Jessica Chastain – People Talking

Twofer Movie Review: ‘Green Room’ and ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ – Dark & Stormy

So, we’ve got two movies this weekend, one not quite yet going wide and the other going full spread; both look like they could use a little boost.

Green Room

Written and Directed by Jeremy Saulnier
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Mark Webber, Imogen Poots, Taylor Tunes, Macon Blair, Eric Edelstein, David W. Thompson, and Sir Patrick Stewart
Soundtrack: Brooke Blair and Will Blair

I know this movie’s really good because I already want to go see it again.

Let it be said that writer/directer Jeremy Saulnier likes what he knows and knows what he likes, namely hardcore punk, grisly violence, and ratcheting up tension.

This was true in his sophomore effort, ‘Blue Ruin‘, and it’s even more true for ‘Green Room’.

Everybody knows that horror is not exactly my bailiwick, but ‘Green Room’ is my kind of serious bloody thriller: no stupid jump-scares, no dumb CGI monsters, and no torture porn. It’s just a simple story about a punk band in the wrong place at the wrong time. As much as I enjoy big movies with big struggles (gotta save the earth, again), I also enjoy movies where small things become dramatic elements (like in ‘A Most Wanted Man‘, I never knew how important someone merely signing a piece of paper could feel). ‘Green Room’ revels in the small details. There are no waves of nameless, faceless drones; everything is personal.

Now, it’s not like we haven’t seen this kind of movie before (‘Assault on Precinct 13‘ comes to mind), but what makes ‘Green Room’ unique is the cultural setting (hardcore punk scene), and the performances, namely of one Sir Patrick Stewart as a neo-Nazi club owner. He has such presence in general whenever he appears on screen, but in this case he’s that villain you love to hate. I think he truly relished the role and it shines through in every frame he appears.

Order of the British Empire aside, I’d be remiss if I didn’t praise the efforts of our band of survivors, Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, and Imogen Poots. I’m not saying there’s anything Oscar-worthy happening here, but they all put in solid performances as, punk aesthetics aside, otherwise ordinary people in an extraordinary situation.

Ultimately, I like ‘Green Room’ because it’s a movie that punches above its weight class. It’s small and not too flashy, but it delivers big. Whether you’re into more slasher type horror or traditional Hitchcockian thrillers, or if you just like hardcore punk, you should definitely see it, although I bet it’ll make you think twice about stepping foot in a skinhead club ever again.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin, based on characters created by Evan Daugherty
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sam Hazeldine, Sam Claflin, Ralph Ineson
Soundtrack: James Newton Howard

I’m not sure what’s up with all these fairy tale movies and TV shows the past few years, other than the usual trope of Hollywood selling literally anything people recognize (including but not limited to board games), but at least ‘Snow White and The Huntsman‘ tried to interject some original ideas. The biggest problem with that film, despite how great it looked (way better looking than that ridiculous ‘Hobbit’ trilogy), was it was pretty much just dark and brooding the entire time.

In comparison to its predecessor, ‘Winter’s War’ (which is both a prequel and a sequel; for good measure, I suppose) is bloodier, sexier, and, most importantly, has more humor. Most of the laughs come from the natural comedic chemistry of Rob Brydon and Nick Frost, but plenty of other characters have moments as well. This is not to say that ‘Winter’s War’ is a comedy, but it’s nice to have a chuckle once and a while to ease the tension (even Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy had moments of levity for the audience). After all, this is by and large a general audience movie, not some kind of horror film.

Now, I’m not going to put ‘Winter’s War’ in the must-see category, but if you just feel like going to the movies sometime in the next month, it’s an acceptable choice, and even if you haven’t seen the prior film, I’m sure you’ll follow along just fine. It’s got a good cast, fairly state-of-the-art visuals, and provides enough entertainment to take a flyer on. Plus, it’s a rare sequel that trumps the first movie.

(I mean, seriously; when are Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain ever going to be in the same movie again?)

Rating: ★★★½

Movie Review – ‘The Martian’ – Red Storm Rising

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Drew Goddard, based on the novel by Andy Weir
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Benedict Wong, Enzo Cilenti
Soundtrack: Harry Gregson-Williams

I know I’ll probably take some flack for this, but I’ve actually seen more of Tony Scott’s films than Ridley’s; and, yes, that does include some major tentpoles.

Regardless, and in spite of Ridley Scott riding in on kind of a bumpy streak, my expectations going into ‘The Martian’ were sky high (like 4.5 out of 5 stars minimum high).

Did it deliver? Should you believe the hype?

Well, mostly.

Let me start with the negatives, because, frankly, this movie left me with a funny aftertaste in my mouth. 95% of the film is “fictional ‘Apollo 13’ 2.0”, which is great, but then the remaining 5% is “MOAR ‘Gravity'”, which I was not expecting and which I found to be quite off-putting. Also, I question whether ‘The Martian’ needed to be two and a half hours long, and the length of acts should have been more balanced (first act a little longer, second act much shorter, third act much longer). Furthermore, everyone not named Matt Damon seemed pretty interchangeable in their roles; I mean, I don’t know this for sure because I didn’t work on the movie, but it didn’t seem like any role was written with a particular actor in mind, and they just cast whomever they wanted for whatever reason. Lastly, there’s a running gag of bad 1970s music which I didn’t find all that funny, and I thought it felt somewhat out of place in a movie such as this.

So, anyway, what’s good about this film?

Well, for one thing, Matt Damon. I’m not going to say it was the role he was born to play or anything like that, but the script puts a tremendous amount of responsibility on his shoulders and he carries all of it with aplomb. As an actor, he gets to demonstrate almost the full spectrum of emotion, and he is always believable; total heart and soul of the movie.

Another main strong point of ‘The Martian’, as you might expect, are the visuals. Now, it’s not on the same cinematic level as, say, ‘Interstellar’, or even ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, but for an outer space movie it looks as it should. There was obviously a lot of thought and effort put into the mission itself, like how all the vehicles and habitats and equipment would look, and it definitely comes through in the finished product.

Really though, what makes ‘The Martian’ as good as it is is the story, and this is no doubt thanks in large part to the fact that it’s based on a highly acclaimed novel. Movies don’t have to be entirely new ideas to capture our imagination (not that any idea is really new anymore). Sometimes they can take things we’re already familiar with and expand on them in a creative and exciting way, and that’s how I think of ‘The Martian’. And really, when is someone facing impossible odds not, at the very least, interesting? Not only that, but I appreciated seeing the ethical dilemmas of both the various teams on Earth and the remaining crew still in space.

It may not be the next “greatest movie of all time”, but ‘The Martian’ is certainly worth a theatrical viewing. Even if you don’t want to run out and see it again, you definitely won’t regret seeing it once as it was meant to be seen; and it’s probably much more fun than you’re expecting.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Twofer Movie Review: ‘A Most Violent Year’ and ‘Black Sea’ – Danger Surrounds Us

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing two new movies this month, neither of which have gotten proper releases yet, but I believe they’re about to go wide this coming weekend (at least I hope so). Now, these two films are very different in most respects, but for me personally there are a few important parallels: A. two Academy Award-nominated/winning directors whose previous works I’ve never seen; B. two movies in which it’s crucial for me to explain what they are not in order to appreciate what they are; and C. I highly recommend both of them (and D. neither of them will likely do well with general audiences, unfortunately, but that’s why I’m here).

Neither of these films are perfect, although ‘A Most Violent Year’ definitely deserved more “awards season” buzz than it got (one Golden Globe Nomination for Jessica Chastain; zero other major nominations or wins), but they are both very strong, particularly within their respective genres.

A Most Violent Year

Written and Directed by J.C. Chandor
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, Glenn Fleshler, Elyes Gabel, Alessandro Nivola, Daisy Tahan, Ashley Williams, Elizabeth Marvel, Robert Clohessy, David Margulies
Soundtrack: Alex Ebert

Right off the bat, I’ll tell you what ‘A Most Violent Year’ is not.

‘A Most Violent Year’, contrary to what you might glean from its trailer, is not a gangster film.

A gangster film sees a man start out as a low-level criminal and work his way up to a much higher position in organized crime, the stakes constantly escalating all the while, as the dark path he has chosen forever dominates his destiny.

‘A Most Violent Year’ is about a man trying desperately to hold onto not just his life, not just his family, and not just his business; it’s really about a man trying to maintain his honor under nearly impossible circumstances. It’s a movie for those of us who actually work hard to do things the right way, or at least not the criminal way.

At the beginning of the film, Oscar Isaac’s character is signing a contract to buy some waterfront property that would be most advantageous for his oil delivery business. The terms of this contract dictate that he must close on the property in thirty days, or he will forfeit both his sizable deposit and the land itself.

It may not sound like all that exciting a premise, but this contract is nonetheless what sets the plot in motion. I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to spoil the movie, but I will say that the drama in the film basically comes from watching how much gets piled onto our protagonist, and wondering how far he can bend without actually breaking, as he is surrounded by difficulties on almost all fronts.

Performance-wise, Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are top-notch as the husband and wife team, while Albert Brooks provides his usual genius supporting work (a la ‘Drive‘, though much less sinister), and David Oyelowo is solid as well, although I wish he’d gone with a more neutral American accent (his “Noo Yawk” drawl needs some work). Also, I don’t know if it was an intentional casting decision or just happenstance, but see if you can spy David Margulies (the “Mayor of New York” from Ghostbusters I & II) somewhere in the film (spoiler alert: he looks older).

Cinematically, I got some pretty strong 1970s William Friedkin vibes (in particular ‘The French Connection‘ and Roy Scheider’s prologue in ‘Sorcerer‘), perhaps cross-pollinated with some early Michael Mann stuff (‘Thief‘, ‘Manhunter‘), which is a good thing. As an early 1980s New York City period piece, ‘A Most Violent Year’ should and does have a very classic look, and Alex Ebert’s haunting score fits perfectly with it.

Overall, ‘A Most Violent Year’, much like last year’s ‘A Most Wanted Man‘ (unrelated), is a most quiet movie, but that doesn’t mean it’s without thrills. If you like intelligent crime dramas, or are just tired of the usual action schlock, you should definitely go see it.

★★★★☆

Black Sea

Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Written by Dennis Kelly
Cast: Jude Law, Jodie Whittaker, Scoot McNairy, Tobias Menzies, Michael Smiley, David Threlfall, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Ben Mendelsohn, Bobby Schofield, Branwell Donaghey
Soundtrack: Ilan Eshkeri

Full Disclosure: I love submarine movies.

From the fantastical (‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea‘), to the realistic (‘The Hunt for Red October‘), to the classic (‘Run Silent, Run Deep‘), to the comedic (‘Down Periscope‘); if you tell me, “We’re watching a submarine movie,” I’m pretty much fully on board right then and there.

I think part of it may be because my grandfather actually served on a submarine in World War II, but for the most part it’s really because submarines, like military aircraft, just have an inherent “cool factor” about them (although I don’t think I’d ever want to serve on one, and it’s not because I’m claustrophobic). Like surface ships, trains, planes, and even spacecraft, a submarine makes a great setting for a movie, because the limited location provides built-in drama, which makes it perfect for tense thrillers like ‘Black Sea’.

Now, it’s not like we haven’t had our fair share of submarine flicks in the past twenty years, but they tend to be period pieces, whether based on true stories (‘K-19: The Widowmaker‘) or completely fantastical (‘Below‘). In fact, since ‘Crimson Tide‘ came out in 1995, I can’t think of a single [serious] theatrically-released submarine film that’s been contemporarily set, until now. This is one reason why I give ‘Black Sea’ a lot of credit, because at a time when it seems like everything is a remake, reboot, or re-imagining (or something based on a book), Kevin Macdonald gives us something we’ve actually not seen before, at least not for a very long time. Sure, the basic story is something familiar (hunting for lost treasure), but the way it’s executed is actually unique and interesting.

What’s also interesting is that ‘Black Sea’ is a joint British and Russian production, and I’m so glad that it is. One thing ‘Black Sea’ is not is an underwater slasher movie (‘Ten Little Indians‘ on a sub), despite what you may perceive from the trailer; it is also not an over-the-top action thriller that forces you to suspend disbelief, which it likely would have been had it been a typical American production). I mean, I’m no expert on submarines or underwater salvage, but in terms of the technical plot of the film, I found everything to be completely plausible. There are a few character inconsistencies here and there, but on the whole the movie is very tightly knit together, and the ensemble cast does a good job of getting you invested, so, when things get tense, you actually care. I don’t use the term “edge-of-your-seat” lightly, but, for me, ‘Black Sea’ definitely falls into that category.

Speaking of the cast, other than being a submarine movie, the biggest selling point for me in actually going to see ‘Black Sea’ was the chance to watch a bunch of familiar faces in an unusual setting (Full Disclosure: I’m something of an Anglophile). I mean, you’ve got Jude Law, who’s in everything, Scoot McNairy (‘Argo‘ and ‘Gone Girl‘), Ben Mendelsohn (‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ and ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’), Wright/Pegg/Frost alumni Michael Smiley and David Threlfall, and, on the Russian side, Grigoriy Dobrygin (‘A Most Wanted Man‘). Even people in bit parts stuck out to me; Tobias Menzies I know from the BBC spy series “Spooks” (and ‘Casino Royale‘, apparently), and Jodie Whittaker was in the amazing sci-fi horror comedy ‘Attack the Block‘ (which I highly recommend around Halloween, or even a week after).

Basically, this movie was a real treat for me in almost every way, but, if you like tense thrillers, or are a just a submarine junkie like me, then definitely go see it if you can. Just be prepared for a few thick British accents and some subtitles for the Russians; and if those are a problem for you, then you probably shouldn’t be reading this anyway.

★★★★☆