Review: Frozen (2013)

                                 

                   
                                        'Frozen' Definitely Didn't Make Me Feel Left Out In The Cold   
                   I feel like recently I have moved on from animated films because I tend to feel I've outgrown them. But here comes an animated film that not only features a blend of the old-school storytelling and newer contemporary animation, but has helped rejuvenated my love for the type of films that I have enjoyed back in my childhood.

                    Story:
                    Frozen follows the story of two sisters: free-spirited Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) who has the ability to conjure up snow. After Elsa is crowned queen in her kingdom, her powers are then revealed and once she leaves her kingdom in eternal winter, she is exiled from it. Anna then goes on the search for her with the help of an iceman named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and a snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad).

                    What I Liked About It:
                  One thing that I absolutely loved was how the film offers a blend of both old-fashioned storytelling with newer animation. It doesn't have the old look of the older Disney classics, but it definitely has a similar feel, as the main characters are princesses and there are happy catchy musical numbers. One thing I actually thought was pretty funny was when Anna is being scolded for being engaged to a prince she just met that day. It's not like any other Disney princess has ever done that, right? LOL. Anyways, I liked that part. Another thing I liked that was actually quite surprising was how the film focuses mainly on the sisters and their relationship and not a romance. Plus, even though the film does deal with an "act of true love" to break the curse and all that, not to spoil the movie, but it isn't the one you're probably thinking of and I also really liked that and thought it fits the theme of the movie.

                 I also thought the voice performances were fabulous. Kristen Bell was brilliant as Anna, the sister who is more free-spirited and feisty yet naive. She carries both comedic and dramatic weight to her performance. Josh Gad was a scene stealer as the more optimistic snowman Olaf and Jonathan Groff was also fantastic as Kristoff as he really makes you want his character on your side. I also thought Groff's musical number "Reindeers Are Better Than People" was pretty neat. Honestly, "Reindeers" is my second favorite musical number behind "Let It Go", which I will get to next. Holy crap, did Idina Menzel nail "Let It Go" or what? Not only was Menzel very good with her voice performance, but she really captures the feeling of her character's transition as she emotes this wonderful song. Thank you, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for creating such magical songs for the soundtrack and you guys definitely deserved the Oscar for "Let It Go".

                What I Didn't Like About It:
               Nothing.

                Consensus:
               Overall, Frozen is a fantastic treat for the whole family that I would say shouldn't be given the "cold shoulder". It has brilliant animation, catchy musical numbers, a powerful message: Anything you can ask from a Disney animated film that is destined to be a classic.

Grade: A


           

Top 10 Actors Who Successfully Transitioned from TV to Film

We tend to see a good amount of actors who start out on television either trying to make their way to film and do it with ease or find a career mostly in television. Here are the actors that have made the successful transition from TV to film.

10. Bryan Cranston: Cranston may have just finished Breaking Bad and may also be known for his work on Malcolm in the Middle, but by his recent success in film, it seems he might join the list of actors who were able to make this transition. He recently starred in the Best Picture winner Argo, as well as the box office smashes Godzilla and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. So I feel that the odds are he'll do quite well on the big screen in the coming years.

9. Sally Field: Audiences "really liked" this actress on shows like The Flying Nun and Gidget, and she even scored an Emmy for her work on Sybil. But she definitely had quite a run on the big screen as she is a 2-time Oscar winner for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Plus, she also has Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, the Homeward Bound movies, and Steel Magnolias. So, she has become quite a staple on both the big and the small screen. 

8. Woody Harrelson: Before he became known to modern audiences for his work on films like The Hunger Games movies and Kingpin, and even his work on the HBO show True Detective, he got his breakthrough as the bartender Woody on TV's Cheers. Once that show ended, he made the impressive jump to film and made quite a varied resume in the process. He has his Oscar-nominated turns in The People vs. Larry Flynt and The Messenger, Zombieland, Natural Born Killers, White Men Can't Jump, and the list goes on.

7. Jim Carrey: Jim Carrey got his start on the famed sketch comedy series In Living Color. But once that show came to a close, Carrey brought his special brand of humor to the big screen and in the 90's, audiences just couldn't get enough of him. So much so, that he became a big star and would join the $20 million dollar club amongst others who command around that much per film.

6. Jennifer Aniston: Aniston may be best known for her role as Rachel Green in Friends, but nowadays, it looks like that audiences "will be there" for Aniston as she has had quite a run at the box office. Rom-coms may be known to be her bread and butter, but she has been able to mix it up with the wildly successful raunchy comedy Horrible Bosses as well as We're the Millers. Not only that, but along with Sandra Bullock, she has proven that women over 40 can still generate money-making hits.

5. Robin Williams: Williams may have made it back to television with The Crazy Ones recently, but his film career is definitely something to behold. He has Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, Jumanji, Good Morning, Vietnam, and even his more serious turns that include his Oscar-winning work in Good Will Hunting. Plus, he has his famous work on the show Mork & Mindy, which he starred in before he made his successful breakthrough into film.

4. Will Smith: Just like Robin Williams, Will Smith first made a name for himself as a famous TV character, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Once that show ended, he then made a "small" film simply known as Independence Day, which catapulted him to stardom and eventually led to his films having $6.63 billion in worldwide box office receipts. Plus, he has his music career to demonstrate his versatility as a performer.

3. Johnny Depp: Before he became known as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates films and known for his partnership with Tim Burton, he originally became known for his work on the show 21 Jump Street as well as his film debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street before that. But after Jump Street ended, Hollywood began to take notice of his range as a performer once he played a bad boy in Cry Baby then the more lonesome Edward Scissorhands. Depp continued to show his impressive range in more films that followed and things really took off from there.

2. George Clooney: George Clooney first came to prominence as a suave doctor on ER and on the show The Facts of Life. He may have made Batman & Robin over the course of his time on ER, but the failure of that film didn't discourage him as he would not only go on to become one of Hollywood's more treasured movie stars but one of its most successful producers. Plus, he even managed to hit the director's chair and form collaborations with other directors among the likes of Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers.

1. Tom Hanks: Once, he started out on the short-lived show Bosom Buddies. That was before Ron Howard came calling and gave him the lead role in Splash. That hit led to a string of light-hearted comedies before he began to change it up with his consecutive Oscar-winning turns in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, which led to him becoming a more serious actor. Plus, like George Clooney, he has had quite a bit of success as a Hollywood producer as well as a genuine movie star. 

Here are a few honorable mentions that also shared quite a successful transition from the small to big screen:

Bradley Cooper

Will Ferrell
Morgan Freeman

Jennifer Garner

Helen Hunt

Jennifer Lawrence

Eddie Murphy

Bill Murray

John Travolta

Bruce Willis

So, that was my list of the Top 10 Actors Who Successfully Transitioned From TV to Film. If you agree or disagree or thought I was missing anyone from the list, please share your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Review: Transcendence (2014)

                            A Highly Inventive Film That 'Transcends' Itself Very Well Into The Sci-Fi Genre
                   
                 While I was watching this film, I was saying to myself how the point of thoughtful sci-fi is to make viewers think. When watching a film like this, we are meant to ask questions about the ethics of the procedure at hand and Transcendence does that very successfully.

                                                 
                  Story:
               Transcendence follows a scientist named Will Caster (Johnny Depp) who along with his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) look to enact technological singularity and call it Transcendence. However, Will is shot with a poisoned bullet by a member of a radical extremist group known as R.I.F.T.. Evelyn then looks to upload Will's consciousness onto a computer and eventually his mind grows stronger and stronger. But the question is whether or not this sentient mind is Will and whether or not this procedure is morally correct.

              What I Liked About It:
              Since I mentioned how there are questions asked in the "Story" section, I liked how there are questions being asked as you are watching the film. The point of thoughtful sci-fi, like this film or Splice or even though I haven't seen it, Jurassic Park, is to ask whether or not the procedure at hand is ethical. Since the film's sentient computer is able to heal and solve whatever problems in the world there are, we are left wondering "Even though this has upsides, what are the downsides?". I also really liked how the film gives us the points of view of the different characters. We not only see the side of Will and Evelyn, but their best friend Max (Paul Bettany), who is caught in the middle, as well as the extremist group, and I loved that.

             I also thought the acting was pretty good. Johnny Depp plays a character completely different from his usual "Tim Burton" or "Jack Sparrow" routine and honestly that is quite a relief. I always enjoy seeing him play those types of characters, but it is just nice to see him do something new and demonstrate his impressive range as an actor. Rebecca Hall is also amazing and gives the most "transcendent" performance in the film, as she goes from a woman desperately trying to save her husband to aid of a sentient computer to slowly going "What have I done?". Another actress I want to acknowledge is Kate Mara was a scene stealer as Bree, the leader of R.I.F.T. and honestly was a bit chilling at times. All the other actors, including Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, and Cillian Murphy, were all very good as well.

            What I Didn't Like About It:
           If there is one thing I didn't like, through no fault of the film itself, it is that this film got mixed to poor reviews. I mean, the fact that it got poor reviews doesn't necessarily piss me off. What pisses me off is a film like this gets poor reviews while utter crap like Thor: The Dark World and incohesive films like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 get slightly better or much better reviews. Here, we have a sci-fi film that actually has a cohesive plot and that doesn't rely on too much effects and has the characters wondering whether what is taking place is right or not as the film progresses. But it seems people and critics would rather stuff their faces with cinematic junk food that has enough action to give viewers diabetes. In other words, a ton of action and little room for character development as well as cohesive storytelling.

            Consensus:
           Overall, Transcendence is a thought-provoking piece of sci-fi that features inventive storytelling and great performances from the cast. If you do like thought-provoking sci-fi and don't just want action thrown at your face, I would put this high on your watch list. If you are looking for just action, I would put this a little lower on your watch list. It does have action, but it is based more on its plot.

Rating: A

Anatomy Of A Performance: Viola Davis in Doubt (2008)

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Anatomy Of A Performance. For today's episode, I figured I'd dissect a performance that proves just how you can leave such a mark with such little screentime. That performance is by Viola Davis for her Oscar-nominated turn as Mrs. Miller in Doubt.

        In the beginning of the clip, if you notice Mrs. Miller's facial movements and how her head is down, you can catch a sense of worry, but as the scene progresses, you begin to understand why. As the scene does progress, Sister Aloysius, played by Meryl Streep, starts digging at her about the sex abuse allegation against her son, she becomes more hesitant to talk about it. But at around 2:13, her mood switches to slightly agitated, signaling how she doesn't want to get involved in this whole thing, nor her son. Aloysius continues and Mrs. Miller keeps steeping away, but then comes to a halt at about 4:10, where she just begins to pour out her heart to the camera. As the tears flow from her eyes, there is a sense of desperation. Mrs. Miller begins to look frantic as she is trying to explain her side of the story. Since this film is set in the 60's, if you are familiar with those times, you can actually sympathize with Mrs. Miller and why she is trying to put her son through school in spite of the allegations he is involved in. The boy had three strikes against him: He was a black homosexual living in the 60's and at the time, homosexuality and race relations weren't considered fashionable. Plus, as stated in the clip, the boy has an abusive father. So, even though she is explaining her reasoning, Viola Davis still tells us what is going through her character's mind while still letting her eyes and facial expressions do the talking. Normally, we see performances where the actor actually speaks out their emotions yet we also see performances where actors show us what their characters are going through without having to actually say anything at all. But, here we have an actress that pulls off a performance that is able to mesh the two together and not just hold her own against acting goliath Meryl Streep.


So, that was my analysis of Viola Davis' short-but-brief performance in Doubt. I will potentially do my next Anatomy episode tomorrow. But until I do my next episode, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this one!

Anatomy Of A Performance: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (2013)

Hello, Bloggers, today I figured I would start a new type of segment where since I like to analyze film, I take a performance and dissect the internalities and such behind it. This one is called Anatomy Of A Performance. For my first segment, I will dive deep into the latest Oscar-winning performance by Cate Blanchett as Jeanette "Jasmine" Francis in Blue Jasmine. Let's take a look:

Throughout the film, the main character tends to get into episodes of anger or anxiety. In those scenes, like the one above, notice how she tends to get all sweaty and she gives a piercing look in her eyes. It is like she is a volcano just waiting to erupt. It isn't shown in the flashback scene above, but Jasmine's husband, played by Alec Baldwin, calms her by approaching her before they are about to make love. Whenever she does get into her episodes, the camera shows her being all isolated until she is near someone, almost like a calming after the storm. To me, this represents how the character of Jasmine is helpless without somebody literally by her side and how she is emotionally dependent on others.

Now in this scene, Jasmine is being offered a marriage proposal by Dwight, played by Peter Sarsgaard. As he is getting close to her, the look on Jasmine's face seems like she is thrilled yet worried about the prospect of getting married. She then pops a pill. To me, the look that she gives and the swallowing of a pill shows how while she has the opportunity to start anew, she feels she could potentially get Dwight wallowed up in her own big storm.

But in the scene from this picture above, Jasmine is left with nobody and not only is she all sweaty, but her mascara is dripping from her eyes and not only show a bit of menace, but she spews out such venomous comments at her sister Ginger and her boyfriend Chili. By looking at Jasmine's appearance in the picture, it is as if her mask has been taken off and the darkness within her has been revealed. With her hair and makeup messy and her body covered in sweat, we get a full glimpse of Jasmine behind her facade that she so desperately tries to "mask" throughout the film. I couldn't find this clip on the search engine on Blogger, so that is why I went with this picture.


So, that is my short look at Cate Blanchett's brilliant performance in Blue Jasmine and the first post on my new segment known as Anatomy Of A Performance. Please let me know what you think of it and write your comments down below. Thanks for reading!

Retro Review: Iris (2001)

                           

 
                         If An 'Iris' Were To Be A Gloomy Color, It Would Sort of Be Like This Movie

                      Biopics can either describe the life story of someone while being inventive in its storytelling (Erin Brockovich, Capote, Raging Bull) or tell someone's life story while being a bit too formulaic and not having much to offer, like The Iron Lady and this film.

                       Story:
                        Iris follows the story of real-life author Iris Murdoch (Judi Dench) and her relationship with her husband John Bayley (Jim Broadbent). The film goes back and forth from when they first met as teachers to their later years with Iris battling Alzheimer's Disease and John becoming flustered yet devoted to helping her.

                       What I Liked About It:
                      The thing that I really liked about the film was the acting from the cast. Judi Dench is great because at first by the expressions of her eyes, she gives the audience a sense of what her character is about to go through. I also thought Kate Winslet, who plays a younger version of Iris, was equally as good and almost looks like a younger version of the character since she and Dench have the same hair style and colored eyes. Jim Broadbent is also brilliant as John Bayley along with Hugh Bonneville, who plays the younger John. To me, it is the actors that really make the film.

                       What I Didn't Like About It:
                      While the actors are the highlight of the film, everything else.....ehh, not so much. The story is too wibbly-wobbly as it goes back and forth at random from the past to the present. In my opinion, it doesn't delve too deeply into Iris' condition and I was left wondering why John would stay with her all these years since (*spoiler alert*) Iris would be unfaithful when they were together. Plus, the film is a bit too short and even though the film is meant to focus on the relationship between Iris and John, it ends up just focusing on how awful Alzheimer's is and loses clear focus. It doesn't surprise me in the very least that it is just the actors that were recognized by the Academy.

                       Consensus:
                      Overall, Iris is a well-acted yet incredibly messy biopic. Aside from the magnificent cast, this film doesn't really offer us anything new to the table. If you like Judi Dench or Kate Winslet or even like Jim Broadbent's work, then I would say "what the hey", but I would say you don't really need to see this.

Grade: C

                     

Indie Review: Brokeback Mountain (2005)

                        'Brokeback Mountain': A Quietly Devastating Meditation On Same-Sex Love
                 
             Before Brokeback Mountain came into the picture, there were doomed romance pictures dealing with opposite-sex couples. But this film brilliantly shows that couples of the same sex undergo harsh struggles like heterosexual ones do, but in a rather different manner and it shows us this by hardly showing anything at all.
                     
                         Story:
                     Brokeback Mountain follows two cowboys named Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) who fall in love when going up to the titular mountain for a job at a local ranch. Eventually, they go on to marry women and have children, only to meet at Brokeback Mountain from time to time. As they become more separated, it begins to take a toll on each of them, but in different ways.

                    What I Liked About It:
                  What I thought was incredibly amazing about this film was how it talks about a social movement, but unlike most films that talk about social movements or issues, does it in a more quiet way that doesn't make it seem too "on the nose". What I mean is it demonstrates how society is discriminative of homosexuals without having a character used as a plot device or whatnot to tear the main characters apart. The film just showcases the romance between these two men and then just going their separate ways because they fear what other people would say if they were caught holding hands. It really makes you feel some type of emotion and that is what artistic films are meant to do. As I always say, the point of films used as art is to get some type of emotion out of you and that is exactly what this amazing film does.

                  I also thought that the performances from the two leads were quite brilliant. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal have brilliant chemistry yet once they get into a conflict, the film becomes devastating to watch. Even though these are two characters that society thinks shouldn't be together, I wanted them to be together. I wanted to see these two men find the kind of happiness that opposite-sex couples do. But one actress that I would like to acknowledge is Michelle Williams, who plays Ledger's wife Alma. Williams brilliantly showcases what her character is going through without having to actually say anything as her performance lives in her eyes. It's like her character is yet isn't an antagonist as she quietly separates her husband from the man he loves. Anne Hathaway, who plays Gyllenhaal's wife Lureen, is also quite good even though she honestly wasn't given a whole lot of screen time.

                Another thing that was brilliant was the direction from Ang Lee. He really creates a rather quiet feel, with the low use of music as well as the isolated setting, the filming of the actors physically showcasing their emotions without the use of dialogue, and the implicit demonstration of discrimination against homosexuality, but I give him a lot of credit for that. Lee's heavy use of restraint really creates a captivating feel.

               What I Didn't Like About It:
               Nothing.

               Consensus:
              Overall, Brokeback Mountain is a brilliant yet quiet meditation on a blissful yet conflicted romance. It has amazing performances from the cast, fantastic direction, and despite dealing with a social issue, does it in a less patronizing manner. This one might make some viewers uncomfortable because of the sexual content, but I would still say give it a watch because it might make you develop a new perspective on homosexuality.

Grade: A+