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Review: Inception (Nolan, 2010)

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Top 35 Talented Actors 35 and Under (Part 2)

August 29th 2010 03:22

Top 35 Most Talented Actors Age 35 and Under (#'s 25-16)

25. Brady Corbet (Age 22)

Brady Corbet kind of blew me away in Mysterious Skin, then did it all over again in Funny Games. Aside from some episodes of 24, this is all I’ve seen him in so far (although to be fair he hasn’t been in all that much yet). He’s still so young and I look forward to his future endeavors.

24. Michael Cera (Age 22)

Originally, Michael Cera did not make this list. Like some other young comedic actors, I felt perhaps he was getting too typecast to play certain roles and has been unable to completely show his range. Starting on the brilliant Arrested Development, playing an incredibly nuanced character, I was surprised to see some aspects of this character occurring in other roles, no matter how good he himself was in the roles. But then came Scott Pilgrim and he carried the film and did things I didn’t expect and proved he’s just as awesome as he originally lead us all to believe.

23. Aaron Paul (Age 31)

I recently consumed all three seasons of Breaking Bad; Aaron Paul proceeded to blow my mind in the process. My favorite character on the show and perhaps my favorite acting in the entire show too. Cranston is incredible but I found Paul stealing some scenes from him. He also broke me numerous times. This guy is amazing.

22. Kieran Culkin (Age 27)

I adore this guy. He gives performances that simply stand-out to me and I’m always so happy to hear when he’s cast in something. Loved him in Scott Pilgrim recently.

21. Michael Pitt (Age 29)

Michael Pitt performances that are so incredibly nuanced, whether they are conveying shy, sexual confusion, or psychotic danger. He’s one of my favorite actors because I never know exactly what I’m going to be greeted too.

20. Jason Segel (Age 30)

What can I say about Jason Segel? Loved him in Freaks and Geeks, love him in all of his recent comedies – he has such amazing chemistry with his co-stars, he’s endearing and hilarious all at once. To put it simply, he’s one of this generations finest comedic actors.

19. Jason Schwartzman (Age 30)

Jason Schwartzman has found a niche for quirky film roles; he’s also got a great voice for voice-over and can play slimy pretty damn well too. He’s someone I always get excited about seeing, even though I’m one of the few who found Rushmore overrated.

18. Jensen Ackles (Age 32)

Jensen Ackles is not only an actor I consider to be underrated but also ‘most-talented’. This year, he’ll be venturing into his 6th season playing Dean Winchester on Supernatural. The things he’s done with this character; the emotion he’s conveyed without words or with just his eyes completely floors me.

17. Matthew Goode (Age 32)

I’ve seen Matthew Goode in four films, and he was compeltely different in each one. He’s someone that rather captivates while watching him on screen. I hope he’ll be able to steer away from the more mainstream works and continue taking intriguing roles.

16. Joaquin Phoenix (Age 35)

Tough call to actually put him on this list, given all the recent bullshit surrounding his person. Nevertheless, one has to separate the man from the actor and one cannot deny how talented Phoenix is. To me, his most amazing performance will always be To Die For, but he’s done so much since then as well. Maybe he’ll continue acting, maybe he won’t but there needed to be a spot reserved until he is no longer eligible to be on this list, when he turns 36 in October.

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Review: Uncertainty (2009)

August 28th 2010 01:05

Uncertainty (2009, McGehee, Siegel)

Basically, the concept for Uncertainty is the small decisions we make and how they effect of our daily lives. The film begins with the protagonists wondering what they’re doing to do today; if today is going to be ‘the day’, (we learn what that means later). “Brooklyn or New York?” Bobby asks his girlfriend Kate in the opening scene. On the Brooklyn Bridge, they flip a coin. The film then branches off into two different parallel segments: Blue and Yellow. Blue is what would have happened if they spent the day in Brooklyn; Yellow is what would have happened if they spent the day in Manhattan. By far, the ‘Yellow’ storyline is the most intriguing. The ‘Blue’ storyline is mundane for the most part and brings down the pace of the film; however, it’s necessary as it contains a major plot point, perhaps even the driving plot point behind the film.

The film stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Lyn Collins. The script contained barely any dialogue, which was improvised by the actors during rehearsals with the directors. Some of the dialogue presents itself like the improv one would find during an acting class; some of it is more naturalistic.

Sadly, Collins is completely uninteresting to watch and even Gordon-Levitt is not his incredibly engaging self. Collins is simply not a strong actress and she looks far too much like Evangeline Lily, which becomes an unwelcome distraction. Gordon-Levitt does as much as he can with the concept of the script. The entire film was shot on location, allowing for naturalism. The camera work is mostly hand-held, adding to the immediacy of the film, which was especially necessary for the ‘Yellow’ segment. The film is rather beautiful to look at on an aesthetic level as it was shot in HD on an Arriflex D-20 camera.

Once the action lightens up (in the second act no less) interest wanes significantly. It’s as if the storyline and the actors run out of gas and more importantly, things to say and do even though there’s still 40 minutes remaining. The entire ‘thriller’ plot is completely forgone for the ‘major plot point’ of the parallel storyline. The film becomes static, boring and terribly uninteresting. Also, the parallel sex scenes? So self-indulgent and not necessary to the plot, despite the Joseph Gordon-Levitt aspect.

When the action finally regains momentum in the last 17 or so minutes, it’s too little, too late. In the end, the film ultimately means to convey the notion of making different choices, going in different directions, yet inherently arriving at the same conclusion. The film certainly intended on being more profound than it was. Instead, it’s a mediocre project starring one of this generation’s most talented actors, whose abilities are shamefully wasted here.

This tumblr page, and this poster by the IFC center are both far more interesting than the film itself:

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Top 30 Fall Films to See (Sept-Dec)

August 27th 2010 03:08

It's that time of year again. The top 30 and then everything else, in order.

I have no doubts that this list will be edited signficantly due to release date announcements and/or pushbacks. For now this is as accurate as I can make it bearing the aforementioned as well as the absence of certain trailers and just the complete lack of knowledge of smaller releases. All release dates listed are U.S.

bold = seen

Top 30 Fall Films I want to See (Sept-Dec)

1. Never Let Me Go (Sept 15th)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 (Nov 19th)
3. Black Swan (12/1)
4. Social Network (Oct 1st)
5. A Woman, A Gun, and a Noodle Shop (Sept 3rd)
6. Blue Valentine (12/31)
7. Tree of Life
8. Somewhere (12/22)
9. Howl
10. True Grit (12/25)
11. Fair game (11/5)
12. Another Year
13. Biutiful
14. Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
15. Made in Dagenham
16. I Love You Phillip Morris
17. You won’t Miss Me (12/10)
18. The Town (Sept 17th)
19. 127 Hours (nov 5th)
20. The Way Back
21. Nowhere Boy (10/8)
22. Norwegian Wood
23. Hideaway
24. Jack Goes Boating (9/17)
25. The Illusionist
26. All Good Things
27. TRON: Legacy (12/17)
28. Conviction (10/15)
29. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (10/15)
30. The Fighter 12/10

Seen: 1/30

The Rest (in order)

Machette (Sept 3rd)
Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (Sept 3rd)
Stone (10/8)
Tiny furniture (11/12)
Nothing Personal (11/19)
My Soul to Take
Waiting for “Superman” (9/24)
The Romantics
Let Me In
The Tourist
The King’s Speech (11/24)
JACKASS 3D (10/15)
Wild Target
Monsters (10/29)
Tamara Drewe (10/8)
Due Date (11/5)
Love and Other Drugs (11/24)
The Next Three Days (11/19)
Catfish (doc, 9/17)
Making the Boys
It’s Kind of a Funny Story (9/24)
Welcome to the Rileys
Gerrymandering (10/15)
Down Terrace (10/8)
Hereafter (10/22)
Miral
William s. Boroughs: A Man Within
How Do You Know (12/17)
Megamind (nov 5th)
The American (Sept 1st)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Gullivers Travels (12/22)
Parnormal Activity 2 (10/22)
Freakonomics (10/1)
Case 39
Heartbreaker (9/10)
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer (11/5)
White Material
Douchebag (10/1)
The Winning Season
Carlos
Knucklehead (10/22)
RED (10/15)
Expecting Mary (9/10)
Country Strong
The Kids Grow Up
The Debt
The Company Men 10/22
The Tempest (12/10)
Kids in America (12/3)
Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (12/10)

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From the Archives: Milk and Frost/Nixon

August 25th 2010 22:55

I wrote both these mini-reviews the day saw these two films, which was shortly after they were both released. They've been lost in a notebook since then. So, here they are for the first time online. Sadly, the Milk one is dated already given the Prop 8 discussion but I kept it all in as it's interesting to see where we were then and where we're finally at now.

Milk (Van Sant, 2008)
Written December 2008

Milk is a tour de force biopic directed by Gus Van Sant and featuring a knock-out, awe-inspiring performance by Sean Penn, who is by far the great actor of his generation. Penn becomes the gay political figure through and through, and although we all know what is going to happen we secretly wish that history would rewrite itself midway through the film. Harvey Milk was of course assassinated in 1978 by political rival Dan White, played brilliantly by Josh Brolin whom has had an amazing comeback both this year and last. The film traces Milk’s life beginning at age 40 until the fateful day. Upon moving to San Francisco with his lover (another wonderful performance by James Franco) Harvey discovers that perhaps he can make a difference and stand-up to the injustice that homosexuals were facing. He runs for City Supervisor and is aided by a group of friends who mostly just hung around the camera shop he owned.

Emile Hirsch plays a runaway turned intricate campaign aide and, as many have said already, he steals every scene he’s in. Hirsch is one of the most talented young actors working in Hollywood today and one can only hope he goes on to have a career as lucrative as Penn’s. Harvey Milk’s rise to the top against adversity is a story that’s resonant in ant day and age. Watching Milk battle Anita Bryant against Proposition 6 cannot help but conjure up a parallel to the Mormon Church and Proposition 8. The film could not have been released at a more relevant time, whether or not Proposition 8 had passed or failed.

Harvey Milk’s message of hope against all odds, dreaming your dreams and becoming who you want to be and being proud of who and what you are would be sound no matter what this past election had dealt. Harvey Milk was ahead of his time in what he was able to achieve. This flawless film leaves you with a sense of bittersweet hope. While Milk’s Proposition 6 passed, California’s Proposition 8 failed, but only barely. America isn’t yet caught up to Harvey, but we’re getting there. Overall, I think if he were still alive today, he’d be proud by the recent strides that have been made.

Frost/Nixon (2008, Howard)
Written December 2008

Frost/Nixon, based upon a stage play of the same name, and directed by Ron Howard is like a boxing match. Heavyweight Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and Lightweight David Frost (Michael Sheen) spend the entire film circling one another in the ring, trading a few blows here and there, until finally, in the 11th hour a technical knockout is delivered. We, as the audience, are acutely aware of this. We are watching the build-up and waiting anxiously for the action. And when we get it, it does not disappoint. For the most part, Ron Howard has constructed a magnificent film, centered on a solid-cast and some standout Oscar worthy performances. The adaptation, however, does feel clumsy at time.

The decision to transfer the self-address monologues to the audience into documentary style interviews for the film feels awkward and out of place. We are never explained what this documentary is, when it takes place and more importantly why we should really care. In fact, it seems as though playwright and screenwriter Peter Morgan could not figure out how to adapt this problematic portion of his source material and thus settled on the most banal way of doing so.

Luckily these segments do not make up a significant portion of the film. Hopefully, your viewing experience will not consist of inappropriate laughter at serious and downright pivotal moments, particularly the last scene of the film. Despite the aforementioned flaws, Peter Morgan was faithful to his own source material and the result is a powerful, engrossing character study marvelously acted and superbly directed. Howard’s decisions regarding close-ups and hand held camera usage are deft and executed with expert precision. And let us not forget Kevin Bacon’s finely tuned performance as Nixon’s right hand man which is just as worthy of Oscar buzz as the two leads. Yes, Director and cast were in top form for this match-up and for the most part, delivered the goods.

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Top 35 Talented Actors 35 and Under (Part 1)

August 24th 2010 02:31

I recently made two lists: Top 35 Most Talented Actors and Actresses Age 35 and Under. Here's the first part of the actors list.

Top 35 Most Talented Actors Age 35 and Under #'s 35-26
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