Hereafter

Hereafter - Dir. Clint Eastwood (2010)

At the age of 80, Clint Eastwood hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. He may have retired from acting, but his output as director remains prolific. Whenever awards season rolls around, you know a new Eastwood picture will be released. His films have been in varied genres, whether they be crime thrillers (Mystic River), war movies (Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima), or sports dramas (Million Dollar Baby, Invictus). His next project will be a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead.

Eastwood ventures slightly out of his comfort zone with Hereafter, a trio of stories centered on death and the afterlife. Eastwood is joined by Peter Morgan, a screenwriter known more for politically charged films like The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, and Frost/Nixon. Morgan was apparently inspired to write the script following the death of a close friend.

Hereafter begins with the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. French television personality Marie LeLay (Cecile De France) is vacationing in Thailand with her producer/boyfriend (Thierry Neuvic) when the tidal wave hits. She is swept away and nearly killed by a careening automobile. Marie is barely revived, but not before having ethereal visions of white light and ghostly figures. From then on, she has trouble reconnecting with her normal life. She attempts to take time off by writing a book on former French president Francois Mitterrand. Instead, she winds up researching a new book on the afterlife. Her newfound fascination alienates her from her boyfriend and colleagues.

George Lonegan (Matt Damon) was once a psychic of some renown with the legitimate ability to speak with the dead. Imagine him as the kid from The Sixth Sense all grown up. George has retreated from the spotlight, making a modest living as a forklift operator in San Francisco. His brother, Billy (Jay Mohr), keeps trying to convince George that they can both make a lot more money by exploiting his powers. George disagrees, believing them to be a curse, rather than a gift. We see just how these psychic talents interfere with his life when he is introduced to Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard) at a cooking class. It's a meet cute straight out of the romantic comedy playbook, but the budding relationship doesn't get the chance for a happy ending.

The third storyline is set in London and follows twin brothers Marcus and Jason (Frankie & George McLaren who alternate roles). Marcus depends on the wiser and more mature Jason, who is twelve minutes older, to take care of him and their heroin-addicted mother. When Jason is killed in a tragic car accident, Marcus is placed in foster care and struggles to go on with his life

Eastwood excels at making these types of prestige pictures. He has an old-fashioned sense of storytelling. He is content to give his characters room to breathe and never resorts to superfluous camera tricks. Hereafter marks the first time Eastwood has used extensive special effects. The opening tsunami sequence is a remarkable achievement in CGI that is shot in a very intimate manner. Eastwood shoots this massive natural disaster at a human level by focusing on Marie as she is battered and thrashed about. Eastwood is more concerned about capturing the harrowing emotions of the event rather than creating widespread destruction, a lesson that Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich could learn.

The rest of the film doesn't quite live up to the promise of the start. Cecile De France is wonderful and I admit to having a crush on her since High Tension (just something about a French girl wielding a chainsaw). However, her storyline remains the weakest of the three. The scenes dealing with her disconnect are mundane and fail to convey the existential turmoil she faces. Damon appears in the strongest storyline and he gives a powerful, yet understated, performance. Unlike films such as Babel and Crash, Hereafter doesn't unite its characters through tenuous strands or contrive to intersect its various plots. The storylines run parallel and only converge in the final act. The resolution remains unsatisfying and the convergence of plot threads feels more like an obligation rather than a germane end to the journey. Eastwood is known for his preference to shoot the script's first draft, choosing not to tweak the writer's words. Perhaps, that's exactly what Hereafter needed.

In the end, Eastwood has created a film about metaphysical subject matter that is grounded in a down-to-earth reality. The performances of the cast are good enough to overcome the meandering plots and the occasional bluntness of Eastwood's direction.

Rating: **

Stone

Stone - Dir. John Curran (2010)

The first line of dialogue uttered in the film Stone is, "You keep my soul in a dungeon." If you thought the movie couldn't get any cheesier, you thought wrong.

Robert DeNiro stars as Jack Mabry, a parole officer on the verge of retirement. He's been married to his wife, Madylyn (Frances Conroy), for over forty years. The Mabrys attend church and read bible passages together but, it all seems like an empty act. In the opening prologue, it is a young Madylyn who speaks that line as she intends on leaving Jack. His response is a shocking and frightening threat that keeps Madylyn locked by his side. The years have clearly taken their toll on a woman who is practically zombiefied.

Jack newest case is Gerald "Stone" Creeson (Edward Norton) who has served eight years for a botched robbery that led to the deaths of his grandparents. Stone is what some would call a 'wigger.' He has cornrows and speaks in a faux language of the streets. Desperate to get out of prison, Stone sends his smoking hot wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to seduce Jack. What happens next isn't a steamy potboiler, but a turgid character study in hypocrisy and spirituality.

Jack merely pays lip service to God. He goes through the motions and constantly listens to Christian talk radio while driving to and from work. But, for all his superficial self-righteousness, God has yet to touch his heart. Stone is merely interested in telling Jack what he wants to hear. He chats with Jack about Zukangor, a New Age religion he discovered from a pamphlet in the prison library. However, Stone has an honest-to-goodness spiritual awakening while witnessing, of all things, a brutal stabbing. For Jack, it is unthinkable that this low-life con gets a direct line to God while he struggles. Lucetta never deals with these sorts of existential quandaries, but she too maintains a façade. By day, she works as a schoolteacher, at night; she's a raging nymphomaniac though still dutiful to her incarcerated husband.

Throughout the film, director John Curran hammers home the themes as bluntly as possible. The talk radio commentators act as a Greek chorus reiterating what we've seen already. The dialogue lacks any semblance of subtlety and the plot just sputters along until it reaches a less than satisfying conclusion. It's a shame since the screenplay was written by Angus Maclachlan who penned the far more engaging Junebug, which introduced the world to the wonder that is Amy Adams.

Stone does feature a solid turn from DeNiro. It's a low key performance from a man who has been spinning his wheels with self-parodying roles in Meet the Fockers and Machete. Norton is good as well playing a character similar to the one from his big screen debut in Primal Fear. Some critics argue that Norton's performance (which he based on actual prisoners he met in Detroit) is too labored, but I believe that is the point. Stone is mimicking the type of persona he needs to survive in prison. Jovovich is also surprisingly good (not just because she gets naked) and tries to put on a performance that is a bit better than the movie will allow.

The cast is talented, but the characters just aren't compelling. Stone is shallow melodrama and when it's over, you'll wonder what was the point of it all.

Rating: * ½

Conviction

Conviction - Dir. Tony Goldwyn (2010)

Literary adaptations and true-life stories are par for the course come awards season. Conviction falls into the latter category.

Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell star as siblings, Betty Anne and Kenny Waters, who live in Ayers, Massachusetts. As kids they grew up with a neglectful mother, spent much of their childhood stealing candy from the grocery store and breaking into people's houses. They were eventually split apart and put into foster care, but remained devoted to each other. Even when Kenny becomes a husband and father, he doesn't straighten up. While partying with his family, Kenny picks a fight with a guy, to everyone's consternation, and then puts them back at ease with an impromptu strip show.

The story really begins in 1981 when a neighbor woman is brutally murdered. As the local troublemaker, Kenny is picked up by the cops, questioned, and released. Two years later, he is arrested for the killing. Kenny maintains his innocence. It seems his only crime was being a smartass to the police and, in particular, the investigating officer, Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo). Kenny's wife (Clea DuVall) and ex-girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) give damning testimony and he is sentenced to life in prison.

Betty Anne spends the next decade earning a GED, Bachelor's, and a degree in law in order to defend her brother. Throughout that time, she attempts to maintain a delicate balance being a mother, wife, student, and crusader while working as a bartender at night. Her unwavering determination costs her a marriage as well as custody of her sons. However, Betty Anne's hard work pays off due to advances in DNA evidence during the early-90's. She also receives help along the way from Minnie Driver as a law school friend and Peter Gallagher as a high-powered New York attorney.

Hilary Swank really excels at portraying these types of blue-collar characters having already won two Oscars for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby. It's not the most memorable performance of the year, but it's the exact type of inspirational role that the Academy loves. Sam Rockwell is probably my favorite actor working today and he is great in Conviction. Rockwell arms Kenny Waters with a disarming charm that makes you overlook his shortcomings. But, that inner spirit is withered away from years of false imprisonment. Melissa Leo is solid as the cop who railroads Kenny while Juliette Lewis tends to overact as a walking white trash nightmare. The acting is what really lifts the film above the trappings of a made-for-TV movie of the week.

Director Tony Goldwin and screenwriter Pamela Gray (who previously worked together on the romantic drama A Walk on the Moon) take an incredible real life story and tell it in a conventional manner. The plot sticks to a basic screenwriting formula with setbacks that seem to come at predetermined intervals. For most moviegoers, this will be a negligible critique.

Conviction ends with a final denouement that gives us an update of what happened to the main characters. The real Betty Anne Waters continues to work with the Innocence Project to clear the wrongly convicted. Not mentioned is the tragic fate of Kenny Waters who died from an accidental fall only six months after being released from prison.

Rating: **

Please Give

Please Give - Dir. Nicole Holofcener (2010)

Independent filmmaker Nicole Holofcener crafts interesting, three-dimensional roles for women and has a strong ear for believable dialogue. This has been evident in her three previous films - Walking and Talking, Lovely & Amazing, and Friends with Money. If you were to find flaw in her work, it would be that Holofcener tends to focus on women of privilege who some may find hard to sympathize with. That's certainly the case with her newest film, Please Give, a story about bourgeois New Yorkers and the liberal guilt that comes with their lifestyle.

Please Give starts with an unconventional opening montage featuring a series of breasts being laid out for their mammograms. These aren't the firm, silicone enhanced type you'd find in Playboy. These breasts come in all shapes and sizes, big or small and young or saggy. Catherine Keener, a frequent star of Holofcener's, plays Cathy who runs a vintage furniture store with her husband, Alex (Oliver Platt). They purchase their inventory from the children of the recently deceased who are generally too distraught or ambivalent to care where their parents' things go. Cathy's teenage daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele), struggles with insecurities about her body image and the onset of acne.

Cathy and Alex live next door to the 91-year old Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert), a crotchety grandmother who finds fault in everyone and everything. Cathy and Alex have already purchased her apartment and will annex it upon her death. Andra is cared for by granddaughter, Rebecca (Rebecca Hall), the mammogram technician handling the breasts seen earlier. She's dutiful in performing chores for her grandma. Rebecca fetches her medication, buys her groceries, and does all the laundry, even if Andra isn't very grateful. Rebecca's sister, Mary (Amanda Peet), is a well-tanned and irresponsible spa worker. She doesn't share the same tolerance for granny as Rebecca and is quite tactless about her forthcoming death.

Cathy feels guilty for profiting off the death of others. She attempts to assuage those feelings through volunteer work and giving money and leftovers to the homeless. Abby is appalled that her mom won't buy her those $200 designer jeans she wants while having on problem handing a twenty to the bum they always pass on the streets.

As a character study of upper-middle class New Yorkers, Please Give has a distinct Woody Allen feel to it. There's no driving plot to the film instead, Holofcener gives us a slice of life affair, dropping us right into their everyday routine. She also imbues her film with a restrained sense of humor. The acting is strong, especially from Keener and Guilbert. What holds back the movie is your level of empathy for its characters. It's hard to identify with whiny, insecure people when they are well off and their main problems involve how to decorate their big-ass apartment.

Rating: ** ½

Buried

Buried - Dir. Rodrigo Cortes (2010)

Are audiences willing to spend 90 minutes trapped inside a box with Ryan Reynolds? Director Rodrigo Cortes and writer Chris Sparling hope the answer is yes.

Reynolds is Paul Conroy, a civilian truck driver contracted to work in Iraq. Buried begins literally in the dark as Conroy awakens and fumbles for his lighter. To his horror, he has been buried alive. Terrorists attacked his convoy and demand a substantial ransom before revealing his location to the authorities. At Conroy's disposal, are the aforementioned lighter and a cell phone. He desperately attempts to contact anyone he can for help as well as his wife (Samantha Mathis).

Conroy reaches out to 911, the FBI, and the State Department as we listen in on his frantic calls. He is eventually put in contact with a special task force assigned to these abductions. We also bear witness to his chilling conversations with the kidnappers. Conroy's emotions run the gamut of fear, frustration, desperation, and anger. Though the unseen villains threaten his very life, the most frightening call is perhaps the one he receives from his employers who coldly fire him in order to absolve themselves from any lawsuit or hefty insurance payout.

Films like Buried have been attempted before. Open Water centered on a couple left alone in shark infested waters after their tour boat departs without them. Frozen was about three skiers forced to battle the elements when they are trapped on a ski lift after the resort shuts down for the weekend. Both movies were praised for their high concept premises, but neither had enough story to fill their feature-length run times.

It is a testament to the talents of Cortes and Reynolds that they are able to sustain suspense throughout Buried. Cortes wisely varies his camera angles to keep the movie fresh while maintaining a strong sense of claustrophobia and impending doom. Reynolds is also excellent, proving he can play more than just the smart-aleck. He does display his trademark flippancy on rare occasions, but he's able to convey a wider range than any previous roles. He's likable enough to gain sympathy necessary to make his predicament all the more harrowing.

Buried does cheat a little. Conroy's limited air supply is a danger, but it doesn't seem to factor in when he's constantly speaking and thrashing about. He's also burning precious oxygen with his Zippo. Still, it is a well-made thriller that doesn't need to resort to blood and guts to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rating: ***

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go - Dir. Mark Romanek (2010)

Many film critics have been cavalier about spilling the secrets of Never Let Me Go in their reviews. If you prefer to know as little as possible about a film before going in, then I will issue a minor spoiler alert.

Never Let Me Go is based on the critically acclaimed novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the author of Remains of the Day, which was adapted for the screen by Merchant-Ivory. For all intents and purposes, Never Let Me Go appears to be your typical British melodrama, but there are little things throughout the picture that just aren't right.

The film begins in the late-70's at a boarding school called Hailsham. The lead characters are best friends Kathy H. (Izzy Meikle-Small) and Ruth (Ella Purnell) and the temperamental Tommy (Charlie Rowe). Tommy is alternately painfully shy and a ball of rage. He screams to the heavens when he isn't picked for a soccer game. It's clear that Kathy is in love with Tommy, but it is Ruth who nets the boy.

The school itself emphasizes art above all other courses of study. Students are encouraged to submit their works (paintings, poetry, etc.) for the chance to be displayed in a gallery in the city. The headmistress, Miss Emily (Charlotte Rampling), encourages the children to stay as healthy as possible. Check-ups with the medical staff are regular occurrences. The children all wear electronic wristbands that are swiped whenever they enter or exit the school. They are told gruesome horror stories about what happened to children who leave the school grounds. Excitement grows when a delivery of goods arrives at Hailsham. The children fawn over an assortment of knick knacks that is clearly a collection of discarded junk, like broken toys and worn down pens. A sympathetic teacher (Sally Hawkins) tearfully confesses that they're lives are predetermined and they will never be astronauts or actors in America. The students learn soon after that she has been dismissed.

The movie jumps to the 80's where Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy have grown up to become Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield. The trio has graduated Hailsham and now resides in the Cottages, a countryside farm for former students. They make awkward attempts to acclimate themselves to their surroundings as the love triangle drives a wedge in their friendship.

Director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) has fashioned a picture that is the epitome of awards fodder. His direction is skillful and the film is peppered with gorgeous shots that speak simultaneously to the beauty and loneliness of life. Colors have been muted into a drab world of gray tones. Screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) never draws attention to what makes this world different from ours. There is no sudden M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist at the end. Instead, he weaves the elements into fabric of the narrative. This strange way of life that the characters lead has become a crucial component of their society. It speaks volumes that Kathy or Tommy never try to escape their fates. For them, this is what life is supposed to be.

Despite the weighty subject matter, Never Let Me Go fails to achieve a deeper resonance. This is partly due to the almost mechanical way in which the source material was adapted. As Kathy, Mulligan provides the occasional voiceover to explain events and share her thoughts. In a novel, the author can get away with it. In a film, the director and screenwriter cannot. It becomes a superfluous storytelling device that ruins the subtle moments seen on screen.

Never Let Me Go is essentially the Merchant-Ivory version of Logan's Run. It is a beautiful looking film with superb performances, especially from Mulligan and Garfield, who has been on a roll following Red Riding Trilogy and The Social Network. However, it just feels like Romanek is going through all the motions to fish for an Oscar.

Rating: **

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Dirs. Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (2010)

A kid walks into a hospital and says he's thinking about killing himself. So the doctors have him committed. Okay, that joke wasn't exactly a laugh riot, but neither is It's Kind of a Funny Story. The film was produced by Focus Features, Universal's art house arm and like most pictures with an indie flavor, centers around emotionally damaged characters. With a score by Broken Social Scene, Funny Story is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest tailored to the MySpace generation.

Craig (Keir Gilchrist) is a 16-year old, New York City kid who seems to have his life in order. He attends a prestigious high school, gets good grades, and comes from a loving family. Yet, he suffers from depression and stress-induced vomiting. He pines for Nia (Zoe Kravitz), the girlfriend of his best friend, Aaron (Thomas Mann). Consumed by thoughts of suicide, Craig checks into a hospital hoping for a quick fix. Instead, he's admitted into the psych ward for an observational period of five days.

Craig finds himself surrounded by an assortment of oddballs and eccentrics. From a schizophrenic who utters seemingly random things to a Hasidic Jew who consumed too much acid and has an aversion to loud noises. He shares a room with an Egyptian man named Muqtada (Bernard White) who is the movie's version of Kesey's silent Chief. He hardly ever gets out of bed and never steps foot outside his room. Craig befriends Noelle (Emma Roberts), committed for self-mutilation, and Bobby (Zach Galifianakis in a dramatic twist on his man-child persona), a big teddy bear with unkempt hair. Bobby swipes doctor's scrubs and takes Craig on wacky adventures around the hospital.

The asylum of Funny Story is hardly the foreboding, soul-crushing institution that served as the setting for Cuckoo's Nest. There's no Nurse Ratched ruling the ward with an iron fist. Here, you have the new age-y named Dr. Eden Minerva (Viola Davis) and Smitty (Jeremy Davies), a hipster volunteer with a pork pie hat.

It's Kind of a Funny Story was based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Ned Vizzini and adapted for the screen by the filmmaking duo of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. The pair were responsible for two amazing films in Half-Nelson and Sugar. So it comes as a slight disappointment that Funny Story never reaches those same heights. Half-Nelson featured Ryan Gosling in an incredible performance as an inner city high school teacher struggling with drug addiction. It managed to avoid the cloying sentimentalism of overrated schmaltz like Dead Poets Society. Sugar was about both baseball and the immigrant's experience and not at all what you'd expect from a sports movie. Unlike its predecessors, Funny Story is unable to escape the trappings of familiarity and predictability. Craig forges unlikely bonds with his fellow patients and they all learn valuable life lessons from each other.

Fleck and Boden further hamper the formulaic story with a series of voiceovers and fantasy sequences. On occasion, the action freezes so Craig can narrate his thoughts and feelings. He not only breaks the fourth wall, but breaks a primary screenwriting rule of show, not tell.

Rating: **

Red

Red - Dir. Robert Schwentke (2010)

RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous

For some odd reason, 2010 was the year for movies about crack teams of highly-trained specialists. We had The Losers, The A-Team, and The Expendables. Now, here comes Red, which also fits into the subgenre of 'government operatives hunted down by their employers' along with Salt and Knight and Day.

Red is based on a three issue mini-series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner that was published by Wildstorm, an imprint of DC Comics. The source material centered on a lone protagonist and was made of darker, more violent stuff. Jon & Eric Hoeber, who also adapted the graphic novel Whiteout, freely interpret the comic into a comedy-driven action romp.

Bruce Willis stars as Frank Moses, a former CIA assassin who has retired into a life of boring routine. He wakes up, eats his breakfast, and wheels out the garbage just like everyone else in his nondescript neighborhood. The sole bright spot of Frank's mundane existence are his flirty chats with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), the service rep who handles his pension. Like Frank, Sarah is trapped in the rut of your average cubicle dweller. She finds excitement more in the idea of Frank than the man himself.

One day, a hit-squad riddles Frank's house with machine gun fire in the middle of the night. Frank dispatches them with cold-blooded efficiency and rescues Sarah from another team of assassins who have monitored his conversations. Now, Frank must track down his former colleagues to find out who wants him dead. First, there's Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), now residing in a nursing home and suffering from terminal liver cancer. Next is Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), a conspiracy nut hiding out in the Florida swamps. He was fed a steady diet of LSD as part of a secret mind control experiment. Frank even turns to a former nemesis in Ivan Simanov (Brian Cox), a former Russian operative and one-time lover of the final member of the team, Victoria (Helen Mirren). An ex-MI6 agent, Victoria, now runs a bed and breakfast in Maryland.

The filmmakers didn't skimp on the supporting roles either, snagging an ensemble of talented actors to fill out the movie. Karl Urban plays William Cooper, the CIA agent tasked with capturing Frank and his comrades, with Rebecca Pidgeon as his hard-nosed supervisor and Julian McMahon as the vice-president. Richard Dreyfuss essentially reprises his role of Dick Cheney from Oliver Stone's W. as a crooked industrialist. The 93-year old Ernest Borgnine shows everybody how it's done as a records keeper for the CIA's dirtiest secrets.

Most of the actors play their roles broadly with Malkovich and Dreyfuss being the most over-the-top. You almost wish Dreyfuss had grown a handlebar mustache so you could watch him twirl it with villainous glee. In contrast, Willis is more laid back as the laconic Frank Moses. It's easy to imagine Moses as what John McClane would be like in his sunset years. His role in Red can also be seen as a meta comment on Willis's career as an action hero. At 55, Willis isn't quite ready to hand in his badge and gun, not when there's still ass kicking to do. Morgan Freeman (who could captivate an audience by reading the phone book) doesn't get nearly as much screen time, but makes the most of what little he has. Brian Cox affects a rather iffy Russian accent as a Cold War throwback.

Despite being a testosterone driven film, the best performances in Red belong to Mary-Louise Parker and Dame Helen Mirren. As the underwritten love interest, Parker displays deft comedic timing. Her best scenes are towards the beginning of the movie when she's kidnapped by Frank. Even with her hands bound and her mouth gagged, she manages to bring the funny, acting as the counterpoint to the sleepy eyed Willis. And what can you say about the ultra-classy Mirren? Her Victoria is like a cross between Emma Peel and Martha Stewart. She remains prim and proper as she fires a sniper rifle and throat punches people. How can anyone not delight in seeing Mirren decked out in an evening gown and combat boots while manning a .50 caliber machine gun bigger than she is?

The action is wildly cartoonish. A hand grenade is swatted away like a baseball and blows a henchman into pieces. Shortly afterwards, Malkovich deflects a rocket with a single bullet. It explodes in a massive ball of fire while Malkovich emerges without as much as a singed eyebrow. The film does peter out during a pedestrian and anticlimactic resolution, but rebounds with a hilarious epilogue.

Rating: ***

Easy A

Easy A - Dir. Will Gluck (2010)

Easy A might be the surprise hit of the summer. I wasn't expecting much, but it is several notches above recent teen comedies that favor raunchiness and gross-out gags.

Emma Stone has seen her star rise steadily since debuting in Superbad. She cemented her status as one of the most talented actresses today with roles in The House Bunny and Zombieland. Even in subpar movies like The Rocker and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, she's able to shine. In Easy A, Stone receives her first starring role as Olive Penderghast, a virtual non-entity attending high school in Ojai, California. To avoid going on a camping trip with her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka), Olive tells her she's got a date with a boy who goes to community college. The boy doesn't exist and Olive actually spends her weekend at home giving the dog a pedicure and listening incessantly to Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine."

Olive's little white lie begins to spiral out of control when Rhiannon jumps to the conclusion that her BFF lost her virginity to this imaginary boyfriend. Olive rolls with it and the news that she busted her cherry is spread all over campus by Marianne (Amanda Bynes), the self-righteous leader of a circle of Christian conservatives. Next, she's approached by Brandon (Cougar Town's Dan Byrd) who is constantly bullied due to his homosexuality. They concoct the plan to fake having sex at a wild party to pass Brandon off as straight. Soon, Olive is trading pretend sexual favors for gift cards in order to bolster the reputations of the school's geeks, losers, and fatties. One gawky kid can only sheepishly offer a coupon to Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Taking inspiration from The Scarlet Letter, Olive decides to really roll with it by dressing provocatively and embroidering a big red A on her clothing. Before nobody knew she existed, now Olive is turning heads wherever she goes. However, her newfound notoriety isn't all it is cracked up to be considering no guys have bothered to ask her out on real dates.

Easy A doesn't have the bite of the darker edged Heathers. It doesn't have the resonance of the John Hughes films it references multiple times, even if the redheaded Emma Stone reminds one of Molly Ringwald. Still, there is an underlying level of poignancy, especially given the recent spotlight shown on teen suicides. The cruelty seen in Easy A never reaches those same levels, but it comment on the difficulty of adolescence and the damage that can be done by rumor mongering. Aided by text messaging and the internet, gossip spreads like wildfire within seconds. Despite her new status, Olive has no one to confide in. Her best friend turns against her and her parents (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson) would rather be her pals than her parents. Seeking guidance from the school counselor (Lisa Kudrow), Olive is given a handful of condoms instead along with a curt brush off.

Easy A does ask its audience to make a few leaps of faith. As with the majority of teen movies, the young cast is comprised of 20-something actors who still look too old to be in high school. The point is joked about in Marianne's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) who has been stuck as a senior for almost four years. It's also hard to believe that Emma Stone could ever be invisible. She's pretty, charming, and almost carries the picture. I say almost because some of the adult actors provide notable performances. Tucci and Clarkson are hilarious as the free-spirited parents, Thomas Haden Church appears in an understated, yet funny turn as an English teacher, and Malcolm McDowell is good as the school's uptight principal.

Rating: ***

Let Me In

Let Me In - Dir. Matt Reeves (2010)

It's rare when a remake equals the original and even rarer when it surpasses its progenitor. Unfortunately, most remakes just don't need to exist. Let Me In is just such a remake. The original film, Let the Right One In, is easily one of the best vampire movies ever made. Its only crime was apparently having subtitles, which means it doesn't exist in Hollywood's mind. Based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In examined the darkness inside humanity through a chilling, unconventional love story that puts the teenage soap opera pap of the Twilight Saga to dire shame. The rights for the American adaptation were picked up by Hammer Films, producers of many classic Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The reins of the remake were handed to Matt Reeves, the director of Cloverfield, a Blair Witch-style take on the giant monster movie. Despite talks that Reeves would re-interpret the Lindqvist's book, Let Me In is simply a rehash of its predecessor.

Let Me In is set in the far removed town of Los Alamos, New Mexico in the year 1983. The Road's Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen drifting through the awkward pangs of pre-adolescence. His parents are in the midst of a messy divorce. Dad is never seen and is only ever heard during one phone call. Mom is always working and when she's home, spends much of her time soused on the couch. To say Owen is being bullied at school is an understatement. He is being tormented by a trio of cruel bullies and the adults seem blissfully ignorant of it all.

Enter a strange young girl named Abby, played by Hit-Girl herself, Chloe Moretz. She moves into the apartment next door to Owen in the middle of the night with her "father" (Richard Jenkins). There's something odd about this little girl and not just because she walks around barefoot in the dead of winter. Owen comes to learn she is a vampire. The "father" acts as her Renfield stalking his prey and draining them of blood. Despite his initial fears, Owen grows closer to Abby as she encourages him to fight back against his antagonists.

Let Me In manages to be a surprisingly effective thriller by using the original film as its blueprint. Many of the best scenes are lifted directly out of Tomas Alfredson's version, including the climatic sequence at the gymnasium pool. Some scenes are ramped up for an American audience accustomed to blood or existential quandaries. One of the big changes in the remake is a harrowing auto accident as Abby's guardian attempts to take his latest victim. It is one of the few times in which Matt Reeves asserts his own identity as takes the camera along for the ride in the backseat. While Alfredson favored long shots to accentuate the loneliness of his lead characters, Reeves goes for close-ups to capture their alienation directly. He also excises the subplots involving Owen's neighbors thus turning them into faceless fodder for Abby's hunger.

Let Me In also lacks any of the subtleties of the original film. Abby doesn't simply feed on her victims, but practically mauls them. She climbs onto their bodies like a spider. Reeves heavily relies on unnecessary CGI for the attacks, which is blatantly obvious even though they are mostly hidden in the shadows. Reeves also hammers in the themes of good and evil. An unnamed detective (Elias Koteas) believes the murders to be the work of Satanists, the religious nature of Owen's mother causes the rift in her marriage, and everything is set under the specter of Ronald Reagan. Reeves further familiarizes the movie's setting by referencing 80's pop culture throughout. Owen's love of Culture Club and Now & Later candy belies the darkness that surrounds him, just as the cheesier aspects of the 80's served as a stark contrast to its Cold War politics. Reeves serves up a cute juxtaposition to Abby's vampirism when Owen introduces her to the gameplay of Pac-Man.

The film's young leads are both excellent and each brings a heavy soulfulness that isn't commonly found among actors of their age. The other main roles are filled by veteran character actors Richard Jenkins and Elias Koteas, the latter of whom is less creepy than usual.

Let Me In will surely serve as an enthralling thriller for those who have yet to see Let the Right One In, a truly unique twist on the vampire genre. However, the burden of knowledge will rear its head for anyone familiar with the original. The remake can't escape its feeling of 'been there, done that.'

Rating: **

The Social Network

The Social Network - Dir. David Fincher (2010)

"You'd better lawyer up 'cause I'm coming back for everything."

The creation of Facebook doesn't sound like an enthralling premise for a movie. It doesn't seem like the type of subject matter that would attract David Fincher, the director of Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac. However, it would be criminal to dismiss The Social Network as simply the Facebook movie. Just as John Hughes captured the voice of teenage angst in the 80's, Fincher has captured the voice of the dot-com generation, a youth movement weaned on wi-fi, Blackberries, and YouTube. The film tracks Mark Zuckerberg's meteoric rise from Harvard sophomore to becoming the world's youngest billionaire.

The Social Network opens at a bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts as Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down for a rapid-fire exchange with his girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara). Zuckerberg's mind is like a web browser with multiple windows open. He's engaging in multiple levels of conversation with Erica falling behind. Zuckerberg expresses his desire to get into one of Harvard's ultra-exclusive "final clubs" because they lead to a "better life." Throughout the discussion, he drops condescending remarks about Erica's inferior intelligence (inferior to his, at least). He snidely remarks she doesn't need to study because she goes to Boston University. Erica breaks up with him on the spot and fires back that Zuckerberg's failures with women will not be due to being a geek, but being an asshole.

Stunned, Zuckerberg returns to his dorm room to get drunk and blog about what a bitch his ex is. As a form of revenge against all women, he hacks into the domains of other dormitories in order to collect pictures of female students. He posts them online as a "Hot or Not Hot" website (Facemash) which becomes an instant sensation. It crashes the Harvard servers that very night at 4AM.

Zuckerberg receives a slap on the wrist from the university and draws the attention of twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer with Josh Spence as body double) and their business partner Divya Narenda (Max Minghella). The Winklevoss twins are the antithesis of Zuckerberg. Where he is short and gawky, they are tall and tanned Adonises, poster boys for Aryan perfection. They approach Zuckerberg with the idea of creating a social networking site that would be exclusively for Harvard students. Though he agrees, Zuckerberg strings them along while creating his own website initially called, TheFacebook, using seed money from his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Facebook becomes a massive success and Zuckerberg begins spreading the website to other campuses.

Enter Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the brash co-founder of Napster and Plaxo. Parker acts as the proverbial devil on the shoulder telling Zuckerberg everything he wants to hear. Zuckerberg drops out of Harvard and moves the operation to Palo Alto near Silicon Valley. As Facebook nears its millionth user, Saverin finds himself edged out by Parker and files suit against his former friend. Fincher tells the film through numerous flashbacks as the story is revealed during two separate legal depositions. Zuckerberg is being sued by both Saverin and the Winklevoss contingent.

The Social Network is a largely fictionalized account of the events it depicts. While the movie is based on Ben Mezrich's book, The Accidental Billionaires (with Saverin as consultant), screenwriter Aaron Sorkin did much of his own research. Sorkin's knack for scintillating dialogue is firmly on display here along with a wry sense of humor. Not a single line of dialogue is wasted as every word means something. It's a testament to the talents of the director and the writer that one of the film's best sequences features characters sitting around a computer and typing Matrix-like code. Zuckerberg's creation of Facemash is seen through a montage set to a pulse-pounding score by Trent Reznor. Shots of geeks glued to a flat-screen monitor are juxtaposed with the hedonistic parties thrown by the elusive final clubs that Zuckerberg aspires to belong.

Jesse Eisenberg has played plenty of likeable nerds in films like Roger Dodger, The Squid and the Whale, and Zombieland. Here, he gets to make a few subtle changes to his on-screen persona to play a rather odious human being. Whenever Zuckerberg talks, he speaks in short clips as if he treats real-life conversations as status updates to his profile page. He's an utterly insecure person who latches onto every tiny infraction as the fuel for his passive aggressive patronization. He's smarter than everybody else and isn't afraid to let them know it. At the same time, there's a sympathetic layer when you look a little closer. Sometimes he says hurtful things and doesn't realize it. Zuckerberg simply does not grasp basic human interaction. It shouldn't be a surprise that he would attempt to distill the complexities of human beings into a unified database of trivial facts. Zuckerberg is also a Jewish kid from Long Island who will never be accepted into the rarified WASPy circles of the Ivy League elite. He's a change in the established order where tailor-made power suits are replaced by hoodies and flip flops. Is it any wonder that he latches onto the slick hucksterism of Sean Parker?

Like Zuckerberg, Parker probably received his fair share of wedges and swirlies in junior high. Now, he moves in a world of cocaine and champagne. He gets the VIP treatment at trendy nightclubs as shapely waitresses cater to his every whim and call him, "Mr. Parker." Timberlake is excellent in his role conveying an irascible smarminess as well as a sad coke-fueled paranoia. Let's not forget Andrew Garfield as Parker's foil and the object of Zuckerberg's betrayal. Garfield is on the fast track to becoming the next big thing and you can already tell the kind of performance he'll be bringing to the Sony's upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Armie Hammer is also owed a few notices. Thanks to some technical wizardry by Fincher, Hammer pulls double duty as the Winklevoss Twins and gives both a unique personality.

The Social Network is so much more than just the Facebook movie. As the title suggests, the film is not just about the internet's impact on society, but about society itself and the social morays that have been imposed on it. It's all about the sting of exclusion and the need for inclusion. It's all about measuring one's worth by who they know and what groups they belong to. Facebook didn't change the way we live our lives, it just made it easier for us to do what we've been doing for a long, long time.

The Social Network is already being considered the Citizen Kane of our times. While I don't buy into the hyperbole, there are plenty of similarities between the film's Mark Zuckerberg and Orson Welles' Charles Foster Kane. Both utilized the dominant form of media as their weapon of choice. Both had the world in the palm of their hands and alienated everyone that cared about them. Just like Kane found himself alone in the opulence of Xanadu, Zuckerberg finds himself alone in a sterile boardroom futilely refreshing the profile page of his ex-girlfriend.

Rating: ****

Catfish

Catfish - Dir. Ariel Schulman (2010)

Catfish, the other Facebook movie. Billed as a reality thriller, Catfish saw a limited release following I'm Still Here, which chronicled Joaquin Phoenix's supposed mental breakdown, and just before The Social Network. I'm issuing a mild spoiler warning because the less you know about the movie, the better.

The subject of Catfish is Yaniv Schulman, a 20-something photographer living in New York City. One day, he receives a painting based off one of his photographs from an 8-year old girl named Abby who lives in the rural town of Ishpeming, Michigan. Through Facebook, Yaniv becomes friends with Abby and her extended network of family, including her parents Angela and Vince. Yaniv becomes particularly interested in Abby's pretty, 19-year old sister, Megan. They engage in increasingly intimate conversations through IM, text messaging, and over the phone. Yaniv's brother, Ariel, and friend, Henry Joost, are on hand to chronicle the long distance friendship.

Yaniv eventually learns that something just isn't kosher. Megan, an aspiring singer/songwriter, has been sending him MP3s of her songs. However, the boys discover these tunes were performed by other musicians and uploaded on YouTube. Yaniv cannot find any information online about Abby, supposedly a well-known local artist. They decide to make the trip to Michigan and find out exactly what the hell is going on.

I hesitate to say anymore and already feel as if I've spilled too many beans. However, anyone with half a brain should have figured out there was something wrong about Abby and Megan's story from the get-go. The film's trailer prominently features the guys on a midnight visit to the farmhouse where Megan purportedly lives. The scene plays out like something out of The Blair Witch Project, but Catfish is hardly a horror film. The first hour of the movie concerns itself with the romance between Yaniv and Megan, none of which is very interesting. Slog your way past it and the last twenty minutes are riveting.

The veracity of the film of remained a point of contention between filmmakers and their audiences. It is one that almost mirrors the focal point of Catfish. Injecting fictionalized elements into a documentary is nothing new, going all the way back to 1922's Nanook of the North. Was the entire movie scripted out beforehand? Doubtful. Were the Schulmans and Joost as gullible as they made out to be? Also doubtful. It seems questionable that a young hipster wouldn't think of doing a simple Google search almost immediately. Catfish contains several scenes in the beginning that feel too good to be true. It is almost as if they thought, "That was cool, but we forgot to turn on the camera. Do it again."

It makes you wonder exactly who was playing who

Rating: **

Frozen

Frozen - Dir. Adam Green (2010)

In the vein of Open Water, writer/director Adam Green offers Frozen, a minimalist horror film with a small cast and a central location. Whereas Open Water was set in the Atlantic Ocean off the Bahamas, Frozen is set in the snowy mountains of Utah.

Best friends Dan (Kevin Zegers) and Joe (Shawn Ashmore) make a regular pilgrimage to the ski resort of Snowbasin. This time around, Dan has brought along his girlfriend, Parker (Emma Bell), much to Joe's consternation. To Joe, Parker has been taking up far too much of his BFF's time and is now the third wheel on their ski trip. He's even more upset that Parker is a snowboarding beginner and they've been stuck on the kiddie slopes with her.

The guys want to get in one good ride before the resort closes down for the night and cajole the operator to let them on for a quick run. Through a series of minute events and a shift change, the trio is left stranded. The ski lift shuts down while they're still on it, suspended high above the mountain. Dan, Joe, and Parker try to convince themselves it is simply a malfunction, but their worries turn into panic once the lights turn off. Hours pass, the night grows colder, and they are subjected to fury of snow that feels like needles on their skin. They try to flag down a passing Snowcat driver to no avail.

They are now left at the mercy of the elements and the hungry wolves on the ground below. Each individual attempts to hatch their own desperate plans to escape and seek help.

Frozen works as a refreshing departure from the usual horror flicks with an axe-wielding maniac chopping his way through a pack of horny teenagers. Sort of ironic considering Green's debut film, "Hatchet," was just such a film. Frozen avoids being a gorefest, but there's just enough gruesomeness to accentuate the terror that befalls the protagonists. A grimace inducing leg break almost puts Joe Theismann's infamous injury to shame. In another scene, Parker accidentally loses her glove and later finds her bare hand stuck on the safety pole. When she pulls it off, don't expect the same comical tone as A Christmas Story.

While the movie has a strong concept at its core, its premise remains too thin for a feature length film. Before the lead characters are stranded, Green spends the first twenty minutes of the film getting to know them. This is the obligatory introduction period as we learn a little bit of their backgrounds and the relationship dynamics. However, the characters are just as thin as the premise. The dialogue is utterly bland and instantly forgettable. Parker complains that Dan doesn't call her by a pet name like, "sweetie" or "honey." That's about the highest level of complexity for these people. The fact that they are so whiny and entitled makes it difficult to eke out even an iota of sympathy for their ordeal. In Open Water, the couple is left alone in the middle of the ocean through no fault of their own. In Frozen, the friends are left alone on the ski lift because of their own stupidity.

Frozen cheats several times when it comes to ignoring some blatantly obvious things the characters could have done to prolong their survival. Conveniently (or inconveniently), nobody has a cell phone with them. As explained in one of the commentary tracks, many skiers and snowboarders won't take their phones with them for fear of breaking them. Okay, I'll buy that. Yet, nobody ever thinks of simply buttoning up. Isn't that something we've all been taught by our parents? Even with frostbite settling in on their faces, no one bothers to cover themselves up despite wearing thick hooded jackets and wool hats.

Frozen does not live up to its intriguing premise, stretched thin in order to fill out ninety minutes of runtime. The film is at its best when it focuses on the terror that the main characters endure. The weakest scenes involve the cardboard characters simply being their boring selves.

Rating: * ½

Legend of the Guardians

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole - Dir. Zack Snyder (2010)

Legend of the Guardians could be considered Watership Down with owls instead of rabbits. Though it may be an animated film with talking animals, it's hardly a shiny happy movie for kids. Guardians is a little darker and a little more violent than your normal children's fare.

Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) are brothers still learning how to fly. Kludd is jealous of the attention his family heaps on Soren, an idealistic dreamer fascinated with bedtime stories about the heroic Guardians of Ga'Hoole. After falling out of their tree one night, the brothers are snatched away and press-ganged into the army of Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and his queen Nyra (Helen Mirren). Calling themselves the Pure Ones, Metalbeak and Nyra ready their forces to attack other owl kingdoms to weed out the weak. In addition to their soldiers, the Pure Ones have slaves called pickers whose task is to gather large amounts of metal flecks. When accumulated, they generate a magnetic field that interferes with an owl's ability to fly.

Soren and an Elf Owl named Gylfie (Emily Barclay) manage to escape and traverse long, arduous distances to seek out the legendary Guardians who live in an ancient, Avatar-looking tree. After finding the Guardians, Soren is taken under the wing (pun slightly intended) of a grizzled old war veteran voiced by Geoffrey Rush. Meanwhile, Kludd willingly chooses to stay with Nyra, becoming a loyal warrior to their supremacist cause.

Guardians is based off the first three volumes of the fifteen book series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, written by Kathryn Lasky. The film was directed by Zack Snyder and it is both his first animated movie and his first non-R-rated picture. Guardians is packed with the Snyder's trademark flourishes, mainly slow motion shots. Similar looking owls swoop at one another like WWII fighter planes. The slow motion actually helps since the action tend to look like undulating blobs of feathers. Despite that, the animation by Animal Logic (Happy Feet) is well done and the images are breathtaking.

Snyder's production is strong in visuals, but weak in story. The plot is a Cliff Notes version of the familiar hero's journey seen in countless other adventures. Snyder's desire for a darker film doesn't mesh with the studio's desire for a more family friendly tone. Serious themes of enslavement and genetic cleansing clash with scenes featuring comic relief sidekicks. Guardians simply lacks the deeper emotional resonance that Pixar has been able to capture time and time again.

Rating: * ½