I Saw A Film Today… The Family

I’ve never thought about peanut butter and it’s consumption and availability outside the grand ole U.S. of A before. That is, until I viewed The Family. Now, this film is a bit misleading on the views of Europeans on Peanut butter. According from some internet user research (which I concede isn’t the most reliable source of information), it’s something that is eaten but rarely.  But it’s pretty interesting to think about, all the food that we don’t get here stateside. I’ll admit an affliction for UK goodies, like Jaffa Cakes and Jammie Dodgers and the like. I’ll also admit I have no idea where I’m going with this. This is by far my worst introductory paragraph I’ve done. Maybe there is a lesson in this somewhere…

Giovanni Maznoni (Robert De Niro) fondly remembers being a big shot in a Brooklyn mafia a few years back. But six years later Gio is in Witness Protection after snitching on a Don along with his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), daughter Belle (Dianna Agron), and son (John D’Leo). The family has been relocated to Normandy, where apparently all the stereotypicalized-French citizens of that country live.

LIfe isn’t too terrible here. Yeah, in order for the family to get a little help and respect, they have to break a bone or two or twelve. But each member deals with their time there in their own personal way- that is until the people they are trying to hide from learns where they are. Now they must all work together in order to make it out alive.

The Family is, on the surface, a rather fun film. If you just watch the film and don’t think much about it, you will have a pretty good time. But once you begin thinking about it, it’s a messy mash of unfulfilled plot alleys. Nearly nothing is ever fully realized or has resolution, which works for some films, but not one in this genre. This all culminates in a disappointing last act that really puts a damper on the whole experience.

Even worse than this hole-filled plot is the uneven shift in tone, like a teen’s virgin experience of driving a manual car. One moment comedic farce, the next serious. From violent to sentimental. But never a combination of two, which can occasionally work. But at times just one of these elements briefly works, most notably the comedy. Especially when a certain popular Martin Scorsese film is mistakenly sent to a local film society instead of Some Came Running, where De Niro’s character is the special guest.

The highlight of this film is the casting. Bob De Niro doesn’t seem to act in this film, but rather live it. It says something about his level of skill that it seems like he merely walked on set the first day and was said “so, what this film about? Do I need a script, really? Nah, I can do this in my sleep”. He also has this ability to make the stuff that is not or should not work do so. There is a pretty great bit where a plumber is trying to screw his over on a job. De Niro casually responds by breaking his legs and then drives him to the hospital. Here, he tries to explain that the plumber fell down his steps even though the doctor tries to explain to him that it is not possible that he broke so many bones by simply falling down steps. Bob just shrugs it off charmingly.

Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant opposite Mr. De Niro. She has fun with the role and performs it naturally, much like her on-screen hubby. The kids, Dianna Agron and John D’Leo, are pretty enjoyable as well. Agron is a classical beauty, but she can kick you berries in if you piss her off. What she does in her future outside of television will be an interesting thing to watch indeed. I just hope she doesn’t become just another horror show scrub. And who can complain about Tommy Lee Jones? Me, because he did not have more screen time.

Though this film is messy and suffers from a disappointing ending, it’s still rather fun to watch, in only a way that director Luc Besson can do.

Verdict: Rent it!

*Rated R for language, violence, and brief sexuality. 112 minutes. Directed by Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element).

**Thanks to my friend Cody for viewing this with me.

My 2013 Oscar Picks.

BEST PICTURE

1. Amour
2. Argo
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Django Unchained
5. Les Misérables
6. Life of Pi
7. Lincoln
8. Silver Linings Playbook
9. Zero Dark Thirty

Who Will Win: Argo

Who Should Win: Argo

Who Could Win: Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook

Who Got Snubbed: The Dark Knight Rises, The Master, Looper

This years race has gotten interesting. If you would have asked me when the nominee were named this year, I wouldn’t have given Argo much of a chance, especially since Mr. Affleck was snubbed for the Directing category. I really thought Lincoln was going to take this category, which would have been a shame because I personally thought it wasn’t all that entertaining. Same thing with Life of Pi. But can Silver Linings Playbook, which seems to have captured the heart of critics and movie-goers alike (including me), pull off an upset? We’ll see, eh?

DIRECTING

1. Ang Lee, Life of Pi
2. Benh Zeitlin, Beast of the Southern Wild
3. David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
4. Michael Haneke, Amour
5. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Who Will Win: Steven Spielberg

Who Should Win: Ben Affleck (Argo)

Who Could Win: David O. Russell

Who Got Snubbed: Ben Affleck (Argo), Rian Johnson (Looper), Christoper Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

There is a chance Argo may not take home the Best Picture trophy, But Ben Affleck hands down will take home the dire- oh, wait, he wasn’t nominated. Which is a bit crazy to me. There’s no reason for him not to be. His directing is superb in Argo. But that’s not going to happen. So I guess Spielberg is taking home the statue, even though David O. Russell is more deserving.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
2. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
3. Denzel Washington, Flight
4. Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
5. Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Who Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis

Who Should Win: Bradley Cooper

Who Could Win: Denzel Washington

Who Got Snubbed: Daniel Craig (Skyfall)

If I haven’t made it apparent yet, I found Lincoln to be a mediocre film. But I will concede that Daniel Day-Lewis is very good in the role of the 16th President. Better than Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook? No, not really. But Lewis has been the favorite in all the other awards shows this year. And if the Academy is anything, it likes to play it safe in its selections.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

1. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
2. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
3. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
4. Naomi Watts, The Impossible
5. Quvenzhane Wallis, Beast of the Southern Wild

Who Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence

Who Should Win: Jennifer Lawrence

Who Could Win: Jessica Chastain, Naomi Watts

Who Got Snubbed: ?

For whatever reason, every year this category is the biggest mystery for me because I never seem to have a chance to see the films these amazing ladies have starred in sadly. The only two I have seen are Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook. Of the two I would pick Lawrence, who is pure electricity this year.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Alan Arkin, Argo
2. Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
4. Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
5. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Who Will Win: Robert De Niro

Who Should Win: Robert De Niro

Who Could Win: Any of them

Who Got Snubbed: Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained)

This is going to be the most interesting category of the night to me. There is no predictability here. Anyone can take home the statue, and worthy of it too. But I think De Niro will be the one walking away with it. In one of his best performances in years, how could he not? The only thing that would have made it more interesting is if Leo DiCaprio has received a nod.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. Amy Adams, The Master
2. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
3. Helen Hunt, The Sessions
4. Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
5. Sally Fields, Lincoln

Who Will Win: Anne Hathaway

Who Should Win: Anne Hathaway

Who Could Win: Anne Hathaway

Who Got Snubbed: Kerry Washington (Django Unchained)

How did Sally Fields get a nomination? I mean that was probably the worst aspect of Lincoln for me. As I said, The Academy likes to play it safe. Any who, Anne Hathaway will win this category and rightly so. Her heartbreaking and fearless rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” is enough to cement her brief but brilliant performance in Les Miserables as a win.

Well, that’s it- the six big categories. There are a few others that have my interest as well like the short film category but I save that for the Twittercast. If you want to hear my thoughts and comments on the 85th Oscars you can follow my Twitter, @KevinAE. Then again you could just enjoy this celebration of film without my probable annoying Tweets.

I Saw A Film Today… Men In Black 3

One of my fondest and most memorable movie experiences is my brother, Jared, taking me to see Men In Black in theaters. I was seven and I’m pretty sure it was opening weekend for it. He took me to the theater inside the Wolfchase Mall. I remember just how, excuse the pun, out of the world the film was. I remember how close we sat to the screen.  And as with most memorable films, I remember it for the reason that it was shared with family or friends.

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Agents K (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith) are still working strong together as partners at the mysterious organization known simply as the Men in Black. That is until an alien named Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes a prison on the moon and now plans to kill K in the past, groovy 1969 to be exact, because K shot his arm off all those years ago.

After K doesn’t show up for work the next morning, it becomes clear to J that Boris accomplished his task. After locating a device that can take him back in time, he arriving a day earlier than the killing of his partner. It doesn’t take long for J to instead comes in contact with a young K (Portrayed by Josh Brolin). Working together, can the two change fix the past and change the future?

For a sequel to a film that come out close to ten years ago, it feels like very little has changed outside of the fact that the main characters look a little older. And that is the real problem I have with this film. I was expecting something a little more grown up. At least make the weapons anything other than completely chrome. Am I the only one who thinks this is a poor weapon material? I may be picking on something miniscule that most enjoy, but I was expecting something a little bit more really.

The film itself is actually quite fun. There’s plenty of action and comedy here that has shaped this series into what it is now. Since this one goes back to the late 60’s there are some great opportunities at comedy that are maximized upon. One example is that maybe Andy Warhol wasn’t actually an artist. If I had to compare it to the others in the series, I would put it between the original and the second movie. It’s rated PG-13 by the always correct MPAA (I often wonder how much of my sarcasm is taken as sincerity and vise versa?) but I believe that any child above ten or so would enjoy it, especially if they have already seen the other films.

Will Smith, much like Robert Downey Jr., is one of those rare actors that can portray two emotions at once. Three if they are really trying. This film is no exception. This is his baby and he goes all out. It’s a shame this man doesn’t get more work, or take more work more appropriately.

Josh Brolin is a great new addition to the cast. I actually didn’t expect much from his performance. Goes to show the you never underestimate the ‘Bros. And Jemaine Clement does a good enough job as Boris the Animal. I’m not saying he was a great villain, but he does well enough with what he was given. As for Tommy Lee Jones and Emma Thompson, all I can say is that with the little screen time they get they do a pretty decent job.

Men in Black 3 is a pretty good film but in the end it’s nowhere near the film that you would expect after ten years of waiting. Although I don’t know many people who were waiting for a third installment.

Verdict: RENT IT!

*Rated PG-13 for Sci-fi action violence and brief suggestive content.

** Poster by unknown.

I Saw A Film Today… Captain America

I have a distinct feeling that when we look back on this summer in a few years time, we will call it the summer of the superhero. And it’s mostly due to Marvel’s massive push towards The Avengers, which if you stick around after the credits of Captain America, you can get a glimps at what is to come next summer. But before that time, we must be introduced to the first avenger, Captain America.

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At the height of World War Two, all Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) really wants to do in life is join the U.S. Army. The only problem with this is Steve has a list of heath issues and is a small guy, even if he has a large heart. So when he is given the chance to participate in a program run by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) ,Col. Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) that would transform him into a “super soldier”, he jumps at the chance.

When the day of the experiment finally comes around, everything goes as planned. Steve is now a buffed-up mega soldier with ultra-human abilities. But this comes at a price as Dr. Erskine is killed by an assassin. The assassin turns out to be an agent of HYDRA, Hitler’s division of science run by Johann Schmidt, also known as Red Skull (Agent Smi- I mean Hugo Weaving).

After the incident, Steve is promoted to Captain, but reduced to nothing more than a war bonds salesman. He goes around the country, dressed in a tight costume as Captain America and punching Hitler. But when Red Skull threatens to attack America, Steve picks up his shield and plans to take him on himself.

In this vast summer of mostly impressive comic book hero films, this one is my favorite. It doesn’t really bring much to the comic book hero genre or the genre of war films for the most part, but it’s sepia-toned atmosphere was just enjoyable.

One of the biggest problems people have with Chris Evans being Captain America is that he already portrays another Marvel character, Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four. Well I’m here to say that his role as the good Captain is multiple times better than his mediocre performance as the Human Torch. Evans was made for this role and performs it admirably.

Most of the cast is great as well. Tommy Lee Jones’ character was tailored made for him and provides most of the humor in the film. Stanley Tucci, who I thought was going through a period of rather bland roles lately, was just wonderful. Hugo Weaving is sinister and great as Red Skull, even if he starts to stray into ridiculous at times. And my biggest surprise was Ms. Hayley Atwell, who I have never heard of outside of this film. I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of her fantastic work very soon.

There were a few bad apples in the bunch though. One of the most prevalent characters in the film was Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man, who ended up being more of a stereotype than a character. You could practically feel the sleaziness oozing off-screen. I believe Stark would have benefited from a better actor. And outside of Hugo Weaving, all ze German roles were almost too German.

Captain America isn’t perfect, but with the summer beginning to draw to a close it was a fantastic end to this summer’s group of masked men.

Verdict: SEE IT (IN 2-D)!

Comments? Opinions? Leave them below.