Review: "A History of Violence" is Really Violent (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 160 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


A History of Violence (2005)
Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – R for brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity, language, and some drug use
DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: Josh Olson (based upon the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke)
PRODUCERS: Chris Bender, JC Spink, and David Cronenberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
Academy Award nominee

CRIME/DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes, Heidi Hayes, and Peter MacNeill

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a pillar of the community in a rural Indiana town where he owns a small business, Stall’s Diner, and lives a quiet live with his wife, Edie (Maria Bello), and their two children, Jack (Ashton Holmes) and Sarah (Heidi Hayes). But the Stalls’ lives are forever changed after Tom thwarts a violent attempted robbery at the diner and kills the two, armed robbers. Lauded as a hero by his fellow townsfolk and by the media, he captures the attention of a Philadelphia mobster, Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), and his henchmen who swear Tom is an old associate named Joey Cusack. It seems as if Fogarty wants Tom (or the man he swears is Joey) to tie up some loose ends…

In some ways, David Cronenberg’s new film, A History of Violence, is just like most violent crime dramas or action thrillers – the kind in which a man of few words tries to have a family and a peaceful life in a small town, but one day his violent history comes back to bite him on the ass. A good example of this sub-genre is the film noir (true) classic, Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, or even Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Best Picture, Unforgiven. Like those two example of superb cinema, A History of Violence is contemplative. Where many directors would turn a movie crime drama into a hyper-kinetic music video, Cronenberg (who received a “Golden Palm” nomination at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for this film) is almost painterly.

Bodies that are shot or mortally wounded in some other manner don’t fly off screen, nor do they disappear once used like some throw away special effects. We see humans rather than objects with gun shot wounds and nearly destroyed faces struggling to hold onto life. Cronenberg makes sure we hear the death rattle and the raspy, distressed breathing. Violence, even when justified, isn’t clean and pretty; there are real world consequences, as when Jack Stall badly beats two tormenting bullies at his high school. Cronenberg shows us chunks of flesh and some how that makes everything so visceral and more real, or maybe not so surreal, ethereal, and unreal as film violence normally is.

The performances are a mixed bag. Ed Harris and William Hurt shine with malicious glee in small, kooky roles. Maria Bello is sometimes, annoying and shrill, as Edie Stall, and sometimes she has moments where she is as earthy and authentic as a working woman with a family. Peter MacNeill as Sheriff Sam Carney is believable as the small town lawman who is as steady in the face of big city thugs as he is when dealing with his own people.

Still, this material truly stands out because of Cronenberg. The concept is pedestrian (almost pitiful), but screenwriter Josh Olson punches it up by creating weirdo and oddball characters and giving them quirky lines. Ultimately, Cronenberg is the ringmaster, or master chef, if you will, who makes this tale of a small town hero, who must face the vile and violent horror of his past, something a little different from the rest. A History of Violence is about the consequences of the past, and it’s too smart for pat resolutions; that only makes it special.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, October 20, 2005

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (William Hurt) and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Josh Olson)

2006 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Josh Olson)

2005 Cannes Film Festival: 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (David Cronenberg)

2006 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Maria Bello)

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"The Campaign" with Will Ferrell Ready for August 2012 Release

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis Wrap Production on Jay Roach Comedy “The Campaign”

Film Opens Nationwide this Summer

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Filming has concluded on “The Campaign,” starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as competing candidates in a no-holds-barred race for Congress. The new comedy from “Meet the Parents” director Jay Roach is scheduled to open in theaters on August 10, 2012.

The film also stars Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott and Katherine LaNasa, with John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd and Brian Cox.

In “The Campaign,” when long-term congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naïve Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors’ support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family’s political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As election day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other, in this mud-slinging, back-stabbing, home-wrecking battle that takes today’s political circus to its logical next level. Because even when you think campaign ethics have hit rock bottom, there’s room to dig a whole lot deeper.

Directed by Jay Roach and written by Chris Henchy & Shawn Harwell, the film is produced by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Jay Roach and Zach Galifianakis. Amy Sayres, Jon Poll and Chris Henchy serve as executive producers.

The creative filmmaking team includes director of photography Jim Denault (Emmy nominee for HBO’s “Carnivàle”); production designer Michael Corenblith (Oscar® nominee for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Apollo 13”); editors Craig Alpert (“Knocked Up,” “Borat”) and Jon Poll (“Meet the Fockers”); and costume designer Daniel Orlandi (“The Blind Side”).

“The Campaign” was filmed in and around New Orleans, beginning in October of 2011. Set for an August 10, 2012 release, it will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Review: "The Debt" is Good, But Unfocused

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Debt (2011)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence and language
DIRECTOR: John Madden
WRITERS: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan (based on the film, Ha-Hov, by Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum)
PRODUCERS: Eitan Evan, Eduardo Rossoff, Kris Thykier, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis
EDITORS: Alexander Berner
COMPOSER: Thomas Newman

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/THRILLER

Starring: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Martin Csokas, Jesper Christensen, Romi Aboulafia, and István Goz

The Debt is a 2011 drama and espionage thriller from director John Madden. It is a remake of a 2007 film (directed by Assaf Bernstein) of the same name from Israel. In the 2011 film, a former Mossad intelligence agent relives a 1965 mission in which she and two other agents pursued a Nazi war criminal. At times quite riveting, The Debt often comes across as a broken movie because it tries to be different things at different times in the story.

In 1997, Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren), a former Mossad agent, and her ex-husband, Stefan Gold (Tom Wilkinson), who is still a Mossad agent, are celebrating a new book written by their daughter, Sarah Gold (Romi Aboulafia). Sarah’s book recounts a 1965 mission in which Rachel, Stefan, and another former Mossad agent, David Peretz (Ciarán Hinds), pursued a notorious Nazi war criminal. The trio targeted Dieter Vogel (Jesper Christensen), infamously known as “the Surgeon of Birkenau,” believed to be living in East Berlin.

The story flashes back to 1965 where we meet the younger versions of the trio: Rachel (Jessica Chastain), Stefan (Martin Csokas), and David (Sam Worthington). They find Vogel living as “Doktor Bernhardt” and operating an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in East Berlin. The team’s mission was eventually accomplished, or was it? Rachel must confront her past when two figures from it reemerge.

The Debt takes place across two different time periods, which I think inhibits the movie from sustaining suspense or building character relationships with any traction. The Debt certainly has potent moments, and the last act is a killer suspense thriller. Of course, any movie starring Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson would, at least, be interesting. I’m down to see anything with Mirren, and she doesn’t disappoint – once again, I mention that last act of this movie.

I see The Debt as a broken movie because it is really two films – one that takes place in 1965 and the other in 1997 – instead of being one complete narrative. That is what can happen to a movie that has so many flashbacks that it seems as if they are half the film. The Debt is good, but it would have better by focusing on 1965 or 1997 – not both.

5 of 10
B-

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

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Journey 2 Passes "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in Worldwide Box Office

“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” Travels Farther Than Its Predecessor, Surpassing $275 Million Worldwide

Ranks #1 Internationally for Fourth Consecutive Weekend

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Audience response to New Line Cinema’s “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” has already taken the new 3D family adventure to greater heights than the 2008 hit “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” with more than $276.5 million in worldwide box office gross and still counting. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

In addition, the new film has held the number one spot in international box office for the past four weekends in a row.

“Journey 2” The Mysterious Island” was a box-office winner in its international debut beginning January 19th, and has so far outpaced its popular predecessor by earning more than $190 million in 52 markets overseas, with some territories, including Japan, yet to release. It then opened February 10th in North America to positive word-of-mouth and has generated over $86.5 million domestically to date.

Moviegoers are also onboard in IMAX® theaters, making the film a giant-screen hit in 448 IMAX® locations around the world, with a box office total exceeding $22.7 million.

In this follow-up to “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” starring Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzmán and Kristin Davis, the new adventure begins when young Sean Anderson receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It’s a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean’s new stepfather joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter, they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.

“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is directed by Brad Peyton and produced by Beau Flynn & Tripp Vinson and Charlotte Huggins, from a screenplay by Brian Gunn & Mark Gunn, screen story by Richard Outten. Serving as executive producers are Michael Bostick, Evan Turner, Marcus Viscidi, Richard Brener, Samuel J. Brown and Michael Disco. The creative filmmaking team includes director of photography David Tattersall; production designer Bill Boes; costume designer Denise Wingate; and Academy Award® nominee Boyd Shermis ("Poseidon") as visual effects supervisor. The music is composed by Andrew Lockington.

“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is a New Line Cinema presentation of a Contrafilm Production and is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Concurrently, the film is being released in IMAX® theatres worldwide.

It is rated PG for some adventure action and brief, mild language.

http://www.themysteriousisland.com/

"Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention" Now on DVD and Blu-ray

An All-New Six-Part Series from the Hilarious Oscar-Winning Duo!

WALLACE & GROMIT’S WORLD OF INVENTION

Available for the first time in the USA on DVD and Blu-ray on March 13, 2012

Blu-ray Disc SRP: $14.99
DVD SRP: $14.98

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
From Aardman Animations, see beloved British inventor Wallace and his loyal friend Gromit in their return to the television screen as Lionsgate releases the complete Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention six-part series on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in March. The title contains the complete six-part BBC1 TV series, and features Wallace as host introducing viewers to a number of amazing, real-world contraptions. Available for the first time in the U.S., the title is the first new Wallace & Gromit animation since the Academy Award® nominated animated short film, A Matter of Loaf & Death (2009). Timed to the release of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation’s new stop-motion theatrical film The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention will be available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on March 13, 2012 for the suggested retail price of $14.99 and $14.98, respectively.

The Wallace & Gromit franchise has been going strong for more than 20 years. During this time, two of its short films won Academy Awards® (The Wrong Trousers, short film [animated], 1993 and A Close Shave, short film [animated], 1995), while two others were nominated for Oscars® (A Grand Day Out, short film [animated], 1990 and A Matter of Loaf and Death, short film [animated], 2009). Wallace & Gromit were also the stars of the theatrical film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In the past six years alone, the beloved series and movie has sold more than four million DVDs. The Wallace & Gromit franchise also launched another Aardman Animations creation, Shaun the Sheep. This character originated in the award-winning short film, A Close Shave, and is a popular television series and Lionsgate DVD star as well.

SYNOPSIS
Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention sees world-renowned inventor Wallace and his faithful sidekick (turned camera dog) Gromit turn their hand to presenting for the very first time, hosting a six-part series from the basement of 62 West Wallaby Street. They take an enthusiastic look at some real life cracking contraptions, from gadgets that help around the home to the mind-boggling world of space travel and much more in between.

EPISODES
• “Home Sweet Home”
• “Getting from A to B”
• “Nature Knows Best”
• “Reach for the Sky”
• “Better Safe than Sorry”
• “Come to Your Senses”

SPECIAL FEATURES
• Your World of Invention - Build six of your own cracking contraptions!
o Upside-down-o-scope
o Wind-powered sprinkler
o Atmospheric Railway
o Fin Ray Grabber
o Spy Camera
o Air Rocket

PROGRAM INFORMATION
Year of Production: 2010
Title Copyright: © and TM Aardman/Wallce & Gromit Limited 2010. All rights reserved. Wallace and Gromit (word mark) and the characters "Wallace" and "Gromit" and © TM Aaardman/Wallace & Gromit Limited.

Type: Home Entertainment premiere
Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Educational
Subtitles: Blu-ray – English SDH
DVD - English
Blu-ray Format: 1080P High Definition 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
DVD Format: 16x9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Feature Running Time: 175 minutes
Blu-ray Audio Status: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio™
DVD Audio Status: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Website: www.wallaceandgromit.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wallaceandgromit

Review: Gromit Shines in "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 152 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) – animation
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Nick Park and Steve Box
WRITERS: Bob Baker, Mark Burton, Nick Park and Steve Box
PRODUCERS: Claire Jennings, Peter Lord, Carla Shelley, David Sproxton, and Nick Park
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Tristan Oliver and Dave Alex Riddett
EDITORS: David McCormick and Gregory Perler
Academy Award winner

ANIMATION/ACTION/COMEDY/FAMILY/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay, Nicholas Smith, Liz Smith, John Thomson, Mark Gatiss, and Vincent Ebrahim

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 Oscar-winning, stop-motion animated film. This comic horror, British film focuses on the eccentric inventor, Wallace, and his silent dog, Gromit (the brains of this duo).

Director Nick Park and his stop-motion, “Claymation”-like characters Wallace & Gromit, return in a new film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The cheese-loving Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis), an affable, absent-minded inventor, and his faithful dog, Gromit, who doesn’t say a word, but is smarter and wiser than his human master/friend, have their first full-length film in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit; they previously were the stars of three animated short films, all Academy Award-nominated, with two winning Oscars.

In this new feature, Wallace & Gromit’s hometown is in the midst of a vegetable growing fever because the Tottington Hall Giant Vegetable Competition. The enterprising chums have been cashing in on this “veggie-mania” with their pest control outfit, “Anti-Pesto,” which captures and humanely dispatches the hundreds of rabbits that have invaded the town’s sacred vegetable gardens, trying to eat all those overly pampered giant veggies the town folks are growing for the Giant Vegetable Competition.

Suddenly, a huge, mysterious vegetable-ravaging beast begins terrorizing the town attacking all those prized garden plots by night, eating or destroying everything in its path. Panic sets in because this monster, dubbed the were-rabbit, endangers the Giant Vegetable Competition. Determined to protect the competition Tottington Hall has held almost annually for over 500 years, its hostess, Lady Tottington (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), hires Anti-Pesto to catch the creature, but in a humane fashion that doesn’t lead to the vegetable-chomping marauder’s demise. Also, lying in wait, is Lady Tottington’s snobby suitor, Victor Quatermaine (voice of Ralph Fiennes), who’d rather shoot the were-rabbit, which would not only make him a local hero, but might also secure him Lady Tottington’s hand in marriage. With Wallace & Gromit having so much trouble securing the beast, Lady Tottington must eventually give in to Victor’s desire to hunt the were-rabbit. What she doesn’t know (but Victor does) is that the hunt could have dire consequences for Wallace, who is smitten with Lady Tottington. Can Gromit save the day again?

Co-directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is easily one the few truly great films I’ve seen this year. Five years in the making, and the film shows that Park and his crew are geniuses of stop-motion animation (also known as Claymation®). There is just so much ingenuity in the film, from Wallace’s crazy inventions and assorted contraptions – such as the brain altering machine that is supposed to make rabbits shun veggies to the suction device and tanks that holds captured rabbits.

Park and company create amazing edge-of-the-seat action scenes as thrilling as those in live action movies. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit also has safe adult humor – a combination of soap opera romance and mystery and intrigue mixed with the offbeat Wallace & Gromit’s disarming humor. The film is a touch dry in several places, in which scenes play out slowly or seem padded. Also, I didn’t like Lady Tottington and Victor Quatermaine because they were both facially unattractive and too caricatured, especially Victor, more unlikable than he needs to be even as a villain.

The story, ultimately, is about a man and his dog – Wallace the happy chum and Gromit the good-natured patient companion who always takes care of his cheese-loving master. Gromit, who doesn’t have a mouth, has physicality on par with silver screen legends of the silent era such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and Gromit’s face can be as expressive as a pantomime character. Gromit, made by hand and animated by a painstaking stop-motion process, has soul in a way that characters created in the other 3-D animated process, computer animation, likely won’t ever have. Wallace & Gromit, two of the most delightful characters in the history of animation, are more engaging than the characters that populate such films as Shrek and Monster’s Inc., as fun as they are.

Expertly crafted, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit will impress even viewers not interested in “how they do it.” Fun to watch, it’s one of the year’s premiere comedies and best films.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Steve Box and Nick Park

2006 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Claire Jennings, David Sproxton, Nick Park, Steve Box, Mark Burton, Bob Baker) and “BAFTA Children's Award Best Feature Film” (Nick Park, Steve Box, Peter Lord, David Sproxton)

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Animated Short Review: "The Wrong Trousers" is the Right Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 83 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993) – animated
Running time: 30 minutes
DIRECTOR: Nick Park
WRITERS: Bob Baker and Park
PRODUCER: Christopher Moll
EDITOR: Helen Garrard
Academy Award winner

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY/MYSTERY with elements of sci-fi

Starring: (voice) Peter Sallis

Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers is a 1993 stop-motion animated short film. In 1994, the film, also known as Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, won an Oscar for “Best Short Film, Animated” and the BAFTA Award for “Best Animated Film.” Directed by Nick Park (who would go on to co-direct 2000’s Chicken Run for DreamWorks), the film is animated in stop-motion animation using clay figures. The public is familiar with this kind of animation under the brand name “Claymation.” This is the art of modeling characters and props out of clay and using stop-motion photography to give the illusion of the figures and props moving.

Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis) is the oddball inventor with an obsessive appetite for cheese and crackers, and Gromit is his nonchalant and patient dog, the smarter one of this duo. Wallace obviously loves his dog to the point of treating him like a spouse or a third hand (as if Gromit were a Wallace to Wallace’s Sherlock Holmes). Gromit actually keeps things organized and moving in the house.

In this film, Wallace discovers that he is low on finances, so he takes a tenant into his large home in order to get some extra money. However, his lodger, a beady-eyed penguin, is really the thief, Feathers McGraw. Soon, the sly, and silent penguin has moved into Gromit’s room, and has come between master and canine. McGraw’s real plan is to use the enormous mechanical, walking pants that Wallace gave Gromit for his birthday to rob a museum. It’s up to Gromit to save his master from these horribly wrong trousers and a scheming penguin.

There is no one reason to love the Wallace & Gromit cartoons. From the seamless stop-motion animation and to the smooth and easy pace of the story and from the instantly endearing leads to the unflustered way they tackle difficulties, there is something that just rings right about director Nick Park’s fabulous little animated shorts. Maybe, it’s because Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers is just practically perfect in every way.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1994 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Short Film, Animated” (Nick Park)

1994 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Animated Film” (Christopher Moll and Nick Park)

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