Saving Mr. Banks

Director: John Lee Hancock
Genre: Historical comedy-drama/Family
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak
Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios
Release Date: December 13, 2013
My Rating: 9/10


This film definitely snags a spot on my top favorite list of films of this past year. This is the story of P.L. Travers, the legendary author who created the character of Mary Poppins. The tale begins in 1906 in Maryborough, Australia, where a young girl named Helen Goff (Travers' birth name) is playing with her father Travers Goff (Farrell), a local bank manager whose battle with alcoholism is putting his profession at risk. The film then fast-forwards to the year 1961 in London, where Mrs. Travers (Thompson) is persuaded by her agent to travel to Los Angeles in order to grant Walt Disney (Hanks) the rights to turn her novel into a movie. Disney had been attempting to convince her to do this for 20 years-after a promise he made to his daughters when they told him that Mary Poppins was their favorite book-but the novelist had resisted the opportunity to collaborate. Travers finally and reluctantly agrees and flies to L.A, where she immediately becomes exasperated by the overly jovial and casual behavior of the residents of the city of angels: a culture shock of sorts to say the very least. After settling into her hotel, Travers is introduced to Walt Disney himself, along with the team with whom she will collaborate in the making of the film: screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and music composers Robert (Novak) and Richard Sherman (Schwartzman). The film goes on to demonstrate the process that took place to create the film, specifically the musical process, and what a cold and difficult person Mrs. Travers was to work with. She believes that none of these people understand the true nature and message behind her beloved story, and think that it is merely a fantastical and whimsical tale. The recurring flashbacks of Travers' harsh upbringing provide a backdrop for her current personality.

This is a very heartwarming film that audiences of all ages can enjoy from beginning to end. The switches back and forth between time periods appear rather frequent at first, but gradually become much more crucial in explaining the character of Helen Goff/PL Travers. Emma Thompson delivers a stunning performance as an uptight, patronizing woman with an overly pessimistic life view who is bound to quickly frustrate the viewer nearly as much as the other characters. The soundtrack, which includes the classic songs "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Let's go fly a kite" is also beautiful, reminding us how classic Disney films bring out the inner child in all of us by filling our souls with blissful joy. Unlike many traditional Disney movies, however, there is a rather dark and human backstory that is in stark contrast with the jovial musical numbers. Another noteworthy performance is that of Colin Farrell, who portrays the irresponsible but well-meaning father figure who much like Peter Pan, refuses to grow up. Finally, the film contains a pleasant surprise with regards to the identity and role of the nanny Travers met as a little girl who inspired the character of Mary Poppins.

One thing remains absolutely clear about films like this one: they serve to demonstrate that fairy tales and music can be a marvelous way of helping us to forget life's harsh miseries, even if their relief is merely transient. This film helps prove that we can all bring out the best in even the most placid and stolid people by doing something as simple as creating a beautiful melody and coupling it with a few magic words.      

Captain Phillips

Director: Paul Greengrass
Genre: Action thriller
Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi 
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: October 11, 2013
My Rating: 8.5/10

In light of the approaching Academy Awards, I decided to offer my take on one of this past year's Oscar-nominated films. Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) directs this true story about the April 2009 hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama, the first American vessel to be attacked on the high seas in over 200 years.

Captain Richard Phillips (Hanks) prepares to depart from Oman to carry food and other supplies to Mombasa, Kenya through the Gulf of Aden, an area Philipps and his crew have been warned is notorious for piracy. One morning, the cargo ship is approached by two skiffs driven by a band of Somali Pirates about 240 miles off the coast of Somalia. The crew are able to deter them momentarily and alert naval authorities and although some fall behind and return to their homeland, four armed pirates eventually manage to reach the ship and board it by using a ladder. Phillips tells the majority of his crew to hide in the engine room at the bottom of the ship. Leading the criminals is a young man named Abduwali Muse (Abdi), who begins by breaking into the main control room of the ship and holding the Captain and a few other members of his unarmed crew at gunpoint. They try to assuage the fears of Phillips and the first officers, telling them they will not hurt anybody so long as they are allowed to take control of the vessel and take with them everything on it, including the supplies and $30,000 stored in a safe. Muse explains that he wants much more money than that, and that he plans to hold the ship and crew for ransom in exchange for million dollars in insurance from the shipping line company so that he may bring it home to his boss in Somalia. After a series of confrontations between the crew and the pirates, the criminals kidnap Phillips and escape in the Alabama lifeboat. This prompts the crew to alert a USS destroyer and the US Navy, who engage in a standoff with the pirates in an attempt to recuperate the Captain that lasts several days.

The film begins rather quickly, the actual hijacking of the ship occurring in the first few scenes. Right from the very beginning, the viewer experiences the terror felt by the crew members as the band of pirates boards the Maersk Alabama in such a violent and ruthless manner. There are a number of heart-pounding sequences in which one simply cannot correctly predict what will occur next, and the film demonstrates how far these criminals on the high seas are prepared to go in order to obtain what they want (or at the very least what their leaders want). The film also shows how many of the characters slowly begin to lose their sanity for different reasons, and how one Captain and his crew refused to give up until they were safe and until justice was ensured. Both Hanks and Abdi deliver stunning performances as the cautious Captain and the determined and ruthless pirate leader respectively, both engaging in a series of verbal exchanges that send chills through one's spine, each trying his best to stand his ground and figure out his opponent's next move.

One thing that I did find rather surprising was the fact that there are no major weapons on the ship for the crew to defend themselves in such dangerous waters.

It also seemed rather impressive that such a large rescue team was enlisted in order to save one person, and that the pirates were able to hold the Captain hostage for so many days while being surrounded by multiple Navy ships.

Finally, I although the film did show how much trauma the Captain suffered following his kidnapping, I would have wished the director had added a few more minutes to demonstrate how the aftermath of the hijacking and standoff affected future piracy attempts and other criminal activities in the area. 

The movie is based on a memoir written by the real Richard Phillips himself, and thus lends itself to be criticized by many as being inaccurate and depicting the Captain as more of a hero than he truly was. Nevertheless, one thing remains true: this film goes to prove that in some areas of the world, no one is truly safe and everyone can risk being attacked by even the most unexpected enemy.        

  

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

  

Director: Francis Lawrence
Genre: Adventure/Sci-Fi
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Release Date: November 22, 2013
My Rating: 7.5/10

Albeit rather late, I wanted to post this review in honor of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman, who passed away this past Superbowl Sunday from a tragic overdose. Mr. Hoffman was widely regarded as an incredibly prolific actor known for several films including Capote, Doubt, and The Master.

From I am Legend director Francis Lawrence comes the second installment in the  critically-acclaimed Hunger Games saga based on the young adult novels by author Suzanne Collins.
The first film depicts a corrupt government located in a dystopian fictional nation known as Panem, where a lavish Capitol governs 12 districts from which each year, one teenage boy and girl are sent to fight to the death in a brutal competition reminiscent of the era of gladiators in ancient Rome.

In this sequel, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) are enjoying their newly-acquired status as champions of the 74th Hunger Games and are parading around the 12 districts with their team of sponsors which include Capitol resident Effie (Banks), mentor Haymitch (Harrelson) and stylists Cinna (Lenny Kravitz) and Portia as part of their victory tour to pay their respects to the fallen tributes from last year's hunger games. After a visit from Panem President Snow (Sutherland), Katniss learns that her actions in the previous games have sparked rebellions across the districts, prompting the Peacekeepers to maintain order by all means necessary, including public assassinations. Haymitch explains to Katniss and Peeta that in order to avoid any suspicions, they must become engaged so that their romantic relationship appears more plausible. There is also a new head game-maker, Plutarch Heavensbee (Hoffman) who has replaced Seneca Crane, who was executed for violating the game rules the previous year.  This year, as it marks the 75th Hunger Games, there is a "Quarter Quell" in which previous games victors from other districts compete against each other as tributes. Among them are Capitol favorite Finnick Odair from district 4, district 7 tribute Johanna Mason, and elderly couple Wiress and Beetee from district 3. Throughout the course of the games, the tributes battle various obstacles in the arena ranging from poisonous fog to wild monkeys and deafening birds known as jabber jays.

The film begins rather slowly, as much of the first half is devoted to the preparation for the games, the victory tour, and the rebellions that cause the Peacekeepers to resort to violence (as in one scene where Katniss's childhood friend Gale is whipped). However, once the games begin the action picks up and the numerous traps that the characters encounter are portrayed in very gripping and suspenseful ways, with various unexpected plot twists (particularly at the end) for anyone who didn't read the book. Moments of silence are quickly followed by scenes filled with heart-wrenching sounds and cries of anger during fight sequences. For the most part, the sequence of events does seem to follow those in the novel, although one crucial scene toward the end in which the tributes finally discover the secret to escaping the arena appeared rather rushed in my opinion, in stark contrast with the detailed description in the book. The new characters who appear as tributes in this installment are also not as well developed in this film as they are in the novel. Nonetheless, the cinematography and special effects remain fantastic, depicting a setting and scenes very similar to the ones I had pictured. when reading the book. The misery and anger that prevails in the districts at the beginning of the story are very well demonstrated, with a series of brutal scenes depicting signs of a revolution that will eventually unfold and gain force in the last novel, Mockingjay. The movie ends with exactly the same suspense with which the novel ends, predicting a bleak future ahead for the citizens of Panem.

The performances from the actors, both returning and new, are stellar, particularly Woody Harrelson as the gruff yet sly Haymitch Abernathy. Josh Hutcherson's portrayal of Peeta seemed rather lackluster compared to his performance in the previous film and especially next to the over-emotional and vehement Jennifer Lawrence, but that may simply be due to the fact that Peeta does not seem to play as strong a role as he did in the first movie. The film also has a brilliant soundtrack-which includes an original song "Atlas" by my one of my all-time favorite bands, Coldplay-that perfectly captures the anxious mood that prevails during the story.

Like most contemporary science fiction/fantasy films, this one demonstrates that the driving forces behind its success do not simply involve a series of dazzling visual effects and unfettered violence-and even a romantic subplot-but also the continuing faith of its fans that the story is not yet quite over, that there is still more to come.

Nosotros Los Nobles (We are the Nobles)

Director: Gary Alazraki
Genre: Comedy (Mexico)
Starring: Gonzalo Vega, Karla Souza, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Juan Pablo Gil
Distributed by: Warner Bros. (Alazraki Films Studio)
Release Date: March 28, 2013
My Rating: 9/10

Newcomer young director Gary Alazraki directs his first full feature-length film that broke box office records throughout Mexico. German Noble (Vega) is a wealthy widower whose three adult children-Javi (Mendez), Barbara 'Barbi' (Souza), and Carlos 'Cha' (Gil)-have depended on him their entire lives. Javi, the eldest, occasionally assists his father at his company but spends most of his time partying and traveling with his friends and creating inane and far-fetched business ideas like 'VIP Gas stations' that deliver service to your car at your house. Barbara is about to marry a much-older spanish man named Pedro who has had numerous financial problems and hopes to benefit from Barbara's wealth. Cha, the youngest, has just been expelled from his university for bribing/sleeping with one of his professors and for using drugs. To top it off, all three of German's children have been spending extravagantly, as evidenced on their credit card statements. German thus suffers a mild heart attack as a result.
In order to teach them a valuable life lesson about hard work, German decides to forge a plan: One day, he stages a police appearance at their house, and tells his kids that their house is under foreclosure and that his company is being investigated for fraud and hence the government is taking all of their possessions. As Barbara angrily exclaims: "Can somebody explain to me why they're taking all our stuff as if we were in Venezuela or something?" He cancels their credit cards and takes their cell phones from them. As a result of their eviction, the 4 Nobles are forced to move into a ramschackle house on the opposite end of Mexico City where an old member of the family supposedly used to live. German thus tells his three children that in order to make ends meet, they will be forced to do something they have never done before: get a job. Cha thus begins working as a bank teller, Javi as a city bus driver, and Barbara as a waitress along with her former nanny's nephew Lucho.
Over several weeks, the 4 family members begin to grow significantly closer, learn more about each other and learn to survive in less-than-ideal conditions.
The film is a very idiosyncratic and genuine portrayal of contemporary Mexican society, both upper-class and working class, and is filled with numerous exaggerated and cartoonish yet eerily accurate stereotypes. For instance, that of the 'hipster' embodied by Cha, who wears winter hats, huge frame-rimmed glasses, smokes weed and frequently attends silent retreats, or Barbi as the princess who complains non-stop about petty issues and inserts random English words and expressions into her sentences like 'huge' and 'gross' in what appears to be an attempt to sound like an American valley girl. Or Javi, the arrogant aspiring entrepreneur who is surrounded by a posse of puerile friends just like himself.
Although cliche at various instances and ripe with raunchy and eye-rolling humor, the film does present mild doses of drama and down-to-earth moments. The three lead actors deliver stunning, laugh-out-loud performances as a trio of spoiled rich kids struggling to make something of themselves by reaping the rewards of their simple jobs. Director and writer Alazraki has created an amazing riches-to-rags story that conveys messages about family relationships, work ethics, and money in a city with incredibly large gaps between rich and poor.

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Director: Lee Daniels
Genre: Historical Drama
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, David Oyelowo
Distributed by: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: August 16, 2013
My Rating: 9/10

This has undoubtedly been another of my top favorite movies of the summer and of the year thus far. Director Lee Daniels (Precious) brings to the big screen the true story of White House butler Cecil Gaines (Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker), who is based on Eugene Allen, a butler who served eight different US presidents over eight terms, from 1952 to 1986. Over the course of these three decades, Cecil Gaines witnesses a number of historical events both from within and outside the White House, including the Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of John F. Kennedy (James Marsden), the Vietnam War and the Anti-Apartheid Free South Africa Movement. Throughout the film, these events begin to personally affect his family: his wife Gloria (Oprah Winfrey) and his two sons Louis (David Oyelowo) and Charlie. Cecil also quickly befriends two fellow butlers, Carter Wilson (Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and James Holloway (Lenny Kravitz).

What I liked most about this film was the fact that, contrary to many similar dramas that covered the same period of American History, this story presented it from a very different point of view: that of an African-American butler of humble origins (he grew up on a farm as a slave for a white plantation owner) who ends up working at the most important building in the nation. To some, the "little-fish-in-a big-pond" story may seem overplayed but to me, it made the story so much stronger. It was also very captivating to see the constant switch between the parallel stories of Cecil's everyday life in the White House (and the special relationships he forms with each president) and that of his family's life, particularly his older son Louis' involvement in movements such as that of the Freedom Riders and the Black Panthers.

Aside the all-star cast led by Whitaker, this film is overall a powerful portrayal of one man and his family, and how they struggle through the turbulent times that marked the post-war era. It is a very human, touching, and 100-percent American story.

Fruitvale Station

Director: Ryan Coogler

Genre: Drama

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Durand

Distributed by: The Weinstein Company

Release Date: July 26, 2013

My Rating: 8/10

I always like watching films that are based on a true story. Movies are a great way of raising awareness amongst the general public about events that actually took place, and you look at the film differently from the moment you walk into the theatre because you know the story is real and not a work of fiction.

This film-produced by Forest Whitaker-tells the true story of 22-year-old Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a young black man living in Oakland, California with his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and young daughter Tatiana. After having been arrested a year before the start of the film's events, Oscar has become determined to make some changes in his life: get a steady job to provide for his girlfriend and daughter, and strengthen his relationship with his mother (Octavia Spencer). On December 31, 2008, Oscar, Sophina and their friends decide to take a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train to San Francisco to celebrate New Year's Eve. All goes well until Oscar begins a fight with another man who was an inmate with him in prison, causing the train to stop at Fruitvale Station and BART officers to forcibly remove Oscar and his friends from the train and arrest them. After a long shouting match between the police and the young adults and a number of resists, one of them shoots Oscar in the back.

The film is very short, with a running-time of about 90 minutes. However, not much appears to happen during the first 45 minutes or so, although it is evident why: the main purpose served by the first half of the film is not to demonstrate the relationship that Oscar has with his loved ones-his friends, his mother, his girlfriend and his daughter-and both the happiness and arguments that he develops with them. These scenes are beautifully written and acted, and come off as very genuine, although they could have been slightly developed and prolonged in exchange for two or three out-of-place scenes that could have been omitted.

Once the film finally reaches the main action, the events seem to unfold much more quickly, and the long-running scene at the end where Oscar and his friends are stopped by the police is an incredible and heart-pounding sequence. This movie is a fantastic portrayal of the final day in a young adult's life: I really liked that all of the events-except for one flashback-occurred over a single day, thus reinforcing the idea that you have to live each day as if it were your last. The film also raises questions about the power and brutality of law enforcement officers, injustice and racism, since the other man with whom Oscar started a fight on the train was white and the film never seems to show that man even being arrested. Overall, this film shows a powerful story about a youth who became a symbol in the Bay Area after that fateful day and remains one to this day. 

Despicable Me 2

Directors: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Genre: Animated Comedy/Kids

Voices: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan

Distributed by: Universal Pictures (Illumination Entertainment Studio)

Release Date: July 3, 2013

My Rating: 7/10

In Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2, sequel to the successful box-office 2010 animated film Despicable Me, we are reunited with Gru, the lovable and eccentric villain-turned-good-guy for a whole new adventure. After his last great scheme to steal the moon in the first film, Gru (Steve Carell) has decided to leave his life as a villain behind and become a responsible father to his three new adopted daughters, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith, and Agnes, and start a new jelly-making business. One day, an agent named Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) shows up at his door and asks him to come with her to an unknown location. After he refuses, Lucy kidnaps Gru and two of his minions and takes him underwater to an organization known as the Anti-Villain League, headed by a man named Silas Ransbottom (Steve Coogan). Together, Lucy and Silas attempt to convince Gru to help them steal a purple serum fluid from an evil villain known as "El Macho," who plans to use the serum to create terrifying monsters and rule the world.

This sequel proves to be a superbly fun thrill ride and although I believe it doesn't match the excellence of the first film, it certainly comes very close. Of course, the plot is a bit more complex than that of the first, but it remains captivating nonetheless. The new characters who are introduced, such as Lucy Wilde and the new villain El Macho are excellent, and each one brings an additional lovableness and humor to the story through their incredible voice talents. Gru's hilarious hi-jinks and american expressions in his funny and unidentified foreign accent never get old, and I was glad to see him paired up with a female character to see how their relationship evolved. 

The girls again provide a fabulous distraction for Gru, and accentuate his proneness to get into awkward situations as their father. Unsurprisingly, nothing made me laugh more throughout the film than the minions, whose antics most people seem to remember and adore most in the first film. The originality of the characters, from their appearances and costumes, voices and facial expressions, had me laughing hysterically the entire movie. In addition, there are two well-known old songs sung by the minions at the end that wrap up the film on an extra-hilarious note. (I promise I won't spoil which ones) Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud provide the minions' voices, and producer Chris Meledandri proves that Illumination Entertainment Studios (The Lorax) can truly make great films.