Review: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Last night, after taking in a screening of Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Secret World of Arrietty at the Capitol Theater, I sat across from a friend with whom I volunteer at the theater, enjoying a drink and discussing my plans for this week’s film review: not of the lighthearted, animated Arrietty, but of the other film currently being featured––Lynne Ramsay’s dark thriller, We Need to Talk About Kevin.

“Have you seen it?” I asked, leaning towards my friend, anticipating an answer that I hoped would fuel discussion.

“No,” he replied, “but I don’t think I want to. The regular projectionist posted a note begging for someone to cover his shifts for the rest of the week because he claims he can’t sit through another screening and remain sane. As far as I know, that’s a first for him. So, it must be a pretty rough watch.”

I considered the weight of his response, particularly focused on the term “rough.” Maybe not the descriptive word I would use, but still fitting nonetheless.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I said, taking a sip from my water glass.

And then my friend asked the question that is both most difficult and most important to address: “What about it makes it have that effect?”

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We Need to Talk About Kevin, based on Lionel Shriver’s 2003 novel of the same name, follows Eva Katchadourian (played by the doe-eyed, chameleon of an actress, Tilda Swinton), a well-known travel writer who has fallen from grace since her son, Kevin (played by the all-too convincing, up-and-coming actor Ezra Miller), committed a massacre at his high school two years prior. While Eva tried to contend with the aftermath by rebuilding her life, obtaining a day job as a secretary at a travel agency and visiting Kevin in the juvenile detention center to which he is committed, she dwells on the events––via flashback––that could have contributed to Kevin snapping. Eva and Kevin’s cold, tense relationship, riddled with resentment from the start, leaves the audience asking, “Was it nature or nurture that created this troubled kid?”

I have spent a great deal of my academic career trying to get at affect/effect as it pertains to visual texts, specifically cinema and, even more specifically, the horror film. While We Need to Talk About Kevin does not technically fall under this genre, it does read similarly due to the events, themes, and relationships on which the film centers and how these elements more or less paralyze the audience until the closing credits have finished rolling. Everyone will inevitably take something different away from the film (as everyone does with all films, for viewership on a personal level is ultimately a subjective experience), substantiating their opinions with varying cinematic elements. However, what I believe makes We Need to Talk About Kevin so effectively haunting is how the film’s cinematography and sound design (soundtrack included) contribute to the continuously-rising tension between Eva and Kevin in each flashback and establish post-massacre Eva as a character traumatized beyond repair.

Read separately, the cinematography and sound design are hardly innovative or captivating features (at least in comparison to the powerful performances delivered by Swinton and Miller, with an honorable mention given to John C. Reilly as Franklin, the agreeable husband and father of Eva and Kevin, respectively). However, the way in which the two play off of each other––working together in some scenes while contradicting each other in others––creates an unsettling, oftentimes uncanny, cinematic environment. I found myself shifting uncomfortably in my seat as I watched a close-up shot of Kevin savagely biting into a lychee during a flashback of a formal brunch at home, the squishing and squirting of the fruit perfectly enhancing Kevin’s bitterness and hatred towards his mother as he curtly insists that he does not feel responsible for the loss of his younger sister’s eye. My stomach churned as I witnessed Eva reminisce about the massacre on her way to visit Kevin in prison, with the folksy, perhaps even kitschy, Lonnie Donegan song, “Ham N Eggs” blaring over the silent imagery of high school students begging for their lives and parents screaming and sobbing behind crime scene tape. My visceral reactions to both instances assure me that this artful organization is the primary reason for why scenes from the film still project in my memory when I close my eyes.

I can never seem to directly recommend films like We Need to Talk About Kevin to a general readership, for it truly is a piece of work that one struggles to call “enjoyable” when faced with its narrative content. I do insist, though, that it is a film that can be learned from–– both in terms of its cinematic achievements as well as the impressions of human nature with which it leaves the audience––which, in turn, marks it as important.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

If you ask any cinephile to list his or her favorite films of all time, at least one Woody Allen film is likely to make the cut. The iconic director may be revered for his early comedies, but his latest film, Midnight in Paris, proves that he still has what it takes to captivate audiences with his imaginative storytelling.

Midnight in Paris centers on Gil (Owen Wilson), a screenwriter attempting to divert from the Hollywood fluff of his day job and finish writing a novel while vacationing with his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams), and her parents in the city of love. As a nostalgic dreamer who longs to tap into the brilliance of Paris in the 1920s, Gil cannot seem to relate to Inez’s superficial desire to live in Malibu and play the role of wealthy trophy wife. One evening, tired of carrying on with Inez and her friends Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda), Gil drunkenly wanders the city’s streets and, upon accepting a carriage ride from a group of friendly strangers, finds himself transported back to the time he idolizes. He then discovers that the friendly strangers are not exactly strangers; rather, they are famous artists and writers from the era who are eager to help him with his novel and lend him sound advice. The more Gil frequents the past when the clock strikes midnight, the more he learns to ensure his happiness in the present.

Though Allen’s work in recent years has been hit and miss, this charming film swept me off my feet with the way in which it illuminates the wonders of Paris. The opening sequence––various shots of the city in motion––lets the audience know from the very beginning that, in typical Woody Allen fashion, the film’s setting is the star of the show. However, keeping this significant detail in mind is almost vital in order to enjoy the decisions the director makes in terms of character and plot development. Each character that exists in Paris’s “present” is paper thin at best, playing the most clichéd versions of themselves possible. McAdams’s snooty Inez proves to be the most guilty of this as she saunters through her scenes obnoxiously punctuating her distain for her fiancé’s whimsical ambitions, though Wilson is hardly better off with the dopey role he is given. These personalities could never carry the film on their own, but because they are juxtaposed with the lively, charismatic figures that live in Paris’s “past” (namely, Allison Pill’s portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald and Marion Cotillard’s turn as Adriana), they serve a greater purpose: to create an internal conflict for Gil and to ultimately propel the film toward a delightfully fulfilling conclusion for its audience. Predictable? Yes, but uninspired? Absolutely not.

The golden era of Annie Hall may be long gone, but Midnight in Paris is bound to woo you regardless.

Review: SUPER 8

Ever since I saw the teaser trailer attached to Iron Man 2 over a year ago, I have been anxiously awaiting Super 8, Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams’ cinematic lovechild. Would it be Close Encounters of the Third Kind meets Cloverfield like everyone anticipated or would it be something original orchestrated by the two veterans? The answer is neither, but the outcome does not disappoint.

Set in the summer of 1979 in the small town of Lillian, Ohio, Super 8 follows a group of middle school-aged friends making a zombie detective film together. Joe (Joel Courtney), the son of sheriff deputy Jackson (Kyle Chandler), is still recovering from the tragic loss of his mother in an industrial accident four months prior. Despite his father’s wishes for him to attend baseball camp and make some new friends, Joe stays in town to help writer/director Charles (Riley Griffiths) finish the film. Along with Carey (Ryan Lee), Preston (Zach Mills), Martin (Gabriel Basso), and the recent addition of Alice (Elle Fanning), the kids head out to an old train depot one night to film a pivotal scene and end up capturing the collision of a pick-up truck and an Air Force freight train. The wreckage reveals to the kids the train’s bizarre cargo and the truck’s driver, an honor’s biology teacher at the middle school, warns them not to speak of the incident. However, as the Air Force moves in to secure the situation and the residents of Lillian become tormented by supernatural occurrences, the young friends take it upon themselves to figure out what exactly the military is working to hide.

Super 8 perfectly captures the youthful wonderment inherent, but by no means exclusive, to the time in which it takes place, making me nostalgic for a childhood reminiscent of Joe and his friends’. The aesthetics of the time period paired with the universal theme of friendship––which is undoubtedly guided by Spielberg’s hand in the film (ET, anyone?)––keeps the story grounded in a relatable reality as the sci-fi aspects of the plot unfold. On the whole, Super 8 maintains a nice balance between action and heart and is well-paced from start to finish. However, for a film that clocks in at almost two hours long, many of the relationships and key plot points are surprisingly left underdeveloped and underexplained in the end. For example, Jackson and Joe go from being at odds to bonding as father and son, but I cannot seem to buy how the change in their relationship occurs. Likewise, the resolution to the film’s overarching conflict happens far too easily and winks at the audience far too blatantly, even for a film as digestible as this one. I wish I could have earned the moral of the story, but instead Abrams handed it me on a silver platter.

As a sci-fi film that delivers the thrills of the genre but remains deeply rooted in the importance of family and friendship, Super 8 is an entertaining summer blockbuster for all audiences.

Rating: 4/5

TOP 10 OF 2010

10. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Dir. Edgar Wright)

Not only did this film give me the most fun theater experience I had all year, but it does something new and unique with the comic book/graphic novel genre that blockbusters like Kick Ass and Iron Man 2 fail to do.

9. The Ghost Writer (Dir. Roman Polanski)

I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed a political thriller before this film. Though none of the performances really stand out, the story delivers on all accounts and the chilling conclusion still replays vividly in my mind.

8. Animal Kingdom (Dir. David Michod)

An Australian crime drama I wish I had been given the opportunity to see more than once before the year’s end, Animal Kingdom examines a dysfunctional family corroding under the weight of their wrongdoings. Jacki Weaver gives an outstanding performance as the family’s matriarch and sets the standard for the rest of the cast’s performances.

7. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Dir. Banksy)

This documentary took a subculture I had never given much thought to (street art) and turned it into something I found utterly compelling, which to me makes it this year’s most successful in its genre. Whether this documentary is “authentic” or not, Theirry Guetta stands out as one of the most fascinating and complex characters captured on camera in 2010.

6. Inception (Dir. Christopher Nolan)

This film was definitely the blockbuster to beat this year. While it is argued that the excessive exposition keeps it from reaching its full potential, the story’s intricately-woven structure as well as the visual feast that it provides makes it worthy of the acclaim it has received.

5. Dogtooth (Dir. Giorgos Lanthimos)

This Greek drama deals with a family whose parents keep their teenage children sheltered from the outside world and its influences. The behavior exhibited in this film almost made me feel like an observer at a zoo, but as someone who adores the disturbing and obscure, Dogtooth, in my eyes, is nearly flawless.

4. Black Swan (Dir. Darren Aronofsky)

Though I did not give in to its power quite as easily as many others did., Aronofsky’s dark take on the world of ballet sent shivers down my spine as I watched Nina Sayers unravel before my eyes. “Perfect. It was perfect.”

3. A Prophet (Dir. Jacques Audirard)

Hailed as the new The Godfather, this French epic is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is an engaging tale of a young man’s six year journey in prison working for the Corsican mafia that is driven by its beautiful cinematography, exceptional lead performances, and subtle nature.

2. Greenberg (Dir. Noah Baumbach)

This slice of life film in which “nothing happens” does absolutely everything for me. From its vivid color palate to its raw, unabashed characters, Greenberg is a realistic look at what it means to be only human.

1. The Social Network (Dir. David Fincher)

A predictable first choice, but one that was unquestionable in my mind. This age-old story of deceit and revenge is renewed and revamped by the brilliant minds of David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. The film’s biting dialog and cultural relevance transfixed me from scene one and continues to transfix me more and more with each additional viewing.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Toy Story 3

The King’s Speech

Trash Humpers

The Kids are All Right

Mother

The White Ribbon

127 Hours

True Grit

Review: BLACK SWAN

In 2008, Darren Aronofsky told the compelling story of an aging professional wrestler fighting to keep his career alive. Now, in 2010, he tells the story of a young ballerina fighting to rise to stardom with her only obstacle being herself.

Black Swan centers on Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a 20-something year-old professional ballerina living in New York City with her overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey). Because of her timid, perfectionist nature, Nina has never been a featured dancer in any of her company’s performances. However, with prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) being asked to retire, the part of the Swan Queen in the company’s production of Swan Lake is given to Nina, despite director Thomas Leroy’s (Vincent Cassel) hesitation. As Nina struggles to channel the dark, uninhibited Black Swan, she develops a strange, rivalrous friendship with Lily (Mila Kunis), a free-spirited dancer who is new to the company and much more fit for the role of the Swan Queen. The pressure Nina puts on herself, fueled by Thomas and her mother, causes her to completely lose touch with reality by the opening night of the show.

This film proves itself to be a compelling, highly stylized psychological thriller driven by Aronofsky’s direction and Portman and Kunis’s performances. Aronofsky’s vision is daring yet timeless, a balance achieved through a mixture of classic symbolisms and manic plot movements. The way he shadows Nina with his lens rather than watching her from afar puts the audience in the thick of her downward spiral, setting the film’s suspenseful tone. In addition, Portman’s turn as the disturbed ballerina is nothing less than enthralling from beginning to end and her chemistry with Kunis exudes raw, organic emotion. I cannot give enough credit to these three major players because they all faced the challenge of a script lacking in passion. Much of the dialog, especially in the film’s opening scenes, is far too cut-and-dry and worn thin by cliché. Portman and Kunis succeed in overcoming this problem, however, Hershey and Cassel struggle to even get their performances off the ground. Though Black Swan as a whole manages to rise above this hiccup, I cannot help but wish that the script had been as strong as the rest of the film’s components.

In my opinion, Aronofsky’s commentary on the dangers of striving for control and perfection makes Black Swan 2010’s most haunting film. You cannot help but fall victim to its tantalizing grip.

Rating: 5/5

Review: WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN"

Sometimes movies are not meant to entertain. Sometimes they are meant to open eyes. Such is the case for Waiting For “Superman,” recipient of the Best Documentary award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Waiting For “Superman” dedicates itself to the sad state of public education in America, following five young students as they struggle to earn the education they deserve in the face of hardship. Director and narrator Davis Guggenheim takes his audience through the students’ rough streets of Harlem, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles and asks, “do our country’s ongoing social and economical problems stem from our educational system?” With interviews from social activist/educator Geoffrey Canada and former chancellor of D.C. public schools Michelle Rhee fueling the film, Guggenheim is able to present facts and figures that seek to answer this question.

If ever there was a subject to deeply upset me, this is the one. As a student who was fortunate enough to attend decent public schools in decent settings, I never really had to worry about being let down by my teachers the way the kids featured in this documentary do. Throughout most of the film, Guggenheim does well to inform the audience without playing the violin too loudly, a balance that is difficult to find when discussing something so heartbreaking. The statistics he offers, often accompanied by creative animations, are used to keep up momentum while serving as a breather from the depressing interviews given by the students and their parents. However, the balance falls off by the final 30 minutes of the film when the only content invading the screen is shot after shot of (the majority of) the students being denied entry into better schools. This addition plays on the audience’s emotions and detracts from the rest of the documentary, making Guggenheim come off as a less angry, more sympathetic Michael Moore. In the end, I felt like I could have learned more if I hadn’t been so distracted by the film’s final notes.

I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to the theater to catch this documentary, but it is a definite must-rent. The subject may be grave, especially when shown through Guggenheim’s lens, but it is one that must be addressed.

Rating: 4/5

Review: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2

It’s a pretty typical Hollywood story: low budget, independent film becomes a surprise success; big name studio buys the rights for dirt cheap; franchise is born. Such is the case for Paranormal Activity, 2009’s small “found footage” horror flick that is powered by two unknown actors and a video camera. Now, a year later, Paramount has given birth to Paranormal Activity 2, assigning a new director and a more bloated budget to the task of producing quiet, resonating terror.

Paranormal Activity 2 is both a prequel and a sequel, its plot working in conjunction with last year’s sleeper hit. This time around, home movies and surveillance footage follow Kristi Rey (Sprague Grayden) and her family as they experience-yep, you guessed it-paranormal activity in their home. So, how does this follow-up coincide with its predecessor? Kristi is both neighbor and sister to Katie (Katie Featherston), the victim of demonic torment in the original film. However, Katie has yet to fall victim to evil because Paranormal Activity 2 begins a few weeks before the first film...and she was never meant to fall victim in the first place.

I’ll admit it: this film unnerved me, but it wasn’t because of its relentless jump scares or its run-of-the-mill central storyline. The way it answers questions I never even thought I wanted answers to (despite the “winking” exposition it uses to get from point A to point B) is what left me chilled as I walked out of the theater. That being said, it was the only thing that left me chilled. The rest of Paranormal Activity 2 plays out far too predictably, with two-dimensional stock characters who only serve to move the plot along and constant spooks that become more annoying than frightening half way through. Paramount hardly lets this quickly produced follow-up remain subtle like Paranormal Activity proved itself to be and because of that, it suffers immensely.

Do the terrors outweigh the yawns? In my opinion, yes. If you are a fan of the first film, at the very least you will probably somewhat appreciate how this one intertwines with it. But be warned: it’s muddled with plenty of throwaway content and, though it goes without saying, it hardly breaks any new ground.

Rating: 2.5/5