Movie Review: Devil

First, five people are riding in an elevator together and it gets stuck. Then, they find out one of them is the devil. Great. No one on the building crew can figure out why the elevator is stuck in the first place – the mechanics seem fine. Then, {cue dramatic music} horrible things start happening. Of course, the people begin accusing each other of being the culprit. Each of the five has issues that we slowly learn about as the story progresses. The five are:

• A temporary security guard (Bokeem Woodbine) who works in the building and who has a police record.
• An irritating mattress salesman (Geoffrey Arend) who immediately begins getting on everyone’s nerves.
• A young woman named Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) who is caught in some lies.
• An older woman (Bojana Novakovic) who is a thief.
• A nervous young guy named Tony (Logan Marshall-Green) – no one is sure why he is even in the building.

Periodically, the lights in the elevator go out and every time they do, something bad happens. It’s done in classic Shyamalan fashion: the lights go out and you see quick flashes of what’s going on, and you hear shuffling sounds and lots of bumping around, but you can’t tell what it is or who’s doing it. These scenes are actually well done. Very thrilling.

Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) is brought in to try and solve a different mystery but soon ends up working on the elevator situation. Ramirez (Jacob Vargas) is a security guard who thinks something demonic is happening, although no one believes him initially.

Devil is more of a thriller than a horror movie, and it is very psychological. It is really not as bad as I feared it might be. The story unfolds in such a way that you are left guessing all the way to the end of the movie, although the ending does leave something to be desired. I give this movie two and a half Slurpees out of five.

* Devil * Director: John Erick Dowdle * Starring: Chris Messina, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Jenny O’Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Logan Marshall-Green * Writers: Brian Nelson (screenplay), M. Night Shyamalan (story) *  Time: 80 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Horror/Mystery/Thriller * Trailer *

Movie Review: The Social Network

Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is sharp, a genius who can apparently write programming code easier (and quicker) than I can write this post, but he hasn’t learned to soften his language when speaking to someone he cares about. When Mark’s girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) breaks up with him, in part because of the way he speaks to her, he heads to his dorm and writes a scathing blog post about her. He also writes the code to develop a site that allows students to rate/compare the hotness of college co-eds; the hits to the site eventually crash Harvard’s server. This catches the attention of twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Max Minghella), who have an idea for a Harvard social networking site and who want Mark to work with them.

Mark instead decides to start his own site but he feels he is not infringing on their idea because, “They had an idea, I had a better one. I didn’t use any of their code.” With help from friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), the journey to Facebook begins. The basic code is developed fairly quickly.  They add Relationship and Interested in statuses and it’s ready to launch. Facebook was popular from the beginning, but really took off when the guys decided to expand to other universities and states.

They become rock stars of sorts and like many popular music groups, problems begin when one member stands out from the others. Jealously and arguments ensue. Other issues arise when new members start joining the group. Enter Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the fast-talking founder of Napster. Sean and Eduardo bump heads from the start, and Mark voices his concern that Eduardo might be “left behind.”  I have no idea how accurate the story is. What’s the real truth? Only those involved know for sure. Needless to say, the “Winklevi” with Narendra and Eduardo Saverin decide to sue Mark.

I have seen the real Mark Zuckerberg in interviews, and Eisenberg does a great job of portraying the quirky Zuckerberg with his rapid-fire, robot way of speaking. Eisenberg does not display a lot of emotion on his face, but adequately portrays the inner emotion the character is feeling. He seems to be in a constant state of bewilderment throughout the movie, as if he does not fully understand the negative effect of something he has said or done. He genuinely seems to believe that most of what he has done is right and seems to be sorry for the things he did that he knows were not right – especially when it comes to his relationship with Erica. All of the actors were good in their roles. The movie is a drama but does have several comedic moments, many of the lines delivered by Eisenberg, in his deadpan manner.

Obviously, the Facebook story continues and we don’t know what will happen next. But Facebook, Mark reminds us, is like fashion – it’s never finished. This movie is not just about how Facebook was started. It’s also about the desire to belong to something great. I liked The Social Network and I give it 3.5 Slurpees out of 5. I give it that because it would be a strong, interesting story even if it were not based on a factual situation.

And just so you know, Jesse Eisenberg is not Michael Cera.

* The Social Network * Director: David Fincher * Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Bryan Barter, Dustin Fitzsimons, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella * Writers: Ben Mezrich (book), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay) *  Time: 120 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Drama/History * Soundtrack * Trailers *

Movie Review: The Kids are All Right

Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a lesbian couple who had two children through artificial insemination, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson). Nic is an uptight, controlling doctor while Jules is a laid back free spirit, still searching for just the right career.

After Joni turns 18, her younger brother Laser convinces her to contact the insemination clinic who, in turn, contacts their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Paul is an organic gardener and restaurant owner who is extremely laid back and immediately interested in meeting the kids. Joni and Jules like Paul right away, while Laser and Nic are not so sure about him. Nic is particularly threatened by Paul, concerned how his involvement in their lives will affect the family unit already in place.

Not that that unit is perfect. On the surface they appear to be happy, and they mostly are, but they’re not the perfect little family that Nic appears to want to have. Always steaming just below the surface lies the stress between the two moms, which comes out later in the story in the form of snarky little comments, brought on in part by Nic’s controlling ways and over drinking and Jules’ inability to pick one career and stick with it.

One thing I found questionable about the movie was how quick Paul was willing to meet with the kids. Although he was surprised to hear from Joni, he didn’t even hesitate to want to meet. I would think a man who was a sperm donor “a long time ago” for “sixty bucks a pop” would be more hesitant to meet the children that were produced. However, one could justify his willingness to meet on the fact that he was so very laid back and didn’t stress over too many things. Paul was also very quick to want to break up with a girlfriend when he realized that he was at a point in his life where he wanted to settle down. He made no attempt to take their relationship to a more serious level.

Besides the obvious main differences, this family is really not much different from any other family out there and Nic and Jules not much different from any other couple who has been together for a long time.  Ultimately, this movie is about relationships – the relationship between the moms and the kids, the kids and their dad, the moms and the dad, the moms with each other… The characterization in this movie was great, as was the dialogue.

I would say the standout is Mia Wasikowska, who is the most believable character and who was able to convey an emotion simply through a facial expression, without uttering a word. I found it interesting that this movie is billed as a comedy because to me it is way more of a drama with comedic moments rather than a comedy with dramatic moments. The Kids are All Right is a good movie and I give it three Slurpees out of five.

* The Kids are All Right * Director: Lisa Cholodenko * Starring: Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson * Writers: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg * Time: 106 minutes * Rated R * Comedy/Drama * Trailers *

The magic of the spinning corridor and 9 other Inception resources

Want to know how they filmed that spinning corridor scene in Inception?  Here’s what I found out.  Also, here are several other great Inception resources I have come across – sites, articles, notes, videos – that I thought you might like.  Enjoy!

1. The official Inception web site is pretty cool and has a lot of great info.  You can skip past the trailer to enter the main site. Look closely on the left side of the screen and click the Menu.
2. This link on the official Warner Brothers site provides production notes about Inception including how writer/director Christopher Nolan pulled his team together, where and how filming took place, and details about all the major characters and the actors who played them.
3. The 5 Levels of Inception by Matt Sinopoli and Josh Tyler provides a great explanation of each of the levels, including who was dreaming, who was there, and what the goal was of each level.
4. Chris Corbould is the mastermind behind the spinning corridor and other cool moves in Inception. Wired magazine’s Behind the Special Effects of Inception article by Kevin Maher describes how Corbould did it.
5. In Dissecting Inception: Six Interpretations and Five Plot Holes, Peter Hall provides his opinion of what really happened and describes some holes he feels exist in the story.
6. Here is the kick ass Inception soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.  Listen to it while you’re working to make your job at least sound epic.
7. In The Neuroscience of Inception, Jonah Lehrer explains how the very act of watching Inception affects the brain similar to the way a dream does: “…a process in which your senses are hyperactive and yet your self-awareness is strangely diminished.”
8. The company Double Negative was involved in creating the effects for Inception.  Here is Double Negative’s full project list and here is a showreel of their best work.
9. This is a fun video on YouTube that shows Toy Story 3: Inception.
10. Here is some B-roll behind the scenes footage from the movie:

Movie Review: Salt

CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) just wants to get home and hang out with her husband, when a Russian defector shows up at CIA headquarters. He accuses Salt of not only being a spy but also informs the agents that Salt has plans to assassinate the Russian president. His story is believable enough that Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is immediately suspicious of Salt and wants to question her, while Salt’s colleague, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) defends Salt’s innocence.  Salt, realizing things don’t look good for her, seizes an opportunity to escape and goes on the run, determined to prove her innocence.

Thus begins 90 minutes of action: cars chases, gun battles, hand-to-hand skirmishes, and lots of jumping off of things onto to other things. Salt is very creative in finding ways to stay ahead of the other agents while she struggles to clear her name. There are more than one MacGyver moments. But… who is Salt?  Is she really a Russian spy?  Is she dedicated to the U.S.?  There are enough plot twists to keep you guessing until the very end.

One aspect I found amusing was how Salt would pick up items along the way that she needed, clothing or whatever, without drawing any attention to herself and without breaking stride.

Now, in order to buy Salt, you have to believe that a woman as small as Angelina Jolie could beat every man she comes across in hand-to-hand combat. Yes, she is well trained, but so are the male agents.  But, at least they didn’t make it look easy; she has to grit her teeth and jump off of walls for leverage.  You also have to believe that all these well-trained agents are really bad shots when they’re trying to take down someone on the run. However, I guess you can say that about any of these type movies – because if the main character is shot, it’s pretty much over.

Once things get going, Salt is action until the end, but the storyline is not quite as strong as the action (rent one of the Bourne movies if you want that); however, it certainly was entertaining and held my attention throughout.  I give Salt three out of five Slurpees.

* Salt * Director: Phillip Noyce * Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor * Writer: Kurt Wimmer * Time: 100 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Action/Thriller * Trailers *