The Runaways (Review)

    A true story, an indie film, chicks that rock, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  I couldn't wait.  

     "The Runaways" is the true story of one of Rock's first all female bands, The Runaways.  Based on the memoir by former band member Cherie Currie, the film chronicles the rise and fall of The Runaways, focusing on two of its founding members, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie.  The story is one very familiar to Rock, a meteoric rise followed by a drug induced crash back to reality, but it's told in a way that's empowering without preaching and captures the intoxicating excitement of being a rock star. 

     I thoroughly enjoyed "The Runaways."  Kristen Stewart is amazing as Joan Jett and she shows that she can play something more than just twilight style teen angst.  (This was the 70's.  No teen angst.  You just got pissed and rebelled!)  Even more stunning is Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie.  Fanning is absolutely brilliant as she sheds her child star mantel and takes her rightful place in the adult acting world, despite the fact that both she, and her character, are under-aged.  Rounding out the cast is Michael Shannon, who plays the band's promoter and manager, the insanely manic Kim Fowley.  Shannon absolutely nails the self centered narcissism, and possible genius, of Fowley.  Plus there's plenty of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  (Did I mention that already?) 

     Missing from this adaptation are some of the darker aspects of Joan Jett's and Cherie Currie's early lives.  There is no real mention of rape or abuse.  The worst we see is the effects of  the Currie's parent's divorce and Currie's father's crippling alcoholism.  This movie is dark enough without them and would likely be in danger of becoming a made for Lifetime movie if it delved any deeper into Jett and Currie's troubled pasts.  

     "The Runaways" balances the extreme ecstasy of Rock stardom with the harsh realities of fame while telling the bitter, true story of a group of girls who made rock history.  Watch it for the sex and drugs and love it for the rock and roll!

An Education (Review)

     I wasn't in the mood to see Disney re-bastardize two classic pieces of literature and I had seen everything else playing locally that was worth seeing, so it was time to drive a little and catch up on some limited release films.

     "An Education" is based on the memoir of Lynn Barber, a British journalist who, when she was sixteen in the early 1960s, was seduced by an older man.  I want to tread lightly here because it is very easy to give away too much and ruin this movie, but there are a few things that an American audience should know before seeing "An Education."  'A-levels' are sort of like British college entrance exams, 'sixth form' is a school or institution where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years old, take their last two, optional, years of school in order to study for their A-levels 'sixth form' is a student, usually sixteen to eighteen years old, who is taking their last two, optional, years of school in order to study for their A-levels, and Peter Rachman, the man at the dog track, is infamous for buying slums and moving in immigrants from the West Indies, who could live no where else, and extorting excessive rent from them.  Forgive me if that was over simplified, but it should get someone who didn't know through the movie.  (It would have helped me!)

     Still trying to tread lightly, Carey Mulligan is brilliant and convincing, as Jenny, an intelligent, charming, and beautiful sixteen year old girl who's just a bit too mature for her age.  She is seduced by David, played almost too well, by Peter Sarsgaard, a seemingly, wealthy, worldly, and very charming, older man.  He is also more than he appears to be and, in the end, so much less.  Before meeting David, everyone in Jenny's life knows her intelligence and potential, so they drive her toward the best formal education she can get, but once a man comes into her life, someone who can give her everything she would ever want, her teachers try to keep Jenny on course and her father, played notably by Alfred Molina, tries to steer her away from expensive Oxford and toward a life more exciting and charmed than his working class existence, and Jenny, ultimately, gets a far greater education than she had ever wanted.

     "An Education" is a well acted, well directed, and is a truly charming coming of age story as well as a true story.  It was well worth the wait and deserves every one of the awards it won, and maybe some of the ones it didn't. 
  

Where the Wild Things Are (Review)

     If not for the book of the same name, "Where the Wild Things Are" could have simply been called "Childhood," for this is the best, symbolic representation of childhood and the perceptions of a child's mind that I have ever seen on the movie screen.  On the surface, the plot is almost as simple as the 10 sentence book that it's based on, but hidden therein are layers upon layers of meaning.  The urge to psychoanalyze this movie is overwhelming, but, for fear of giving away to much or tinting your own analysis and enjoyment, I'll save that for later.

     Writer and director Spike Jonze and writer Dave Eggers masterfully recreate the mind of a child as it tries to comprehend the adult world that surrounds it.  Max, played perfectly by Max Records, is a maybe eight to ten year old kid who's trying to deal with an absent father and his mother dating.  Max flees home after, in his anger, he hurts his mother and, through Max's imagination, we live out his feelings and fears as childhood anxieties and the adults in his life are replaced with wild things.

     James Gandolfini plays Carol, the wild thing that primarily embodies both Max's father and his fear of loss (but I'm supposed to be saving the psychoanalysis for later.)  Though most of the dialogue sounds like it was written by an 8 year old kid, and seeing as it is supposed to be the embodiment of the imagination of such a child, it should sound exactly like that,  Gandolfini, as well as the other actors voicing  wild things, does a great job of sounding like an adult, as heard by a child.

     Even though this movie has a cast of big, Muppet like, monster characters, it is not really intended for toddlers.  I saw many bored and restless three to five year old kids in the theater.  Sadly, this movie is simply above their level of comprehension.  Seven to twelve year children will likely identify with this movie very well, and, when they grow up and see it again, they will likely gain a greater insight to their own childhoods and a greater understanding of their own children (one can hope.)  Kids older than that can still enjoy this movie, though older teens may be a bit bored.  Parents are likely to get the most out of "Where the Wild Things Are," as they see the lives of their own children mirrored in Max's imaginary world (and they, hopefully, develop a greater empathy toward their own children and the world their children live in.)  And, apparently, twenty something can even enjoy this film as well.  I was witness to a group of college aged kids reverting back to childhood, howling, as they left the theater.  (No, they hadn't been drinking.) 

     Although I, personally, am a sucker for psychoanalytical symbolism, I can safely recommend "Where the Wild Things Are" to anyone who can find and savor that bittersweet joy that can be had by seeing the world through the eyes of a child. 

9 (Review)

     Produced by Tim Burton (and, yes, you can tell Tim Burton was involved) and based on writer/director Shane Acker's short film by the same name, "9" is a visually stunning, post apocalyptic animated tale about odd, little rag dolls which are the last hope of humanity. 

     Fair warning.  Just because this is an animated film and the main characters are small, doll like things, this movie is rated PG-13 for a reason.  It occurs shortly after the fall of mankind.  There is ruin everywhere, some dead bodies, (nothing really graphic) and some skeletal remains.  Don't bring younger or easily frightened children. 

     That having been said, "9" is, as I said, visually stunning, action packed, and exceptionally well done.  Acker pulls off a fast paced, yet enjoyable and engaging, story about death, hope, and the triumph, quite literally, of the human spirit. Voice talents include Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, John Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jennifer Connelly, and Elijah Wood as our title character, 9.  9 is a small, cloth skinned, creation/creature, brought to life by a scientist, near the end of a devastating war between humanity and machines.  It doesn't take 9 long before he is running for his life, pursued by something that seems to be part machine and part cat skull and aided by 5, one of the 8 other creations/creatures that seem to be the only things life alive.  Each one of these numbered creations seem to have an innate role, including an almost insane 6 who seems to resemble Tim Burton a bit.  9 seems driven to find and rescue 2, who was captured by the afore mentioned cat/machine/monstrosity shorty before 5 found 9.

     From there, the story unfolds quite quickly, all without feeling rushed and while keeping the plot evolving.  The story is simple enough for younger viewers to understand and contains enough subtly embedded meaning and metaphor (like the cathedral-esque factory where the machines are made, the fictional, Nazi-like state that created the machines and used them for conquest, and the best-ever use of a Judy Garland song to foreshadow oncoming doom) to keep adult viewers paying attention.  On top of that, the action is paced very well and keeps you in suspense (nail biting, really) throughout the action scenes.  The ending may seem a bit, confusing or even anti climatic to some, but I, personally, was satisfied with the thought that, one so many levels, live goes on.

Coraline (Review)

     I recently had the opportunity to rewatch “Coraline” in 3D at the Alamo Drafthouse. Before I go any further, let me comment on the Alamo Drafthouse. If you have the privilege of living near the Austin area, (Texas, that is) you are missing out if you don't see a movie at any of the four Alamo Drafthouses.  Three of the four are original Drafthouses, an Austin institution for over a decade, and despite the fact that the fourth one is a franchise, I can personally vouch for it. The Alamo Drafthouse is a unique movie going experience. Movies, good food, a wide selection of beer and other potent potables, no commercials before the movies, and unique pre show entertainment, not to mention a generally cool and laid back Austin attitude.  If you only go to see a first run movie, you have only scratched the surface of the Drafthouse experience. I could go on and on, but I'll stop gushing there. If you really want to know more, there is a link above and RSS feeds from the Drafthouse on the right of the page.

     Now, “Coraline”. Based on a novella by Neil Gaiman, who is well known for, rather graphic, graphic novels, as well as some recent, spooky children's books, and directed by Henry Selick of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" fame, “Coraline” is not your typical kiddie flick. Young children should not see this movie. It'll only frighten them. However, for children mature enough to handle a little bit of scary stuff, and for adults of all ages, "Coraline" is an amazing experience and a great film. Now, I don't say stuff like "adults of all ages" lightly. This is not like most kids films, where the kids are entertained, but not really challenged, and the adults are bored with the overly simplistic plot and occasionally entertained by some off color jokes that go over the kids’ heads, you hope. "Coraline" is a very well made and developed movie. Great writing, great direction, great voice acting, a really solid script, and visually, this movie is stunning. The film is shot entirely in stop motion animation, using miniature puppets, and augmented in places with a little bit of CGI, in 2-D, "Coraline" is truly an amazing visual experience. However, in 3-D, well, I was blown away. I can say, without a doubt, that this movie is the only one to date that has used this new 3-D technology correctly. All the other 3-D, animated kids movies to date, computer animated, every one of them, don't do 3-D well, mainly because a computer generated image is, well, flat, and you have to fake the third dimension. Other live action movies, well, they use it as a gimmick. "Coraline", however, was the perfect vehicle for 3-D. The little puppets and miniature, handmade sets, are all in three dimension to begin with. They translate over very well and allow a world of miniature puppets seem quite real. Also, most of the 3-D is inside the screen, not popping off the screen into your face. There are a few, brief moments like that, but they are all appropriate for the action on the screen and don't take you out of the movie. Rather, they draw you in. Well, except for the needle in the opening sequence, but you can forgive one 'ohh ahh' moment in the opening title sequence before the movie has really started. If you have the opportunity to see this movie, in a theater, in 3-D, do it. You will not be disappointed. (You will be disappointed with the DVD 3-D. Just skip that.)

     "Coraline" is a modern day fairy tale, done in the tradition of Grimm's fairy tales, about a maybe 12 year old girl, Coraline Jones, voiced by Dakota Fanning, who has just moved into an aging boarding house with her parents, voiced by Teri Hatcher and John (I'm a PC) Hodgman, and is utterly bored and alone. Her parents work at home as writers and are trying to finish a gardening catalog that they are desperately behind on, so, at the moment, they have little time for their daughter. The new neighbors are elderly and eccentric or just plain odd, and it seems to be raining most of the time, confining Coraline to the inside of a old house with very little to do. That is, until, she finds a small, mysterious door that leads to another world; a world where everything is the same, except better. However, this other, better world comes at a price, and Coraline soon finds herself fighting to save herself, her parents, and the ghosts of other children trapped there. Truly, a wonderful story, a great movie, an incredible experience in 2-D, and an absolute must see in a theater in 3-D.

     I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the other voice talent in this movie. Robert Bailey Jr. does an excellent job as Wybie Lovat, the slightly weird neighbor kid who, initially, irritates Coraline to no end. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, of British comedy fame, do an incredible job as Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, former British (bawdy) stage actresses, who are now well past those days but still maintain a love of theater. Keith David provides a wonderfully mellow baritone voice to Wybie's pet cat, who only talks in the 'other' world, maintaining a separation of real and magical realms. And Ian McShane, from HBO's Deadwood and, more recently, NBC's Kings, lends his incredible voice talent to the Amazing Mr. Bobinsky, a former Russian acrobat who is now, supposedly, training a mouse circus in his attic apartment. Credit, ultimately, must go to Henry Selick though, for directing all of these incredible voice talents. This, once again, isn't your typical kiddie film, where a couple of top name comedians go nuts on the mic for a few days and they write half the movie around their manic style. Henry Selick took years to record carefully directed voice work from each of his actors and got, from each one, a magnificent performance.

     Ok, I should end this review, but I have one more thing to say. Not only is this a kids movie that is actually enjoyable to adults, and enjoyable on an adult level, (parents may even be scared a bit, but not by what scares their children) but it is also one of those rare children's movies that has real characters in it. The adults act like adults, not arch stereotypes or like children themselves, and the kids act like kids. This is a huge departure from any Disney film you've ever seen and nothing like most kids movies. It is so rare to get a kids movie with real, believable characters in it that it is worth mentioning.

     If you get the opportunity, watch "Coraline." If you get the rare opportunity to see it in 3-D, don't hesitate. You won't be disappointed.