Rian Jonhson's Looper (2012)

Director Rian Johnson puts a new and interesting spin on the time travel genre in his new film "Looper". A story about a young mob killer named Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt , who has to hunt his older self from the future, played by Bruce Willis. The future Joe comes back in time to try and save his wife, which he believes he can accomplish by eliminating a future mob boss before time travel is invented. This theme loosely echoes the plot of "The Terminator" movies. In the hunt for his target, Joe realizes that he cannot save himself by bringing his future self to the mob. He also learns what his future self is planning and decides to protect the person he is after, and in doing so, he breaks the cycle of violence.

Johnson contradicts the time travel action genre by not having the main characters change. A typical time travel action film has a character that faces a conflict, attempts to rectify it, and ultimately learns he must change to break his cycle. But in "Looper", the future Joe continues to solve things through violence even as he tries to save his wife. Although he mentions being saved and "cleaned up" by his wife, his actions in the film's present prove that he has not changed, and that violence will be perpetuated due to his actions.

Another way Johnson contradicts the time travel genre is by making the film fairly linear. At one point in the film, the younger Joe kills his older self. Immediately after, Johnson chose to show how the young Joe becomes the future Joe and made him go back in time. This causes the audience to view the two Joes in a slightly different light. One has killed his future self, and the other has not. And this may be the reason why the younger Joe decides to end the cycle at the end.

In order to convince the audience that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's and Bruce Willis' characters are the same, Joseph had to have make-up applied to him before every shoot. He also drew inspiration from Bruce Willis' previous films such as "Die Hard" which can best be seen during Joe's conversation with one of the mob leaders Abe. Another reference to "Die Hard" occurs when the future Joe robs a convenience store and he asks the clerk for some Aspirin, which John McClane always asked for.

Rian Johnson makes reference to past film with the character "Kid Blue", which mimics a character from the 1973 movie of the same name, starring Dennis Hopper. The name of the bar that Joe and his looper friends visit every night is "La Belle Aurore" which is a reference to "Casablanca". Lastly, the use of "Gat Men" as the nickname for the loopers is a reference to the Thompson guns which mobsters used through American history.

Whether you are looking for an entertaining thriller action film, or thought provoking storytelling, "Looper" has them both. This film is a new take on the time traveler genre and is worth watching.

Butter – Review

Butter Recipe: Mix all-star cast with first time screen writer. Churn 90 minutes.

Butter, released in North America in October 2012, is the latest film from director, comedy writer and actor Jim Field Smith. Smith is best known in North America for directing the 2010 comedy She’s Out of My League, but started his career in Britain as a member of the popular British sketch group 'The Dutch Elm Conservatoire'. The influence of British comedy mixes perfectly with American Jason Micallef’s Blacklisted debut script.

Bob Pickler (Burrell) is a 15 year Iowa State Champion of butter sculpting. However, wanting to allow other competitors a chance, the judges ask if he’ll step aside and let some new talent succeed. Infuriated by his lack of backbone for not refusing, his controlling wife Laura (Garner) decides she’ll compete in his place. She would be a shoe in to win the county competition if not for some unlikely competition: Carol-Ann (Schaal), the goofy president of Bob’s butter sculpting fan club; Brooke (Wilde), Bob’s mistress; and Destiny (Shahidi), an orphan bouncing through the foster care system with a natural artistic talent. As Laura’s world starts to collapse around her, she enlists aid from old flame Boyd Bolton (Jackman). The cast is rounded out by Corrdry and Silverstone playing Destiny’s newest foster parents, who according to her are “the whitest people she’d ever met.”

Butter is a political comedy loosely based on the 2010 Democratic primaries, with Jennifer Garner’s role as a super uptight suburban stepmother referencing Hilary Clinton, and Yara Shahidi as a young, black upstart contender. Garner has played a similar role in Juno, but takes it to a comedic extreme as a Martha Stewart with severe OCD. Shahidi is the same age as her character Destiny, but with Micallef’s sophisticated narration and dialogue, Destiny appears to be a Calvin like character (of Calvin and Hobbes), possessing an advanced ability to read the nuances of adult behavior.  Schaal is basically playing her obsessive fan character from Flight of the Conchords and her character could easily be removed from the film. Most of the characters are played almost to the point of ridiculous, but Destiny’s foster parents provide an anchor of normality to view the other characters from.

Overall, Butter is a movie that can be enjoyed with, or without the political commentary. While some political features frame their theses in flashing lights, Butter allows you to just go along for the ride and enjoy some clever writing and entertaining characters.

Looper (2012)

Looper (2012)

Every so often a movie comes along that adds a completely new way to think about time travel in science fiction. Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson, does this and more. Looper features two star actors: Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and supporting actress Emily Blunt. Willis and Gordon-Levitt both play the role of "Joe", a Looper whose job is to kill and dispose of anyone the mob needs to get rid of from the future. When the mob no longer needs the service of a Looper, they "close the loop" by sending back the Looper from the future to be killed. Bruce Willis is sent back but escapes being killed by his past self, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and seeks to change the past to save his future.

Looper, provides a whole new way to look at time travel while keeping these new ideas within the realm of what we already enjoy about it. The movie gives us just enough information about this time linked world to understand what's going on, but to also wonder how it got to be that way. The way the scenes are shown in the movie can sometimes be confusing as to what timeline you are currently viewing, but are done in a way that does a much better job of describing the time confused events. The entire concept is interesting enough to be completely engrossed in this story of time travel and crave the details left out.

The world portrayed in Looper has the look and feel of the modern world, but hints of a science fictional world can be seen all around. In this slightly futuristic world, a mutation in humanity has occurred where some are able to control objects with their mind. These "TKs" are very stereotypical of science fictional fantasies and worlds and allow us to further delve into this fascinating world of the future.

Subtle references to other films can be found in the movie, such as the club, La Belle Aurore, acts as the headquarters for the Loopers is named after the bistro in Paris where Rick and Ilsa meet in Casablanca (1942). Another reference found in the film is the chase through the cane fields which emulates the chase found in North by Northwest (1959).

The movie ends as any good science fictional tale should, with a time paradox that results in a thrilling conclusion between Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis that will shock some and satisfy others. Regardless, Looper is a must see movie for any who love science fiction or time travel or both. Looper provides an experience that will leave you wanting more.

Men in Black 3 (2012)

Back in black for a third time, Will Smith stars as Agent J in the third (but not final) and best installment so far in the Men in Black series, which is based on the Lowell Cunningham comic book series. Tommy Lee Jones reprises his role as Agent K, with Josh Brolin joining the cast in an excellent performance as the young Agent K from 1969. Emma Thompson plays the role of Agent O, the present day head of MIB; and Jemaine Clement (of Flight of the Conchords fame) rounds out the main cast as the antagonist: a Boglodite named “Boris the Animal”. Written by Etan Cohen (not to be confused with Ethan Coen of the Coen brothers) and directed by Barry Sonnenfield, Men in Black III (MIB3) was released on May 25^th, 2012.

As many sci-fi movies do, MIB3 involves time travel and alien invasions as two key plot points. In the beginning, Agents J (Smith) and K (Jones) are confronted by a recently escaped Boris (Clement), who is trying to get revenge on K for imprisoning him. Instead of fighting, Boris warns the agents that K is “already dead”. J then learns that on July 16^th 1969, K was responsible for deploying the ArcNet, a protective field that stopped the Boglodites from invading and led to their extinction (except for Boris, who was imprisoned on the moon). J wakes up the next day to find himself in an alternate reality in which K was killed by Boris 43 years ago. J must then travel back in time to stop Boris from killing K and stop the Boglodite invasion by deploying the ArcNet. This isn’t as easy as it may first sound, as the 1969 version of K (Brolin) is at first extremely resistant in believing J’s story.

MIB3 has great cinematography, as one would expect from a director (Sonnenfield) who is a former cinematographer, working in that role on When Harry Met Sally… (1989). Sonnenfield has also matured as a director since first taking on the position in The Addams Family (1991), with his largest successes being Get Shorty (1995) and the TV series Pushing Daisies. Also the director of the first two Men in Black movies and of “Wild Wild West”, Sonnenfield has a great deal of experience working with the film’s lead actor, Will Smith. It is perhaps this reason that Smith gives his best performance of the three MIB films.

Movies in the sci-fi genre like to reference their genre counterparts, and MIB3 is no exception. J tells K that he is going “Jedi Knight” on him, which is a clear reference to George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977). Other classic movie references show up, including Hondo (1953) – K refers to J as “Hondo” – and Jerry Maguire – Boris says “You complete me” to the crawling creature that somehow maintains a symbiotic relationship with the Boglodite. The most contrived reference has to be to No Country for Old Men, which stars both Brolin and Jones. In one scene, K asks J what the most destructive force in the universe is, with J answering: “Sugar?”. In No Country for Old Men, Moss (Brolin) mistakes the name ‘Chigurh’ for ‘Sugar’, with Javier Bardem’s character Chigurh being a very destructive force in that movie.

Both Smith and Brolin put in excellent performances in this film, allowing its somewhat unbelievable plot (even for science fiction) to be carried through to the end. If you are a fan of the first two MIB movies or a fan of light-hearted comedy/science fiction crossovers, then MIB3 will definitely entertain.

Premium Rush (2012)

What could be better than breathtaking city road chases in expensive sports cars? Bicycle chases through the busy New York streets apparently. With the abundance of action flicks all fighting for our attention on the big screen, Premium Rush, directed by famed screenwriter/director David Koepp, does a great job in setting up a fresh new premise for the genre. Like his other works, Koepp once again pulls off a thrilling action film for the theaters.

Released on August 24, 2012, Premium Rush stars the up and rising Joseph Gordon-Levitt, from other hit movies such as 50/50, Inception, and The Dark Knight Rises just to name a few, as Wilee, a reference to Wile. E. Coyote from the road runner cartoon, leading us through the crowded streets of New York delivering urgent parcels in his no braking, no coasting bike. While on one of his routine runs, Wilee realizes that he is involved in a more than average parcel delivery run as he gets chased around by a man in a car, discovered later as a cop, for the envelope he carries. Whilst avoiding cars, pedestrians and the cop after his package, Gordon-Levitt takes us on a wild ride through the streets on his trusty bike to drop off whatever he’s carrying to its final destination.

With an amazing director running the show, Premium Rush gives us a good and close up chase through the city streets with occasional flashbacks to properly flesh out the story. The chase scenes are up close and personal with the agile Gordon-Levitt sweeping through narrow passages and jumping fences and the occasional comedic bike-o-vision scenes thrown in, while the flashbacks ties together the background story for the movie progression to make sense. Gordon-Levitt puts on another spectacular show on screen, and is said to have performed most of the stunts himself without using body doubles. The rest of the cast supports him well with notable performances by Michael Shannon as the cop and Aasif Mandvi as the humorous guy running the show for the courier service Gordon-Levitt works for.

Apart from all the actions of the film, the romantic plot of the film really falls through and doesn’t add much to the story at all. All it manages to do is manifest some artificial conflict between Wilee and one other messenger biker to show their reason for being at each other’s throats throughout the movie. However, this can be done much more easily with other reasons rather than a quarrel over something as messy as love.

All in all, for those looking for a fast-paced action film filled with dangerous and exciting bike stunts need look no further because Premium Rush provides it all. It’s a simple and easy story that everyone can follow until the end and leave satisfied. I would give this movie a 4 star out of 5 as it does precisely what it advertises, entertain with dangerous bike chases through busy city streets, and does well.

Kit Kong

Django Unchained - A Classic Western Evolved

There are a few reasons I watched this movie. One was the large amount of controversy revolving around the heavy use of an interesting word, which the movie handles very well. Another reason is the big names in the cast; Jamie Foxx, Christoph Fox, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Samuel L. Jackson among others. The third big reason was the fact that Django Unchained is a ‘Tarantino Movie’, which means there are high expectations for this movie. These expectations are definitely delivered on.

If you choose to isolate yourself from the various information outlets of the world, here is a quick rundown on the movie: 
Django Unchained is an American film released on the 25th of December, 2012. The story follows Django, a former black slave played by Jamie Foxx, and the German bounty hunter who frees and recruits him, Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. The two companions embark on an epic quest to free Django’s wife from an infamous plantation known as ‘Candieland’, run by Leonardo DiCaprio’s equally infamous character Calvin Candie.

The movie is styled after the classic Western genre, but throws it into the deep fryer to give it a crunchy new layer of goodness that I’ve never seen before. Unlike most -if not all- other westerns, the protagonists in the movie are a black former-slave and a German bounty hunter. In fact, Django is very similar to Uma Thurman’s character in Kill Bill: an unlikely hero transforming from helpless something to bad-guy-killing badass.

Despite the old-western setting, Django Unchained has a few scenes with very modern music, which is an interesting choice. On the one hand, it further modernizes the film, and differentiates it from the classic Westerns it draws from. At the same time it kind of breaks the immersion, reminding the viewer that they’re watching a movie, rather than experiencing a story.

One really interesting cinematographic technique that Tarantino makes use of throughout the movie is to zoom in on a main characters face whenever they are introduced,  as if shouting to the viewier:  “Hey, remember this guy! You should, he’s famous!” The best example of this is the introduction of Mr. Candy, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, where the camera zooms through the room onto DiCaprio’s face as he turns around. Another example is Tarantino's cameo, featuring an amusingly bad Australian accent.
 
The acting in Django Unchained is mostly good, but for some reason Leonardo DiCaprio just feels weird in this movie. It feels more like he’s acting as himself acting in the movie. The exception to this is towards the end of the movie. I won’t spoil what happens, but Leo does a very good job of eliciting a couple different emotions from me as the viewer, and he does an excellent job of making you hate him as an antagonist. On the awesome side of things, Christoph Waltz’s portrayal of a bounty hunter is exceptional. Also, a special mention must go out to Tarantino’s hilariously bad Australian accent.

There are a couple points in the movie where the story takes off its thick winter jacket of manly seriousness, and throws on the metaphorical equivalent of a humorous t-shirt. One such scene featuring a cameo of Jonah Hill is designed to act as a form of comic relief. While the scene isn’t specifically un-funny, it feels out of place, and drags on a bit too long. This is unfortunate, because the point it tries to make is still somewhat valid. Rather than the usual portrayal of the white Americans as racist savages, this humorous scene reveals them to be racist morons, most of which still lead generic family lives back at home. It seems to suggest that the real antagonist is racism itself, rather than the men who embody it. To contrast this, there is a scene featuring some rather amusing Australians. This scene does exactly what it needed to: adds some comic relief, moves the plot, and does so in a compact amount of time. 

The total running time is 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it certainly feels that long. By that I mean a lot of things happen. A lot of in-story time goes by, a lot of events occur, and the movie could even be split into several sub-stories featuring the same characters. In fact, I wonder how the film would look in some sort of mini-series format. 
I have a friend who disagrees with me on this point, but in my opinion Django Unchained is reasonably well paced, despite being almost 3 hours. Having seen Inglourious Basterds, I was able to recognize how long scenes with little action were a precursor to a huge burst of energy.
Speaking of which, Tarantino’s signature blood effects are as gory and hilariously over the top as expected. Every time a bullet shoots through a limb it brings forth a huge gush of almost fluorescent blood, which flies through the air like paint, and comes complete with a satisfying sloshing sound. It’s like the foley sound artist was given a huge bucket of goop and was told to ‘have fun with it’. There might be some that say these scenes glorify violence, but the visuals and sound are so far-removed from reality.

If my opinion is somehow the deciding factor on whether or not Django Unchained’s silent D is worth almost 3 hours of your time, my final score should be the quick answer.

Final Score: 9 sloshy blood explosions out of 10

Django Unchained (2012)

 

Quit yankin’ our chain, Tarantino!  Director Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained - a modern revival of the Spaghetti Western mixed with pre-civil war American slavery (a genre Tarantino has coined the “Southern”) was released Christmas Day 2012 to American theatres.  The film stars Jaimee Foxx in the leading roll, Christopher Waltz, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio as the antagonist.

                The movie details the happenings of Django, a slave freed by the bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Waltz) when attempting to locate his current bounties.  The two establish a companionship, with Schultz training Django in the ways of bounty hunting as a means of economic prosperity and locating Django’s enslaved wife.

                Many of Tarantino’s tell-tale directorial elements are present in this movie – the slight off topic humor (in this case surrounding an early instantiation of the KKK contemplating the decision to wear bags during a raid) to the long scenes of seemingly irrelevant dialogue (polite dinner conversation stretching over 20 minutes of footage).  These same directorial choices are what give the movie a slightly disingenuous feel considering the lengthy run-time.  At 2 hours and 45 minutes perhaps some of the meandering could be amended – or rescinded.

                Acting wise, Tarantino has again employed a full Hollywood cast with many blockbuster actors taking leading rolls.  To this effect the acting is good – of the caliber you would expect from Hollywood, but seeing DiCaprio (The same man we saw sinking in 1997’s Titanic) play a particularly brutal slave owner seems like another familiar, recycled face jammed into yet another role. The suspension of disbelief doesn’t come naturally given the casts’ tabloid-headline notoriety.

                Stylistically, Tarantino uses cinematographic elements common to the Spaghetti Western – the panorama (wide sweeping shots of the surrounding southern environment) and the tight close-up (inspecting the follicles of Leonardo DiCaprio’s manicured chin-coiffure).  Both could be expected of Spaghetti godfather Sergio Corbucci – The director of the original Django (1966) from which Tarantino draws heavy inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, Tarantino includes many iconoclastic throw-backs to previous films.  In one such example he infers that a slave trader is the great grandfather of character Captain Koons from his previous Pulp Fiction (1994).  Additionally, Django’s wife, Broomhilda Von Shaft is a reference to the infamous Blaxploitation flick Shaft (1971) – later played in the year 2000 recreation by resident cast member Samuel L. Jackson.

Ultimately, the movie pulls many of the same tricks we’ve come to expect from Tarantino and to that effect its a familiar outing with an unfamiliar genre.
-Tom McIntosh