Moonrise Kingdom (2012) review [Revisited]

(10/10)

     Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is whimsical, awkward, and nostalgic enough to create a warm, childlike love story driven by adolescent fantasy. The many skilled performances and distinct characters suck the audience in and takes them on journey through waves of charming, childlike wonder. Anderson personifies the emotional impact of the nostalgic charm of a young adolescent love story.

PLOT: On a peaceful, suburban island in 1965, two twelve-year-olds fall in love and become pen pals. Eventually, Sam (Jared Gilman), the unpopular, orphan boy scout, and Suzy (Kara Hayward), the neglected child looking for an escape, meet up in the wilderness and run off on an adventure all their own. The two lovebirds travel all over the island, finding out new things about life, the world, and each other, all the while being tracked by several parties. Scoutmaster Ward (Edward Norton) and the rest of his scouts have set out to find Sam and bring him back, while Suzy's father, Walt (Bill Murray) and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) search for Suzy. The two have the time of their young lives as they flee the island from adulthood and responsibility. The plot is very well thought-out yet basic at the same time. The plot is mainly an awkward, childlike love story, but the several twists and turns as well as the moments of intimacy between the two adolescents make it work. The audience is left intrigued yet surprised and cheerful yet awkward - just as the spirit of this film suggests.

ACTING: One aspect that kept the audience hooked deeply into the story is the expert performances from the all-star cast as well as the young leads. Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward did fantastic jobs as the infatuated main characters, Sam and Suzy. I believe no young actors could have portrayed these two adolescents as solidly and fittingly as these two. Aside from the young leads, the all-star cast was pretty fantastic. Bruce Willis did a great job at his calmer role of island cop, Captain Sharp, and Bill Murray played his part excellently as the cranky, disappointed father, Walt Bishop. These two in addition to the quirky Edward Norton as Scoutmaster Ward did fantastic jobs with their unique and more serious and subdued roles. Other shining performances also come from Tilda Swinton as the Social Services worker, Frances McDormand as Mrs. Bishop, Jason Schwartzman as Cousin Ben, Harvey Keitel as Commander Pierce, and Bob Balaban as the Narrator. Every big name actor and actress in this film plays a more obscure and subdued role, almost to ironic conditions for some roles.

SCORE/SOUNDTRACK: The soundtrack and score behind Moonrise Kingdom is just as elegant and flowing as the film presents itself. A collection of classical and quirky compositions make up the majority of the soundtrack, adding a touch of elegance and whimsy throughout the film. The soundtrack also makes the use of some well known artists, like country master, Hank Williams, and elegant composer, Alexandre Desplat.

OTHER CONTENT: The elegance and whimsy through which Wes Anderson crafted this masterpiece is a fleeting emotion not often accurately captured through the movie medium. This film represents the lovesick romances each of us has probably experienced with someone in our childhood. The human race's perception of relationships in an adolescent mind is the subject matter of this film, and Anderson captures that fleeting, nostalgic emotion as tangibly as a butterfly in a net. There's just the right amount of charm, awkwardness, innocence, and nostalgia to bring a wise mind to tears. Anderson captures this accurately from proper casting and script-writing to the elegant score and smooth cinematography. Each shot has a clear, colorful focal point and is smooth and almost Kubrickian in its favor of long, clean shots. Ultimately, Moonrise Kingdom is an anthem for the spirit of adolescent fantasy and relationships, told in an elegant yet basic way.

     Some films attempt to go beyond expectations and catch an entirely abstract emotion on film. Not many filmmakers succeed, and those that do are truly skilled. None other than the quirky Wes Anderson achieve the capture of the fleeting spirit of inexperienced youth, especially in such a smooth and personal manner. An enthralling cast of characters help in capturing the audience's attention and the quirkiness of the junior love story anchor them to the screen, filling them with both joy and awkward intrigue. Moonrise Kingdom is as full of whimsical spirit as light- pleasantly warm but passing much too fast, leaving little trace that it ever existed in the first place.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) review [Revisited]

(9/10)

     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a fantastic film by itself with brilliant performances, script, and film-making. However, in comparison to its source material, it falls a tad flat and unreliable, We lose so many key elements of the theme in the onscreen transition, but gain clarification for the more underlying ones.

PLOT: Randall P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is transferred from a prison work farm to a mental institution after the authorities determine him potentially insane. The asylum, led by the all-powerful Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), takes McMurphy in for an observation period in which he decides to attempt to turn everything upside down and take over. From day one in the asylum, McMurphy tries to manipulate the patients and get under the Nurse's skin. McMurphy tries to prove his insanity, by doing things such as imagining the World Series and teaching the deaf Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) to play basketball. From here on, it's a straight battle between McMurphy and the Nurse as well as between thought control and mental liberation. The plot, just as in the novel, is excellently crafted and well-thought out. The film adds its own twists on a few things, neglecting ones from the book, but nevertheless clarifying a few things the audience may have missed in reading the novel.

ACTING: All of the performances in this film are brilliant and well-worthy of their recognition. The great Jack Nicholson acts in what may be his best role in comparison to The Shining in the eighties. Through his portrayal, the audience is led to believe that no one could have done it any better. Nobody could have been as loud, proud and insane in such a way as he was in this film. Louise Fletcher also did a fantastic job, responding to Nicholson's character accurately as possible. She probably fits the novel's portrayal of her more accurately than Nicholson as McMurphy. Other key performances in this film would include early roles from acting legends Christopher Lloyd as tough-guy Taber and Danny DeVito as the disconnected Martini. Other great performances include Scatman Crothers as nurse's aide Turkle, Syndey Lassick as anxious Charlie Cheswick, William Redfield as the wise Mr. Harding, Will Sampson as Chief Bromden, and (introducing) Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit. This film for the most part felt like a huge character study with all of these personalities poured into a huge melting pot for the audience to kind of take in and study. Learning how each character reacts is probably the best part of the film.

SCORE: The score was also professionally done by master composer, Jack Nitzsche. The main theme occurring at the beginning and the end of the film is probably one of the most, unique, fitting, and memorable pieces of composition ever made for film. It's truly a beautiful piece, as is the rest of the score by Nitzsche.

OTHER CONTENT: This film can definitely stand on its own without the novel, for the two sources almost feel like very different pieces of artwork when compared. So much is lost in the transition from page-to-film, such as the Chief's all-seeing narration, some of the novel's risky signals of theme, and ample explanation for certain key events in the plot. However, the film gains clarification for irony's role in the source and how each of these crazy characters function under the Nurse's rule. One can clearly see the transition within the patients and how the ones actually committed and not voluntary seem to be the most sane. Both the film and the novel are equally as powerful, but the novel just has so much to offer in substance. The film just makes up for it in form.

     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is as strong a film as it was a novel. Each has its own set of similarities and differences, but each works with what it sets up excellently. Through every character, word, and shot of this film, we are introduced to a story that means so much more than is revealed. In the transition, one could even say pertaining to both compositions, one flew east and one flew west. But indeed, one definitely flew over the cuckoo's nest.

American Beauty (1999) review [Revisited]

(10/10)

     American Beauty still remains to be one of the most thoughtful, controversial, and brilliantly executed films of all film history. After multiple views, the inner meaning and surreal approach to conveying this meaning become more cogent and true to real life's dysfunctions. Through the expert performances, intelligent script-writing, and visionary direction by Sam Mendes, American Beauty becomes as overwhelmingly beautiful as it seeks to be.

PLOT: Middle-aged man, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), is stuck in a rut in life. He's gotten in the same routine of fighting to keep the job he hates, being pushed around by his striving-for-success wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), and being hated by his angst-y teenage daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Things change when Lester attends a high school basketball game to see Jane cheer and falls for Jane's preppy best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Lester vicariously begins to recapture his youth by fantasizing about Angela before starting to physically and mentally change his life. He quits his job, starts smoking pot, starts to work out, and fights against his wife's bossy attitude. Meanwhile, Jane starts to unknowingly fall for the new neighbor, Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley), who has an eye for the beauty in life and loves to film it. Ricky also starts selling pot to Lester against the wishes of Ricky's militaristic father, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper), who is led to believe his son performs homosexual acts for cash. Carolyn, during all of this as well, begins to have an affair with a past lover (Peter Gallagher) as to restore her lost backbone. The plot is very bizarre, intricate, and executed professionally. Every event in this film fits together like a piece of a very beautiful, complicated puzzle. Through this execution, it becomes evident how much intelligent development was put into the overall composition of the film. Just a in a well-crafted novel, everything is developed intentionally.

ACTING: The performances in this film are all done excellently and accurately, with the actors matching their roles perfectly. Both Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening deliver iconic and believable performances of a couple who's marriage is quickly falling apart. As both characters grow in the film,  the audience feels that the struggles are as real to the actors as they are in the film. Thora Birch and Wes Bentley also deliver a realistic performance as the angst-y teen and visionary outcast. The two bring a unique approach to the idea of a real teenage couple. All performances in this film are excellent; not one falls short of respect.

SCORE: The score is very unique and quirky by awesome score composer, Thomas Newman. The score only adds to the film's feeling of being surrealistically beautiful. The soundtrack is just as memorable and fitting as the score, adding classic rock poster songs like “The Seeker” and “American Woman” and interesting covers from Annie Lennox (“Don't Let It Bring You Down”) and Elliot Smith (“Because”).

OTHER CONTENT: Everything about this is film is intelligent and beautiful in its own imperfect way. Even with this being his first film, it's clear that director Sam Mendes knew what he was doing in making American Beauty. Through clean, expertly-filmed shots, his vision for this film is shown as well as the meaning. American Beauty serves its purpose as being what it's title declares, an American beauty. We are led through the story of the typical american attitudes in each character, conveyed by the presence of Lester's mid-life crisis and the lifestyles of the dysfunctional families (Burnham and Fitts). The beauty in the world is the imperfections we see, and that's what I perceive Mendes was trying to convey. As said in the script, just as intelligent as the film: ". . . it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."

     Sam Mendes' first work still feels like just as much a masterpiece as he intended to be when he made it in 1999. American Beauty conveys beautiful America just as real as it can be, with realistic  situations all connected as to prove this common point. Through expert performances, quirky score, intelligent scriptwriting, and visionary direction, this film remains true to at the very least one thing: its imperfect beauty.

The Evil Dead (1981) review

(10/10)

If there was such a thing as a perfect horror film, this would be the top contender for me. It's scary, dark, and perfectly set-up.

PLOT:Ash (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend, Linda (Betsy Baker), his best friend, Scott (Richard Demanincor), his sister, Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), and his best friend's girl, Shelly (Theresa Tilly) travel to Tennesse to a hidden cabin in the woods with party on their mind. The cabin is freaky, old, and located across an unsafe bridge. Once they get settled in, strange things start happening causing Ash and Scott venture down in the cellar. They find a tape recorder, a spooky sword, and an old book. They listen to the recordings later and find out this used to be a site for Kandarian demon possessions caused by reading the Book of the Dead aloud. One transcript reads off a passage and it summons the demons. Strange things start to happen involving trees, possession, and dismemberment and now the teens must try and make it out of the house alive. It's a great plot executed brilliantly.



ACTING:The acting in here was pretty good. Because of the way this movie was made (low-budget and campy), the acting was supposed to be overdone, but it comes off as just right to evoke the right senses of insanity and horror in the characters. Bruce Campbell did a great job as the main protagonist, Ash. He definitely lead the pack. The other shiners were Betsy Baker as Linda, Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl, and Richard Demanincor as Scott.

SCORE:The score was only there to set the mood right and unnerve the person watching, which it did. The creepy feel of the movie combined with the score to make a truly unnerving set of scenes.



EFFECTS:The effects had to be cheap, considering this was a low-budget film, but they got the job done well. From chocolate syrup as blood, to green cottage cheese as oozing pus, to painted eyelids, every effect was done basically. However, these effects made it much more real and scary compared to today's CG effects.

ANIMATION:The animation in here is used like part of the special effects, but it's still claymation. Some very detailed claymation was used for the ending sequence to enhance the rotting flesh of the demons. I loved this part most because of the artistic view put into it all.

CAMERAWORK:Though the film was low-budget, the director definitely had a vision for cinematography, for he captured each shot to the fullest extent and feeling. Some shots alone freaked me out. Thank you, Raimi.



OTHER CONTENT:Every thing about this film as a horror came together to make the formula for a perfect horror film. It's scary, funny, unforgiving, campy, dark, simple, well-crafted, controversial, and even creatively executed. The effects and mood of the film just unnerve the viewer and possibly sends shivers down their spines. Even in the latter scenes all the way up to the climactic battle at the end, the feeling of true horror and the rarely captured feeling of pure insanity is seen in here, beautifully created by the actors. I also liked how they experimented with sound to make the demon voices just right to scare. It's just a perfect horror film becuase it has everything it needs.

OVERALL,an epic horror film with a basic plot executed to the best degree, acting that fit the mood of the film, unnerving score, working low-budget effects, beautifully gruesome claymation animation, full extent camerawork, the feeling of insanity and pure horror, just right demon voices, and all it takes to make a perfect horror film.