.
We follow the story of a wounded Confederate soldier named Inman (Jude Law) who struggles on a perilous journey to get back home to Cold Mountain in North Carolina, as well as to Ada (Nicole Kidman), the woman he left behind before going off to fight in the American Civil War. Along the way, he meets a long line of interesting and colorful characters, while back at home, Ada is learning the ropes of managing her dead father's farm with Ruby (Renee Zellweger), a scrappy drifter who assists and teaches Ada along the way.

People always go on about how Cold Mountain was made just as an Oscar movie. That could be true, as it reeks of Oscar, but who says that is a bad thing? The film deserved Oscars. The performances from all of the ensemble cast, but especially Zellweger, were all pitch perfect and somewhat true to the time period as opposed to the modern take many stars try to bring to stories like this. It's one of the most classically done period pieces that would still appeal to the modern audience. A lot of period films that have come out in the past ten years have either succeeded in capturing the period but not the audience, or capturing the audience but not the time period. Cold Mountain so wonderfully does this, with it's brutality and also an interesting love story.

Amazingly, this is the first love story which I have enjoyed in a while. Forget that new comedy Going the Distance, Ada and Inman show you how the long distance relationship is done. Their relationship was so interesting that I was shocked to tears in the end...not something that a romance does easily for me. This movie is just so beautiful through and through, and does well to capture the hardships and horror cause by the Civil War. I do like to think of this as the film Gone with the Wind would have been if it had been made in more recent times.

A beautifully made and acted film, a classic romance that will sweep you away yet shock you to the core.

10/10

Green Zone

There are some movies which I just cannot review, and Green Zone may be just one of those movies. I didn't really pay much attention to this movie. All I knew was everytime I tried to pay attention I just kept seeing Matt Damon running around with a gun in Iraq. So now you think I am an airhead, I am going to take a stab at trying to review the movie. This could be a very short writeup...
Following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his men are charged with finding the so-called weapons of mass destruction, whose existence justified American involvement, according to the Pentagon and their man in Baghdad, Poundsgate. Veteran CIA operative Marty tells Miller that there are no weapons, it is a deception to allow the Americans to take over the country and install a puppet leader. Also suspicious of Poundsgate is Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne, who lets slip to Miller that Poundsgate told her he had secret talks in Jordan with an important Iraqi, code-named Magellan, who told him about the weapons, though it now seems likely Magellan's true information was to the contrary. So begins a hunt for the truth. Who's playing whom?

So as I said, I wasn't really into this movie. It did have it's merits though, like a good performance from top form Matt Damon, some interesting direction and also some good action scenes. But war movies aren't really my cup of tea (I only watched this to be up to date with all the movies that have come out in the past few weeks), even though I really liked The Hurt Locker. I think most people will find that this is boring because we soon grow tired of it's non stop shooting. And seriously, Iraq won't be interesting for another 50 years when it's a part of our history.

Iraq+Me=Meh.

4/10

The Hurt Locker

Upon watching The Hurt Locker, I realised that I had watched every movie nominated for Best Picture this year apart from the actual winner. So all this time I have kinda been fuming over the fact that my favourites Inglourious Basterds, District 9 and Up in the Air didn't even get a look in, but I had never actually seen the film that beat them.

The Hurt Locker follows the story of an elite Army bomb squad who are centered in Iraq. Everything they do is done with extreme care as everything and everyone are potential threats and enemies. William James (Jeremy Renner) has seen a lot of bomb disposals in his time, and has found out that war and adrenaline are drugs to him. But while he is off at war, he has a family back home. Does he love war more than that?

I can see why this movie won Best Picture. It is, for once, an interesting look at the war in Iraq. Because of it's tough topic, bomb disposal, it has a lot of adrenaline, which is helped by some fantastic direction from Kathryn Bigelow. She makes the film in a way that draws the viewer in to what's happening. Too often I found myself lost in it's world because of this.

The performances are pitch perfect, especially from Jeremy Renner, who exudes greatness as the tough guy James. Anthony Mackie, also, delivers an underrated performance as Sanborn. Even Brian Geraghty is great, and I have already forgotten him in Open House. The cameos from Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes don't detract from the film as many other cameos do, and they just fit in so well. It's hard to picture this movie as a movie, because we have become so used to films so dumb and flat, whereas this acts like a real-life piece that could have been filmed as a documentary in Iraq.

It sure is a great film with shattering direction from Kathryn Bigelow; her direction is enough to match twenty men, and I found it so hard to believe that a woman was directing this; however, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Inglourious Basterds, District 9 or Up in the Air. I do think it was better than Avatar, though. The film will probably go down in history as one of the best portrayals of war in Iraq.

A masterful war film with some amazing direction from Kathryn Bigelow. A definite must-see.

8/10

Schindler's List

What can I say about Schindler's List? Is it really a film? Because while watching it I couldn't believe my eyes. I was so involved in it and compelled by it. Now I see why they say that this is essential viewing.

In the thick of World War II, a member of the Nazi Party, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) hires hundreds of Jews to work for him in his manafacturing business. While doing this, he is saving their lives, but does this at a cost: how long can he prevent them from meeting their demise at a concentration camp?

In one of my classes, I heard someone complaining because this movie was made in Black and White. What I have to say to them is: get over it. There is no way this movie would have been as good if it wasn't filmed in Black and White. I will never forget that breath taking scene where the camera is on Oskar smoking a cigarette in a bar, it was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen before (call me weird, but that was on really good shot).

I really can't say a lot about this movie in the fear that I might say too much, or risking sounding like a film school tryhard. I loved the performances: Liam Neeson was amazing beyond words and should have definitely got the Oscar; Ralph Fiennes surprised me, was rather good looking (besides the muffintop) in Black and White, but I have to say Leonardo DiCaprio deserved the Oscar more that year for What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which he never got; and Ben Kingsley, with hair! What can I say?

Steven Spielberg did an amazing job with this movie, because everything about it really worked. I really can't describe it in any other way but to say: this movie changed my life.

Essential movie...as they all say. One of the best movies I have ever seen.

10/10

Life is Beautiful

I thought the title-Life is Beautiful (1998)-sounded a bit cheesy, and this would be one of those soppy romantic films depicting perfect lives and thing like that. But surrprisingly, Life is Beautiful lives up to it's name, but should have been called 'This Film is Beautiful'.
Guido (Roberto Benigni) is a Jewish family man living in Italy, chasing his wildest dreams and married to a beautiful woman with a wonderful child. He and his family live in peace and harmony, that is, until the war starts. He is shipped off with his family to a concentration camp, but Guido takes this horribleness as a game, in order to make his son feel better and promise him a better life.
Okay, I know my synopsis may sound a little cheesy, but this is one of those movies you just have to see to know what I am talking about. This movie is amazingly beautiful, it just clicks where it is supposed to and handles the war story with heart and humour--something we rarely see these days. Honestly, if you want to watch a really good European/Italian movie, then do not go past this one, because it is one of the best. Life is Beautiful, well, yes it is, but this film even more so.
8/10

Inglourious Basterds

When I first heard about Inglourious Basterds (2009) way back in 2007, my stomach did a little back-flip. I was a huge fan of Pulp Fiction, and all of Quentin Tarantino's work, so I couldn't wait for a war-film that he was working on. Okay, his spelling isn't perfect, but I guess that makes this movie stand out, and I can tell you, to me, it's better than all of his other work. Basterds is a long movie, and you really have to know QT's work to really appreciate it. It is divided into 5 chapters, and they all follow the story of Jews in Nazi-occupied France, who are out to kill any Nazi's they can find. We meet all sorts of characters, the main in which is Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine, a Jew from Tennessee who wants his Nazi's scalps-100 of them!!! He is the head of the 'Basterds', which is also made up of some fellow bad-ass Jews (Eli Roth probably has one of the funniest characters), and has the added help of German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), who is a secret spy. Meanwhile, elsewhere, there is a young Jew girl, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who witnessed the massacre of her family in 1941, but managed to escape and be living in France under the fake name of Emanuelle Minieux. She has a cinema, which mainly shows German films, and has an attack plan to kill Nazi's, all of her own. In true Quentin Tarantino style, the film is violent, and is also filled with so much wit and dark comedy, coming mainly from the actors. I was engaged, but a few times the script dropped the ball, but otherwise, this film was great!
9/10

26th November 2009

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) is a movie I got last year but took my time to watch. You see, last year, I had an infatuation with Grace Kelly, I mean, she was really cool. When I saw a three-pack of her movies I just had to have it. Really, I just wanted it because it had 'The Country Girl' on it, and The Bridges at Toko-Ri was just part of that pack and I didn't make a lot of effort to watch it. So the opportunity came when I hadn't rented a DVD out and I had no choice but to watch this one. War movies really aren't my thing, unless they are set in World War I or II and they have a lot of romance in them. Toko-Ri was not that exciting to start with, and I kept fidgeting and trying to find other things to do. But I stuck to it, and by the end I was satisfied. Grace Kelly wasn't in it a lot, but she stole the show. Every time she came on the screen, she movie look better. I'm not saying that William Holden is a bad actor or anything, but Grace was a delightful addition to the cast and one of the few reasons why I kept watching it. The story follow men fighting in the Korean War, and it was surprising to see Mickey Rooney in it as a temperamental Irish-man. Sometimes it felt like a boring episode of M*A*S*H (yes, I used to watch that program), and other times it just felt like a reason to make a propaganda film about why war's are bad. If you love Grace Kelly, you may just want to skip to all the scenes with her in it, but other wise, just save this for when you're really desperate.
6/10