12 Years a Slave (2013)

I've said a few times recently that a certain film is one of those good films that I never want to watch again.  Well, 12 Years a Slave takes the final prize for that crown.  No film this year will come close to matching the intensity, dread and emotion I felt.

It's kind of ironic that the film begins with a phrase I usually dislike, "based on a true story".  When I see that, I expect some wildly embellished story that only vaguely resembles the actual one.  Here you can't shake the feeling that this is pretty much exactly what happened.

This is based on the experience of Solomon Northup in his published book, Twelve Years a Slave.  Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free-born man living in Saratoga, NY, was a respected violin player.  After his wife and kids take a job out of town for a few weeks, he's approached by a duo that offers him a job playing for a circus.  After they arrive in Washington, D.C., Northup awakens after a night a drinking to find himself chained and sold into slavery.  With no way to prove he was a free man, he's advised by others to keep his mouth shut, do as he's told, and not even let on that he's educated.  He's forced to adopt the name of Platt as he's transported down south.

I never realized that it wasn't uncommon for a free man to be kidnapped and sold back into slavery.  It's absolutely crazy to me, but in those times without papers or someone to vouch for you, there wasn't much one could do once in that situation.

He's first sold to William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), who realizes Northrop's skills and treats him fairly well all things considering.  However, he butts heads with one of Ford's underlings, John Tibeats (Paul Dano).  After one particular encounter, Northrop suffers in one of many scenes that's truly difficult to watch.

Northrop is eventually sold to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a slaver known for his ability to break slaves.  Epps along with his wife, Mary (Sarah Paulson), are the living embodiment of evil.  Epps has his eyes on Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o), a slave that consistently picks the most cotton, but his affection towards her doesn't go unnoticed by Mary.

Finally, Northrop befriends Bass (Brad Pitt), a Canadian carpenter working for Epps.  At great risk, Bass is able to contact Northrop's family and they are finally able to get a lawman down to the plantation to prove who Northrop really is.  I debated telling that part as a spoiler, but considering Northrop wouldn't have been able to write his account if he wasn't free again, you already know from the beginning what the eventual outcome is going to be.  Trust me, it won't affect your feelings during the film either way.

12 Years a Slave focuses much of Northrop's experience on Epps plantation, as this is when you truly see the ugliness of slavery and their condition.  The Epps' cruelty seemed to know no bounds.  Already a drunk, Epps is a twisted person, but he's equally matched by Mary, who takes almost any opportunity to turn her wrath towards Patsey.  You'll be shocked and appalled at that brutality of their treatment.  There are several very graphic scenes that make The Passion of the Christ look tame.  These moments are painful and agonizing to get through.  I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the most physically uncomfortable I've ever been watching a film.  You'll likely hear many people around you crying, and I defy anyone to not have a dry eye by the end of the film.  It's conclusion is absolutely heart breaking.

This is a rated-R film and not something I recommend for the faint of heart.  I was surprised to see many families with small children with them.  It's an important film though, so if you have an older kid that you think that'll be able to handle the images, then you will want to consider taking them.

It's a good thing they got recognizable actors that you normally like to play these roles, or otherwise you'd hate them for real.  I sometimes feel for actors that take on roles where they are forced to be so horrible, say the n-word and have to mean it.  It must be very uncomfortable to them at first, but kudos goes to the whole cast for their performances.  Paul Dano once again manages to play a creepy weirdo that you just want to see get the tar beaten out of him, and love it when it does.  Paul Giamatti and Benedict Cumberbatch are are great as they always are.  Alfre Woodard stands out in her lone scene.  Fassbender and Paulson are also fantastic.  Like I said earlier, they personify evil with their performances.  I get this feeling that Fassbender is going to one of those actors that's always great, but slightly overshadowed by another performance in the same film.  He's gonna deserve some hardware at some point for all these great performances.  Another standout performance belongs to Lupita Nyong'o.  Just her first major role, she shows that she's another actress to look out for in the future.  However, this is all about Chiwetel Ejiofor.  I've been a fan of his for a while, but this is finally the role that I think is going to put him up at the top of short list.  Every scene he's in captures your full attention.  There's one particular scene towards the end where he's just looking around, thinking, and it's so powerful.  It is truly a commanding performance.

I think you're going to see many, many Oscar nominations across the board for this film.  The screenplay by John Ridley is note-perfect.  There's no throwaway dialog here.  After just three films, Steve McQueen has proven to be a brilliant director, and this is his masterpiece.  Every shot in the film seems to say something.  He's gonna have hard time topping this, but I can't wait to see what he does next.  Even the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is haunting, and I was surprised to see that Zimmer did the music, as it didn't feel like one of his typical scores.  It felt more like the score from a horror film, which this is in a way.

Because of what 12 Years a Slave is about, I hesitated initially to call it great.  It feels wrong to call a film about slavery great, but that's what it is.  Brutal, emotional and powerful, it's a film that's going to stick with you long after viewing.  12 Years a Slave is a flawless film that's masterfully acted, written and directed and completely unforgettable.  I give it my highest recommendation.

5 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Counselor (2013)

When discussing The Counselor with various friends over the weekend, I definitely got the feeling that this is one of those times where you're either going to "get it" or not.  I fell somewhere in the middle, which kind of shits on my own point.  There were many aspects I liked and appreciated, and then at other times I was scratching my head.  It's interesting to note that I saw a couple walk out after about 20 minutes, which to be fair, doesn't seem like you're giving it much of a chance.  If you asked that couple what The Counselor was about, they wouldn't have been able to tell you much of anything.

Therein lies the issue I think many are going to have with The Counselor.  What's it about?  What was it trying to say?  I've often complained about films that spoon feed the plot or hold your hand through every little detail.  I like a little ambiguity and having to figure things out on my own.  The Counselor might have a little too much ambiguity for its own good.

Michael Fassbender plays the titular "Counselor". In fact, taking a page from Layer Cake (a favorite film of mine), I don't think he's ever referenced by an actual name.  After one of many lengthy conversations with his friend Reiner (Javier Bardem), the Counselor decides to get involved in a large cocaine deal.  The deal goes wrong, the Mexican cartels blame him, and now he and just about everyone he knows is in danger.

Throwing a wrench into all of this is Reiner's girlfriend, Malkina (Cameron Diaz), who appears to be behind the deal going wrong.  I was never quite sure of her motivation unless she secretly hated everyone she knew and wished them harm.  She also had a cheetah fetish, which I didn't know if was some metaphor I didn't get, or just a random character trait given to her.  Depending on your perspective, there's sexy/bizarre scene where she has sex with a car.  Even the Reiner acknowledges the randomness of it when he recounts the story to the Counselor.

Lack of motivation is something I struggled with through much of The Counselor.  Why was a particular scene in the film?  Why are these people doing these things?  There are scenes that are almost entirely in Spanish, but not subtitled.  Was knowing Spanish a requirement?  If it wasn't a requirement that you understood what was being said, then what was the point?  When the Counselor and Westray (Brad Pitt) meet, they order a Heineken.  Don't they have better taste in beer?  Okay, that last point's probably a nitpick.  As I mentioned before, I don't mind having to figure things out on my own, but it started to become a chore after a while, and I found myself not caring about what was going on as a result.  Even when things were explained, I didn't find it to be very satisfying.  It was also devoid of any kind of drama or tension.

Another element I had an issue with was the dialog.  While there are a few great conversations, there were others that had me going, "Huh?  What in the hell are you talking about?"  There's some very philosophical and symbolic dialog that was a little laborious to listen to. Who talks like this?  If this had been directed at me, I would have asked why they can't just speak directly and get to the point.  Apparently this was Cormac McCarthy's (No Country for Old Men, The Road) first screenplay, and I think he might have tried a little too hard to be smart and heady.

If you're worried that I'm spoiling details, I don't think you'll find that to be an issue.  The Counselor does a lot of foreshadowing, and certain moments were very predictable.  The irony is that some of the most predictable scenes were the ones I enjoyed the most.  There are some very inventive deaths that rival many horror films.

Perhaps I had my hopes set too high when I saw that Ridley Scott was directing.  This was one of my more highly anticipated films of the year and I can't help but feel disappointed.  It's not all bad though.  The film has a very slick look and is very well acted.  Bardem is always interesting in everything he's in, and there were moments where I thought Fassbender was doing his finest work.  Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz aren't in it very much, but Pitt seemed to be having the most fun of the bunch.  If there was any weak performance, I thought it was with Cameron Diaz.  Her attempt at a cold, sexy demeanor came off as kind of flat and lifeless.  It's just not enough that I really like the cast, I have to care about characters and story.

The Counselor is the very definition of a mixed bag.  For every thing I liked about it, there was another thing I disliked.  This is one of those films that's going to divide audiences and likely spark some debate, which isn't a bad thing.  Having said that, if you're interested in seeing The Counselor, I'd recommend you rent it in the event you're in the dislike group.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Prometheus (2012) - Movie Review

When are humans going to learn that if you're going to explore outer space, then you should bring an army along just in case?

I was talking to a friend the other day when he questioned what all the hype was about Prometheus, and I said, "It's return of Ridley Scott to the Alien franchise and it has a sick cast.  What's not to like!"  After seeing Prometheus, I'm afraid my friend was right about the hype.  It's not that Prometheus is a bad movie, but I think it's an example of what happens when everyone's expectations are set too high.

While I'm going to try to stay away from spoilers, I am going to start this one off on a bit of a rant.  The problem is this: nearly the entire story, including the climax, is spoiled in the trailers.  This has to stop!  You can watch the 2-3 minute trailers online and you've pretty much seen the entire plot of Prometheus.  Granted, lots of movies do this, but so much of this movie is telegraphed by the trailer that there's little suspense to anything that happens.

The setup for Prometheus starts with two scientists, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), who find an old cave painting that has a set of markings that matches the same set found in paintings from many unrelated civilizations.  They determine these markings are a star cluster, which they analyze and find that there is a planet they suspect that can support life.

Weyland Industries funds an expedition to the planet to see what they find and maybe get some answers to the origins of life on Earth.  While in transit, you're introduced to David (Michael Fassbender), an android, which is clear by the very fact that he's not in cryo-sleep like everyone else.  Plus, they introduce him to the crew as an android the first chance they get.  This felt odd to me as in Alien the reveal of the android was a surprise to the crew.  David is easily the most interesting character in the movie and Fassbender does a great job with the role.  From the very beginning, you're already curious about what's going on in that computer brain of his.

They arrive at the planet and find ancient buildings and remains that are thousands of years old.  Something bad happened there, but they don't know what yet.  Just as they start to explore, another pet peeve of mine happens.  Why is it always the role of the 'egghead'-scientist character to not want weapons on the mission?  As a smart person, don't you understand that when going into an unknown, it's probably not a bad idea to be prepared for all contingencies?  Of course, they don't take weapons and then later there's always a need for them.  It bugged me a little more this time around, because you don't know what you're going to run into on an alien world.

There's a whole lot of 'what is that?' and 'who are they?' in the movie.  One of the strengths of Prometheus is that this did feel like a true sci-fi film.  The setup and early part of the movie really had me.  When they talk about the Engineers (the famous Space Jockey from the first Alien) and life on Earth, you're genuinely interested in seeing how it all plays out.  What are they going to discover?

However, once the more action/horror elements start, I started to lose interest, as those earlier sci-fi aspects of the film fell by the wayside.  That's the main problem.  Prometheus sets up all these questions and then doesn't answer very many of them.  I left Prometheus still knowing very little about the back story of this universe.  They do setup a sequel, and I actually hope it gets made because maybe that will answer many of the questions left unanswered.

The ironic thing is that there was a line in the movie about being disappointed when meeting your creator and finding out 'why'.  That's how I think a lot are going to feel about this movie: disappointed.

Prometheus does have a great cast, but the characters aren't developed very well and it seems like a waste, as their talents are underused.  For the second straight week, Charlize Theron stars as a bad guy, but this time around it's more of a muted performance where there is doubt about what her true motivations are.  This could have been a more interesting character, but they didn't develop her.  Tom Hardy-lookalike, Logan Marshall-Green, plays his character with a unusually abrasive attitude, especially towards Fassbender's David.  It's never a good idea to be needlessly mean to the outwardly nice, but morally ambiguous android, right?  That won't turn out bad for him at all.

The story focuses on Noomi Rapace's Shaw and I thought she did a good job.  While the comparisons to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley are natural, she doesn't demonstrate the same strength or toughness as Ripley.  Shaw is a scientist, where Ripley seems like a natural leader from the very beginning.  Idris Elba seemed like the only character that had any real personality, but he's not in it that much or given much to do.  I didn't even realize Guy Pearce was in this, as they put him some really awful old man makeup.  I don't understand why they did this, rather than just cast an older actor.  I like Pearce, but he didn't bring anything to the role that made you think only he could have played it.  Fassbender comes out if this looking the best.

The script by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof doesn't develop the story elements it sets up or gives you enough to care about the characters or make them all that interesting.  If you're a Lost fan, as I am, the disappointing payoff may not be a surprise to you considering Lindelof's involvement.  There were just too many thing in the story that didn't add up to me.

I'm glad Ridley Scott is back to the Alien universe he introduced us to back in the 70's.  He really did get the sci-fi aspects down and the movie's visual style is fantastic.  It is a gorgeous movie to look at.  The visuals alone are almost worth the price of admission.  I did see it in IMAX, which helped, but I didn't think the 3D did much for it.

There's been a lot of discussion about whether or not this is an Alien prequel or just set in the same universe.  It's definitely not a direct prequel to Alien.  I'd call it Alien's uncle.  I think it's better to go into this as a standalone film.  I tried to do that, but still felt it lacking.  However, there's a tacked on ending that kind of undercuts their assertion that this isn't another Alien film.

In the end, Prometheus has a lot of interesting ideas that aren't fully realized.  It's a visually stunning movie and has a few interesting performances, especially from Michael Fassbender, but it ultimately left me disappointed and a little cold.  Maybe on a second viewing once it hits Blu-Ray I might get more out of it.  If you're dying to see this, do a matinee and skip the 3D.  Otherwise, it's a rental.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars