Adam

Adam

Have you ever heard of Asperger's Syndrome? Do you know what it is?

For a long time when people have heard the word Autism, or Asperger's Syndrome, it is almost treated like cancer. People think that they are capable of functioning, or even having the basic relationship. The story of Adam cancels out all those factors, and shows that people with Asperger's Syndrome struggle, but are just more open with the child inside.

Starring Hugh Dancy (Confessions of a Shopaholic) as Adam and Rose Bryne (Crazy stalker girl in Wicker Park) as his next-door neighbor and lover named Beth, this movie takes you into their relationship and the ups and downs of it. Adam has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and people with it therefore show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with stereotypies and other restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. So people with it in fewer words are too smart for themselves. In this case, Adam knows everything there is to know about telescopes and the technology behind it, and about the universe. Beth, his neighbor is a schoolteacher who is aspiring to be a children’s book writer. They start dating and her father disapproves. Her father is a lawyer, and wants her to marry someone who is successful and has lots of money, and Adam at the current moment is far from that. Beth’s Dad faces criminal charges for illegal business that he did, and when Beth needs comfort the most, Adam isn’t there to give it to her. He gets a great job in California, and is asked to leave Manhattan, and wants Beth to come with him. Does Beth leave with him and marry him? Or does she stay and end the relationship?

This movie was very touching for me. Personally, I know people with Asperger's Syndrome, and I can only imagine how hard it is for them in this world. There were many ups and downs throughout this film. There were times where you wanted to bury your head in your hands because you just wish Adam would say the right thing or would know what to do. There were also times when Adam and Beth’s relationship was going just right and you were very happy about it. Then there were times where there was difficulty in communication and it made it hard to watch Adam express his feelings.

All in all I liked this movie. There was no language in the movie until one scene where Adam and Beth fight, and some swearing is involved. Other than that, this movie is as clean as a whistle. I recommend seeing this movie because it can teach us a lot about people with Asperger's Syndrome, and it gives us a good reality check.

District 9

District 9

It’s not at all what you expect. The trailers are misleading, and it’s a very good thing.

This has to be one of the most original movies about aliens I have seen in a long long time. Let me retract that statement, this is the most original movie about aliens ever! This movie has a lot of hype to it, and it might live up to all of it, but it for sure has the best special effects of any movie this summer. Some parts of the movie were slow, and kept you thinking, “I thought there would be more violence”

Directed by Neill Blomkamp and presented by Peter Jackson (LOTR, King Kong) this movie talks about the life of aliens, or prawns as they are called in the movie, living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them. Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens' welfare - they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens' awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA. The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable - he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

This movie was brilliant in many ways, but it was not perfect. In a way, it almost felt like I was watching a movie about the video game called Halo. The beginning was very funny, dry humor that you would find in most British comedies. Then it went to more serious, to scary, to very sad. It wasn’t an emotional roller coaster, but the mood changed throughout the film. Main character Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley was amazing. Pretty new to the big screen, Copley impressed me very much that I wish he were a million times more famous. It’s hard to explain why he was such a good actor, but the main thing that got me was that you feel in love with him, and there was so much emotion and love in his character. It felt very real watching him.

I would recommend seeing this movie for many reasons. 1. It is hands down the best movie out in theatres currently. 2. It has amazing special and visual effects. 3. It’s not your typical cheesy starship troopers alien type movie. 3. It doesn’t have any of the Wayne’s brothers in it. It was a very funny, sad, and intense movie with good alien gore in it. Not a good date movie, not to romantic at all.

The movie is rated R for violence, and a couple dozen F-words. All of it was in South African accents, so some of it wasn’t understood very clearly, but there was lots of swearing. Not so much that I wanted to walk out or that it ruined the movie for me, but enough for me to step back and say “wow, they didn’t need all those F-bombs in there” Other than the violence and language, the movie is pretty clean and safe.

Funny People

Funny People

What happens when a funny person faces a life threatening illness, his funny friends try to support him and somehow in the end he defies the odds and miraculously heals?

What you have of course is the latest by funny man director/writer/producer/sometimes actor Judd Apatow. For those familiar with 2007’s Knocked Up the recipe remains basically the same, namely three parts comedy, two parts drama, and to finish it off a nice crass comedy shell. No the film doesn’t really leave much to the imagination, no surprise punches here. It’s not shocking that much of the comedy revolves around bodily functions and male genitalia. Seth Rogan is his usual funny but less over-weight of late struggling comic character that serves as the moral glue between the characters floating around in this dilemma.

However what is different about the film is the role played by Adam Sandler which is not his typical comedic shtick(basically every movie he’s ever done with the exception of Punch Drunk Love). Though he plays a fictitious movie superstar and comedian he shows a dark side to offset his comic characteristics. Sandler also provides viewers with an interesting look into the life of a Hollywood star on the brink of death with little to show for all his talent. Another of the uncharacteristic and refreshing characters Apatow provides is that of Jason Schwartzman as the self obsessed douche bag of a roommate to Seth Rogan. Another pleasing role reversal from what we’ve seen from Schwartzman in the past.

Despite the familiarity with the plot Funny People still has its charms. Judd Apatow gives the audience a view from backstage into the life of comedians both large and small. Funny People proves that sometimes people never really change but is that all so bad?

Whatever Works

Whatever Works!

I just recently saw Whatever Works! The new film written and directed by Woody Allen. It’s your typical Woody Allen movie where the main character might as well be Woody Allen himself and the character he plays in every movie. But that is the charm that comes with Woody Allen.

I am a big big Woody Allen fan, and I have to say this is my least favorite out of all the Woody Allen movies I have seen. Typically his rants about atheistism and religion, and his negative view on society doesn’t really bother me. I find it rather humorous, like in love in death, but this one had a different twist to it.

No doubt the movie was funny. I found myself laughing very loud during some scenes, like when Larry David would be going off on random tangents of why he is a genius and how he feels bad for everyone else who isn’t. The plot itself was very funny. The plot is that Larry David, a man who had it all, was bent on ending his life. He was a teacher at Columbia, and had money. He tried to commit suicide but failed, and ended up divorced, with a limp living in the Bronx. To make money he teaches children how to play chess, and more than likely ends up loosing his cool and calling the children idiots.

One night while walking home, a homeless girl played by Evan Rachel Wood approaches him and asks him for some food and a place to stay. She is from the deep south of Mississippi, and is 18, and ran away from home to spite her mother.

Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) decides to let her stay till she can find a job and save some money. Her name is Melodie St. Ann Celestine, and slowly becomes a Boris herself. She adopts all of his random rants and pessimistic views of the world. She realizes that he is the only one for her, and they get married. Their age difference is huge, but it works out. You never see them kiss or anything. It’s a marriage to just keep each other company.

Then Melodie’s mother comes racing into town beaming with joy because she finally found her daughter. The mother is played by Patricia Clarkson (Lars and the Real Girl, Station Agent) and is the most southern Baptist a woman can get. She is appalled to find out her daughter married an old man and is bent on ruining their marriage. She asks them if she can stay because of her marriage that recently feel in shambles. Her husband lost everything and ran away with her best friend. While in New York, her life changes dramatically, ends up being in a 3-way relationship, and tries to find men for her daughter to hook up with.

Then the Dad finally comes into town, praising Jesus that he finally found his wife and daughter and wants everyone to move back home and be together. He finds out his wife is living with two other men, is an artist, and that his daughter is married to an old man who claims he is a genius. He goes out drinking and tries to find himself, which he does.

At the end everything comes crashing down, and people take the route that makes them the happiest. It’s an interesting ending, considering that everyone is happy in the end.

All in all, it was a good film, but one I wouldn’t buy or own, and one I wouldn’t tell people they have to see. It has its entertaining moments, good messages, mixed messages, and your typical Woody Allen whit.

(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer

Day one, boy meets girl.
Day two, boy obsesses over girl.
Day three through day 500, boys repeats process of day two with occasional moments of bliss lifting him above the clouds of heartbreak only to come back down to his meager and lowly existence. That is the movie in a nutshell, but I suppose I could shed more light on it. However let me begin by telling you what this movie isn’t. It isn’t Serendipity, Message in a Bottle, or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants(that was a love story wasn’t it?). It wasn’t Maid in Manhattan, Failure to Lunch, or The Notebook either. Basically it wasn’t your typical boy meets girl/over the top/prove my love to/win the girl at any cost/Hollywood love saga.

Instead (500) Days of Summer was a true to life clever approach to the real side of love. The pain, the frustration, and the agony we in the real world, not Hollywood, have come to know all too well. Namely what it’s like to fall for someone that doesn’t ever fall quite as hard or fast for you. Playing the part of the desperate to impress boy was Joseph Gordon-Levitt(remember 3rd Rock from the Sun? Well he’s grown up a bit since then) and playing the object of his obsession was the charming Zooey Deschanel(Elf). The two meet at work when Miss Deschanel is hired as the assistant to Mr. Gordon-Levitt’s Boss. Slowly the two get to know each other, and with each passing day Gordon-Levitt becomes more smitten by Deschanel. The short of it is that the two gradually work their way into a non-working relationship that the boy only wants to strengthen and validate and the girl only desires to casually continue without serious talk or labels. Miss Deschanel manages to string him on through out the course of the movie in what is one point ironical referred to by the narrator as “not a love story” at least not for the two.

What impressed me about the film was that it didn’t subscribe to a more conventional methodology, it wasn’t predictable nor cliche, it included a great scene shot at IKEA(I don’t want to spoil anything but it may or may not have involved meatballs), and it even included a impromptu musical scene that could rival a Broadway production. (500) Days of Summer knows when to pull the punches and when to draw the laughs. I don’t think I’ve seen a romantic comedy so refreshing and honest since High Fidelity. Oh l’amour, c’est fantastique or c’est la vie.

I saw Inglourious Basterds before you, Achtung Basterds?

What audiences have come to know and love of Quentin Tarantino can be expected in his most recent opus, Inglourious Basterds.  His latest release since 2007’s Deathproof,  deals with a group of Jewish Allied Soldiers engaged in a no holds bars all out terror campaign against the Nazi regime in German occupied France.  The Basterds cruelty is aimed to cause a panic that will reverberate all the way back to Berlin.  However what audiences don’t know is what it will be like to have Tarantino turn back the clock almost 70 years doing his first film that isn’t set in modern times or North America.    

 

True to Tarantino’s artistic storytelling style, he weaves the film chapter by chapter, presenting five in all.  Each chapter is filled with cleverly written dialogue, showcasing actors transitioning from German to French to English as the scenes require.  Quentin’s ability to find actors that could seamlessly move from language to language is perhaps most astonishing.  In particular, it’s the performance of Chritoph Waltz(an unknown to English speaking viewers that is unless you fancy yourself a German Cinema aficionado) that steals the show.  Mr. Waltz is the "Jew hunter" the clever and multilingual colonel that works his way throughout most the movie, just as despicable as he is debonair. 

 

On the other hand the performances of the "basterds" were great as well.  Brad Pitt as their leader is likable and ruthless Tennessee country boy turned Nazi killer(imagine Benjamin Button staying 30 for the whole movie and scalping Nazi’s and voila you have Lt. Aldo Ray).  Fellow Basterd, Eli Roth, known to the Germans as the "Bear Jew", plays what could be best described as a Brooklyn street Jew with something of a fetish for employing baseball bats for more than baseballs. The Basterds roll through France, living up to the name the Nazi's have endowed upon them.  

 

Perhaps my only problem with the movie is that it didn't show enough of the basterds.  We don't ever see why they were selected and are only teased with small doses of the mayhem they cause to Hitler’s forces.  Also we don’t have any great battle scenes, shots of troops storming the beaches, or american prisoners jumping motorcycles over barbed wire fences(Steve McQueen!).  The movie lacks the action often shown in classic WWII movies.  As can be expected Mr. Tarantino host numerous quality actors playing small roles like a master chef using only a dash of his best spices to bring out a delizioso taste.  One might speculate that Kill Bill One and Two was enough and dividing up the load into two films would be the case for the Basterds.  However what Inglourious Basterds lacks in action and character development it makes up for in a history altering story-line that only Quentin could conjure.