Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

Super 8 ****1/2

 

Friends making a zombie picture meet danger with bravery and imagination in Super 8. The summer movie with a feisty kid’s heart blends rousing story with sci-fi, horror and can-do ingenuity.

Prolific director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek [2009]; Mission: Impossible III; television’s Lost), joins forces with his mentor Steven Spielberg, who produces the film. Super 8 features excellent character development, human interest, direction, story, action, special effects, new talent and self-discovery.

With heart, soul and skill, Abrams and cinematographer Larry Fong have drawn on Spielberg’s legendary work to develop an original, deeply moving film. Spielberg classics like E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and Jaws come to mind.

A horrific crash of a U.S. Air Force train sends the friends scurrying as they shoot a scene. Causing the accident is a white pick-up truck that meets the train head-on. Special effects heighten the fantastic wreck.

One of the train cars thunders. Something big and strong bursts out, disappearing into the night. The driver of the pick-up, a biology teacher, is still alive. “They will kill you,” he warns. “Do not speak of this or else you and your parents will die.”

Along with sheriff’s deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights), the group watches the Air Force swoop in to clean up the top-secret wreck. The deputy’s 12-year-old son Joe (exciting newcomer Joel Courtney) seeks the truth. Joe has just lost his mother in a steel mill accident. As a leader with character, Courtney brings to mind Wil Wheaton in Stand By Me.

Joe’s distant father forbids him to make monster movies with his friend Charles (fantastic Riley Griffiths). Griffiths is a revelation as a never-say-die director. Driven and immersed in his visions, he takes charge and makes movies with scant resources. He’s a joy to watch.

 

Talented Elle Fanning, so mature and authentic in Somewhere, plays Alice, the girl who agrees to join Charles and his friends in their latest production. Fanning captures pre-teen angst as a budding actress who enchants the boys. Cary (Ryan Lee), a tiny terror with braces, plays the zombie and creates special effects. Cameraman Preston (Zach Mills) and leading man Martin (Gabriel Basso) also star.

Other notables include AJ Michalka (The Lovely Bones) as Charles’ caustic sister Jen. Ron Eldard plays Alice’s drunken dad who blames himself for the death of a co-worker.

As dogs flee town and electrical engines vanish from cars and homes, Abrams keeps the alien mysterious for a long while. Surprising plot twists add to the excitement. A touch more editing could have enhanced the film, particularly during the movie’s lengthy crescendo.

The innocence of 1979 feels fresh and immediate as Joe and friends act with gutsy inspiration. Free of cynicism, the movie maintains a sense of adventure through the end credits.

Like many sci-fi movies, Super 8 asks: What does our government know about alien civilizations? What are they hiding?

If you like Super 8, you might enjoy:  X-Men: First Class; Source Code; 2012.

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Super 8     2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 52 min 

Cast Overview:  Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso, Noah Emmerich, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Glynn Turman

Director:  J.J. Abrams

Genre:  Sci-Fi, Thriller, Suspense

 

The Perfect Host ****1/2

 

Do we ever really know someone? Emmy and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce stars in a twisty, stylish crime thriller The Perfect Host, now playing on demand before it opens in theaters. Aussie director-writer Nick Tomnay’s fascinating romp explores misleading appearances and the jagged edges of personal psychology.

Hyde Pierce powers the low budget film’s comedic horror, showing the full range of his incredible acting talent. Best known as neurotic, ever-frustrated Dr. Niles Crane on television’s Fraiser series, Pierce (Nixon, Full Frontal, Spamalot and Curtains) is nice and oh-so-naughty here, transcending metrosexuality as he plays Warwick Wilson, a refined gay man throwing a dinner party.

Just as Niles desperately seeks the love of Daphne, Warwick burns for unconditional affirmation of his own worthiness. “Love me. Love me,” he says during a kinky scene.

Premiering at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, The Perfect Host is a chess game of moves and countermoves. The story turns surreal in a posh, Los Angeles suburban home. The straightforward is suddenly turned on its head. We’re challenged to decide what’s real and what’s illusion. Survival is at stake as “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

Also excellent is Clayne Crawford (A Walk to Remember, 24) as John Taylor, an unlucky bank robber on the lam who rings Warwick’s doorbell. John steals a postcard from Warwick’s mailbox, pretending to be a friend of a friend. The crook is in for the surprise of his life. Crawford deepens his character with surprising humanity.

The first plot twist leads to surprising revelations about Warwick, John and Simone (Megahn Perry), the bank robber’s girlfriend. As characters veer into the unexpected, Tomnay skillfully keeps the Hitchcock-like action on track in this darkly funny exploration of human idiosyncrasy.

John Swihart’s original score suits the movie’s many moods and adds to the fun.

 

Grammy winner Helen Reddy, who topped the Billboard charts in 1972 with her women’s lib tune I Am Woman, delivers a strong supporting role as Mrs. Knight, Warwick’s concerned neighbor. Also starring are Nathaniel Parker as Detective Morton, and Joseph Will as Detective Valdez. Morton wants to take a cold case one step further.

The Perfect Host (on Twitter @perfecthost) turns into a who’s who of crime and punishment. Based on Tomnay’s short film The Host, it maintains edgy action and bizarre fascination until the very end.

If you like The Perfect Host, you might enjoy: Shutter Island; The Ghost Writer.

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The Perfect Host     2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 34 min

Cast Overview:  David Hyde Pierce, Clayne Crawford, Helen Reddy, Nathaniel Parker, Megahn Perry, Joseph Will, Tyrees Allen, Annie Campbell, Indira G. Wilson, Cooper Barnes

Director:  Nick Tomnay

Genre:  Thriller, Suspense, Indie

X-Men: First Class *****

 

Calling young mutants everywhere: We need you. Please save our world. Matthew Vaughn’s masterpiece of comic book action, drama and history X-Men: First Class champions being different, proud and loud. It's livelier than its predecessors The Last Stand and Wolverine.

On par with Batman and Superman, this smart, exciting prequel is an instant classic. It captures the spirit and scope of the original Marvel Comics with big talent, engaging story, sci-fi elements and James Bond-like espionage. Vaughn displays his Kick-Ass flair as the X-Men exercise mutant powers.

Freaks as valuable members of society is a major theme throughout the film. Outsiders are the ones who can see beyond the petty, dangerous wars of men. They are the true heroes of humanity. The new X-Men must learn to accept themselves fully to unlock that awesome power. 

Globe trotting, can’t-look-away action is expertly woven around larger-than-life characters. This stylish summer blockbuster has a timeless quality, with action that seems like it's happening today rather than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

James McAvoy as humanitarian genius Professor X/Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as obsessed revenge seeker Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr headline with an uneasy bromance. They’re the mutant granddaddies who lead and guide a hand-picked crew of young superpowers to battle mutant Nazi megalomaniac Sebastian Shaw/Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon, better than ever).

Professor X's telepathy has given him empathy and a concern for humanity. X-Men have a responsibility to  be better than humans, using their powers to prevent catastrophe and also to lead men on the path of peace and justice. Magneto's rivalry with Professor X arises from his thirst for revenge. He'd rather be right than be happy.

Years after executing Erik's mother, Shaw is now a world threat who wants to exploit Cold War tensions to spark nuclear annihilation. Erik must stop him. “Let’s just say I’m Frankenstein’s monster and I’m looking for my creator,” he says. Bacon has played evildoers before, most notably a child molester in The Woodsman.

Charles teaches his friend to tap into authentic might. “True focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity,” he says. Erik eventually joins forces with Charles and the other X-Men to enhance his own powers.                

Sexpot Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) yearns to fit in with humans, hiding her lovely blue scales. Raven sneaks into Erik’s bed one evening. “You want society to accept you, but you can’t even accept yourself,” he chides. Nerdy scientist and Raven’s admirer Hank/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) enhances his freakishness in a botched lab experiment. Finally Raven gets it. “Society should aspire to be more like us.”

Rose Byrne plays adventurous CIA agent Moira MacTaggert who recruits Charles and Raven to join the agency’s new Division of Mutant Powers. Oliver Platt is perfect as a CIA special ops bigwig who must defer to Charles’ leadership if they stand any chance of stopping Shaw.

Rounding out the ensemble are January Jones as Shaw’s accomplice Emma Frost, a call girl and telepathic ice queen. Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore/Wings) breaks a few hearts. Caleb Landry Jones (Cassidy/Banshee) rides ear-splitting sound waves. Jason Flemyng (Clash of the Titans) plays devilish Azazel. Lucas Till shows real leadership as Alex Summers/Havok. Alex Gonzalez plays soulful Janos Questad/Riptide. Edi Gathegi (Twilight) stands up to Shaw as Darwin/Armondo.

A funny cameo by one famous mutant bestows a back-handed blessing on the newest X-Men.

Top notch are John Mathieson’s cinematography, John Dykstra’s visual effects, Chris Seagers’ production design and Sammy Sheldon’s costumes.

If you like X-Men: First Class, you might enjoy:  Comic Book Movies.

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X-Men: First Class     2011  /  PG-13  /  2 hour, 10 min

Cast Overview:  James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Jason Flemyng, Lucas Till, Caleb Landry Jones, Alex Gonzalez, Edi Gathegi

Director:  Matthew Vaughn

Genre:  Action, Adventure, SciFi, Fantasy, Comic Book

 

Trollhunter *****

 

Troll!  When tourists disappear and trees topple, a feisty band of film students seeks the facts. Legend has it that trolls rule the northern wilds of Norway. Those stories can’t be anything more than just fairy tales – right? André Øvredal’s send-up of the crusty creatures Trollhunter delivers giddy thrills.

Much like The Blair Witch Project with the scope of Jurassic Park, the folklore-inspired expose stars solitary trollhunter Hans (comedian Otto Jespersen) and the cheeky students who follow him. With an enigmatic slash across his face, intense Hans lives in a smelly trailer festooned with furry tails. Deep gashes pierce his SUV, which has been retrofitted with metal teeth and huge spotlights.

The trollhunter speeds off each night without warning. He must know something about the disappearances, the Volda College students believe. “Get lost!” he warns Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud).

The gang persists. “Do you think Michael Moore gave up after the first try?” Thomas asks. People have the right to know what’s behind the accidents, insists soundwoman Johanna (Johanna Morck). Cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) appears late during a critical moment. Blaming bears and tornadoes, the government and mainstream media seem clueless.

A government conspiracy is uncovered. The Wildlife Board has known about trolls all along, but denies their existence. The head of the ultra-secret Troll Security Service Finn Haugen (Hans Morten Hansen) hires a crew of Polish painters (led by Robert Stoltenberg) to plant false evidence at accident scenes.

Comedians Jespersen, Tosterud, Hansen and Stoltenberg elevate Trollhunter's dark comedy and interesting character development. Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appears in a cameo at the film’s conclusion.

With deadpan sincerity, Jespersen portrays a man attuned to freaky nature who strives to do right. Hans walks a fine line between protecting citizens and treating the mammals humanely. He confesses that he once led a murderous government mission against the trolls. Now he’s relieved that someone will document their existence.

Hans has one major weapon to combat rampaging trolls. Bright UV light makes them calcify, causing them to explode or turn to stone. “I’m not brave,” he tells Thomas. “This is dirty work.”

The lively, low budget adventure was featured at Sundance 2011. Writer-director Øvredal told Io9 that Hans’ character was partly inspired by Robert Shaw’s Quint in Jaws. 

Tall as trees, trolls can live for over a thousand years. Not too bright, they eat rocks and smell like troll stench. They’re a far cry from the homely-cute trinkets with orange or green hair. Tosserlad can sprout up to nine heads to lure lady trolls. A three-headed giant sends the hunter and initially skeptical trio scrambling.

Trolls turn furious when they smell the blood of a Christian. For this reason Hans insists that only non-believers can tag along. This detail has some historical basis. When Christianity took hold in Norway during the 13th century, people stopped believing in and worshipping trolls.

 

A rabid Ringlefinch takes the bait on a bridge, flinging Hans aloft like a plaything. Luckily the group comes to his rescue. A veterinarian later confirms that the troll was diseased. Hans fills out the government requisite Slayed Troll Form.

When power lines are ripped down around Mountain King territory, Hans and the gang travel far north to investigate. A massive, renegade Jotnar stalks them. Supersized like the Abominable Snow Monster from TV’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this troll may be the most ferocious of all. Just then the Wildlife Board shows up.

Deliciously suspenseful, Trollhunter features production design by Martin Gant and sound design by Baard Haugan Ingebretsen. Impressive CGI and seamless visual effects are supervised by Øystein Larsen. Big set pieces and fearsome sound evoke the best of the Hollywood creature features.

Cinematographer Hallvard Braein achieves relatively steady handheld camerawork amidst beautiful valleys, forests, mountains and fjords. Film locations included Vaatedalen, Juten Heiman, and Sogn og Fjordane. 

Menace or national treasure? It seems trolls want to eat, reproduce and roam in peace. The pathos of the trolls will impress animal lovers even while mock bear carcasses and live goat bait may disturb some.

If you like Trollhunter, you might enjoy:  Insidious; Apollo 18; Splice.

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Trollhunter     2010  /  NR  /    1 hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Hans Morten Hansen, Johanna Morck, Tomas Alf Larsen, Knut Naerum, Robert Stoltenberg, Torunn Lodemel Stokkeland, Marte Brauteset

Director:  André Øvredal

Genre:  Mockumentary, Horror, Foreign Film

Language: Norwegian with English subtitles

 

13 Assassins *****

 

A ritual suicide opens the taut action thriller 13 Assassins. A man disembowels himself to draw attention to a barbaric killer who has been terrorizing the region. Who will be brave enough to take him on? Takashi Miike directs this stirring tale about the way of the samurai.

Lord Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki as a sadist with no conscience), is the Shogun’s half brother who’s about to assume more power.  Naritsugu rapes and kills for pleasure, hacking up bodies like a petulant child. He slaughters not just men, but whole families. With uncanny calmness he slices a husband in front of his wife. A severed head rolls across the floor.

A council of elders convenes and strategy is plotted. Bucking tradition, they summon a samurai leader to intervene and bring about peace. Shinzaemon Shimada (calmly authoritative Koji Yakusho of Shall We Dance?) is called out of retirement. A messenger finds him fishing, lost in contemplation and one with nature. There’s a sense of renewed purpose when the widower agrees to take up his sword again. He recruits a team of samurai to help him.

It was 1844, the end of Japan’s Edo period, a relatively peaceful time when samurai activities were strictly regulated. The waning samurai era is captured in gloomy, dark tones while 13 Assassins pays homage to the honor, daring and discipline of the men eager to sacrifice their lives for a noble cause. The limits of the samurai code, especially its unbreakable code of obedience to a master, are made clear.

Melding art and pop, Miike (Audition; Ichi the Killer; The Bird People in China) is a prolific director who has made 50 feature films over 20 years. This remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 original is loosely based on historic events. Screenwriter Daisuke Tengan crafts outstanding dialogue and action.

Striving to recruit a worthy team, Shinzaemon visits a brothel to enlist his wayward nephew Shinrokuro (rising star Takayuki Yamada). Also joining the mission is handsome master warrior Hirayama (Tsuyoshi Ihara), and explosive experts Horii (Koen Kondo) and Higuchi (Yuma Ishigaki).

Staving off an attack from Naritsugu’s supporters, the group enters the deep forest to ambush him. Along the way they rescue Koyata (Yusuke Iseya), a forest hunter who had been left for dead suspended from a tree. Koyata scoffs at the arrogance of the samurai even as he admires the fighters and itches to join them in combat.

Shinzaemon must match wits with his old sparring partner Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura), Naritsugu’s lead samurai. Even though Hanbei detests his master’s crimes, he follows him without question. Shinzaemon regards his old friend as a fish to catch. He employs kensho, seeing nature without duality, to understand his opponent and himself.

As the 13 men ambush Naritsugu’s well-trained army of 200 in a mountain village, the 45-minute-long battle becomes a macabre dance. An excruciating, intimate bloodbath plays out with occasional lulls. Catching the enemy off guard succeeds. Naritsugu is strangely unafraid, even titillated by the slaughter of his own men. Blood flows and heads roll with grisly realism and subtle, effective CGI.

“Your samurai brawls are crazy cool!” Koyata exclaims. “This is no brawl!” answers a warrior. Koyata is a comical, tree-hugging David hurling rocks at Goliath. He relishes the excitement yet sees folly in the intense killing spree. Iseya recalls Toshiro Mifune’s character in Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

 

Dignified camerawork by Nobuyasu Kita, lovely costumes by Kazuhiro Sawataishi and a rousing musical score from long-time Miike collaborator Koji Endo help make 13 Assassins a genre classic.

Tragedy is inevitable as the film ends with a playfully metaphysical reaffirmation of life. Influenced by the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, the samurai code remains relevant today with its loyalty, devotion, duty, respect and self-sacrifice.

If you like 13 Assassins, you might enjoy:  Unknown; War & Military Movies.

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13 Assassins     2010  /  R  /    2 hours, 6 min

Cast Overview:  Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura

Director:  Takashi Miike

Genre:  Action, Foreign Film

Language: Japanese with English subtitles

 

Incendies *****

 

A daughter investigates her mother’s life and her own roots in the Oscar-nominated mystery Incendies. Denis Villeneuve writes and directs this suspenseful family drama that intertwines the daughter’s journey with scenes from her mother’s traumatic early years in the Middle East.

When their mother dies, grown twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) arrive for the reading of her will. They are stunned when Jean Lebel (Remy Girard), a notary public and their mother’s former boss, hands them two envelopes. Jeanne is asked to deliver a letter to their father. Simon is asked to deliver a letter to their brother.

Jeanne and Simon had no idea that their father was alive. They never knew they had a brother. Nawal Marwan (played by talented Belgian actress Lubna Azabal) had been quiet, and worked as a secretary. Bewildered, Jeanne tries to make sense of her mother’s words. If the twins deliver these messages, “the silence will be broken, a promise kept.”

Simon balks and remains in Montreal. He does not want to delve into the past. He’d rather abandon his family history and any unseemly details. The strain of his mother’s nervous illnesses has been enough for him. Simon urges Jeanne not to go.

A graduate student in mathematics, Jeanne seeks the advice of a professor. He compares mathematics to her complex relationship with her mother: “Now, you enter an entirely different adventure. The subject will be intractable problems that always lead to other problems, just as intractable. People around you will repeatedly say that your struggles are in vain. You’ll have no argument to defend yourself, for the work will be exhausting and complex. Welcome to pure mathematics, the land of loneliness.”

Jeanne insists on going alone if she must, compelled to hunt down the truth so her heart can be at peace. She sets out for the unnamed Middle Eastern country.

We witness the daughter following each clue, talking to people who knew Nawal, or knew of her. A group of village women is cruel and judgmental. Desormeaux-Poulin (Taking the Plunge) gives an intense but nuanced performance, filled with insatiable curiosity and growing dread. Much later when she faces danger, Simon rushes to her side to help complete the search. Gaudette (Polytechnique) conveys the male heart with pitch perfect acting.

Renowned Canadian actor Girard crafts a memorable character in Lebel, who guides and protects the twins. He assures them that their mother was of sound mind, but indelibly marked by her early years.

 

Nawal was beset by tragedy from early girlhood through the horrors of her country’s civil war. Key scenes from Nawal’s life are shown as Jeanne walks the same streets her mother once did. Azabal (Body of Lies) evokes great dignity which explodes into anger as she struggles to overcome unimaginably painful personal ordeals.

Nawal is rebuked by her Christian family when she falls in love with a Muslim. Her brothers track the lovers down in an orchard and murder her beloved. Later her grandmother helps her deliver a baby boy, who is quickly given up for adoption to save the family from shame. The grandmother tattoos three dots on the baby’s heel, an identifying mark. “I’ll find you again one day,” Nawal promises him.

Nawal is sent away to live with relatives. She becomes a student and political activist. Deciding to search for her son, she sets off on a bus filled with Muslims. When Christian extremists detain the group, Nawal pretends she is still a Christian to save herself. Helplessly, she watches as all aboard are massacred, flames exploding in the middle of the desert.

Rage takes over as Nawal joins an extremist group, assassinating a Christian leader while posing as a tutor. She is sentenced to 15 years in prison, where she is tortured and raped. Nawal survives by singing in solitary confinement. This enrages her captors. Jeanne and Simon eventually meet a midwife who worked at the prison. She remembers Nawal fondly as “The Woman Who Sings.”

Villeneuve defines the title Incendies as an inferno, “something totally destroyed, totally transformed . . . destruction that you cannot change afterwards.” Filmed in Montreal and Jordan, it is based on the play of the same name by the Lebanese-born writer Wajdi Mouawad. The scars that violence leaves, and its senselessness, are stark in Incendies’ explosive conclusion.

Beautiful and devastating, the film features wrenching imagery and ominous sound. As it opens, young Muslim boys are having their heads shaved, apparently being prepared for terrorist training. The eyes of one boy stare back into the camera, bottomless, empty.

“Death is never the end of the story,” Lebel reminds us. “There are always details.”

If you like Incendies, you might enjoy:  Nora’s Will; A Prophet; Lemon Tree.

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Incendies     2010  /  R  /  2 hours, 10 min

Cast Overview:  Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Remy Girard, Abdelghafour Elaaziz, Allen Altman, Mohamed Majd, Nabil Sawalha, Baya Belal 

Director:  Denis Villeneuve

Genre:  Drama, Mystery, War, Foreign, Drama Based on the Play

Languages: French and Arabic with English subtitles

 

 

In a Better World *****

 

 

A father becomes a peacemaker in the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning drama In a Better World.

Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier explores violence, courage and responsibility in this rich, mature drama, her tenth feature. She’s known for complex, well made films including Open Hearts (2002), Brothers (2004) and After the Wedding (2006).

Mikael Persbrandt (Everlasting Moments) stars as Anton, a surgeon working in a Kenyan field hospital. While he treats refugees, he’s interrupted by bloody emergencies as a local thug, Big Man, butchers pregnant women for sport.

Anton struggles to rescue his marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), also a doctor, who lives in Denmark with their two sons. Often away from home, Anton spends quality time whenever possible with 10-year-old Elias (Markus Rygaard), a gentle boy who wears braces.

Elias is viciously bullied at school by Sofus (Simon Maagaard Holm) and his followers, who make anti-Swedish comments. School officials misread the dangerous situation and seem unable to take effective action. Anton urges his son to ignore Sofus. Fighting would accomplish nothing except to lower him to the bully’s level, he says.

Elias is befriended by Christian (William Johnk Nielsen), a quiet, intense boy who moves to the area after his mother dies of cancer. Christian advises Elias to fight back so others won’t dare pick on him.

Christian corners Sofus in a school bathroom one day, beating him with a bicycle pump and holding a knife to his throat. Horrified Elias looks on. Police are called, but charges are dropped when they are unable to find the knife.

It’s attack or be attacked, Christian tells his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). He accuses the man of wanting his mother to die. Claus tries to explain his complex emotions during his wife’s painful decline.

 

At the park one day, Anton breaks up a fight between a boy and his youngest son as Elias and Christian watch.   Suddenly Anton is insulted and slapped by the boy’s father Lars (Kim Bodnia).

Anton walks away and attempts to forgive. He swims off his anger later in the cold lake of his summer home. Elias asks his dad why he is such a wimp. Anton next tries to craft a teachable moment, revisiting Lars with the boys.  He speaks out and is slapped again.

Christian builds a pipe bomb using internet instructions, planning to blow up Lars’ van. Outwardly calm and serious, he urges Elias to accompany him. The explosion will happen early Sunday and no one will be hurt, he promises. Reluctantly, Elias agrees.

Back in Kenya, Big Man has been seriously wounded and is brought to the hospital.  The warlord orders Anton to save his leg, and offers him a bribe. The surgeon treats him because he must. When villagers take matters into their own hands, Anton is a helpless witness.

A flawed man struggling to live his truth, Anton chooses peace and surrenders the satisfaction of being right. He can’t change the world, but he can be present and loving. In a Better World suggests that all children belong to us.

Bier skillfully manages many story elements to craft a majestic film. Morton Soborg provides stunning camerawork. Screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, composer Johan Soderqvist and editor Pernille Bech Christensen lend their talents.

If you like In a Better World, you might enjoy:  Win Win; The Kids Are All Right; Precious.

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In a Better World     2010  /  R  /     1 hour, 53 min

Cast Overview:  Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen, Markus Rygaard, William Johnk Nielsen, Bodil Jorgensen, Elsebeth Steentoft, Martin Buch, Anette Stovlebaek, Kim Bodnia

Director:  Susanne Bier

Genre:  Drama, Thriller, World Cinema

Language:  Danish and Swedish with English subtitles

 

 

Insidious ****1/2

 

Murky monsters. Out-of-body travel. A kid in a coma. Deliciously weird Insidious thrills us through the final violin note.

It’s carefully crafted horror and suspense without visceral violence from the team who brought us the original Saw slasher film, director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell. Menace hovers like a thunderhead. There’s plenty to curdle the blood, without bloodshed.  

Poltergeist meets Paranormal Activity as Insidious delves into paranormal science with it-could-happen-to-you realism. Like The Exorcist, it shows possession. Like The Shining, it conjures a spooky past that encroaches on the present. Like The Sixth Sense, it’s filled with I-see-dead-people moments to raise the hairs on your neck.

Non-stop tension and sympathetic characters add to foreboding. There’s a slo-o-o-w buildup as normal couple Josh and Renai Lambert move into an old Victorian home with sons Dalton and Foster, and a baby sister. 

Gruesome voices cackle over a baby monitor. Spirits stalk the rooms. Boxes of belongings vanish and reappear. Caution: these images may linger with you for days.

Wan takes advantage of darkness and light, silence and cacophony. Nicely imagined and realized ghouls are worthy of a Vincent Price movie. Creepy, under-lit visuals entertain.

Dalton (Ty Simpkins), like his sensitive mom Renai (Rose Byrne), sees and hears things in the old house. After an accident in the attic, Dalton falls into a medical coma.  No one can explain it.

Byrne is wonderful as a terrified, overwhelmed mom who yearns for a peaceful moment so she can compose music at the piano. Playing school teacher dad Josh, Patrick Wilson is perhaps too low key as the drama unfolds. Renai sleeps upstairs while Josh retreats to the couch to prevent a break-in. Later we learn why he is so tuned out.

Foster (Andrew Astor) sheds light on his brother’s nighttime activities. Renai despairs. “I feel like the universe is just seeing how far I’ll bend before I break,” she tells a visiting nurse.

The Lamberts have moved before to escape ghostly turmoil.  After Renai’s close encounter with a man pacing the bedroom, she begs Josh for another family move.

Josh’s mom Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) listens to the harrowing tale and believes. A doctor (Ruben Pla) and a priest (John Henry Binder) try to help. Finally the Lamberts turn to Lorraine’s friend Elise (wise, determined Lin Shaye), who just happens to be a paranormal expert.

 

Nerdy Specs and Tucker (Whannell and Angus Sampson) resemble vintage ghost-busters in their black and white outfits with odd gadgets in tow. The two spar playfully until their esteemed boss shows up for the serious work of saving Dalton.

Guided by Elise, Josh embarks on a mission into The Further to rescue his son. Tiny Tim’s Tiptoe Through the Tulips never sounded so ominous. 

The movie’s best scenes include Dalton’s foray into the attic, and the intervention (complete with black mask, gaseous vapors and raging demons). John R. Leonetti and David M. Brewer provide cinematography. Joe Dzuban is supervising sound editor.  

Like the best horror films, Insidious lets us indulge in our worst fears, and leave the theater feeling that we can face them.

If you like Insidious, you might enjoy: Shutter Island; The Ghost Writer; Splice.

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Insidious   2010  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 42 mins

Cast Overview:  Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey

Director:  James Wan

Genre:  Horror, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller, Fantasy

Hanna ****1/2

 

A freak claims her identity and kicks serious butt in the action thriller Hanna. Saoirse Ronan, the sweet, wide-eyed dead girl of The Lovely Bones and young Briony in Atonement, stars as the dispassionate hunter.

Hanna lives near the Arctic Circle with her fugitive spy dad Erik (Eric Bana of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Munich).  Hanna speaks German, Italian, Spanish and Arabic.  She can hunt, shoot, track, gut a deer for dinner and evade capture.

Hanna has been genetically engineered to be the perfect soldier.  But anyone who thinks for themselves and tries to do what is right might upset the natural order of things. Enter it-rhymes-with-witch CIA operative Marissa Wiegler (devastating Cate Blanchett).

Director Joe Wright (known for Atonement and The Soloist) explores what makes us human in a techno-human world. He succeeds as Hanna achieves more depth than the usual action film. She’s a science experiment grown into a secret agent girl with soul.

Approaching womanhood, Hanna tells dad she’s ready to leave their cozy cabin.  This will mean flipping the switch of a device that will bring special forces swooping down upon them.  Hanna will have to use everything she’s learned to protect herself and avenge her mother’s killer – guess who?

Wiegler considers Hanna and her rogue asset father threatening to national security (we’re not told why). She dispatches teams of assassins to pursue both father and daughter. Tom Hollander plays creepy, whistling Isaacs.

Displaying impressive fighting skills on the run, Ronan (just 16 at the time of filming) reveals vulnerability and the soul of wonder. “What does music feel like?” she asks the whimsical, grisled proprietor of an abandoned Grimms theme park. The Chemical Brothers provide innovative, Euro-metal soundtrack.

An interlude with a hippie family driving their van through Morocco and Spain allows Hanna to explore relatively normal life and social relationships. She goes on a date, but that first kiss is not like anything we’d expect. Jessica Barden plays Hanna’s talkative, tender friend Sophie who calls her a freak.

Desperate to fit in while embracing her wild strength, Hanna’s reunion with dad becomes a wildcat confrontation.  Bana is manly-cool in the scene and during a number of chases and hand-to-hand tussles.

 

The energetic screenplay was penned by Seth Lochhead and David Farr. Cinematographer Alwin Kuchler is both fluid and frenetic with widescreen framing. Sarah Greenwood lends beautiful production design.

Hanna has been trained to kill when necessary, but wants to stop. Like Angelina Jolie in SALT but more touching, Ronan approaches superhero status as she stands in her power.   

If you like Hanna, you might enjoy: The Lovely Bones; The Soloist; Red Riding Hood.

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Hanna   2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 51 mins

Cast Overview:  Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, Jessica Barden

Director:  Joe Wright

Genre:  Action Thriller, Adventure, Mystery

Source Code ***1/2

 

 

Will someone please find a good movie for Jake Gyllenhaal to star in? The talented actor plays Captain Colter Stevens in the anticlimactic sci-fi thriller Source Code.

Source Code is a should-have-been-better movie, but not for the usual reasons.  Direction, staging, dialogue, plot and acting are all quite good. In this case it’s the repetitive Groundhog Day-like action that, even when well executed, becomes groan-worthy after Capt. Stevens’ third or fourth trip into danger.

Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) tells the time traveler that he's being sent into a window of eight minutes on a doomed Chicago commuter train to discover who set a deadly bomb. It’s a matter of urgent national security, he says. More terror attacks are expected. Although the life and death trip jars and disorients Stevens, he’s helping to save many lives.

The face of officer Colleen Goodwin (always excellent Vera Farmiga) appears onscreen every time Stevens is blown to bits and jettisoned back to the present in a space shuttle-like pod.  Their relationship is cryptic. Goodwin is hiding something from Stevens, but he can’t quite remember what that is.

The captain’s struggles with memory and identity are best left to the viewer to fathom and enjoy.  Meanwhile jittery action flings us along with Stevens from life to death, past to present.

Beautiful Christina (Michelle Monaghan) appears across from Stevens each time he returns. Their growing mutual attraction in the face of certain death adds interest. Monaghan’s impressive credits include Gone Baby Gone (2007) and Eagle Eye (2008).

Stevens tries new strategies and interacts differently with the passengers each time. The same events happen – coffee is spilled, a conductor collects tickets – but Stevens hunts differently for the terrorist each time. He discovers that his actions can change what happens. Soon he wants to prevent the accident, save Christina and find the bomber.

 

One by one the passengers come under suspicion.  Comedian Russell Peters plays a funny passenger who does stand-up comedy on a dare from Stevens.

Finally the bomber is someone we didn’t expect. Stevens confronts him, but can he stop him, disable the bomb and change anything? Goodwin and Rutledge warn him not to stray from his fact-finding mission.

Director Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son and director of Moon) achieves dramatic tension during the train scenes. Occasionally he evokes a Hitchcock-like feeling. The actors reportedly suffered from motion sickness during the filming of high speed action.

Gyllenhaal is manic with purpose, a romantic at heart like Jamie Randall in Love & Other Drugs (2010) and Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Source Code delves into free will and conscience like The Adjustment Bureau, the Bourne films and Green Zone.  Stevens wants to serve his country and be happy. Questions arise about his mission. Is his service voluntary? Is he being held against his will?

Farmiga is great as a dutiful career military woman who begins to doubt the mission and empathize with Stevens.

Wright is a tremendous, powerful actor who deserves more roles. Superb as artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Basquiat, 1996), he recently played Colin Powell in W. (2008) and Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records (2008).

Source Code’s finale adds to our disorientation. Goodwin receives a mysterious phone message. Rutledge’s true colors are revealed.

If you like Source Code, you might enjoy: Limitless; Love & Other Drugs; The Adjustment Bureau.

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Source Code  2011  /  PG-13  /  1 Hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden, Cas Anvar, Russell Peters

Director:  Duncan Jones

Genre:  Sci-Fi Thriller, Suspense