The Tribes of Palos Verdes

Based on the novel by Joy Nicholson, The Tribes of Palo Verdes is the story of a family who move to Los Angeles in the Palos Verdes suburbs as they adjust to their new living as a teenage girl copes with the changes in her family as she finds solace through surfing. Directed by Emmett and Brendan Malloy and screenplay by Karen Croner, the film is a coming-of-age drama that explore a young girl and her twin brother deal with their surroundings while their parents’ marriage is falling apart. Starring Jennifer Garner, Maika Monroe, Justin Kirk, Elisabeth Rohm, Goran Visnjic, Joely Fisher, and Alicia Silverstone. The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a compelling and somber film from Emmett and Brendan Malloy.

The film follows a family from Michigan who move to the affluent suburbs of Palos Verdes in California as the new environment would end up bringing trouble to the family where a teenage girl discovers the solace that is surfing. It’s a film that explores a new world for this family in the hopes they can do something new but cracks would start to emerge with a couple’s marriage crumbles with its twin teenage children watching as they each react to this split in different ways. Karen Croner’s screenplay is largely told by Medina Mason (Maika Monroe) in a somewhat reflective voice-over narrative as she talks about how her family moved because her father Phil (Justin Kirk) got a new job in California and how the move ended up destroying the family when Phil begins an affair with another woman and falls for her to the ire of his wife Sandy (Jennifer Garner) and Medina’s twin brother Jim (Cody Fern). Phil’s new life and demands at work would cause Sandy to have a breakdown while Jim becomes interested in drugs leaving Medina to make sense of everything where surfing has become an escape as she hopes to help her brother who starts to feel neglected by their father and enabled by their mother.

The direction of Emmett and Brendan Malloy does have elements of style with its recurring images of water and ocean waves as this air of tranquility that Medina craves for. Shot on location in and around Palos Verdes in California, the location is a character itself as is the home of the Mason family that has a nice backyard view of the coastal area that includes a beach where surfers surf big waves. The Malloys’ usage of wide shots definitely add to the look and tone of the film as well as capture this air of blandness that Medina describes where all of the homes have their grass cut at a certain length, their roofs featuring a specific tile, and all sorts of things. Everyone hangs out at a country club or at a party as the Malloys’ usage of medium shots and close-ups play into the intimacy of the film as well as Sandy’s trouble to adjust and try to fit in. The Malloys would also amp up the drama as it play into Phil’s new life that includes his girlfriend’s son Adrian (Noah Silver) who shares Medina’s concerns leading to a relationship between the two just as Medina’s family life starts to become undone leading her to make a stand to help them. Overall, the Malloys create a captivating and engaging film about a young woman dealing with the unraveling of her family in their new environment.

Cinematographer Giles Dunning does excellent work with the film’s cinematography to capture the sunny look of the daytime exteriors with some stylish lighting for some of the interior scenes at night. Editors Tracy Adams and Luis Carballar do terrific work with the editing as it feature bits of jump-cuts and slow-motion cuts for some scenes involving the waves as much of it is straightforward. Production designer Stephanie Hamilton Haas, with set decorator Devynne Lauchner and art director Jessica Shorten, is brilliant for the look of the home the Masons live in and the work that Sandy would do later in the film to cope with her emotions as well as the look of the house that Phil would live in. Costume designer Anette Cseri does nice work with the costumes as it has this mixture of posh-like clothing some of the residents of Palos Verdes wear to the more ragged look of the surfers.

The visual effects work of Fernando Torres Idrovo is fantastic for one key scene in the film as it relates to wildfires that would be a key moment for the film’s third act. Sound editor David Barber does superb work with the sound in capturing the sound of waves from afar as well as scenes involving parties and loud music along with some of the quieter moments in the film. The film’s music by Gustavo Santaolalla is amazing for its ambient-folk based score that play into the drama and the tranquility of the sea as it is a highlight of the film while music supervisor Season Kent creates a music soundtrack that features an array of indie and mainstream music from the likes of Jack Johnson, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti with Dam-Funk, Tomorrow Tulips, King Krule, Branden Miller, Bahamas, and Cherry Glazerr.

The casting by Rich Delia is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Elisabeth Rohm and Joely Fisher as a couple of Palos Verdes residents who alienate Sandy, Alex Knost as a famous surfer that Medina would make out with for a bit in a moment of confusion, Goran Visijnic as a man named Joe that Sandy meets in the second act as she invites him for dinner in an attempt to start a new relationship, Stevie Lynn Jones as Jim’s new girlfriend Heather, Alicia Silverstone as Phil’s new girlfriend in the real estate mogul Ava, and Noah Silver as Ava’s son Adrian who befriends Medina as they both share their disdain over their parents’ relationship as well as how it affects both of them. Justin Kirk is superb as Phil Mason as a doctor who leaves his wife for a new life as he tries to reconnect with his children only to not understand the damage he’s created.

Cody Fern is excellent as Medina’s twin brother Jim as a young man who at first fits in with the people of Palos Verdes but his father’s actions and growing alienation has him depending on prescription and illegal drugs to cope with the pain as he descends into a downward spiral. Jennifer Garner is amazing as Sandy Mason as a woman who has a hard time fitting in with her new environment as she unravels following news of Phil’s affair with Ava as she goes into denial over the severity of what is happening around her including her son’s drug use which she would unfortunately enable. Finally, there’s Maika Monroe in an incredible performance as Medina Mason as a young woman in her late teens coping with her family unraveling while discovering the world of surfing as she finds it as an escape but also a thing that allows her to belong where Monroe display a woman who is more than aware of what is happening but also find ways to keep herself sane with her family unraveling.

The Tribes of Palos Verdes is a marvelous film that features a great leading performance from Maika Monroe. Along with some strong supporting work from Cody Fern and Jennifer Garner as well as its evocative music score and soundtrack and gorgeous imagery. It’s a coming-of-age family drama that explore a family in a new environment and how the family unit cope with their world that lead to their disintegration. In the end, The Tribe of Palos Verdes is a remarkable film from Brendan and Emmett Malloy.

© thevoid99 2019

Beginners

Written and directed by Mike Mills, Beginners is the story of a man reflecting on his father’s final years while forging a new relationship a young woman. The film also reveals the man coming to term with his father’s news of announcing that he’s gay. Starring Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Mary Page Keller, and Christopher Plummer. Beginners is an extraordinary film from Mike Mills.

Following the death of his father Hal (Christopher Plummer), Oliver (Ewan McGregor) tries to come to terms with his father’s death as well as the news that his father came out of the closet years ago after the death of his mother Georgia (Mary Page Keller). While Oliver reflects on his father’s final years as a gay man and a young lover named Andy (Goran Visnjic), Oliver spends most of time with his father’s dog Arthur while working as an artist. At a costume party, Oliver meets a French actress named Anna (Melanie Laurent) as the two hit it off. While embarking on a relationship, Oliver continues to reflect on his relationship with his father while helping Anna deal with her own issues with her father.

The film is really an exploration of a man coming to terms with his father’s death and those final years when his father declared himself to be openly gay. Through a reflective narrative that moves back and forth told from the perspective of Oliver, it reveals how Oliver felt about his father’s coming out as he also reflects on his time as an adolescent (Keegan Boos) when he’s with his mother. During this period of reflection and mourning, Oliver meets Anna who represents a change in his life as she is someone who is quirky but also caring while admitting to having her own personal issues.

Mike Mills’ screenplay revels in its unconventional narrative style as it moves back and forth from Oliver’s past to his time with Anna. Notably as it features Oliver discussing about his parents’ marriage as he wonders if Hal really did love Georgia. This would impact Oliver’s relationship with Anna as she is also someone who is quite complicated as she doesn’t feel comfortable talking about her dad. Once the story progresses where Oliver reflects on Hal’s final moments with Andy and other gay friends, Oliver would get to know his father as it would definitely give him ideas about his own relationship with Anna.

Mills’ direction is quite straightforward in terms of its presentation but he does allow a lot of stylistic touches in the film. Notably the montages of collages to represent Oliver’s narration about the times his parents lived and such. The direction has Mills create a lot of interesting compositions in the way he shoots his actors in a scene and have them be natural in their surroundings as well as moments. Even as it plays to a lot of humor that isn’t forced or low-key to maintain the natural tone of the film. Overall, Mills creates a very fascinating yet poignant film about love and reflection.

Cinematographer Kasper Tuxen does excellent work with the film‘s photography by creating dazzling lighting schemes to play up the beauty of the locations set in Los Angeles. Editor Olivier Bugge Coutte does brilliant work with the editing by utilizing stylistic-jump cuts to play out the humor and collage montages as well as creating wonderful transitions to move the story back and forth. Production designer Shane Valentino and Coryander Friend do nice work with the look of Hal’s home as well as Oliver’s home and the hotel room that Anna stays in.

Costume designer Jennifer Johnson creates some amazing costumes for the film‘s costume parties scenes as well as the stylish dresses that Anna wears. Sound designer Leslie Shatz does terrific work with the sound from the atmosphere of the places that Oliver and Anna go to the more quiet moments involving Oliver and Hal. The film’s music by Roger Neill, Dave Palmer, and Brian Reitzell is superb for its plaintive, piano-driven score with elements of jazz and classical to play up some of the film‘s melancholia. Music supervisor Robin Urdang creates a very diverse soundtrack that features an array of styles from jazz, rock, pop, and electronic music to play out the different time periods the characters encounter.

The casting by Nicole Daniels and Courtney Sheinin is great for the ensemble that is created as it features appearances from Kai Lennox and China Shavers as friends of Oliver and Lou Taylor Pucci as a magician at the party where Oliver meets Anna. Small roles from Keegan Boos as the young Oliver and Mary Page Keller as Oliver’s mother Georgia are wonderful to watch as is Goran Visnjic as Hal’s younger boyfriend Andy. One performance that is a joy to watch is the Jack Terrier Cosmo as Hal’s dog Arthur as he has some great moments that are just fun to watch.

Christopher Plummer is phenomenal as Hal where Plummer brings an enthusiasm and energy that is compelling to watch as a man discovering the joys of being openly-gay while coming to terms with everything he had lost as it’s really one of Plummer’s great performances. Melanie Laurent is incredible as the whimsical Anna by displaying a great sense of charm and wit to her performance that is also balanced by her own melancholia. Finally, there’s Ewan McGregor in a fantastic performance as the reflective Oliver as McGregor brings a great sense of restraint as a man mourning the loss of his parents while dealing with the new relationship he’s embarking on as he also brings some joy to the character that gives McGregor one of his finest performances.

Beginners is a charming and captivating film from Mike Mills that features marvelous performances from Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, and Christopher Plummer. The film is truly one of the most intriguing pieces about coming out and understanding told from a man reflecting on his father. It’s also a nice romantic comedy of sorts that doesn’t play to conventions while reveling in its naturalistic tone. In the end, Beginners is a superb film from Mike Mills.

Mike Mills Films: (The Paperboys) - Thumbsucker - 20th Century Women

© thevoid99 2012

2012 Cannes Marathon: Welcome to Sarajevo

(Played in Competition for the Palme D’or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival)

Based on Natasha’s Story by Michael Nicholson, Welcome to Sarajevo is about a British reporter who is reporting the war in Sarajevo where he encounters an orphanage as he hopes to save the life of a girl he meets. Directed by Michael Winterbottom and screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce, the film is among one of the first features film to be created about the Bosnian war in the early 1990s. Starring Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Kerry Fox, Goran Visnjic, and Emily Lloyd. Welcome to Sarajevo is a chilling yet mesmerizing film from Michael Winterbottom.

It’s 1992 as the Serbians try to wreak havoc on Sarajevo where ITN reporter Michael Henderson (Stephen Dillane) and his cameraman Gregg (James Nesbitt) are covering the battle where an American reporter named Flynn (Woody Harrelson) walks in the middle of the battlefield. While Henderson is joined by producer Jane Carson (Kerry Fox) and reporter Annie McGee (Emily Lloyd), he still has to contend with the competitive Flynn for a story where they gain a local named Risto (Goran Visnjic) to translate and drive them through town. There, Henderson comes across an orphanage in ruins where he meets a nine-year-old girl named Emira (Emira Nusevic) who is among the many orphans who are lost in the war.

Feeling compelled to tell reveal what is going on in Sarajevo, Henderson makes the orphanage his story as he wants to help save the children. When a United Nations aid worker named Nina (Marisa Tomei) arrives, she reveals that she can only help some of the kids to be transported to Italy. Henderson makes a deal to have Emira be part of the bus transport as he and Gregg join Nina on the treacherous journey to the boat that will evacuate the children to Italy. Though the journey was tough due to an encounter with a group of Chetnik troops who end up taking some of the children back. Though the remaining group was able to reach the ship, Henderson decides to take Emira to England to live with his wife (Juliet Aubrey) and children as he returns home.

Months later, Henderson receives a call from Carson about Emira’s mother (Vesna Orel) who is still alive and wants Emira back home. Henderson returns to Sarajevo to deal with the matter with help from Risto and a hotel concierge named Zeljko (Drazen Sivak) where they meet Emira’s uncle (Vladimir Jakanovic) who reveals what had happened. Though Henderson was able to find Emira’s mother, he wonders if giving Emira back to her mother would be the right thing as Sarajevo is becoming more undone by war.

The film is essentially a war drama where a news reporter covering the Bosnian war as he encounters an orphanage where he goes beyond the role of a reporter to save the life of one child. Screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce creates a story that is about a war where a reporter is among a group of many trying to tell the world what is going on. Though it feels new and the world doesn’t seem to understand what is happening, his discovery of an orphanage that is in the frontline of this battle has him telling the world what is going on prompting the United Nations to get involved though things eventually become complicated due to political issues. At the center of this story is a reporter who feels that something has to be done as he would end up encountering more disturbing images of war. Boyce’s script does play to that drama while bringing insight into the chaos that is happening for the characters to be involved in.

Michael Winterbottom’s direction is truly engaging for the way he creates the film as if he is reporting what is happening as he utilizes news footage, video camera looks, and other stylistic shots to display what is going at a hotel in Sarajevo. Shot on location in Sarajevo and parts of Croatia, there is an added realism to the way Winterbottom presents the film as he always have the camera center a world where it looks like it’s the worst place in the world. With some hand-held camera work to display some of the film’s intense moments, Winterbottom always maintain suspense to let it play out as if something is going to happen. Notably the film’s opening credits sequence where an upcoming wedding ceremony is marred by gunfire as it definitely sets the tone for the film. Overall, Winterbottom creates a truly intense and hypnotic war drama that reveals the chaos that was happening in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s.

Cinematographer Daf Hobson does excellent work with the film‘s very vibrant and colorful cinematography for many of its exterior settings while creating a more low-key look for the film‘s interior scenes at the hotel as well as video-camera look for some of the news footage that is shot. Editor Trevor Waite does incredible work with the editing in utilizing rhythmic cuts for some of the film‘s battle scenes along with inter-splicing news footage with the fictional footage shot in the film. Production designers Mark Geraghty and Kermal Hrustanovic, with set decorator Constantin Nikolic and supervising art director Terry Pritchard, do wonderful work with the look of some of the hotel interiors including Ritso‘s apartment that is filled with lots of records and books.

Costume designer Janty Yates does nice work with the costumes as a lot of it is casual while some of it includes uniforms that soldiers wear. Makeup/hair designer Anne Oldham does good work in the look of Emira from her more short-hair look in Sarajevo to a more girlish look once she starts to live in England. Sound editor Peter Baldock does amazing work with the sound to capture the sense of terror that occurs in battle from the gunfire and explosions to the way it’s sound at the hotel. The film’s score by Adrian Johnson is superb for the way it plays out the sense of ruin that happens through its low-key orchestral score. Music supervisors Laurence Kaye and Steve Lindsey create a soundtrack that is a wide mix of music ranging from a darkly-comic use of Bobby McFerrin‘s Don‘t Worry Be Happy along with a compelling use of Remo Giazatto’s Adagio in G Minor for a poignant moment in the film The rest of the soundtrack features a wide mix of music from acts like Blur, the Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, Teenage Fanclub, and Massive Attack to play out the music of the times.

The casting by Simone Ireland and Vanessa Pereira is fantastic for the ensemble that is created as it includes small but notable appearances from Juliet Aubrey as Michael’s wife, Vladimir Jakanovic as Emira’s uncle, Vesna Orel as Emira’s mother, Drazen Sivak as the friendly hotel concierge Zeljko, and Gordana Gadzic as the orphanage manager Mrs. Savic. Other noteworthy small roles include Emily Lloyd as a fellow reporter who uncovers some dark secrets about the war, James Nesbitt as a comical yet thrill-seeking cameraman, and Marisa Tomei in an incredible performance as a sympathetic United Nations aid worker who tells Michael Henderson about what he’s doing for Emira is illegal.

Emira Nusevic is wonderful as the child Emira who is just trying to deal with the chaos of her home as she seeks a way to leave. Kerry Fox is terrific as producer Jane Carson who tries to deal with all of the stories that needs to be told as she also becomes very friendly with Ritso. Goran Visnjic is great as the Bosnian Ritso who guides Michael into the world of Sarajevo while revealing the increasing dangers that is happening when Michael returns from Britain. Woody Harrelson is excellent as the brash American reporter Flynn who revels into the world of danger while bringing some humor to the situations in the film. Finally, there’s Stephen Dillane in a marvelous performance as Michael Henderson who decides to go beyond his role as a reporter to save a child’s life due to everything he encounters in this horrific war.

Welcome to Sarajevo is an extraordinary yet harrowing film from Michael Winterbottom. Armed with an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Kerry Fox, Emily Lloyd, James Nesbitt, and Goran Visnjic. It’s a film that really goes into deep into the terror that was happening during the Bosnian war in the early 1990s. It’s also a film that really serves as a great historical piece to explain some of what was happening and why the fighting occurs from an outsider’s perspective who know little about this war. In the end, Welcome to Sarajevo is a wonderfully stylish yet compelling film from Michael Winterbottom.

Michael Winterbottom Films: (Rosie the Great) - (Forget About Me) - (Under the Sun) - (Love Lies Bleeding) - (Family (1993 TV film)) - (Butterfly Kiss) - (Go Now) - (Jude) - I Want You - (With or Without You (1998 film)) - Wonderland (1999 film) - The Claim - 24 Hour Party People - In This World - Code 46 - 9 Songs - Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story - The Road to Guantanamo - A Mighty Heart - Genova - The Shock Doctrine (2009 film) - The Killer Inside Me - The Trip (2010 film) - (Trishna) - (Everyday) - The Look of Love - (The Trip to Italy) - (The Face of an Angel)

© thevoid99 2012