MOVIE WRITEUPS: Rush, Her and August: Osage County

Rush

Director: Ron Howard
With: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara

Not gonna lie, I thought Rush would be trash that's why I didn't watch it in the cinema when it came out. I had all the chance but thought that it's going to be irrelevant and didn't believe that it would excel even if I heard and read a lot of good things about it. I didn't suppose that a film about F1 racers would earn so much support from the critics and other award giving bodies so I ignored it. Ha! I've mentioned so many reasons but the primary reason is that I really just dislike Chris Hemsworth.

Chris Hemsworth proved to be a decent actor though, and his haters, if there are any aside from me, should give him a second chance. I thought he's adequate in capturing the happy-go-lucky playboy persona of James Hunt. He can be awkward at times but the change of accent and dramatic attempts are laudable. He doesn't irk me anymore. Howbeit, the reason why I loved the movie so much is the character, Niki Lauda and how committed Daniel Brühl was in portraying this not so likable yet disciplined German racer. Brühl achieved something that not many actors can do and that is by making an unlikable character lovable. Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson come to mind when I think of that quality and  he is a nice addition to this line of actors :)). I can't believe that I almost didn't see it because watching Brühl act is such a treat and Niki Lauda the character is just equally captivating.

The first half of the film may seem like a generic biopic but the second half is not only exhilirating with the action and racing scenes but it's also striking because of the twist in the story and relationship of the main characters. It's receptive even to viewers who had no idea about Formula1 racing. Love the touch of computer game text effects during their races as it adds up to its entertainment value. The editing, the score, all commendable and if there's a Hans Zimmer score for 2013 that deserves recognition, it's his work here and not for 12 Years a Slave. Seriously. I'm not crazy about it but it's miles better than the latter. Some of its visual effects are kind of lousy though.

Rush should have gotten more recognition. It's a shame that it didn't have any nominations in the Oscars, especially Brühl's performance as it's not only competent and deserving to be nominated, it's really one of the best performances for films in 2013. And the fact that he's categorized as supporting is a travesty as Rush is probably more about Niki Lauda's story than James Hunt.

Her

Director: Spike Jonze
With: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt

"We're only here briefly. And while I'm here, I wanna allow myself joy. So fuck it."

"I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity."

Spike Jonze gave Amy Adams a weird hairdo and weird fashion style but man, he also gave her some of the memorable film quotes there is.

As mushy as those quotes sound, Her centers around a lonely guy named Theodore Twombly who's just recently gone through divorce so that's already an indication why the film is sentimental. Sounds so basic, right? But Spike Jonze is everything but basic. See Jonze's past films - Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where The Wild Things Are. So to make things interesting, (as we all know already) he injected an OS with a female voice and personality to Theodore's life and eventually, Theodore developed a relationship with 'Her'. Her name is Samantha.

Cool? Sure. I loved this idea and Her became one of my most anticipated films of 2013 because of that super interesting plot but as I was finally watching it and seeing things unfold, I felt like I need to be rescued because it's kind of starting to feel ridiculous, opposite from what I've expected. I realized, what's going on with Theodore is actually kind of creepy. Am I the only one who feels that way? Probably. I just can't fathom the idea of a human emotion being invested to an artificial one. And this is from someone who thought that it's an interesting concept. It just so happen that after seeing the execution that I realized it's cweepy.

Nothing against out of this world ideas. Heck I love About Time, a film that involves time travel. Plus, I don't necessarily hate or at least dislike the film. I'm conflicted about it. On one hand, it's awesome visually and technically. The color palettes are pretty, great cinematography, one of the best scores for 2013 films. Spike Jonze is a genius for creating a future world with sophisticated technology that makes his viewers yearn to live in that time. On the other hand, I fail to see the achievement in his story. Its aim is to grasp his audience emotionally but that's hard when the emotions are robotic and absurd. Perhaps, this is when the 'insanity' enters the equation. Insane indeed. But I'm really having a hard time devoting any deep or serious emotion towards the film. It's not a good sign when I'm laughing in some of its most intense parts - OS sex, OS saying 'fuck you', OS surrogate, OS falling in love with 600 plus other OS. :/ I gotta give Spike Jonze credit though because this is what people are interested to see and Spike Jonze gave it to them.

Then again, I appreciate a lot of its aspects. It actually reminds me of Jonze's ex-girlfriend, Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation - the ethereal vibe, the city lights, emphasis in loneliness and silence, the dimness of colors. Exquisite! And I would rather see more films like this wherein the director is not afraid to take risks, to take his viewers to a different world. I'd rather be surprised or have a commotion to the story than witness a predictable one where there's nothing to talk about. I should just be thankful that Spike Jonze didn't go beyond what's already beyond and that is by making Samantha turn into a real human being ala Pinnochio. :)) I may have some problems with what occurred in the film but overall, Her is gratifying.

August: Osage County

Director: John Wells
With: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor,
Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Abigail Breslin, Misty Upham, Sam Shepard

The film tells the story of the women of the Weston family whose lives have strayed until a family crisis reunited them back to the house they grew up in and all their hardships, secrets, imperfections and things they have left behind have been awakened. Meryl Streep plays Violet Weston, the filthy-mouthed, pill-popping mother of Barbara, Karen and Ivy played by Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis and Julianne Nicholson respectively. It is these actresses that brought life and chaos to this conflict-filled play turned into film by Tracy Letts.

Overwhelming. With the star-studded cast and numerous clusterfuck plots that filled the film, it surely makes for an entertaining flick. But as promising and fun as it sounds, it's also immensely negative. There's been a lot of feel bad movies I've watched before, like Young Adult, Amour, Oslo: August 31st, Blue Valentine, the list goes on but this film might be one of the most horrible of them all. It all depends in your background. You either see your own family in the Westons or you're just thankful that you have a different family compared to them. Either way, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It's enough that we hear or witness family arguments in real life, but August: Osage County provokes us to recall these bad memories. In this film, you'll hear several words like ingrate, hypocrite, idiot and more. And now, just by thinking about it, makes me want to STOP them from fighting and saying these hurtful words :333. Trufax.

It probably got me too much but I've been in a lot of family gatherings when I saw this film and I just can't help but see some of our own shambles to it. Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure most of us, if not all, could relate to a few things 'bout the film and it's just harrowing to know how hardships can damage our lives, especially when it comes from our family. But enough about me, let's talk about their performances because I also consider this film a performance driven one.

Call Meryl Streep overrated but she's the best aspect of the film. I could repeat and say that she can go on and on and act for hours and I'll just watch her and feel blessed a hundred times but that's really what she makes me feel :3. Despite the negative nature of her role, she just brings me pleasure whenever she acts. Her screams, her antics as Violet Weston are amazing and call it cliché, but my favorite scene of the whole film is the funeral dinner scene and it's also because of her. Sometimes, I feel like Meryl Streep is secretly a bad person because she's so brilliant in portraying one :)). Julia Roberts as Barbara is also impressive. I'm not wow'd by her but her transition from the goody goody, funny and glamorous characters into the Barbara Weston kind of character is really commendable. No make up, she somewhat looked old, she looked bad  as a character and she owned it. Streep and Roberts carried the film for me that I didn't notice the film's imperfections. The ensemble as a whole is praiseworthy.

If you're into dramas, August: Osage County will not disappoint you. It's one that will may make you feel bad because of its content, but will also make you feel good because of the wonderful performances from start to finish. I'm having a hard time categorizing it as a comedy despite some of the funny lines but the negative content is really overpowering that it negates all the jokes it possesses.

NOVEMBER 2013: Trouble the Water, TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard, It's Complicated & Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Trouble The Water

Director: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
With: Kimberly Rivers Roberts, Scott Roberts

A 2008 documentary about Hurricane Katrina which struck New Orleans and destroyed its levees resulting to a massive destruction back in 2005. It contains footage of Kimberly and Scott Roberts who documented their experience before, during, and after the disaster. It did not only tackle the hurricane, but it also tackled the actions of the government and media in handling this catastrophe.

I can't help but compare the situation in the documentary to what our country has experienced during these times. We have just recently been hit by an earthquake in October and we're kind of used to typhoons now. One of the differences though is that we don't experience racism when we fight through these calamities. It's really hard to compare our situation to them because each country handle things differently. Although It's kind of funny that I've already composed a writeup for this before Typhoon Yolanda happened and I have to delete some of what I said because of it. I thought our country wasn't that bad in handling typhoons since we've already been struck by these numerous times but with Yolanda happening recently, we have proven that we're still a scuffling mess. It's hard to judge because Yolanda is way stronger than Katrina. Trouble the Water, however, showed that even a first-world country like U.S. struggle in handling these situations. It's crazy how huge the involvement of politics in managing disasters and apparently, we suffer probably worse than them even without the involvement of racism, we have to deal with corruption and a truckload of relief goods other issues. But Katrina happened in 2005 and I'm not sure if there's an improvement in their system in this present time. Point is, there should be a development in the process because as the Earth's climate keeps on changing, this will surely happen again.

Anyway, don't watch this documentary if you expect that it would tackle more about the destruction of environment, instead of politics, laws and other serious matters. You'll just end up being bored. It's probably a different story though if I watched this after Yolanda occurred. But Kimberly's rap somewhere in the film is worth seeing. You will love her! :))

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard

Director: Simon Klose
With: Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde

If you're wondering what the title implies, it's about the real lives of the Swedish men behind the largest file sharing website The Pirate Bay, Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svalthom and Fredrik Neij. Gottfrid mentioned somewhere in the film that they never consider internet as not real. They view the abbreviation of 'IRL' (In Real Life) as 'AFK' (Away From Keyboard) which entails that they consider the internet part of their real lives.

These men have great stories to tell and Simon Klose brought us in and out, start to the conclusion of their trial. Their story is as interesting as their personalities and each of them has something unique that adds up to the trio's spunk. Basically, they're like Mark Zuckerberg when he was defending himself to his critics. Snarky, witty and dismissive whenever they're being interrogated. To them, they're not doing anything bad. They created the ''Bay' because they wanted to create something big with what they love, which is IT and the internet. They're being sued because of copyrights but they always tell their interrogators that they should talk to the people who upload these copyrighted materials instead of them, because they just run the site and don't have control with the users. It became more complicated when things did not go their way. A lot more issues came up, Wikileaks got also involved but the film got more serious when it tackled their personal lives in the midst of this trial. That's when the film got more depth and so are its stars.

It's very reminiscent of We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks. These men have similarities with Julian Assange. They're fighting for freedom, and it's a shame that they're dealing with trials and convictions, while millions of people are enjoying their site who probably don't know what's happening behind their beloved Pirate Bay. It's kind of heroic, thinking about it.

It's Complicated

Director: Nancy Meyers
With: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinki, Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Hunter Parrish, Caitlin Fitzgerald

A divorced mother of three, Jane (Meryl Streep) becomes 'the other woman' to her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin), who married a way younger lady. Meanwhile, Jane's architect (Steve Martin) falls for her which ends up in a complicated and bizarre love triangle. It's Complicated lives up to its name in this family romantic comedy that provides good laughs and perhaps, reflection to its viewers.

It's Complicated is probably the film with the most flirting and most sex between two old people that has ever created. LOL. But I must say that it's a good thing that I watched Hope Springs before this because the former was kind of insufferable and this one is a lot lighter. Having said these, I liked this film! It's probably one of the funniest films I've ever watched. Only few films have the ability to make me burst out of laughing and I didn't expect it from this film because the subject matter is for grown ups and for families going through divorce. I could not relate to most of the situation in this film but I still find it very fun and likable. Just shows how good the film is and man, the actors in this film are very effective in delivering the punches. Well, with stars like Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep and Steve Martin, I should have foreseen that prior to watching. These three actors are comedic geniuses and I think this film worked more efficiently because of them.

Nancy Meyer, who wrote and directed this film, made sure that she mixed it with humor despite the knotty and mature subject. It made the film less heavy. Let's face it, the situation is perfect for an intense drama but this film doesn't have intense crying or screaming. It's a comedy after all. And what I love more about this film are the characters, especially Jane's kids who are probably the most understanding children a divorced parent wish they have, and they are adorable too! So while the film may be complicated for the characters and that it did not end with the best scenario for them, the imperfection of its ending is just perfect for the film.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints 

Director: David Lowery
With: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster
 

Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a crime romantic drama that follows the lives of a fugitive named Bob (Casey Affleck), his wife, Ruth (Rooney Mara) and a local sheriff, Patrick (Ben Foster) who showed interest in Ruth while Bob is in prison who subsequently escaped to reunite with his wife and their daughter he has never seen.

The story is basically something you'll see in a melodramatic teleserye. Beautifully shot matched with enjoyable score, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is more of a technical achievement than an entertaining craft. David Lowery showed good direction style and quality carefully making the mood of each shot as melancholic as the characters' situation. While the pacing is extremely slow, the last thirty minutes of the film manages to grasp attention as Bob's character reached high levels of desperation and perseverance in seeing his family.

Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara are true stars of the film. Affleck showed depth in his portrayal of a man in love with his wife despite their distance while Mara displayed effortless acting with courage and vulnerability mixed up in her eyes. Here, she exudes her mysteriousness yet again similar to her portrayal of her other film characters. Both showed great versatility with their spot-on country accents as well.

In the end, it has great performances, cinematography and score. But it really suffers from it's slow pacing and old-fashioned story. Definitely not for me and I doubt many people would like it. This marks the fifth film with Rooney Mara that I dislike. In fact, I don't think I've ever liked any of her films. D: I'm looking forward to Spike Jonze's Her. :)