Burn After Reading is one of those movies where you come out knowing less then when you went in, but still find yourself smiling and laughing giddily when you're half a block from the theater. Linda Litske (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt) come into possession of a CD that may or may not have confidential material belonging to one Osborne Cox (John Malkovich). Osborne has recently "quit" his position as a CIA analyst and wants to write his memoirs, both for sake of reflection and personal payback. His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) couldn't care less about him. She wants out of her marriage and make her bed with a compulsive adulterer named Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney).
While this setup sounds simple enough, knowing the Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) means they will find many a clever way to twist the plot so it will churn up the characters in the process. The Coens have always been fond of ever-complicating conflicts, like in "Blood Simple" or "The Big Lebowski". As in those films and this one, characters often find themselves at dangerous cross-purposes, setting each other up to fall, often accidently, without ever really discovery why. In "Burn", we do indeed learn the true nature of the CDs contents early on (Semi-spoiler: The contents aren't "Top Secret"), but most of the characters in the film don't. How the CD is created, and why it is created, is an expert example of how to summon a MacGuffin out of thin air (Points to Hitchcock fans who don't need the word "MacGuffin" explained).
The movie also works as a good case study for how actors (in concert with a sharp script) can create indelible performances. Each actor, main and supporting, infuses their respective character with such energy that we're afraid it will blow off the screen. Clooney plays his adulterer with unbridled zeal, making the phrase "Hi there!" funny with his delivery alone. Pitt's dumb gym trainer Chad never lets out a hint of intelligence, making his happy-go-lucky attitude somewhat charming despite his obliviousness. Malkovich's analyst, on the other hand, is shrewd, exacting and in desperate need of anger management and A.A. McDormand's "positive-thinking" gym instructor is so myopic and dedicated to achieving the perfect body that she just might be the only one to come out of this movie alive (...or barely scratched).
The Coen Brothers, who recently won Oscars for "No Country For Old Men" (a film I need to reevaluate), love to tackle farce and follow their stories to the logical endpoint instead of bailing characters out at the last second. What makes this movie so fun is how the CIA Superior and Officer (they aren't given names, but are played perfectly by J.K. Simmons and David Rasche) are left to make up the film's denouncement, and even they aren't sure what to make of it:
"What have learned here?" says Simmons' character. "I don't know," responds Rasche. "Well, let's hope we don't do it again, whatever it was."
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (PG-13) ***1/2
He's back!
He's got the fedora, he's got the whip, he's got the gun- Damn, he left that at home. Oh, well. It's good to have you back, Indiana!
In KOTCS, Jones (still played by the rugged Harrison Ford) is forced by Soviet agent Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, in probably her oddest role yet) to find an artifact known as the Crystal Skull. Not much is known about it except that there are thirteen of these special kinds of skull in the world and they are all extremely, bizarrely magnetic. All kinds of metal are drawn to it, even gold, which shouldn't be. Along the adventure, Indiana meets the brash, young Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) who's only to trying to find the skull to save his mom. Guess who?!
Along the way, Jones and Williams fight and outwit KGB agents, foot soldiers, and the living dead. For transportation, the two ride motorcycles, trucks, and amphibious vehicles, as well as riding rapids into and out of El Dorado! To complicate matters further, they pick up a deluded Professor "Ox" Oxley (John Hurt), a maternal Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen!), and a treacherous 'Mac' George McHale (Ray Winstone). And I can't even begin to tell you how Jones stumbles into and out of a nuclear test sight!
There was also a bit of social satire in the film that I found refreshing. When Jones and Williams are on a bike outrunning the KGB agents, they end up in an anti-communist rally. To lose the agents, Mutt kicks the wooden post holding a sign that reads "Better dead than red!" which lands on the hood of the KGB's car. I kind of wished this film had more of these sly pokes, much like how the first one skewered the Nazis. Unfortunately, it didn't.
David Koepp's script is uniformly tight, concise, and energetic. Koepp is a go-to screenwriter for big budget films like Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible. His scripts often start off well and lose their way well into the second act. But here, his writing is strong. Of course, it helps if George Lucas wrote the basic story and the script you write is about Indiana Jones.
This is a fun movie, emphasis on fun. Steven Spielberg, being the major creative head of the film, brings back a lot of the elements that made the original trilogy so winning: escalating conflict with a new predicament beginning just as another ends, strong and intriguing characters, a score by none other than John Williams, and an unnerving sense of comedic and dramatic timing. And the visuals... Oh! While some of the film suffers from what I like to call "CGI fakery," the visuals on display are gorgeous. And there is one shot at the climax of this film that is just plain... majestic.
Starring:
Harrison Ford-Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett-Irina Spalko
Shia LaBeouf-Mutt Williams
John Hurt-Professor "Ox" Oxley
Karen Allen-Marion Ravenwood
Ray Winstone-'Mac' George McHale
Written by David Koepp
Story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson
Produced by Frank Marshall
Directed by Steven Spielberg
He's got the fedora, he's got the whip, he's got the gun- Damn, he left that at home. Oh, well. It's good to have you back, Indiana!
In KOTCS, Jones (still played by the rugged Harrison Ford) is forced by Soviet agent Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, in probably her oddest role yet) to find an artifact known as the Crystal Skull. Not much is known about it except that there are thirteen of these special kinds of skull in the world and they are all extremely, bizarrely magnetic. All kinds of metal are drawn to it, even gold, which shouldn't be. Along the adventure, Indiana meets the brash, young Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) who's only to trying to find the skull to save his mom. Guess who?!
Along the way, Jones and Williams fight and outwit KGB agents, foot soldiers, and the living dead. For transportation, the two ride motorcycles, trucks, and amphibious vehicles, as well as riding rapids into and out of El Dorado! To complicate matters further, they pick up a deluded Professor "Ox" Oxley (John Hurt), a maternal Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen!), and a treacherous 'Mac' George McHale (Ray Winstone). And I can't even begin to tell you how Jones stumbles into and out of a nuclear test sight!
There was also a bit of social satire in the film that I found refreshing. When Jones and Williams are on a bike outrunning the KGB agents, they end up in an anti-communist rally. To lose the agents, Mutt kicks the wooden post holding a sign that reads "Better dead than red!" which lands on the hood of the KGB's car. I kind of wished this film had more of these sly pokes, much like how the first one skewered the Nazis. Unfortunately, it didn't.
David Koepp's script is uniformly tight, concise, and energetic. Koepp is a go-to screenwriter for big budget films like Spider-Man and Mission: Impossible. His scripts often start off well and lose their way well into the second act. But here, his writing is strong. Of course, it helps if George Lucas wrote the basic story and the script you write is about Indiana Jones.
This is a fun movie, emphasis on fun. Steven Spielberg, being the major creative head of the film, brings back a lot of the elements that made the original trilogy so winning: escalating conflict with a new predicament beginning just as another ends, strong and intriguing characters, a score by none other than John Williams, and an unnerving sense of comedic and dramatic timing. And the visuals... Oh! While some of the film suffers from what I like to call "CGI fakery," the visuals on display are gorgeous. And there is one shot at the climax of this film that is just plain... majestic.
Starring:
Harrison Ford-Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett-Irina Spalko
Shia LaBeouf-Mutt Williams
John Hurt-Professor "Ox" Oxley
Karen Allen-Marion Ravenwood
Ray Winstone-'Mac' George McHale
Written by David Koepp
Story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson
Produced by Frank Marshall
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Friday, April 18, 2008
21 (PG-13) ***
"21" is decent escapist entertainment. It starts off well with Jim Sturgess playing gifted mathematics student Ben Campbell at MIT who catches the attention of his professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey). Ben is inducted into a special group of Rosa's students, including Jim's crush Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth). The group is taught by the professor to work as a team in counting cards at Vegas so they can make the big bucks. The film loses it's way 2/3rds in by not handling Jim's spiral into corruptive emotions with the same kind of wit and acumen as shown in earlier in the film. Still, it is an enjoyable caper where you get your money's worth.
Starring:
Jim Sturgess: Ben Campbell
Kate Bosworth: Jill Taylor
Kevin Spacey: Prof. Micky Rosa
Laurence Fishburne: Cole Williams
Aaron Yoo: Choi
Liza Lapira: Kianna
Jacob Pitts: Jimmy Fisher
Directed by Robert Luketic
Written by Peter Steinfeld & Allan Loeb
from the book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich
Monday, March 17, 2008
I'm Back!
Sorry for such a long absence. Anyway, i've been keeping busy and I have a best (& worst) of 07 list for you, plus my oscar picks. I know the Oscars are already over, but I would still like to share them with you. I actually got 7 of them correct! I'll start including some articles that didn't get into the Echo Times, a publication I work for. Enjoy!
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