Sunday, January 17, 2016

The Big Short

Year: 2015
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock


Plot: Based on the true story of the financial meltdown in 2007-2008, seen through the eyes of a few men who saw it coming.


Review: One look at The Big Short and you might think the subject matter isn't very interesting to explore. But if you allow yourself some time to sit through this, there's a high chance you will be entertained and educated at the same time.

The latest film from Adam McKay focuses on the financial meltdown in the U.S. in 2007-2008. We start in 2005, where hedge fund manager Michael Burry crunches some numbers and predicts that the housing market is due to crash in a couple of years. So he uses his investors' money and bets against the banks in order to make a profit. The banks, all confident that the market is perfectly stable, willingly meet his request. This gets the attention of Jared Vennett, a banker who also sees an opportunity to get rich and makes a deal with another hedge fund manager, Mark Baum. At the same time, two young investors, Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley get wind of this news and also attempt to profit from it, with some help from retired banker Ben Rickert.

McKay guides the audience through the eyes of these six men as they try to make sense of the impending collapse and gain from it. Knowing that the audience might be clueless with all the financial jargon being thrown around, McKay wisely inserts definitions wherever necessary and even ropes in celebrities like Selena Gomez, Margot Robbie and Anthony Bourdain to explain things. He also gets a few members of his cast to break the fourth wall and narrate the proceedings, especially Ryan Gosling who plays Vennett.

The cast all perform splendidly, with Christian Bale successfully presenting Burry as an eccentric man who listens to heavy metal, plays drums and dresses casually at the office, but a financial genius without a doubt. Though Bale is impressive, earning an Oscar nomination for his role, it is Steve Carell whom I thought should have been nominated instead as Mark Baum. Baum is a man with a strong moral compass, an angry man who feels the intense need to right every wrong in the world, and his reaction to the impending meltdown caused by dishonest banks is very genuine. It is his character the audience will connect with the most. Brad Pitt's role is minimal here as Rickert; it is the two young men played by John Magaro and Finn Wittrock who shine more. Geller and Shipley simply want to build their future and are damn excited to have stumbled upon something huge. Credit also goes to Melissa Leo and Marisa Tomei who make minor appearances here.

I will admit that this film isn't exactly for everyone, especially for people who don't like dialogue heavy stuff or jargon filled scripts. But I gotta give credit to McKay for making his film as accessible as possible, and dare I say it, entertaining too despite the potentially depressing subject matter.

If you're looking for something different to sink your teeth into, give this one a try. (8/10)

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Macbeth

Year: 2015
Director: Justin Kurzel
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Sean Harris, Paddy Considine, Jack Reynor, David Thewlis


Plot: Based on the play by William Shakespeare. After receiving a prophecy by three witches that he will become King of Scotland, Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, decides to kill the king and take the throne for himself. However, following his actions, he is consumed by guilt and paranoia, which leads to more blood and death.


Review: There have been many of Shakespeare's work adapted for the big screen, some of the more significant ones being Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet, 10 Things I Hate About You starring the late Heath Ledger adapted from The Taming Of The Shrew, Hamlet starring Mel Gibson, and O, a modern day version of Othello starring Josh Hartnett. There are many more, but these are just a few to begin with.

This writer isn't well-versed with Shakespeare, so he'll do his best telling you what he sees in this version of Macbeth. The story is set during a civil war in Scotland around the 11th century. Macbeth, a trusted general of King Duncan, receives a prophecy from three witches that he will soon become King of Scotland, and his friend Banquo will father future kings of Scotland, though he won't be king himself. Overwrought with ambition and encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king and takes the crown. But after that, he starts to feel paranoid, and slowly he grows mad day after day, which drives him to take further extreme measures to hang on to his crown, including killing his own friend Banquo.

First off, let me inform you that if you're not familiar with Shakespeare, then understanding his words will be a huge challenge. Thankfully, this writer had assistance from subtitles provided, though it still is quite daunting to follow. Nevertheless, Macbeth manages to thrill and astound thanks to outstanding performances from its cast and great direction from Justin Kurzel.

While the supporting cast made up of Paddy Considine, Sean Harris and David Thewlis among others, put in solid work, it is lead actors Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard who shine the brightest here. Fassbender is stunning as Macbeth, who slowly grows mad with ambition and guilt, and Cotillard is equally brilliant as Lady Macbeth, who starts off being cold and zealous but then is consumed by the weight of her own actions as well. The duo make a fine team here, and I can't wait to see how they fare in Assassin's Creed later this year.

Kurzel is splendid in translating the play onscreen, allowing his actors to carry the story while utilizing great cinematography by Adam Arkapaw and macabre music by Jed Kurzel to his advantage. The words might confuse you at times but the essence of the story comes across beautifully. It would benefit those of you who are non-Shakespearean moviegoers to have one who is translate for you, though it's not entirely essential.

The film may drag here and there, and some scenes might puzzle you if you don't know the story beforehand, but overall I quite liked this film. There's a great sense of realism and brutality to the film, which is further enhanced by two battle scenes that bookend the movie. The final fight, bathed in crimson red fire and fog, is my favorite scene.

While I do agree that Macbeth isn't for everyone due to its convoluted language, it's a film worth checking out. (7/10)

Sunday, January 03, 2016

The 33

Year: 2015
Director: Patricia Riggen
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gabriel Byrne, Bob Gunton, Mario Casas, Juan Pablo Raba


Plot: Based on the true story of 33 miners trapped for 69 days after their mine collapsed in Chile in August 2010.


Review: The well-known mine collapse in Chile back in 2010 has finally been made into a film. After watching this, I can imagine how hard it must have been to translate this story to celluloid and make it different from every other true story that has come before it.

The 33 starts out with a small introduction to our miners, which are pretty much your regular guys trying to make a living. A loving family man, a man whose wife has a baby coming soon, a senior miner on his last 2 weeks, an Elvis impersonator, a homeless drunk trying to earn some wages, and a Bolivian immigrant, among others. The miner in charge of safety notices the mine starting to destabilize, but the company ignores his warning. The 33 miners go down, the mine caves in, andthe men have to survive in the dark while the Minister of Mining does his best to plan a rescue attempt as the miners' worried families start to camp outside the mine.

On paper, the film might actually work. But the script doesn't quite measure up. To be fair, Mexican director Patricia Riggen keeps the film moving along briskly enough for at least the first two-thirds. She was at least able to balance enough time spent between the miners' ordeal underground and the situation outside where Minister of Mining Laurence Golborne tries to handle the families and the rescuers' attempts.

But the script doesn't give enough sense of urgency to the proceedings, especially once the miners are discovered to be alive. The script also seems to focus on only half a dozen miners and not more. Granted, it would be hard to address all 33 of them, but acknowledging a few more wouldn't hurt. There are also a few unintentionally funny elements here, like a scene where they hallucinate being served their favorite meal by their families, and the subplot about one of the miners having a wife and a mistress who lives just next door, which is supposed to be funny but doesn't quite fit into the overall story. The subplot about the Bolivian miner being picked on by the others was interesting though.

The cast do well enough overall. Antonio Banderas performs the best as lead miner Mario, who manages to keep his men in order and ration their supplies as best he can. Rodrigo Santoro is alright as Golborne, but doesn't quite have the screen presence required to convincingly portray a minister. I'll give him credit for trying though. Juliette Binoche also stands out as Maria, the estranged sister to one of the miners, and Gabriel Byrne is good too as the lead rescuer.

The best part of the film comes at the end when Riggen introduces the audience to the real 33 miners as they are today. At the very least, she ended the film well.

The 33 is overall a serviceable true account film, but it's only halfway decent. It follows all the beats of most true stories told on film but doesn't quite achieve the dramatic impact it was aiming for. (6/10)

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