"Clouds of Sils Maria" Movie Review

Movie review of "Clouds of Sils Maria" starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz.

"Clouds of Sils Maria"

Posted on Apr. 24, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

“Clouds of Sils Maria” (2014)

Twenty years ago, actress Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) got the role of a lifetime performing in a play called “Maloja Snake.” The world fell in love with Maria, who played a young executive assistant who suicide and then breaks up with her 40-year-old female boss. Now a hot, well-respected director wants to put the play back on, this time with Maria playing the boss instead of the assistant.

Maria’s personal assistant is Valentine (Kristen Stewart), a very capable but slightly controlling young woman. She is quick giving her opinion and most of the time Maria welcomes it. They are together constantly, and because of that, Valentine has become not just Maria’s assistant but also her confidant and friend.

Maria doesn’t want to do the revival, as she sees it as a way to stay away a very troubled past. At her assistant’s insistence, she is talked into meeting with the director, just as she has to appear at the memorial for the writer of the play, who has just committed suicide. Against her better judgement, Maria decides to take the role, swayed by Valentine’s instance. Valentine convinces Maria that Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz), who has already attached to the project, will be the perfect actress to play the part of the young seductress. By taking the job, Maria and Valentine are about to go upon a journey of discovery and pain. Their relationship will never be the same.

The performances in this film are the reason the watch. Oscar winner Juliette Binoche is perfection in this role, and she just might be seeing another nomination for her portrayal of Maria. It is a master class on how to command the screen without dominating the other performers. Binoche shines as the slightly neurotic actress who needs constant reassurance from her assistant and is prone to fits of self-doubt at a moment’s notice. I have a feeling that Binoche is more self-confident than the actress whom she plays, though I have a feeling that she is as bad in real life as Maria is in keeping up with what / who is the Internet fodder of the day. Binoche plays off of Kristen Stewart, and their constant banter is natural and unforced.

While Binoche is phenomenal in the role, it’s Kristen Stewart (yes that Kristen Stewart) that makes this film work. Playing the opinionated young American, Stewart gives a multilayer, nuanced performance that plays so well-off of Binoche’s portrayal of the demanding Maria. Stewart has a relaxed, easy presence on the screen, and it’s her best performance in her young career. Chloë Grace Moretz is a joy to watch playing the actress who has talent, but seems to make one bad decision after another, all being played out on TMZ. Moritz is perfect for the part, playing an actress who can be sweet in one moment and an absolute horror in another.

Writer / Director Olivier Assayas brings out the most out of his cast, letting their performances tell the story. He places the camera just in the right position to optimize the audiences being able to view both actresses’ reactions at the same time. The film spends a great deal of time with Maria and Valentine running lines, as the play starts mirroring the relationship that the two of them have in real life. The only fault that I find in this film is that the film gets bogged down at times when the running of the lines goes on too long.

Go and see this celebration of acting, and revel in the performances of the three strong actresses in the lead parts. It’s a rare film these days that give us such complex, dominate roles to women. And, after seeing “Clouds of Sils Maria,” like me, you too will be looking forward to Kristen Stewart’s next film.      My Rating: Full Price  

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Clouds of Sils Maria” Facebook page

"Queen & Country" Movie Review

My review of "Queen & Country" starring Callum Turner, Caleb Landry Jones, Pat Shortt. 

"Queen & Country"

Posted on Apr. 17, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of BBC America

“Queen and Country” (2014)

 

In 1950s England, Bill (Callum Turner) would rather spend his days on the banks of the Thames river, watching for pretty girls walking by or seeing a movie being shot by a nearby studio. Instead, he is anxiously waiting for his conscription papers, as he is about to go into the army. That day finally comes, and Bill heads off to boot camp where he meets Percy (Caleb Landry Jones), becoming fast friends. Bill is reserved and kind of shy, where Percy is the exact opposite, loud, quick to temper and is confident with girls.

After boot camp, Percy and Bill end up assigned to a post in England where they have the job of training men to type so that they can become clerks. Bill and Percy’s lives are made miserable by the cast of characters that work at the camp. The regiment’s commanding officer (Richard E. Grant), is a career military man, strict as they come. The thorn in the boys side is Sgt. Major Bradley (David Thewlis); a “do everything by the books” man whose main goal in life is to make everyone follow the rules. If you don’t do what Bradley thinks is right, you go down in his books as an instigator, and Percy and Bill never follow the rules.

Photo courtesy of BBC North America

Bill’s life changes when he and Percy get leave, and they go into the town searching for girls to flirt with. While at a classical concert, Percy starts flirting from afar with two girls who seem interested. Bill ignores the girls because he is transfixed by a gorgeous woman (Tamsin Egerton) sitting in front of him. She is a woman who seems so out of his class and reach. Never getting up the nerve to talk to her, he lets her disappear into the crowd, with Bill thinking he will never see her again. Little does Bill know that not only will he see her again; she will change his world forever.

The film a sequel to John Boorman’s excellent five-time Academy Award film “Hope and Glory” (1987). That film followed the exploits of a nine-year-old boy and his crazy family during the London Blitz of WWII. That movie was funny, warm and as quirky as the family it depicted. Probably because that film was seen through the eyes of a young boy, and this film centers on a grown-up Bill in the Army, “Queen and Country” ends up dark and not nearly as much fun. A cloud seems to hang over the men in the regiment, and that cloud dampens the film, making the movie at times lifeless and devoid of charm. Rarely does any attempt at humor work, and there is a mean spiritless to some of the characters.

The film only works when Bill is on leave, spending time with his family at the home on the Thames. His father, Clive (David Hayman) is still scatterbrained and overly patriotic. His mother, Grace (Sinead Cusack) is a little worn down; mostly by the memories of an affair she had during WWII. Things liven up when Bill’s sister, Dawn (Vanessa Kelly) arrives. She is older, unhappily married, has two kids but never lets that get in the way of her lust for life. There is a wonderful scene where the family has gotten a TV to watch Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Bill gets stuck on the roof, turning the antenna, as his sister below him gives him instructions, relayed from his father inside the house.

Photo courtesy of BBC North America

I liked most of the supporting cast, especially Vanessa Kelly, who breathes life into every scene she is in as the rambunctious Dawn. David Hayman and Sinead Cusack, playing Bill’s parents are enjoyable to watch though I would have liked to have had more scenes with them. Tamsin Egerton, playing the ice queen that Bill is interested, dominates the scenes that she is in, with the camera loving the way that she looks and moves. The weakness of the film are the two leads; Cullum Turner as the earnest Bill and Caleb Landry Jones as the excitable, ever plotting Percy. Jones is too over the top, making his scenes where he freaks out almost unwatchable. Turner is so laid-back in his scenes; you never see why a girl would ever be interested in him. He has no chemistry with Turner and only seems to work well with Egerton, playing his sister or Vanessa Kirby, who plays a girl that Percy dates.

Writer / Director John Boorman’s script fails to bring any real excitement to the screen. The film rarely shows Boorman’s flair for finding the interesting and unusual shot that have marked his other films. It’s as almost the drab and dreary 50s dominated the film’s script, bringing not much life to this rather dull film. I only hope that John Boorman makes another film about his life, but set in the fast-moving and quick changing sixties. That’s a movie that I would like to see.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Queen and Country” Website

“Queen and Country” is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

"The Salt of the Earth" Movie Review

My review of the documentary "The Salt of the Earth"

"The Salt of the Earth"

Posted on Apr. 17, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics 

“The Salt of the Earth” (2014)

The co-director of the film, Wim Wenders, opens this documentary by talking about discovering a fascinating black-and-white photograph that he explores in great detail on camera. He doesn’t know much about the photographer but is blown away about the composition and the subject matter. The picture shows thousands of workers in an open-air mine. One man stands in the middle of the picture while surrounded by a mass of humanity. Some men are climbing down to the pits and others with heavy burlap bags, ascending rickety ladders, exhaustion painted on their faces. It’s an incredible photograph from an equally remarkable man, Brazilian photographer and activist Sebastian Salgado. Wenders decides to make a film on Salgado and his lifelong work to explore the world, photographing the people and places he encounters along the way.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Salgado was born in Brazil into a family of 9 living on a cattle ranch. He went to college, majoring in economics. He graduated, got married and started working as an economist. One day, his wife bought a camera, and Salgado’s life would never be the same. Finding out that he had a talent to take pictures, he decided to combine photography with his knowledge of economics and his leftist background. His mission was to document the world with the idea that if the pictures spoke strongly enough, they could cause the world to take notice and maybe even spur change. Because of this philosophy, Salgado has traveled to the far reaches of the world, witnessing the mix beauty and horror on the planet we live on. It wasn’t unusual for Salgado to spend years working on a project, and sometimes those projects took him into regions torn by war, disease and man’s inhumanity to man. This is what Salgado did best; being able to get every inch of humanity into his pictures and Wenders lets each picture unfold to its fullest, no matter how hard or ugly the subject matter.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

The film, at times, is breathtaking as Salgado’s pictures are displayed in all their black-and-white glory. But the film is also heartbreaking as Salgado made it his mission to try to shed light to some of the world’s worst areas. There are a number of shots of dead or dying people, most of which are in crowded relief camps. He also documented groups of refugees being forced to travel long distances by war or famine. To see the pictures of a father or mother carrying a dead child is just devastating. All the destruction and misery wore on Salgado, so much so that his latest project is meant to revive his lust for life, creating a photographic tribute to the beauty of the world. It’s this project that Wim Wenders and his co-director Juliano Salgado (the son of the subject); document Salgado shooting at the beginning and end of this film.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Wenders utilizes an unusual technique in the film, allowing Salgado to talk about his photos while looking directly into the camera as his pictures fade in and out on the screen. It’s an effective way to keep Salgado talking about his pictures without doing jarring cuts from his talking head to his photos. The film never gets boring or slows down, mostly due to the compelling story that Salgado tells, capitalizing on his ability to remember incredible details of every single picture. It shows how much Salgado cared about and how much time he spent with his subject matters. Wenders lets us explore the pictures as they slowly linger on the screen, all the time Salgado is talking about the story of the picture, so that we get a feeling of actually experiencing what he was thinking and feeling while he took the shot.

“The Salt of the Earth” is an amazing film, full of beautiful shots taken by an incredible man. It’s a film that will fill your thoughts for days after seeing this powerful film.     My Rating: Full Price

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“The Salt of the Earth” Website

For more of Mike’s reviews and interviews click here

“The Salt of the Earth” is playing exclusively at UA Tara Cinemas 4 Theatre

"Kill Me Three Times" Movie Review

My review of "Kill Me Three Times" starring Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Alice Braga.

"Kill Me Three Times"

Posted on Apr. 10, 2015 on CWAtlanta.cbslocal.com

Wayback Machine Archive Post

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

“Kill Me Three Times” (2104)

The film opens with a man desperately running down a road in the desert. He keeps looking back, hoping that the person or persons chasing him have given. He looks back once again, and this time a car appears on the horizon, coming towards him. He heads up a dune as the car approaches. A man wearing sunglasses gets out of the car, just as the man climbs over the dune. We get a closeup of the pursuer (Simon Pegg), a man who gets out of the truck a high-powered rifle. He slowly climbs the hill, sets his sight on the fleeing man below and shoots the man in two quick bursts. He looks down below at his handy work, only to realize that the man is still alive and is able to move behind a piece of construction equipment. This pisses off the hunter, and he heads down the hill. The hurt man is barely able to crawl, and the hunter shoots the man again, just as his phone rings. The hunter answers the phone, quickly puts it on silent, shoots the crawling man in the head and then takes the rest of the phone call.

And that’s how the comedic film noir movie “Kill Me Three Times” starts. The hunter in the opening scene is Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg), a professional hit man who is cool as ice and never gets caught. Charlie has gotten himself involved in the lives of a group of interconnected people in a small Australian town. The townspeople are all interconnected, most having affairs with each other, and all seem to be full of bad intent. Wolfe is hired by businessman Jack (Callan Murphy) to kill his wife (Alice Braga) after Wolfe confirms that she is cheating on him with a mechanic named Dylan (Luke Hemsworth). Complicating things are a dentist (Sullivan Stapleton), his ultra-controlling wife/receptionist (Teresa Palmer). Added to the mix is a crooked cop (Bryan Brown) who has his hand in every illegal action going on in the town.

In a creative bit of filmmaking, we are slowly exposed to each character’s story, seeing how everyone seems to be connected in town by either by trying to steal each other’s money or their spouses. It’s a big, complex con game that each character thinks has the winning hand but only a few will make their way out of the small town full of bad intentions and equally bad decisions.

The film is bolstered by an impressive cast led by Simon Pegg. Pegg, playing against his usual type, is a strong, forceful hit man that is cocksure and deliberate. Wearing sunglasses, a suit and driving around in a muscle car, it’s interesting that the film rarely uses Pegg’s flair for comic timing. Other cast members who stand out are Alice Braga, playing the unhappy but determined wife of Jack, who unlike most of the characters, seems to have at least a bit of a conscience. Teresa Palmer seems to have the most fun of the cast in her role of the wife of a weak-willed dentist Nathan. Of course, Brian Brown never disappoints, joyfully eating up the scenery as the cop that believes that everyone owes him a take of their ill-gotten gains.

The film is directed by Kriv Stenders, who directed the well-received 2007 Australian drama “Boxing Day.” “Kill Me Three Times” is taught in its quick and fast cuts by editor Jill Bilcock but is let down by Stenders direction and by a last-luster script from first-time screenwriter James McFarland. It’s a film that too quickly moves back and forth between hard drama and comedic moments that don’t always work. The movie never can find its tone, which is too bad because the premise is so darn good.

While the film starts very promising, it’s not as fun or inventive as it needs to be. The movie ends with too simple an ending, not as surprising as it should have been and never delivers the big outcome we would have liked. It’s an enjoyable ride with some excellent performances but ultimately, it’s a film that wants to be in the cinema vein of Tarantino or more recently Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” (2014) but never quite delivers the punch of those two filmmakers.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee 

My movie rating system from Best to Worst:  1). I Would Pay to See it Again  2). Full Price  3). Bargain Matinee  4). Cable  5). You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again

“Kill Me Three Times” is playing exclusively at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema'