Archives for Elizabeth Olsen

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Summer Movie Series

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Rated PG-13

avengers-team

Marvel Studios

The tyranny of Ultron, from its inception to its final battle with a reorganized Avengers team, seems to last only a few days. Hardly an age, but the title is the least of this film’s problems.

Everything seems right on paper: Booming, action-packed scenes, moments of character development, humor (always in supply in Marvel films—take note, DC!), dire global stakes, shifting alliances. But something about the whole affair seems disjointed. Maybe it’s because you can only expect so much return on this superhero investment. Most of the heroes have already had two or three movies to themselves, plus their grouping for the first Avenger’s film (2012). Maybe it’s finally too much of a good thing.

In the BloghouseBecause the first film surprised with its steady stream of humor, this time we expect to be entertained by jokes, setting up more of a challenge to be funny. Each hero gets his/her moment, but nothing that really expands these characters. We watched Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) struggle morally in the last two Iron Man films with the weapons and technology he created. We’ve seen Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, Her, Lucy) confront her shadowy past as recently as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is given a surprising backstory that I didn’t entirely believe. The film doesn’t seem to know what to do with Thor (Chris Helmsworth), and for the first time Captain America’s earnestness and pining for the good old days seems a bit annoying. I couldn’t bring myself to invest in the Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch subplot; the super-twins (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) are basically more characters poured into the mix.

There were moments to enjoy, no doubt. A highway chase/fight scene woke me up, and the team lounging after a party has a warm touch that evokes the best of the original film. James Spader lends a great voice to Ultron, the nemesis borne of Stark’s well-meaning-but-misguided attempts to protect the planet, but the character itself seems a little too self-important (Yes, I get that Ultron takes on characteristics of its maker Tony Stark; it’s still too much!) and surprisingly not the best strategist. Wouldn’t a higher level of artificial intelligence spend more time on its mission and less time jumping into futile fights with superheroes? How many battles do we need of super-people and robots who can’t really hurt each other destroying architecture for miles around? And speaking of battles, was it just me or did the cinematography and CGI seem choppy, Michael Bay-ish?

A budding romance between Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Black Widow seemed awkward, forced by the screenwriters. Black Widow had more chemistry with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Winter Soldier. The film is cluttered with characters—Nick Fury, Maria Hill, War Machine, Dr. Selvig, Dr. Cho—although I know it was meant to be cluttered with characters. The first film seemed easily digestible, funny, exciting. This time I’m struggling to care for the crisis, surprised at the forced jokes, more surprised that the big action set-pieces underwhelmed. I will give the film credit for the awesomely executed floating city, and Vision (Paul Bettany) is a sight to behold.

Marvel’s been incredible successful at bringing these heroes to the big screen, individually and as a team effort, but I’m wondering—despite the influx of new heroes (Falcon, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man)—if we’ve told all the stories (Civil War and Black Panther notwithstanding) that are interesting to tell. If you love superhero movies, come what may, See it; otherwise, Skip it.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Campus MovieFest 2014

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | 2 Comments

Film Review
Very Good Girls (2013)
Rated R

vgg

Groundswell Productions

Very Good Girls is an uneven coming-of-age drama featuring Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Martha Marcy May Marlene). The ingredients are here—two skilled actors, a summer of sexual awakening, a lovers’ triangle, a sudden death—but the film never gels.

The BloghouseBest friends, college-bound Lily (Fanning) and earth-child Gerry (Olsen), make a pact to lose their virginity before summer’s end. Things get complicated when they fall for the same fellow, David (Boyd Holbrook, looking indistinguishable from actor Charlie Hunnam).

The film immediately engages with an impressive cast, then, strangely, begins to falter, scene by scene. The problem, I think, resides at the screenplay level.

Writer/director Naomi Foner Gyllenhall’s secondary characters are wasted in snapshot scenes. Gerry’s Bohemian parents—Richard Dreyfus and Demi Moore—are the expected hippy-attired, folk-music-playing cutouts. Lily’s folks—Clark Gregg and Ellen Barkin—are standard middle-class, middle-aged, boozy professionals. To be fair, Gregg has a couple of father-daughter scenes he attempts wrangle from cliche.

Every time a scene arrives—a death, an infidelity—it’s blunted by pacing or odd character responses. One exception is a gentle first-time love-making scene that is effective in its use of music, framing, acting and tone.

The film might have held together better, been more impactful, if balance had been brought to the main characters. This is Fanning’s show, and she can act. But Olsen, who can also act, is wasted. If equal measure had been brought to each girl, the conflict—both girls falling for the same artsy bad boy—might have moved us.

blog-skip_it

 

 

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Summer Movie Series

Godzilla (2014)

Rated PG-13

godzilla

Warner Bros.

Godzilla takes his time showing up in his new movie. At first I’m thinking great, less is more. After awhile, I’m really getting eager to see the big guy. Finally, I’m wondering if Godzilla’s going to make a cameo in his own movie. He does eventual make his entrance. It’s a good one, the mighty creature rising up out of the ocean, water cascading off his mountainous frame like waterfalls, towering over birds and helicopters, blotting out the sun, opening his mouth to stop the show with his roar. Humans and giant monsters alike pause to take notice.

In the BloghouseThe whole movie is like that: setup, delayed gratification, big scene. Repeat.

There’s a prologue 15 years ago that mainly functions to give the protagonists a tragic backstory. In present day, a scientist played by Bryan Cranston has basically gone insane after his years of dire global warnings go unheeded. His estranged son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Avengers: Age of Ultron) reluctantly arrives to talk some sense to his dad. Before long the son discovers, lo and behold, the old man’s not bonkers. Thus Ford is pulled into his dad’s mission while trying to get home to wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen, Oldboy, Very Good Girls) and his own son. Olsen’s wasted in this, while Cranston brings gravitas this movie doesn’t need. Japanese legend Ken Watanabe is also wasted as a scientist whose function I still haven’t figured out.

When technology goes awry—Cranston told us so!—it produces a giant insect parasite that tears across the globe, eagerly off on some unknown mission. Once military intervention fails, it’s up to our scaly hero to save the day. With his awesome tail and fire breath, Godzilla’s formidable in battle, even when being double-teamed by giant monsters.

There’s lots of destruction of large-scale architecture, but nothing we haven’t already seen in big-budget action flicks. Honestly, I had more fun watching Pacific Rim (2013), itself a tribute to classic Japanese Kaiju films like Godzilla.

Make no mistake, this Godzilla is leaps and bounds ahead of the 1998 American reboot. My issues with the film resides in the screenplay, not in its execution. Director Gareth Edwards has a knack for amazing images and the execution of a scene. When this film’s on, it’s on. A scene of an elite military team parachuting into the monster warzone borders on iconic. The men jump from a plane then seem to fall endlessly with red flares streaming from their boots, through cloud holes, into dark sky, into glowing thunderclouds, back into dark sky, and downward. It’s a beautiful sight, visual poetry. Another scene of beautiful destruction involves a burning train roaring through the night and off a destroyed bridge. There’s a memorable visual of soldiers moving through lush jungle, and of a suspension bridge swaying and crumbling as it holds busloads of people.

Can I also note that actor Sally Hawkins, who plays a scientist, has absolutely nothing to do in this movie? Why even include this character?

If you’re a Godzilla fan, or into big-budget summer action—albeit doled out at deliberate junctures—check this out, otherwise: Skip it.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Sundance 2011—The Return (2)

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Sundance 2011—The Return (2)

Sundance Film Festival 2011*

Park City, Utah

 

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Rated R

 

Past and present collide gently and shockingly in Sean Durkin’s evocative Martha Marcy May Marlene. Making its debut here in Park City, the effective drama charts the escape of Martha (an amazing Elizabeth Olsen, Oldboy) from her two-year life in a backwoods, Upstate New York cult. After reconnecting with her estranged sister (Sarah Paulson)—her only remaining family—Martha tries to make sense of her values, purpose and trauma.

John Brown, right, with director Sean Durkin (Credit: Marvin Brown)

John Brown, right, with director Sean Durkin (Credit: Marvin Brown)

As the film tracks backward, we sense the mounting dread of cult life, but tense present-day scenes underscore that unstable family relationships may have helped drive Martha to the cult. Lead and supporting roles are gripping from top to bottom. But let’s single out veteran character actor John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone, The Sessions), whose quiet menace as the cult’s leader chills the blood.

Subtle editing and past-present transitions are powerful. Durkin’s direction—sure-handed, never showy—packs a punch.

See it | Skip it

*Note: Since marvincbrown.com had not been created at the time of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, I decided to go back and repost these reviews and festival  items, which were catalogued elsewhere—mainly because I needed to get these reviews into my archives, but also because it was an enjoyable experience I’d like to share.

 

Marvin Brown, with actor John Hawkes (Credit: John Brown)

Marvin Brown, with actor John Hawkes (Credit: John Brown)

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Video review

Oldboy (2013)

Rated R

oldboy

Good Universe/Vertigo Entertainment

In Oldboy, Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin) slaughters a dozen men during a battle royal up and down a sparse warehouse corridor. This film too was slaughtered at box office. That director Spike Lee’s remake of the fantastic 2003 South Korean film bombed confuses me. He’s a gifted director, regardless of how you receive his politics or social activism, and the original is a movie so good even a mediocre director would have to go out of his/her way to ruin it. So how did this happen?

In the BloghouseI’m not sure, but don’t miss the opportunity to give this overlooked drama/thriller a chance now that it’s available on DVD. Be warned, though, that like the brutal, uncompromising original, its taboo subject matter revealed in its final act is not for all sensibilities.

Much of the original story remains intact, though relocated to an American city, of course. Beginning in the early 90s, we meet Doucett as a slimy, perverted drunken ad exec who misses his daughter’s third birthday party for sake of a do-or-die client meeting he quickly destroys through his piggish behavior. Doucett is the type of guy you suspect would have missed his daughter’s birthday regardless, and is quick to tie one on after a night of abject failure. We know the drill: vomit, urine, tears, a meek attempt at reconciliation. We’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a slimeball who deserved everything happening to him.

After that intro, he awakens alone, locked in what appears to be a modest hotel room, hung over, confused. He will remain in this room for 20 years. As he round-robins through fear, anger, sadness, suicidal thoughts—and takeout dumplings—a television offers hints at the changing world outside: The Clinton years, the George W. years—including the Sept. 11 attacks and the second Iraq war—and into the Obama years. The TV also offers martial arts programs, which help him tune up his flabby physique; an exercise program, whose comely female host becomes a sexual surrogate; and most importantly, a true-crime show that details the rape and murder of his ex-wife, the frame-up that makes the missing Doucett the suspect, and the subsequent adoption of his daughter.

This is a terrific first act.

Just as he’s about to execute a years-in-the-making escape, he’s gassed and released, provided with an envelope of money, an iPhone and cool sunglasses. Doucett knows what needs to be done: find his daughter, create a long list of people he may have wrong and set off on a mission of revenge. By the way, years of studying martial arts on TV can be put to good use in the real world.

In his search, Doucett meets two key people. The first is a caring social worker and former drug addict (Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla) who reads the never-mailed letters Doucett wrote for his daughter while locked away and is moved by his plight. The second is the shadowy figure (Sharlto Copley, District 9) who is responsible for Doucett’s incarceration. This guy’s an effeminate, obscenely rich, seemingly all-knowing puppet master, who’s obviously demented. He makes Doucett an offer that makes up the second act of the film. Doucett has to discover who this man is and why he imprisoned him for 20 years. If he can accomplish this in 48 hours, the mystery man will confess to being the real culprit in his wife’s death (which he proves with a sickening video), pay Doucett millions of dollars, free his daughter (who the man maintains he has captured) and finally commit suicide.

The rest of the film plays out as a cat-and-mouse drama, love story and fight film leading to the big twist of the third act.

Brolin’s (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) antihero is as grungy and nihilistic as actor Choi Min-shik’s version in the original; however the former’s character seems driven by obsession and trauma, while the latter’s performance has those plus a layer of insanity.

I think the film gets a lot right. It respects Chan-wook Park’s original, paying subtle homage to the infamous squid scene and the nasty tongue scene. And in a couple instances it one-ups its predecessor with the neat use of smartphone technology and a box cutter; it even sidesteps the hypnosis scenes I thought were the most contrived elements of the original film.

Park is nearly peerless in his cinematic framing, visual composition and shock imagery; his skills move his nasty genre effort to elegant heights at times. Lee doesn’t mimic Park, but relies on his own talents in tonal shifts, image repetition, his trademark “floating” double dolly shot and complex music cues to make scenes snap. While I don’t think Lee’s film captures character quirks and complexities as well as Park’s, the impact of Lee’s tweaked final act still shocks, disgusts, saddens.

So what’s going on? How did a movie this good fail so shockingly at the box office? We might factor in Lee’s controversial nature—did it bring perceived baggage to a genre film? (It certainly didn’t to his Inside Man.) Also, the original was a masterwork that has gained cult-film status; it’s always tricky to tamper with that kind of work. I recall casting changes, the film’s release date being shuffled around, and talk of studio interference of the final edit. If its failure was a matter of poor timing and promotion, it’ll find a good life on home video.

blog-see_it

 

 

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive