Palo Alto (2013 film)

 

Based on a collection of short stories by James Franco, Palo Alto is a film consisting of three different stories set in Palo Alto, California as it relates to teenagers dealing with boredom, lust, and self-destructive behavior. Written for the screen and directed by Gia Coppola, the film is an exploration of teenage life in a small Californian town as it revolves around a group of high schoolers dealing with their own surroundings and the world around them. Starring Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, Nat Wolff, Zoe Levin, Chris Messina, Keegan Allen, Margaret Qualley, Val Kilmer, and James Franco. Palo Alto is an evocative and compelling film from Gia Coppola.

The film revolves around a group of teenagers living in Palo Alto, California as they all deal with growing pains, lust, boredom, and other issues as they all embark on some journey that play to their growth. It’s a film that follow four different teens as they all share a narrative of sorts where Gia Coppola creates as it play into these teens who are just lost in the world around them as April (Emma Roberts) is a high school student that is also part of the school’s soccer team as she has a crush on their coach Mr. B. (James Franco) whom she also babysits her son. April has feelings for one of her classmates in the aspiring artist/stoner Teddy (Jack Kilmer) who often hangs out with the more destructive stoner Fred (Nat Wolff) as they get into some trouble with Teddy being forced to serve community service after crashing into another car in order to avoid juvenile detention. Fred meanwhile goes after a teammate of April in Emily (Zoe Levin) whom he would have sex with yet has also things that he would want to do as he would also cause trouble. Though Coppola’s script is loose in its narrative and can be messy at times, she is able to find ways to play into the evolution of these characters as they deal with their growing pains.

Coppola’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of its presentation while utilizing real locations in and around Southern California including the town of Palo Alto as it is a character in the film. Coppola would use wide shots for some of the locations including scenes where the characters are in a location to play into their own sense of isolation and boredom while she also uses medium shots for some of the party scenes in the film. There are also intimate moments in Coppola’s direction in some of the medium shots as well as close-ups as it add to the drama. Notably as it play into April’s own interaction with Mr. B. whom she would have an affair with despite the fact that he’s an adult and she’s a high school student.

There are also moments that do play into the many fallacies of Teddy and Fred’s friendship as the latter tends to be involved in destructive manners as well as voiceover in what he would to Emily with other boys. Coppola also play into Emily’s own search for love but also her own sexual exploration although her character isn’t as developed as she has no idea about what she’s doing other than become a prop for Fred. The climax does play into a party but also characters growing up over some of the things they encounter as well as thinking about the next stage in their lives. Yet, it also forces a few to ponder if there is even a future for them as it all play into the ideas of growing up. Overall, Coppola crafts a dreamy yet haunting film about teenagers dealing with growing pains in Palo Alto, California.

Cinematographer Autumn Cheyenne Durald does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of low-key and natural lighting for many of the daytime exteriors as well as the usage of lighting to low-level lighting for many of the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Leo Scott does excellent work with the editing as it has style in its usage of jump-cuts and dissolves to play into some of the dizzying adventures the characters go through but also some straightforward cuts for the drama. Production designer Sara Beckum Jamieson, with set decorator Natalie Ziering and art director Dori Hana Scherer, does fantastic work with the look of the homes of where Fred and Emily lived while the rooms of Teddy and April are actual locations. Costume designer Courtney Hoffman does nice work with the costumes from the stylish look of Emily to the stoner clothing that Fred and Teddy wear.

Hair/makeup artist Molly Paddon does terrific work with some of the makeup April and Emily would wear along with their friends. Visual effects supervisor Viktor Muller does fine work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it relates to some of the car crashes in the film. Sound designer Richard Beggs does incredible work with the sound in the way music sounds at a party as well as some of the sparse sounds in natural locations. The film’s music by Devonte Hynes and Robert Schwartzman is wonderful for its mixture of indie, pop, hip-hop, and other kinds of music that include contributions from Jason Schwartzman’s side project Coconut Records, Mac DeMarco, Jack Kilmer, Nat & Alex Wolff, Blood Orange, Francesco Pennino, William Storkson, and Tonstartssbandht.

The casting by Laray Mayfield is superb as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Talia Shire as April’s guidance counselor, Janet Jones Gretzky as Teddy’s mother, Emma Gretzky as Teddy’s sister, Colleen Camp as a woman who was part of a car accident Teddy got involved in, Francis Ford Coppola as the voice of a judge, Ana Thea Bogdanovich as a friend of the woman whom Teddy crashed into, Brennan and Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor as a couple of kids at a party, Andrew Lutheran as a boy April makes out with at a party, Jacqueline De La Fontaine as April’s mother, Don Novello as an art teacher, Sandra Seacat as an elderly woman who takes a liking towards Teddy’s art work during his community service, Margaret Qualley as a teammate of April in Raquel whom April notices Mr. B. puts his attention towards to, Chris Messina as Fred’s father who is a stoner and tries to flirt with Teddy, Keegan Allen as a weed dealer who insults Fred, and Val Kilmer as April’s stepfather Stewart who likes to smoke weed but also help her out with her term paper. Olivia Crocicchia and Claudia Levy are terrific in their respective roles as April’s classmates Chrissy and Shauna who often host parties while also making rumors about everyone.

Zoe Levin is pretty good in her role as Emily despite the fact that she’s underwritten in terms of the fact that there’s not a lot of development to her other than that she gives Teddy a blow-job early in the film and is the object of lust for other guys. James Franco is fantastic as April’s soccer coach Mr. B. whom April has a crush on while he is also creepy for the fact that he also likes April as well. Nat Wolff is amazing as Fred as this unlikeable and destructive teen who likes to smoke weed but also engage in vandalism and other destructive elements to the point that he gets Teddy in trouble as well as use Emily for sexual reasons. Jack Kilmer is excellent as Teddy as a stoner who has a gift for art as he deals with the drawbacks of his friendship with Fred but also his own issues as he also has a crush towards April. Finally, there’s Emma Roberts in a brilliant performance as April as a teenage girl dealing with uncertainty with her life as she longs for her soccer coach as well as coping with growing pains as it is one of Roberts’ finest performances.

Palo Alto is a marvelous film from Gia Coppola that features great performances from Emma Roberts, Nat Wolff, and Jack Kilmer in his film debut. Along with its supporting cast, rapturous visuals, hypnotic music soundtrack, and its exploration of teenage life in a small town in Southern California. It is a film that is a mesmerizing coming-of-age film that doesn’t just explore teen angst and uncertainty but also people just trying to find themselves in a small town. In the end, Palo Alto is a remarkable film from Gia Coppola.

Mainstream

© thevoid99 2022

Queen of the Desert

Written and directed by Werner Herzog, Queen of the Desert is about the life of Gertrude Bell from her 20s to the final years of her life as she becomes a famed traveler, writer, archeologist, cartographer, and political officer. The film is a dramatic account of her life as she would also meet various figures who would be important to modern history as she is played by Nicole Kidman. Also starring James Franco, Damian Lewis, Jay Abdo, and Robert Pattinson. Queen of the Desert is a visually-entrancing yet underwritten film from Werner Herzog.

The film chronicles the life of Gertrud Bell from 1903 to 1916 though it begins in 1915 where various individuals are in the Middle East trying to figure out what to do with T.E. Lawrence (Robert Pattinson) suggesting Gertrud Bell to help negotiate matters. It’s a film that play into Bell’s desire to see the world where she would inhabit various roles in her life but also endure tragedy and adventures. Werner Herzog’s screenplay doesn’t do much to create a substantial narrative that play into Bell’s evolution from a lady of privilege into the famed traveler who would also be a writer, a cartographer, archeologist, and political officer who would befriend tribes and help bring brief peace to feuding tribes. It also play into her romantic dalliances with embassy employee Henry Cadogan (James Franco) and later on the military officer Lt. Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie (Damian Lewis). The romantic elements of the script never really fits in with the main story that revolves around Bell’s evolution into this woman who would travel throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. Even as she would encounter different parts of the world and meet these unique individuals who live from the outside of conventional society.

Herzog’s direction is definitely entrancing for not just shooting on the Sahara desert but also to create a world that is vast and with a sense of the unknown. While much of the film is shot on location in Merzouga, Morocco along with shots in Marrakesh, Erfourd, and Ouarzazate in Morocco plus parts of London and establishing shots in Merzouga and Petra, Jordan. Herzog would capture the beauty of the deserts and locations through some intricate wide shots that gathers so much coverage as well as establish this depth of field that play into the vastness of the locations. Still, Herzog is focused on Bell’s travels and the things she encounter as he would create some nice intimate moments in the close-ups and medium shots upon her meeting with sheiks as she would understand them and they would be gracious in return. It’s among the moments that do make it interesting as well as scenes where Bell meets Lawrence and their views about the world itself.

While there are also some humorous moments in the film, the film unfortunately suffers from its shortcomings in the script where it would affect its pacing as it would plod from time to time including the romantic moments in the film. It’s where the film definitely loses interest as it also makes Bell seem like a homewrecker when it’s not exactly true considering that it was the men that were pursuing her. Herzog’s direction for those scenes do have some interesting compositions but it’s the script that doesn’t really flesh out the emotional aspect of those scenes. Overall, Herzog crafts a messy though fascinating film about the life and work of Gertrude Bell.

Cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger does excellent work with the film’s cinematography in emphasizing the natural lighting and look for many of the scenes set in the desert while emphasizing on a bluish look for the winter scenes in Britain. Editor Joe Bini does nice work with the editing as it has a few jump-cuts and some rhythmic cuts to play into some of the suspense and drama despite its shortcomings in the script. Production designer Ulrich Bergfelder, with art directors Rabiaa N’Gadi and Caroline Steiner, does brilliant work with the look of the homes that Bell would stay in as well as some of the old villages and such where the sheiks lived in. Costume designer Michele Clapton does fantastic work with the costumes from the lavish dresses that Bell and the women would wear at embassy galas and such to the more rugged look she would wear upon her travels through the desert.

Hair/makeup designer Alessandro Bertolazzi does terrific work with the look of the women hairstyles of the time as well as the messiness of Bell’s hair in the desert. Visual effects supervisors Kaspar Kallas and Olaf Przybyszewski do some fine work with some of the film’s visual effects as it largely minor work in bits of set-dressing. Sound designer Laurent Kossayan does superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations including the sounds of guns and cannons throughout the film. The film’s music by Klaus Badelt and Mark Yaeger is amazing for its somber orchestral score driven mainly by strings as it play into the mystique of the Sahara and its desolate locations as well as the world that Bell would encounter.

The casting by Salah Benchegra, Beth Charkham, and Shannon Makhanian is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Mark Lewis John as Bell’s uncle Frank Lascelles, Beth Goddard as Bell’s aunt, Holly Earl as her cousin Florence who has feelings for Cadogan, Assaad Bouab as a sheikh who invites Bell to his home as they share a love of poetry and literature, Sophie Linfield as Doughty-Wylie’s wife Judith, Younes Bouab as a young King Faisal I of Iraq, Christopher Fulford as a young Winston Churchill, David Calder as Bell’s father Hugh who disapproves her relationship with Cadogan, and Jenny Agutter as Bell’s mother Florence who is concerned about her daughter’s desire for adventure as she is reluctant to let her daughter seek it out. Jay Abdo is fantastic as Fattouh as a guide who would accompany Bell on her many journeys as well as be her most loyal companion who would help her trek through the land and be someone that Bell would really care for. Robert Pattinson is excellent as T.E. Lawrence as the famed archeologist, army officer, writer, and diplomat whom Bell would meet as he doesn’t care for any romantic interest in Bell but rather as a colleague and equal whom he shares his views on the world with.

Damian Lewis is terrific as Lt. Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie as a military official who becomes Bell’s second major love interest as someone who is fascinated by her views of the world where Lewis has his moments but he and Kidman don’t really radiate any kind of chemistry due in part to the script. James Franco’s performance as Henry Cadogan as this embassy employee isn’t very good due in part to the script’s shortcomings as well as the fact that Franco doesn’t do a good English accent as he and Kidman also don’t have any chemistry where it feels forced. Finally, there’s Nicole Kidman in an incredible performance as Gertrude Bell as the woman who do all sorts of things as she seeks adventure and challenges where Kidman displays a radiance to her character as well as some restraint in her facial reactions. Despite some of the drawbacks of the romantic aspects on Bell’s life, Kidman does display that anguish of a woman who had dealt with so much as she is also trying to move forward with her desire to explore the world.

Queen of the Desert is a stellar yet underwhelming film from Werner Herzog that features a great performance from Nicole Kidman. Along with its dazzling visuals, somber music score, and strong supporting performances from Jay Abdo and Robert Pattinson. It’s a film that does play into Bell’s life as an explorer though it fumbles into its exploration into aspects of her personal and romantic life which isn’t as interesting as what she does when she’s traveling. In the end, Queen of the Desert is a good but messy film from Werner Herzog.

Werner Herzog Films: Feature Films: (Signs of Life) - (Even the Dwarfs Started Small) - (Fatana Morgana) – Aguirre, the Wrath of God - (The Enigma of Kasper Hauer) - (Heart of Glass) – Stroszek - Nosferatu, the Vampyre - Woyzeck - Fitzcarraldo - (Where the Green Ants Dream) – Cobra Verde - (Scream of Stone) - (Lessons of Darkness) - (Invincible (2001 film)) - (The Wild Blue Yonder) – Rescue Dawn - (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) – (My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?) – (Salt and Fire) – (Family Romance, LLC)

Documentaries: (The Flying Doctors of East Africa) - (Handicapped Future) - (Land of Silence and Darkness) - (The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner) - (How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck) - (La Soufrière) - (Huie's Sermon) - (God's Angry Man) - (Ballad of the Little Soldier) - (The Dark Glow of the Mountains) - (Wodaabe) – Herdsmen of the Sun) - (Echoes from a Somber Empire) - (Jag Mandir) - (Bells from the Deep) - (The Transformation of the World into Music) - (Death for Five Voices) - (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) – My Best Fiend - (Wings of Hope) - (Pilgrimage) - (Ten Thousand Years Older) - (Wheel of Time) - (The White Diamond) – Grizzly Man - Encounters at the End of the World - Cave of Forgotten Dreams - (Into the Abyss) – (On Death Row) – From One Second to the Next - (Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World) – (Into the Inferno) – (Meeting Gorbachev)

© thevoid99 2019

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a collection of stories set in the American West as it play into the many adventures of misadventures of people in the West. The film is an anthology film of sorts that play into six different stories relating to the West. Starring Tim Blake Nelson, Tyne Daly, James Franco, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, Harry Melling, Liam Neeson, and Brendan Gleeson. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a majestic yet whimsical film from the Coen Brothers.

Set in the American West, the film follow six different stories in the American West as it all relates to the themes of death as well as people’s encounter with it. All of which is told in a book about these tales of the West and these characters as they encounter with some idea of death. In The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a cowboy arrives into town singing songs as he also disposes challengers through gunfights while also commenting about the ideas of humanity where he meets a new challenger. Near Algodones is about a bank robber is attacked by the bank’s clerk where pots and pans where he’s later knocked out and captured by a mysterious man in black only for the day to get weirder following an attack by the Comanche, an encounter with a drover, and all sorts of bad shit in one strange day. Meal Ticket revolves around an impresario travels through the cold West with his performer in a young legless/armless artist who recites poetry, stories, and other texts where they endure a declining audience and lack of money prompting the impresario to find a new act.

All Gold Canyon, that is based on a story by Jack London, is about a prospector arrives on a mountain valley to find gold as he dwells into the land to find gold where he makes a discovery but also another one that is far more deadly. In The Gal Who Got Rattled that is inspired by story by Stewart Edward White, a young woman is on the Oregon Trail with her dim-witted older brother who dies suddenly of cholera where she befriends a train leader who is sympathetic to her plight as he thinks about having a future with her once the trail ends. The Mortal Remains is about five different people traveling on a stagecoach as tension arises during the journey as they all tell their own views while dealing with the fact that there’s a dead body on top of the stagecoach as some wonder why. These six different stories play into themes that play into the danger and uncertainty of the West as well as the realities of a world that is ever-changing.

The direction of the Coen Brothers definitely owe a lot to Westerns of the past but also provide their own visual language in the film as it relates to the presentation of the different stories in the film. Each story opens with a picture in the book and closes with the last page of that story as it’s told through a book as it would then cut to a landscape as many of the film’s locations are shot in the Nebraskan Panhandle, New Mexico, and Telluride in Colorado. The Coen Brothers’ direction would have these gorgeous wide shots of certain locations where they also create these striking compositions that add to the beauty whether it’s a shot of a man about to be hanged or a certain location in the valley. While there are comical elements in these stories with the titular story being the most comical of them all as it’s partially a musical. The rest range into elements of dark comedy as it relates to the theme of death as it play into the sense of melancholia and changing times of the West that is evident in stories such as Meal Ticket and The Gal Who Got Rattled as the former is largely dramatic and minimalist in its story while the latter is more about this uncertainty on the Oregon Trail.

Serving as editors under the Roderick Jaynes pseudonym, the Coen Brothers’ approach to the editing help add to not just the drama but also humor with its usage of jump-cuts and dissolves along with rhythmic cuts in certain aspects of the film. Most particularly in All Gold Canyon where the prospector (Tom Waits) is digging holes trying to find gold along with the montage of the artist in Harrison (Harry Melling) reciting famous texts to the growing declining audience in Meal Ticket. The usage of close-ups and medium shots are evident in The Mortal Remains as it is shot largely inside the stagecoach to play into the dramatic tension as well as the sense of intrigue of where the five passengers are going. It is the Coen Brothers playing into the dangers of the American West as they definitely show violent moments that are graphic as it add to the specter of death. Overall, the Coen Brothers craft an evocative yet offbeat film about six strange tales in the American West.

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of natural lighting for some of the exteriors in the daytime along with the usage of tints and filters for some interior scenes along with shots set at night or in the evening as it’s a highlight of the film. Production designer Jess Gonchor, with set decorator Nancy Haigh plus art directors Steve Christensen and Chris Farmer, does amazing work with the look of the buildings that some of the characters go to including the saloons as well as the stagecoach and wagons for some parts of the film. Costume designer Mary Zophres does fantastic work with the costumes as it play into the period of the times from the shiny look of the titular character to the rougher and ragged look of other cowboys as it’s a highlight of the film.

Makeup effects supervisor Robin Myriah Hatcher does terrific work with the look of the characters with the artist being the most notable as well as a few passengers on the stagecoach. Visual effects supervisors Michael Huber and Alex Lemke do excellent work with the visual effects where it does do bits of set-dressing in some parts while doing its best work on the look of the artist. Sound editors Craig Berkey and Skip Lievsay do superb work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as how gunfire and such sounds during a few gun battles in the film. The film’s music by Carter Burwell is incredible for its rich and bombastic musical score that feature some flourishing string arrangements along with elements of folk and country music to play into the air of the times.

The casting by Ellen Chenoweth is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from E.E. Bell as a piano saloon player, Tom Proctor as a Cantina bad man, and David Krumholtz as a saloon Frenchman in the titular segment while Jesse Luken as the drover and Ralph Ineson as the Man in Black are terrific in their brief appearances in Near Algodones. In the titular opening segment, the performances of Clancy Brown as the gambler Curly Joe, Willie Watson as a young gunslinger, and Tim Blake Nelson as the titular character are great with Nelson being a jovial and engaging individual who sings about his exploits while being a great gunslinger. In Near Algodones, Stephen Root is fantastic as the bank teller who is more than prepared for a bank robbery while James Franco is superb as the robber who finds himself in dangerous situations. Liam Neeson and Harry Melling are incredible in their respective roles as the impresario and the artist named Harrison in the Meal Ticket segment with Neeson being largely silent as a man trying to make money while Melling displays a charisma through the things he says.

Tom Waits is brilliant as the prospector trying to find gold in All Gold Canyon while Sam Dillon is wonderful in his small role as a young man trying to rob the prospector. In The Girl Who Got Rattled, the performances of Zoe Kazan as Alice Longabaugh, Bill Heck as Billy Knapp, and Grainger Haines as Mr. Arthur are amazing with Kazan being the major standout as a young woman coping with her situation while there’s notable small roles from Jefferson Mays as Alice’s brother Gilbert and Ethan Dubin as Matt who is trying to cheat Alice. In The Mortal Remains, the performances of Tyne Daly as the devout Christian woman, Saul Rubinek as the Frenchman, Chelcie Ross as trapper, Jonjo O’Neill as the Englishman, and Brendan Gleeson as the Irishman all sitting at the stagecoach are excellent to play into the tension and differences of these individuals as they deal with the journey ahead and their destination as well as the reality of their environment.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a sensational film from Joel and Ethan Coen. Featuring a great ensemble cast, compelling stories on death and the unexpected elements of life, gorgeous cinematography, and an incredible music score and soundtrack. It’s a film that is an unusual yet engaging anthology film of sorts set in the American West that play into all sorts of situations and stories that all relate to uncertainty in those times. In the end, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a phenomenal film from Joel and Ethan Coen.

Coen Brothers Films: Blood Simple - Raising Arizona - Miller's Crossing - Barton Fink - The Hudsucker Proxy - Fargo - The Big Lebowski - O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The Man Who Wasn't There - Intolerable Cruelty - The Ladykillers - Paris Je T'aime-Tulieres -To Each His Own Cinema-World Cinema - No Country for Old Men - Burn After Reading - A Serious Man - True Grit - Inside Llewyn Davis - Hail, Caesar!

The Auteurs #9: The Coen Brothers: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2018

Spring Breakers

Written and directed by Harmony Korine, Spring Breakers is the story of four college girls who embark into a world of crime where they later meet a drug dealer who takes them in as part of his gang where it leads to all sorts of trouble. The film is a look into the world of spring break celebrations in college as well as the subculture of drugs and crime where four girls decide to be part of this world that is filled with chaos and terror. Starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Selena Gomez, Rachel Korine, and Gucci Mane. Spring Breakers is a riveting and evocative film from Harmony Korine.

The film is the simple story of a group of college girls who want to go to South Florida to do spring break where they venture into the world of crime and later meet up with a drug dealer who become part of his gang in a world full of debauchery and terror. While it is a film that does have a traditional narrative structure, it is more about the myth of spring break parties for college students and young people going there in need of a break from education and being at home where they want to get drunk, do drugs, and have a good time. It also explores what some are willing to go through to enjoy themselves where three of the four girls would venture into crime and later associate themselves with this charismatic drug dealer named Alien (James Franco) who offers them a chance at this life of drugs, money, guns, booze, and all sorts of crazy shit. Korine would also explore that sense of intrigue in the young women as two of them in Brit (Ashley Benson) and Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) are fascinated by that sense of danger as it is this break from the monotony of college.

Korine’s direction is definitely mesmerizing not just in the way he captures that air of decadence that goes on in these spring break parties but also in that sense of danger that occurs throughout the film. Shot largely on location in St. Petersburg, Florida and other parts of South Florida, the film does have this sense of a world that is unique where it is about the beaches, speedboats, sunny hotels/motels, the strip clubs, and all of these places that makes part of the American South so vibrant and exciting. Yet, there is also the world of the college campuses that are quite typical as it represents the opposite of what these girls want to go through but there is also a spiritual element in the film as it relates to the character Faith (Selena Gomez) who is first seen at a Bible study as she’s confused about going on the trip as she’s kind of the film’s conscience. Her character drink and smoke in the debauchery but when she and her friends are sent to jail, the reality starts to seep in where it would be overwhelming.

The direction is filled with some dazzling compositions in the usage of close-ups, medium shots, and wide shots as well as go for different types of film and digital stock including the old video camera for some of the party scenes. It says a lot to the decadence but it also displays elements that might seem as sexist where there are moments where young women expose themselves in many ways while Korine would do a tracking shot where the camera is following a couple of girls by focusing on their butts. It does add to the idea of the male fantasy in the idea of bikini girls with machine guns is something a guy would want to see but he does it in a visual style that is quite entrancing while emphasizing on repeated images that play into the joy of spring break parties. Korine would also create compositions that would help say a lot by doing very little as it does express that sense that spring break is fleeting though the girls wish it would be forever. Especially as the third act does go into very dark territory filled with violence and decadence with elements of non-linear narrative that either provides a sense of foreshadowing or the aftermath of what these girls would encounter. Overall, Korine crafts a ravishing and gripping film about four girls going to spring break and meet a charming drug dealer.

Cinematographer Benoit Debie does phenomenal work with the film‘s cinematography with its array of colors and lighting to play into the scenes set at night while the usage of neon lights in the way bikinis look or what a room looks like at night are just among some of the most gorgeous images captured on film as it is a major highlight of the film. Editor Douglas Crise does brilliant work with the editing with its stylish usage of montages, jump-cuts, slow-motion cuts, and non-linear editing as it does a lot to flesh out the story. Production designer Elliott Hostetter, with set decorator Adam Willis and art director Almitra Corey, does excellent work with the look of Alien‘s home with all of its guns, drugs, and other things that is typical of what dealers and gangsters are but yet it also sort of makes fun of the idea of the modern gangster. Costume designer Heidi Bivens does fantastic work with the costumes from the bikinis and shorts the girls wear to the lavish clothes of Alien.

Hair/makeup artist Nana Fischer does terrific work with the look of Alien from his dreadlocks to the tattoos in his body as well as his metallic teeth. Visual effects supervisor Chris Woods does nice work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects for some of the scenes shot on digital video as it plays into the surreal textures in the camera work. Sound designer Adam Glascock and co-sound editor Byron Wilson do superb work with the sound with its mixing in the way the parties sound in and out of the room as well as the editing as it relates to some of the voiceover work of the characters in the film. The film’s music of Skrillex and Cliff Martinez do incredible work with the music with the former providing some rhythmic electronic music with his dubstep sound and some fuzzy electronics while the latter would bring some ambient textures into the score. Music supervisors Randall Poster and Brandon Thompson do wonderful work with the film’s music soundtrack that includes a range of music from pop, hip-hop, and electronic music by Britney Spears, Birdy Nam Nam, Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, and Ellie Goulding.

The casting by Laray Mayfield is excellent for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small performances from professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett as a preacher in a Bible study meeting, Sidney and Thurman Sewell as themselves as they’re called the ATL Twins, and Gucci Mane as Alien’s former friend/mentor and now rival Big Arch. Rachel Korine is fantastic as Cotty as one of the four girls who joins in the adventure as she helps Brit and Candy in their schemes while getting her own taste of debauchery. Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens are amazing in their respective roles as Brit and Candy as the two girls who love to drink and do drugs as their wildest of the two who become Alien’s lovers as well as their most dangerous confidants. Selena Gomez is brilliant as Faith as the youngest of the four girls as someone who joins the girl in the fun until she is arrested with her friends as well as her own encounter with Alien makes her very uncomfortable where she displays that sense of the conscience into the film. Finally, there’s James Franco in a phenomenal performance as the drug dealer Alien where Franco goes all out in the role where he displays a sense of charm and dark comic wit as it is a performance of the ages for Franco.

Spring Breakers is a spectacular film from Harmony Korine. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous cinematography by Benoit Debie, a killer soundtrack, and some dazzling technical work. The film is definitely a provocative look into the world of spring break culture and what young women are willing to do to be part of that world along with the subculture of crime. In the end, Spring Breakers is a rapturous film from Harmony Korine.

Harmony Korine Films: Gummo - Dogme #6-Julien-Donkey Boy - (Mister Lonely) - (Trash Humpers) - (The Trap (2016 film))

© thevoid99 2016

The Interview (2014 film)

Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and screenplay written by Dan Sterling from a story by Rogen, Goldberg, and Sterling, The Interview is the story of two American journalists who have booked an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as they’re asked by the CIA to assassinate him. The film is a humorous take of two bumbling journalists whose job is to kill Kim Jong-un as they also try to befriend him for the interview as the North Korean leader is played by Randall Park. Also starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Diana Bang, and Timothy Simons. The Interview is a wild and hilarious film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

When an American talk show host managed to get an interview with Kim Jong-un in an attempt to gain legitimacy, he and his producer friend travel to North Korea as they’re secretly asked by the CIA to kill him. Along with way, the two men do idiotic things where the talk show host Dave Skylark (James Franco) befriends Kim Jong-un through parties and all sorts of shit while his friend Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) is trying to get the interview to happen as well as do the assignment. The film’s screenplay is aware that it doesn’t have a plot while it also portrays Kim Jong-un as someone trying to live up to his father’s legacy to ensure the people of North Korea that he’s a god with no butt hole. While Skylark thinks that Kim Jong-un is a good guy as he never takes his subjects seriously which often brings discomfort to Rapoport who is seen by other journalists and producers as a pariah and a thorn to the true world of journalism. Rapoport’s desire to be taken seriously and do what is right would later cause conflict between him and Skylark until the latter makes some very chilling discoveries.

The direction by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg is pretty simple as it’s not going for anything big but rather play into the world of celebrity news and the idea of what North Korea is to the world. Much of it involves some unique compositions in the wide and medium shots to how Skylark and Rapoport are with each other as they are buddies. The direction definitely has a sense of style in the sense of partying while the use of close-ups are very prevalent once they meet Kim Jong-un. Even in how he’s filmed where he is presented as a mythic figure until it is clear that he likes pussy, margaritas, and all sorts of crazy shit. Much of the film is shot in Canada to play into the look of North Korea and how much of Kim Jong-un wants to make the place feel like paradise. Yet, Rogen and Goldberg also present an air of suspense about what happen if this interview does go wrong as there’s the threat of nuclear war happening where Rapoport and Skylar know there’s a lot at stake once they uncover the truth. Overall, Rogen and Goldberg create a very witty yet entertaining film about two idiots who are asked to kill Kim Jong-un.

Cinematographer Brandon Trost does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from the use of interior lights for the scenes at Kim Jong-un‘s palace to the nighttime exteriors in some of scenes in New York City and a crucial scene at night where Rapoport has to retrieve something near the forest. Editors Zene Baker and Evan Henke do fantastic work with the editing as it‘s very stylized with some cheesy TV editing wipes as well as jump-cuts and montages to play into the comedy and sense of fun that is prevalent during the film. Production designer Jon Billington, with set decorator Johanne Hubert and art director James Steuart, does brilliant work with the look of Kim Jong-un‘s palace with its halls and rooms along with the look of the CIA mission control room. Costume designer Carla Hetland does nice work with the look of the North Korean uniforms as well as the suits and casual clothes that Skylar and Rapoport wear.

Makeup artists Laverne Caracuzzi and Andrea Manchur do superb work with the look of Kim Jong-un from the design of his haircut and a few minor features. Visual effects supervisor Paul Linden does terrific work with the visual effects for some of the film‘s action scenes as well as few set dressing scenes to make the film look like it‘s at North Korea. Sound designers Michael Babcock and Eric A. Norris do amazing work with the sound from the way drones sound when they fly above North Korea to the layers of sounds in some of the gunfire that occurs in the film. The film’s music by Henry Jackman is wonderful for its mixture of bombastic orchestral music along with elements of traditional Asian music and a flamenco piece while music supervisor Jonathan Karp creates a fun soundtrack filled with hip-hop and rap music plus contributions by Usher, David Bowie, Isaac Hayes, Scorpions, and Katy Perry.

The casting by Francine Maisler is phenomenal as it features notable small roles from Anders Holm as an old friend of Rapoport who is also a rival producer, Charles Rhai Chun as General Jong, and Timothy Simons as Skylar and Rapoport’s fellow producer/friend Malcolm. Diana Bang is fantastic as a North Korean military officer named Sook who meets with Rapoport on the meeting as she aid him in preparing the interview. Lizzy Caplan is excellent as CIA agent Lacey who prepares Skylar and Rapoport for their meeting with Kim Jong-un as she does have a few funny moments while being the straight person for the two men.

Randall Park is hilarious as Kim Jong-un as this dictator who wants to be seen as a god as he befriends Skylar as he’s a fan of his show where Park brings a lot of humor but also some terror into his character. Finally, there’s the duo of James Franco and Seth Rogen in marvelous performances in their respective roles as Dave Skylar and Aaron Rapoport as the two definitely bring in a lot of laughs as well as display great chemistry. Franco brings an energetic and lively performance as a talk show who is full of himself while thinking he would make history with his interview with Kim Jong-un. Rogen also brings a lot of energy to his performance while being the voice of reason in the film as he copes with what is at stake as well as what Kim Jong-un really is.

The Interview is a fantastically funny and bombastic film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Armed with a nifty premise as well as not taking itself very seriously as it has bits of satire on the world of the media. In the end, The Interview is an exhilarating and fun film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Related: This is the End

© thevoid99 2014

This is The End

Based on the short film Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse by Jason Stone, This is the End is an apocalyptic comedy in which a group of celebrity friends have a party until the Apocalypse emerges as the small group of survivors try to stay home at James Franco’s house as tension and such emerge as they all try to survive the end of the world. Written for the screen and directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the film is a raunchy comedy where many of the actors in the film play fictional versions of themselves as they all try to survive the Apocalypse. Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and Emma Watson as they all play themselves with a cast that includes many other people. This is the End is a hilarious and extravagant comedy from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

The film revolves around an apocalyptic event during a party at James Franco’s house where many celebrities have died during the party while Franco, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride all stay at Franco’s house trying to survive with what little supplies they have. In turn, all sorts of things happen where much of the focus is about the strained relationship between Rogen and Baruchel as the latter arrives in Los Angeles visiting Rogen in the hopes to repair their friendship. Instead, the party at Franco would only further the strain as tension would also increase between the six where McBride is portrayed as a very greedy and selfish individual, Franco as a pretentious movie star who is attached to his old film props, and Hill as an overly-nice diva. All of which have the actors play exaggerated versions of themselves while there’s moments in the film that would test their friendship as well as how to survive the apocalypse.

The film’s screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg starts off as a nice, raunchy comedy where everyone but Baruchel is having a good time at Franco’s house where some of the wild moments involve Michael Cera doing cocaine and getting a blow-job. Once things start happening where people die and a sinkhole emerges in front of Franco’s house where chaos ensues and no one is sure what to make of it. With Baruchel thinking it’s the Apocalypse happening where Robinson would believe him, everyone else isn’t sure until all of the tension and such starts to emerge. Even as Baruchel is accused of being self-righteous and Rogen is accused of being a sell-out where Robinson is sort of the film’s conscience. All of which would play into these guys trying to survive the Apocalypse and face whatever is out there.

Rogen and Goldberg’s direction is very ambitious and lavish in terms of their idea of what might happen in the Apocalypse. Much of it involve some very hazy exterior scenes where it’s a world that is reminiscent of hell as the Hollywood Hills is being engulfed in flames while demons emerge wreaking havoc. The direction would feature some simple moments in the compositions as well as a lot of lively humor that is filled with spontaneity. Even as some of it is crass and confrontational where Rogen and Goldberg maintain that intimacy in Franco’s home as well as going very broad for many of the scenes set in Los Angeles. Even as it would involve these crazy moments while beams are shot up from the air taking people to somewhere unknown. Overall, Rogen and Goldberg create a very engaging and funny film about six friends trying to survive the Apocalypse.

Cinematographer Brandon Trost does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with its use of yellow-lights and smoke to play into a look of ruin and terror for some of the film‘s exteriors and lights in the interior scenes. Editor Zene Baker does fantastic work with the editing where it plays into all sorts of styles including a few montages of the guys partying while creating home-made sequels to some of their films. Production designer Chris L. Spellman, with set decorator Helen Britten and art director William Ladd Skinner, does amazing work with the look of James Franco‘s house that includes some paintings and art work that surrounds the house to play into Franco‘s sense of arrogance.

Costume designer Danny Glicker does nice work with the costumes as it‘s mostly casual to play into the personality of the characters involved in the film. Visual effects supervisor Paul Linden does brilliant work with some of the visual effects such as the exteriors of Los Angeles engulfed in flames as well as the look of the demons the characters have to deal with. Sound designer Michael Babcock does superb work with the sound from the way the monsters sound to some of the chaos that occurs in and out of the house The film’s music by Henry Jackman is wonderful for its suspenseful-based orchestral score to play into some of the terror in the film while music supervisor Jonathan Karp brings in a fun soundtrack that consists of music from Black Sabbath, Cypress Hill, M.I.A., Whitney Houston, the Backstreet Boys, Dr. Dre, Snoop Lion, and other acts to play into the party atmosphere of the film.

The casting by Francine Maisler is incredible for the array of people that appear in the film as themselves such as Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Rhianna, Martin Starr, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aziz Ansari, and David Krumholtz as party guests. Michael Cera is hilarious as a very debauched version of himself doing cocaine, getting blow-jobs in bathrooms, and slapping Rhianna’s ass. Emma Watson is amazing as herself as she briefly appears in Franco’s house during the Apocalypse carrying an axe. Danny McBride is great as himself as he brings his Kenny Powers character to the mix as this overly-selfish and greedy person. Craig Robinson is excellent in a much more calm and softer version of himself as he sort of plays the film’s conscience.

Jonah Hill is superb as this overly-nice and sensitive version of himself as he wears an earring and wants to be peaceful yet secretly hates Jay for being self-righteous where he gets to be very funny later in the film. James Franco is fantastic as this even more smug version of himself who likes to keep his props while trying to maintain order only to create more tension in the group. Jay Baruchel is brilliant as the loner of the group who tries to make sense of everything while creating some misunderstanding during the chaos. Finally, there’s Seth Rogen in a terrific performance as a more subdued version of himself who is insecure about his man-titties while trying to include Jay into the gang though he is also trying to maintain his friendship with Franco.

This is the End is a flat-out hilarious apocalyptic comedy from Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. Thanks to a great cast, a unique premise, and a fun soundtrack, it’s a film that pokes fun of celebrity and the idea of how they would survive the Apocalypse. Even as they would turn against each other and do all sorts of crazy things in an event like this. In the end, This is the End is a remarkable film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

© thevoid99 2014

The Company (2003 film)

Directed by Robert Altman and screenplay by Barbara Turner from a story by Turner and Neve Campbell, The Company is the story about the Joffrey Ballet company as they prepare and perform for various projects. The film is based on Campbell’s own experience as a ballerina as she stars in the film along with James Franco and Malcolm McDowell along with real-life people from the actual Joffrey Ballet company based in Chicago. The result is a fascinating yet wonderfully exquisite film from Robert Altman.

The film is about the year of the Joffrey Ballet Company of Chicago as they’re setting up for many shows of the year led by its artistic director Alberto Antonelli (Malcolm McDowell) that will include an elaborate show to start at the beginning of the new year. Throughout the entirety of the film, the story is about an entire company as they all deal with the expectations of their performances as well as other things while one of the dancers in Ry (Neve Campbell) is becoming a lead dancer just as she’s starting a relationship with a sous chef in Josh (James Franco). While there’s artistic disputes and other issues that occur in the company, it all comes down to the shows that is in display that leads to the climatic show for the start of the new year.

Barbara Turner’s screenplay doesn’t carry any kind of traditional plot as it explores what goes on behind the scenes where ballets, production designers, choreographers, and many other people do their hardest to put on a good show. Yet, there will be moments when something goes wrong as some feel that Antonelli is a bit of taskmaster while other dancers get injured in the process forcing their understudies to step in as they have to prepared for something like this to happen. For Ry, she goes from understudy to lead dancer by chance where she knows she has to prove herself to Antonelli and her peers. Yet, she succeeds while taking the time to be a waitress at a nightclub and have this relationship with a chef who is fascinated by her world.

The direction of Robert Altman is very engaging for the way he doesn’t just present the scenes in the rehearsal rooms, the studios, and other places but also what goes on when the performance is happening onstage. While Altman uses a lot of elaborate shooting styles in steadicam tracking shots, dollies, and crane shots to help display what goes on and off the stage. Altman is also fascinated by the dancing where he knows where to put the camera so it wouldn’t intrude into the dancing while using wide shots to help capture the presentation of the dance and the stage setting in those shows. The camera is always focused on the dancer and the movements to play out the sense of rhythm and beauty that occurs in the film. With the help of many choreographers, the dances are truly intricate in its sense of rhythm as well as the emotions that are displayed as Altman always has the camera showing what is on display in the dance. While there’s a few moments in the film where it lags a bit, Altman does create a truly mesmerizing film about the world of ballet.

Cinematographer Andrew Dunn does excellent work with the film‘s photography from the lovely exterior looks of the locations in Chicago as well as the lighting for the scenes in the studio as well as the beautiful scenery in the stage with help from lighting designer Kevin Dreyer. Editor Geraldine Peroni does brilliant work with the editing to capture the rhythm of the dancing with methodical cuts along with some stylistic ones for the rehearsals and dramatic scenes. Production designer Gary Baugh, with set decorator Karen Bruck and art director Craig Jackson, does amazing work with some of the set pieces inside the studio as well as the more elaborate staging for some of the shows that are on display including the film’s climatic show.

Costume designer Susan Kaufmann does terrific work with the costumes as a lot of it is casual for the most part while they are much more lavish and stylish in the ballet performances. Sound editor Eliza Paley does nice work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the dancing as well as some of the raucous moments in the parties and other location-based scenes. The film’s music by Van Dyke Parks is wonderful for its mixture of electronic-based music for some of the ballet music background while a lot of the film’s soundtrack consists of classical music for most of the ballet scenes as well as some other types of music outside of ballet like industrial at the club Ry works as well as many renditions of the song My Funny Valentine including a rendition by Elvis Costello.

The casting by Pam Dixon is superb for the ensemble that is created as it mostly features real dancers and people from the Joffrey Ballet Company of Chicago as it adds to the realism that is in display in the film. James Franco is terrific as the sous chef Josh that Ry starts a relationship with as he is intrigued by the world ballet. Malcolm McDowell is marvelous as the company’s artistic director Angelo Antonelli who is making sure things go right while being bit of a taskmaster as he also wants the dancers to be more enthralling and less pretty. Finally, there’s Neve Campbell in a remarkable performance as Ry as this young woman who gets a chance to be a top dancer for the company as she also finds something good in personal life as Campbell also reveals to be a very accomplished dancer as it’s definitely one of her finest performances of her career.

The Company is an incredibly rich film from Robert Altman about the world of ballet. Featuring splendid performances from Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell, it’s a film that showcases a lot of what goes on in the world of ballet without using any dramatic tropes or focusing on one character but rather the company as a whole. In the end, The Company is a superb film from Robert Altman.

Robert Altman Films: (The Delinquents) - (The James Dean Story) - Countdown (1968 film) - (That Cold Day in the Park) - M.A.S.H. - Brewster McCloud - McCabe & Mrs. Miller - (Images) - The Long Goodbye - Thieves Like Us - California Split - Nashville - Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson - 3 Women - (A Wedding) - (Quintet) - (A Perfect Couple (HealtH) - Popeye - (Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean) - (Streamers) - (Secret Honor) - (O.C. and Stiggs) - Fool for Love - (Beyond Therapy) - (Aria-Les Boreades) - (Tanner ‘88) - (Vincent & Theo) - The Player - Short Cuts - Pret-a-Porter - (Kansas City) - (The Gingerbread Man) - Cookie's Fortune - Dr. T and the Women - Gosford Park - (Tanner on Tanner) - A Prairie Home Companion

© thevoid99 2013

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origin story of how a scientist took care of an ape named Caesar and was then forced to be taken by cruel caretakers leading to a revolt with help from other apes. Based on the original Planet of the Apes novel by Pierre Boulle, the film explores Caesar’s development from a normal ape into a leader. Starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis as Caesar. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an exciting and thrilling film from Rupert Wyatt.

In hopes to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, scientist Will Rodham (James Franco) believes that he’s made a breakthrough from an ape he had been experimenting on. After telling his boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) about his breakthrough, Will presents it to a board which becomes a disaster after the ape he experimented has broke out of her cell due to a misunderstanding. With Jacobs deciding to have the apes killed, Will learns through fellow scientist Franklin (Tyler Labine) about a baby ape that Will’s ape was trying to protect. Will takes the baby home where they would live with Will’s father Charles (John Lithgow) who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Amazed by the ape’s growing intelligence, Will calls the ape Caesar as he believes that Caesar is the key to the cure he’s searching for to help his father. After meeting primatologist Caroline (Freida Pinto) to help treat an injury for Caesar, she becomes part of the family where Charles’ condition seems to improve for a few years. Yet, Caesar starts to feel like he’s treated like a pet as Will reveals the truth about his background and why he took him in. When Charles starts to fall ill due to dementia, an incident involving Charles and a neighbor (David Hewlett) has Caesar fighting the neighbor to protect Charles. Due to the incident, authorities force Will and Caroline to put Caesar to an animal shelter that is run by the cruel John Landon (Brian Cox) and his vicious son Dodge (Tom Felton).

While Will reluctantly returns to work to find a cure only to feel compromised by Jacobs over the testing of apes. Back at the shelter, Caesar is befriended by fellow apes including a circus orangutan named Maurice (Karin Konoval), Rocket (Terry Notary), and a big gorilla named Buck (Richard Ridings) as they organize a revolt. When Will learns that Jacobs’ new version of the drug is flawed and fatal to humans, he quits as he tries to get Caesar back. Instead, Caesar chooses to stay as he briefly leaves the shelter to help find ways to make his fellow apes smarter as they lead an attack on the Landons and those that oppose them to Will’s horror.

The film is an origin story with a lot of references to the 1968 film which included the famous line “Get your hands off me you damn dirty ape”. Yet, it does create a lot of ideas of how the Earth was taken over by the apes as well as more ideas over what happened to the humans. Still, it’s a film about a man’s relationship with this little chimpanzee he would call Caesar and how he would shape this chimpanzee’s outlook on life and later play part in his revolt against humanity. Though the Will Rodham character is a flawed man that just wants to save his father’s life, he does care for Caesar and treats him more than just an animal. The script that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver works in creating that relationship arc and basing the ideas for what would come in the stories that are previously told though there are flaws in the script. The Caroline character is sort of a one-dimensional figure who just plays the girlfriend while antagonists like the Landons don’t have much to do other than be mean to Caesar.

Rupert Wyatt’s direction is quite extraordinary with its presentation as he does more than just make a typical summer blockbuster action film that is loaded with CGI-effects. Since the apes are performed by actors in motion-capture visual effects, it adds a certain realness to the way the apes are presented not just physically but emotionally. Notably in their interactions to humans and some of the big action sequences in its third act. Wyatt does create some amazing tracking shots for some of the cage hallways in the shelter along with wonderful steadicam camera shots for some of Caesar’s movements around Will’s home. Overall, Wyatt creates a truly exhilarating and fun action film with a bit of drama and lots of energy.

Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie does an excellent job with the film‘s stylish cinematography from the naturalistic, lush look of the redwood forest scenes at Muir Woods National Monument along with darker lighting schemes for some of the nighttime interiors at the shelter. Editors Conrad Buff IV and Mark Goldblatt is pretty good for the fast-paced rhythm of the action scenes while utilizing montages for some of Caesar‘s growing development and slower cuts for the dramatic moments. Production designer Claude Pare, with set decorator Elizabeth Wilcox and supervising art director Helen Jarvis, does incredible work with the set pieces from Caesar’s room in Will’s home along with the building Will works at and the play room at the shelter where Caesar leads his revolt.

Costume designer Renee April does nice work in the costumes as the close are mostly casual including a red shirt worn by Caesar. Visual effects supervisors Dan Lemmon and Erik Winquist do a spectacular job with the visual effects for the way the apes look along with some of the action sequences that happen as it is truly the film‘s highlight in terms of its technical field. Sound designer Chuck Michael and sound editor John A. Larsen do some fantastic work in the sound work from the stark yet hollow world of the shelter to the more raucous bombast of the action scenes that occur in the film. The film’s score by Patrick Doyle is superb for playing up to the bombast with loud percussions and soaring string arrangements while going for a more low-key approach in the dramatic portions of the film.

The casting by Debra Zane is remarkable for the ensemble that is created as it features notable small roles from Tyler Labine as Will’s lab friend Franklin, Jamie Harris as a shelter caretaker, and David Hewlett as Will’s hot-headed neighbor Hunsiker. Brian Cox is very good as the slimy animal shelter head John Landon while Tom Felton is also good, despite being one-dimensional, as the crueler Dodge Landon. David Oyelowo is stellar as Will’s boss Jacobs who becomes consumed with greed as he uses Will for his own financial gain. Freida Pinto is decent as the very caring Caroline although she doesn’t get much to do than just be the supportive girlfriend. John Lithgow is excellent as Will’s ailing father Charles who becomes fond of Caesar while dealing with his own disease.

James Franco gives a terrific performance as Will Rodham by displaying a man that just wants to help his father while forming his own bond with Caesar as he tries to help the chimpanzee in his ordeal. The performances by Karin Konoval, Richard Ridings, Christopher Gordon, and Terry Notary as the apes Caesar befriend are superb for the physicality and emotional expressions they give to those apes making them more than just CGI-creations. Yet, the best work in that field as well as the best performance in the film is Andy Serkis as Caesar. In the way he expresses the varied emotions as well as Caesar’s physicality, Serkis does something that goes beyond the parameters of what a motion-capture performance can do. Notably as Serkis gets Caesar to speak a few words in the film’s climatic revolt to exemplify Caesar’s growth in intelligence as it’s definitely a performance like no other.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a marvelous and entertaining action-blockbuster film from Rupert Wyatt that features an outstanding performance from Andy Serkis. This is a film that gives the Planet of the Apes franchise a much-needed boost after being away from theaters for so long as well as very misguided remake back in 2001. For fans of action-blockbusters, this film is among one of the best that offers more than just entertainment. In the end, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an engaging yet pleasurable film from Rupert Wyatt.

Related: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - War for the Planet of the Apes

© thevoid99 2012

Milk

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 1/17/09 w/ Extensive Revisions & Additional Content.

The 2008 U.S. elections saw some big changes that are coming to the country yet to the gay and lesbian community, it seemed to be another setback. Notably in California when the law known as Proposition 8 which bans gay marriages in the state was passed. For many, it was a defeat but the gay and lesbian community to rally on as they are willing to have the same rights as straight people are. Yet, it's amazing how much times has changed for homosexuals more than 30 years ago when in 1978. An openly gay man named Harvey Milk was a San Francisco city supervisor who fought for the rights of gays and lesbians. In that year, he helped defeat a proposition that would've banned gays being teachers in school. Yet, the victory would be short-lived on November 27, 1978. Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.

Milk would be martyred as he was considered by some as a gay equivalent to Martin Luther King, Jr. in terms of fighting for the rights of people who didn't have rights. In 1984, Milk's story was told through a documentary by Rob Epstein called The Times of Harvey Milk which would win the Academy Award for Best Documentary. With Milk's story proving to be an inspiration, especially with getting the gay and lesbian community to be more political and open to the public. The time has come for Milk's story to be told once again in a feature-length bio-pic helmed by one of American cinema's great voices and openly-gay figures in Gus Van Sant for the film simply entitled Milk.

Directed by Gus Van Sant with a screenplay written by Dustin Lance Black, writer for the TV show Big Love, Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk's life as a 40 year old man with no sense of direction as he and his boyfriend moved to San Francisco. Yet, Milk would start a revolution with a few other gay men and women as he goes into politics determined to help the gay community receive their rights as human beings despite some opposition. Playing the role of Harvey Milk is Sean Penn who leads an all-star cast in this inspirational tale of a man who became an unlikely leader. Also starring James Franco, Diego Luna, Emile Hirsch, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O'Hare, and Josh Brolin as Dan White. Milk is an inspirational yet powerful film from Gus Van Sant.

After living a dreary life in New York City until meeting a young man named Scott Smith (James Franco), Harvey Milk leaves the city to move to San Francisco with Scott in 1970. Changing his look to become more in tune with the times, Milk and Smith open a camera store in the middle of the Castro district as they deal with resistance from the working class community in the area. With gays and lesbians starting to crop up in the Castro, Milk becomes an unlikely leader as he rallies protests and such over beatings. With Smith on his side, Milk takes in a group of young gay men like photographer Danny Nicoletta (Lucas Grabeel), Rick Stokes (Stephen Spinella) and Dick Pabich (Joseph Cross) as part of his team as makes an attempt to run for city supervisor in 1973. After its failed run, Milk returns to his clean-cut look for the 1975 election as his devotion to politics takes its toll on his relationship with Smith.

When a young man named Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch) reveals what he saw in Spain involving rioting gays and drag queens, Milk asks him to join his team. Following Anita Bryant's successful anti-gay law campaign in Florida, Milk takes his political aspirations more seriously as Scott leaves as Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill) takes over as Milk's campaign manager. With a new approach and a strategy to reach out to voters outside of the gay and lesbian community, Milk's campaign for city supervisor succeeds as he also founds a new Mexican-American boyfriend named Jack Lira (Diego Luna). After getting the job, Milk meets another newly-elected supervisor in Dan White, who is an Irish-American former firefighter who is wary of Milk's homosexuality. Though the two try to work together, Milk is unsure of White's intentions for the laws he's trying to pass as he learns about an initiative called Proposition 6 that bans gay teachers from school.

Leading this initiative is Californian senator John Briggs (Denis O'Hare) as Milk decides to challenge him to a series of debates. Though it would take some sacrifices to his own personal life as well as his issues with White, Milk would eventually defeat Briggs and his proposition giving gays a victory. Yet, Milk's success would be short-lived following Dan White's resignation over salary disputes where he would target both Milk and Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber).

Most film bio-pics often stick to a certain formula where it often begins with the person as a child and then grow into this person or that person. This film doesn't exactly stick to the conventions of a typical film bio-pic. Instead, it's about the last years of Harvey Milk from his first meeting with Scott Smith to the huge candlelight vigil after his passing. Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black deserves a lot of credit for straying from some of the conventions of the typical film bio-pic by just focusing on the eight years of Milk's life mostly told from Milk's perspective as he's speaking to a tape recorder. It's clear from that opening of Milk talking to his tape recorder is that he's telling the story of those last eight years just before he knows he that he will be killed. Black definitely goes for a structure that is mostly told from Milk but with no voice-over narration. By the second half of the film, Dan White is introduced to get an idea of possible motives that would cause him to kill Milk.

Black doesn't offer any answers into Dan White's motives but it's clear that White is a character who is at times, a bit aloof, ignorant, and often naive while making him sympathetic over what he was going through despite the actions he would cause. The script succeeds in introducing several characters that would be important to Harvey Milk like Scott Smith, Cleve Jones, Jack Lira, and Anne Kronenberg. Though the Lira character is smaller in comparison to Milk's own relationship with Smith, it's really because Black is straying away from convention in having the audience not know a lot about Milk's relationship with Lira. He just shows that the relationship was a brief moment in Milk's life as he's often overwhelmed and distracted by his own political causes that would also drive Scott Smith away early on.

The script truly works in going for convention and going against it as Dustin Lance Black truly succeeds in creating a fascinating story. A story like this would've been more straightforward and dramatic in the hands of a director that would've been more traditional. Instead, in the hands of a revered, unconventional, and engaging director like Gus Van Sant. The film becomes something more as Van Sant goes directly for the story as well as capturing the times of 1970s San Francisco. Using lots of archival footage as well as re-creation of scenes from The Times of Harvey Milk, Van Sant creates the film as if he was doing a history report. What he does is give the audience an idea of what it was like in the 1970s for gays and lesbians just after the time of the Stonewall riots in 1969 in New York City. There was a prejudice towards them from the police as they were arriving in the Castro district while they were being vilified publicly by Anita Bryant.

In telling the story of someone like Harvey Milk, Van Sant definitely recreates the world of 1970 where he unveils Milk as just a regular guy. By the time he got tired of being oppressed by prejudice toward gays, Milk becomes an unlikely activist. Van Sant definitely uses Black's script for structure while using lots of grainy archival footage of the 1970s for an idea of the world that is Castro Street. In some of the scene's marches and protests, Van Sant takes the camera and have the audience be a member of the audience watching Milk talk and get angry over this prejudice. The direction of Van Sant doesn't go for the moody, atmospheric direction of three previous films like Elephant, Last Days, and Paranoid Park. It also doesn't go for total convention with certain shots and placement as he remains engaged into the drama. At times with the use of archival footage edited with the scenes he's re-creating, there's a romanticism of what he was trying to do.

There's times in the film where it could've gone into further, conventional territory like Milk's personal relationships with Scott Smith and Jack Lira but he does it restraint, he finds a balance to focus on Milk's political activism. There's even a scene where Milk gets a phone call from a young gay man that at first, might have been extremely stamped on in terms of dramatic structure. Yet when that individual is revisited later on, Van Sant shows what impact Milk had on one person that could've been anyone. In this film, Van Sant presents a history lesson to audiences while exploring an individual who became this unlikely martyr for gay and lesbian rights. While there's a political message about how far gays had come and what's left to fight for. Van Sant makes a film that is engaging both politically as well as inspiration about one man's fight to make a voice for a group of people who were seeking a voice in times when being who they were was sinful.

Cinematographer Harris Savides, who had Van Sant's cinematographer for several of Van Sant's recent films, does fantastic work with the look of the film. From the colorful, sunny exterior look of daytime San Francisco and the Castro area to the nighttime scenes where with low lights and such, it could be dangerous but also exciting. While Savides also goes for grainy film work with some 8mm, 16mm shots as well as grainy shots in some of the interiors. Savides does some vibrant work in a few party scenes including a church scene while capturing the moment with several shooting styles like tracking shots, steadicams to follow certain characters, and hand-held work as Savides does a superb job with the film's cinematography.

Taking over for Van Sant, who had been editing his own films recently, is Elliot Graham whose stylistic approach of meshing archival footage and the scenes that are being shot are mesmerizing. Even creating a leisurely pacing style that works instead of the methodical, elliptical pacing that Van Sant had done in recent films. Graham's editing is a highlight of the film's technical work as he helps Van Sant in creating the romantic look and feel of the film. Production designer Bill Groom with set decorator Barbara Munch and art director Charley Beal do excellent work in the recreating of 1970s San Francisco with wonderful interiors of the apartments and the camera shop that would be Milk's base. Costume designer Danny Glicker also does excellent work with the 70s style clothes and suits that Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, and Josh Brolin wears along with some great use of makeup and hair style for the actors.

Van Sant's regular sound designer Leslie Shatz does brilliant work with the location sounds and mixing in some of the interior setting. Notably one of the film's final key scenes where the sound really captures an intense, dramatic moment. Shatz's work is truly masterful in the way she creates an atmosphere in some of the party scenes along with the intensity of the marches that happens in the film. Music composer Danny Elfman does amazing work with the score in the use of some operatic music and pieces to display the drama and tone of 1970s San Francisco. With a soundtrack that includes music pieces from David Bowie, Sylvester, Sly and the Family Stone, and other disco songs. The music in the film definitely captures the times with Elfman's wonderful score underplaying the drama while paying homage to Milk's love of opera music.

The casting by Francine Maisler is spectacular in assembling several actors in various film roles with a few key cameo appearances of Milk's own personnel including Cleve Jones in a cameo while he serves a historical consultant along with photographer Danny Nicoletta providing still photos of the times and the real-life individuals that are portrayed in the film. Small performances from producer Howard Rosenman as a gay magazine magnet who has political ties along with Kelvin Yu and Jeff Koons as a couple of Milk's associates in office. Lucas Grabeel of High School Musical fame is good as photographer Danny Nicoletta while Stephen Spinella and Joseph Cross each stand out in their respective roles as Rick Stokes and Dick Pabich, who are hard-working guys who idolized Milk. Victor Garber is very good in his small role as Mayor George Moscone who finds a political ally in Milk while real-life gay actor Denis O'Hare is brilliant as Senator John Briggs who battles Milk over the Proposition 6 initiative.

Alison Pill is wonderful as Anne Kronenberg, Milk's campaign manager who shakes things up for the campaign that's often run by men as Pill truly stands out in her scenes with Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch. Diego Luna is very good as Jack Lira, Milk's 1977-1978 boyfriend who is forced to deal with Milk's increasing work in politics as he tries to get him at home while being a drunk. Though it's a small role in comparison to the other principle actors including Alison Pill, Luna does stand out in a memorable performance. Emile Hirsch is flat-out amazing as Cleve Jones, a young kid who becomes a passionate activist and organizer who is filled with energy and bravado. It's an amazing performance from Hirsch that is so full of life that he captures every moment he's in where he nearly steals the show from Sean Penn, whom he worked with in Penn's 2007 film Into the Wild.

Josh Brolin is excellent as Dan White, the man who would kill Milk and George Moscone. Brolin's performance is definitely memorable for his restraint and wonderment as a man dealing with a force like Milk while being troubled by the changes around him. It's a mesmerizing performance from Brolin, who has been getting some fantastic work in recent years as Brolin brings depth and some sympathy to a man as reviled as Dan White. James Franco delivers a fantastic performance as Scott Smith, Milk's first real boyfriend who would give Milk a change of scenery while being his early ally. When he and Milk break up, Franco continues to appear as a guy who tries to reason with Harvey as it's a brilliant performance from Franco who really proves to be a solid, impressionable actor that is a true encore to his fantastic work in the Judd Apatow-David Gordon Green collaboration Pineapple Express.

Finally, there's Sean Penn in what has to be his best film role since 1995's Dead Man Walking. Penn, who often plays dark characters in many of the film's he's been in plays a character that is truly upbeat, charming, and thoroughly engaging. In the film, Penn has a smile that warms the audience while making Harvey Milk into an accessible, open-minded, and charismatic figure that anyone would love to be with. In some of the film's political scenes, Penn truly fits in the role of a leader who can organize rallies and marches while displaying the anger of oppression with a lot of passion. In many ways, it's Penn's most accessible role since his 1982 breakthrough in Fast Times at Ridgemont High as it's a real career-defining performance from one of American cinema's great actors.

***Additional DVD Content Written on 9/1/11***

The 2009 Region 1 DVD from Focus Features presents the film in its anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1:85:1 with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound for English & French along with French and Spanish subtitles along with English for the hearing impaired. The DVD includes numerous special features relating to the film and its production.

The first is a 13-minute piece entitled Remembering Harvey is about Milk from the people who knew like former city supervisor Carol Ruth Silver, campaign writer Frank Robinson, photographer Daniel Nicoletta, organizer Allan Baird, Cleve Jones, and Anne Kronenberg. The little featurette discusses Milk’s impact on gay rights as well as what was it like being around him and his personality as it’s a good little piece about Milk.

The fourteen-and-a-half minute Hollywood Comes to San Francisco is about the film’s production as the producers, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the actors (minus Sean Penn), and the real-life people some of the actors play talk about the film and how it brought the 1970s back to the Castro district. Particularly for those who lived in San Francisco at the time giving them a sense of nostalgia while Josh Brolin talks about playing Dan White and re-living the same events that White did which is eerie. The actors talk about Van Sant’s approach to direct actors where he allows them to find the characters while a lot of the younger actors got to meet their real-life counterparts as Cleve Jones, Daniel Nicoletta, and a few others got to make cameos. For James Franco, he went to The Times of Harvey Milk director Rob Epstein for help on researching the Scott Smith role as it’s a wonderful piece about the film’s production.

The eight-minute Marching for Equality is about the re-creation of two key marching scenes with interviews with Cleve Jones and Daniel Nicoletta as they watch the re-enactments while a couple of older extras got to participate as they did many years before. They all talk about the impact of the marches and how much nostalgia it brings to those people who are still alive from that era. The last of the special features are three deleted scenes where the first has Scott comforting Harvey who has been having strange dreams while the second involves an angry Jack venting at Harvey feeling he isn‘t good enough. The third and last deleted scene is Harvey literally being a clown. While the overall DVD content is pretty good, it only scratches the surface of who Harvey Milk is as it’s a pretty good DVD for people who enjoy the film.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

Milk is truly an inspiring, powerful, vibrant, and captivating film from Gus Van Sant featuring a superb performance from Sean Penn. Thanks to a great technical team, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and a brilliant supporting cast that includes James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, and Alison Pill. It's a film that is mesmerizing to watch thanks to Gus Van Sant's direction and unique presentation to an important period in American history. For Gus Van Sant, this film represents another brilliant film in a collection of great films he's done as he's definitely become one of cinema's most revered directors. In Sean Penn, the film represents an actor at the top of his game while giving a performance that is amazing to watch. In the end, Milk is a film that is truly a masterpiece that is engaging in its message and story about one of the most important figures in American history.

Gus Van Sant Reviews: Mala Noche - Drugstore Cowboy - My Own Private Idaho - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - To Die For - Good Will Hunting - Psycho (1998 film) - Finding Forrester - Gerry - Elephant - Last Days - Paranoid Park - Restless - Promised Land

The Times of Harvey Milk - The Shorts & Videos of Gus Van Sant - The Auteurs #4: Gus Van Sant

(C) thevoid99 2011