Men In Black III (2012)

Title: Men In Black III (2012)

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Emma Thompson

Review:

It’s been ten years since the Men In Black last graced the silver screen with their alien filled, world destroying adventures. Not a lot of people liked MIB II (2002), I forget exactly why (maybe it wasn’t very good?) but same as the first one, that sequel made huge bank, so here they are again, Agent J and K, ready to kick some alien butt. The big question on everybody’s mind is, would this third entry be worth it, or redundant? Well, things were looking good for this sequel in my book when the cast returned. Another good omen was that Barry Sonnenfeld the director behind the previous two films agreed to direct this third entry. I like Sonnenfeld’s films, they always have something interesting to look at, they always have that kinetic camera, always moving somewhere. Make up effects genius Rick Baker, would be in charge of creating the alien make up effects and designs for this one, which is a major plus in my book. So, things were looking good for this new MIB film. Would the planets align once again for this third film? Would this one be equally funny and interesting?

Story this time around revolves around Agent K’s sudden disappearance from history. An old nemesis’s of K’s -an alien being known as ‘Boris’- has altered time so that K doesn’t exist. Interesting part about the whole thing is that even though K has been erased from time and nobody seems to remember him, J still remembers him as if he was alive. So it’s up to J to go back in time and stop Boris from altering the present. J’s mission this time around is to travel all the way back to 1969 to make everything alright.

Basically this is like Back To The Future (1985) or The Terminator (1984), but with aliens. I know what you’re thinking; it’s been done to death the whole time travel thing. And you’re probably right. By now audiences are so familiarized with the concept of time travel that in new time travel films like this one, characters don’t have to whip out a chalk board and explain everything to us. We already know the ins and outs of time travel and its effects on space time continuum; we got Dr. Emmet Brown to thank for that, he explained it all so well in Back to the Future II (1989). So anyways, yeah, this is one of those movies where altering the past has terrible consequences on the future. Though this might feel redundant, I always say its not what you say but how you say it, right? And MIB III manages to tell it’s time travel tale in a very interesting fashion.

Boris The Animal, the villain in the film

First off, the true strength of this film lies in its visuals. The way things look; this is something I’ve always loved about Sonnenfeld’s films. How he moves the camera, the strange angles, the things he chooses to focus on. Remember how the first MIB film opens up with us following a mosquito? Do you remember how much the camera moves on Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family movies? Well, MIB III is no different. Sonnenfeld’s camera movements have always felt like a rollercoaster ride, it’s part of what makes his movies so interesting. Kind of like the same reason why I loved those first Sam Raimi movies, the kinetic camera movements. Sonnenfeld’s camera movements were felt the most during the time travel scenes and the whole opening sequence which by the way take place on the moon! This movie was like eye candy to me, some scenes are filled with so many colors and details…my eyes were devouring this one. The film has great artistic design, which doesn’t surprise me in a film with such elevated production values. Reportedly, the film cost 300 million dollars to make. The most interesting looking scenes for me where those taking place inside of the MIB head quarters during 1969 when we get to see all the retro-futuristic gadgets the MIB had during those days.

And what would a MIB film be without its cool looking aliens? Nowhere that’s where. The big fun with these movies for me is seeing all the different aliens that show up. This one doesn’t hold back at all. Rick Baker and crew really outdid themselves this time with the creatures because we not only get the cool alien creatures we normally see in these movies, but when J travels back in time, we also get to see what kind of aliens were walking around the MIB headquarters during 1969; which was a pretty cool moment in the film because all the aliens look like the type of alien creatures you’d see in films from that era. This part of the film was an awesome homage to science fiction films from the 50’s and 60’s.  

Rick Baker cameo's as an alien with an exposed brain

    

Finally, I also enjoyed the revelations the film makes in respect to J and K’s personal life.  This film gets kind of emotional in a rather unexpected way. It connects J and K’s life in a very interesting fashion. Other pluses are Josh Brolin’s performance as a younger version of K, who was dead on channeling Tommy Lee Jones’s character. My last words on this one are that it was a very fun movie, very entertaining and never boring. The aliens, the gadgets and the action will keep you entertained all the way through. An extra tidbit of info: this was the film that finally took The Avengers (2012) out of the #1 spot at the box office, which demonstrates that Will Smith still has that huge box office drawing power. He’s still candy for the masses; he’s still got the appeal. MIB III isn’t a film that will change your life, it doesn’t offer up “the secrets of the universe” as it suggests in its previews, but I’m sure it will keep you entertained for its entire duration; this my friends was a very fun summer movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Title: Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Director: Irvin Keshner

Cast: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Raul Julia, Rene Auberjonois

Review:

Have you ever seen an Italian ‘Giallo’? ‘Giallo’ is the Italian word for yellow, and when we talk about an Italian Giallo, we’re referring to an Italian thriller. These kinds of films were named ‘Giallo’, because they were similar in nature to these cheap paperbacks mystery novels that were printed in Italy, and these cheap paper back thrillers all had yellow covers on them. Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Michele Soavi and Lucio Fulci are some of the best directors to have made Italian Giallo’s. Films like Deep Red (1975), Blood and Black Lace (1964) and Stage Fright (1987) are some great Giallo’s that you should give yourself a chance to see. These films all have something in common: they are all about a killer hiding in the shadows, just beyond our sight. Usually this killer is chasing after a girl; to kill her. On these films most of the time we only get to see the killers hands, we never see the killer itself.  The question in your mind during the whole film is “who the hell is the killer?” This is why, while watching Eyes of Laura Mars I felt like I was watching an Italian ‘Giallo’, it has all the elements we can come to expect from this type of film.

Eyes of Laura Mars is all about Laura Mars, a world famous photographer whose violent and sexual pictures keep her in a maelstrom of constant attention and controversy. While many love her pictures and consider them the epitome of art, others find them offensive and repulsive. The media seems to think they glorify violence and objectify women. But whatever, Laura’s an artist and ultimately doesn’t give a damn what the public thinks of her work as long as she satisfies herself as an artist and her pictures sell. Problem comes when a copycat killer begins to commit murders that look a heck of a lot like Lauras violent pictures; in fact, the murders are made to look exactly like her pictures. At the same time, Laura begins seeing visions from the murderers point of view. She sees the murders as they are happening! Why is this killer imitating her photographs? And why does she see these visions? Are they to be trusted?

I really enjoyed this one. It’s yet another solid horror film from the 70’s; the decade that produced some of the classiest horror films ever. What stood out the most about this movie for me was the awesome cast. Faye Dunaway had just won an Oscar for her participation in Network (1976) when she made Eyes of Laura Mars,  so we have on Oscar winner in the main role. We have a very young looking Tommy Lee Jones, playing the role of the cop who’s helping out Laura uncover the mystery behind the murders. Raul Julia is on this one in a very small role as Laura’s ex-husband, but he is there. Hell we even have Brad Dourif playing Laura’s ex-convict limo driver. A very solid cast in deed! This is something that I loved about the horror films of the 70’s, they were taken seriously. Horror movies didn’t have an all young cast; they had mature actors who took their movie seriously. Not some young ‘it’ boy or girl who’s in the movie just to look good as they die. Yet, while the film relies on a strong/mature cast to move its story along, it is also populated by some beautiful looking young models at the height of 70’s New York Fashion.

This is something I appreciated about the film, that it felt very, very New York. I mean the whole film takes place in New York City of the 70’s, it took me back to when I lived there. New York back then was equal parts grimy and modern, depending on which street you walked down. Eyes of Laura Mars has that New York feeling to it, flashy, worldly, decadent and alive. One scene has Laura doing a photo shoot right smack in the middle of New York’s Columbus Circle, with models having cat fights as cars explode in flames behind them! Without a doubt, this has to be this films most popular moment. And that’s another thing the film captured well, that 70’s New York fashion scene, with glamorous models, chic art expos and expensive photo shoots.  

Eyes of Laura Mars was the film that gave Irvin Kershner the opportunity to direct The Empire Strikes Back (1980) for George Lucas. George was impressed after seeing a rough cut of Laura Mars and so he asked Kershner to direct Empire. Kershner was reluctant at first because he thought he was too old for the job, but Lucas told him he chose him because he knew everything a director should know, and that he wasn’t Hollywood. Eyes of Laura Mars was a very well directed picture, it had some shots that made me wonder how they were done, especially towards the ending which takes place in a room full of mirrors. There was some interesting imagery there, in those scenes Kershner chose to play around with images, reflection and broken mirrors. It brought to mind a bit the ending for Enter the Dragon (1973). Also, Eyes of Laura Mars has one scene that was unexpectedly tender, because to my surprise, this film has a bit of a romance in it as well. The scene has two characters falling in love and they muse about finding that special someone in life, and about how terrifying life can be if you don’t recognize and find that special someone to go through life with. A totally unexpected tender moment so well acted and directed, holding such beautiful insights on life. Kershner was a very competent director and this movie shows it.

And finally, another great thing this film has going for it is that it’s screenplay was written by John Carpenter. This probably explains why the film draws so much inspiration from Italian Giallo’s. Carpenter has always been a fan of Italian Giallo’s, in fact, what is Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) if not an American Giallo? Same thing can be said of Eyes of Laura Mars, a great example of how Italian slasher films influenced American filmmakers; and that on itself is something very interesting because normally, it’s the other way around. It’s usually the Italian ripping off American cinema. But this Italian influence explains why on Eyes of Laura Mars we have all these shots from the killers point of view; Carpenter and Kershner were both influenced by the films of Argento and Bava. In closing, Eyes of Laura Mars is a great example of a Giallo, its well directed, well acted and has some very cool twists to it. It kept me guessing all the way to it’s  chilling climax.

Rating: 4 out of 5 

The Italian poster for Eyes of Laura Mars

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Title: Natural Born Killers (1994)

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield

Review:

In Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killer’s Mickey and Mallory Knox, the films murderous protagonists are two character’s who have completely rebelled against society, proclaiming it crazy and worthy of being annihilated. They are a product of dysfunctional families that treated them like garbage and let the television set be their baby sitter. In one extremely original flashback sequence we get to see Mallory’s dysfunctional family life as if we were watching an episode of “I Love Lucy” only this time the show is called “I love Mallory”. Brilliant part about this flashback is that we see Mallory’s father (played by Rodney Dangerfield) as a father who abuses Mallory sexually, he talks dirty to her and beats her all the while we hear a laugh track in the background, as if we were watching a sitcom. This scene is just one of many that let’s us know that Natural Born Killer’s is a film that shows us a society that filters everything they experience through the distorted world view of the media and television. Instead of having a loving mother and father, Mallory and Mickey got sexually, physically and verbally abusive ones. It is no surprise that they are simply a result of the world they live in; when it really comes down to it the finger needs to be pointed at society. “These children that come out at you with knives, they are your children. You taught them. I didn’t teach them, I just tried to help them stand up” - Charles Manson

Mickey and Mallory are rebels every step of the way, they are looking for a way to exist in this world without being held down by its laws and regulations. This is a world that fucked them over, so they are fucking it over right back. Everything they do goes against the establishment, they are angry and pissed off, and so they decide to violently show their hatred towards the system. They want something? They take it. Somebody pisses them off too much? They kill them. They need a car? They steal it. One scene let’s us know that Mickey and Mallory are the ultimate rebels: their marriage scene. They are out in the dessert on route 666, when they decide to take a break and stop in the middle of the road, on a bridge. There in the middle of nowhere, with no bride’s maids or witnesses, Mickey and Mallory say their vows to each other and seal the pact with blood, by cutting each others hands and doing a blood pact. Mickey says “By the power invested in me, as God of my world…” No judge was present, no priest had to say any words, and no papers had to be signed, yet you feel that their love and devotion to each other is genuine and true. And so they go out through the rest of the film, doing what they want, when they want and how they want. Nobody tells these two what they have to do and how to do it. As a psychiatrist says in the film at one point: “Mickey and Mallory know the difference between right and wrong. They just don’t give a damn”

The film goes into similar territory visited by films like A Clockwork Orange (1971) in which Stanley Kubrick presented us with a rebel known as Alex De Large; a young man who refused to follow the rules. He would steal, rape and beat anyone he wanted to, just because he could, because he was young and strong. Yet, what Kubrick’s film shows us is that when you don’t play by the rules, the system can and most likely will force you to play by the rules. Another film that plays with the same ideas as Natural Born Killer’s is director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson (2008). A film about an incorrigible  man who does everything the wrong way: intimidating, kicking and punching anyone who doesn’t agree with him. Bronson is a man who was simply “born bad” and he knows it, destined to live a life in jail for being so. Same as Mickey Knox says that he has found his true calling and says that he is a “Natural Born Killer”. These are people who simply see the world as being completely wrong, the rules of society and the way everything moves in the world is upside down to them. The anger they feel towards the world emerges in different ways. Problem is that when you look at society, you can’t help but agree with them to an extent. Yeah, there is an undeniable truth that things are crazy out there in the world, things are ass backwards wrong. Some people simply know how to deal with the craziness better then others.

This film got a lot of criticism for the violence it portrays. According to some critics, the film incites people to violence, to go out there and cause some damage. I don’t agree so much with this idea. Natural Born Killer’s is simply a reflection of the world we live in, it’s a comment on our current society. Before this film came along, there were already real life characters that behaved exactly the same way that Mickey and Mallory did in the film. What Oliver Stone shows us in this film is nothing new, it is a phenomenon that’s been happening in society for ages. Just like he does with practically every film he has ever done, Oliver Stone is simply showing us the messed up world we live in, through a cinematic reflection. Some people just can’t take the truth that’s all. They apparently live life with shutters in front of their eyes if they see this film and can’t see the truth in it. Society does create characters like these. Look at Charles Manson himself! Oliver Stone mentions that this film is partially based on Charles Manson who has often times stated “My father is the system. I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.” Same thing can be said for Mickey and Mallory.

One of the films main points is that society is bombarded by the media. Television, the internet, newspapers, magazines, billboards, you name it and we are being bombarded by it minute after minute. I mean, you can’t walk two steps without someone trying to sell you something. You can’t even take a piss in a public bathroom without being told what to buy or who to vote for. Now they even have freaking television sets inside of elevators! Some media outlets show violence simply for the ratings they are going to get in return. The film criticizes this through the character of Wayne Gale, a Geraldo Rivera type of television personality who will show anything on television to get some ratings, the more violent the better. Actually, those scenes where Wayne Gale is interviewing Mickey were inspired by Geraldo Rivera's interview to Charles Manson. It’s the kind of sleaze bag ‘journalism’ that proliferated during the 90’s and therefore got criticized a lot, specifically in films. You can see it pop up in various films, the character of the t.v. journalist always getting the negative portrayal, always looking like some sort of vampire thriving on other peoples woes. On this film Mickey and Mallory are presented as children of television, kids who saw way too much of it and were probably raised by it. Mallory’s father is presented as man who drinks beer and smokes cigarettes while watching wrestling in his underwear. Mickey and Mallory’s memories are sitcom infused flashbacks, and finally, their big jailbreak takes place while television cameras are recording the whole event. The media, and its bombardment on our psyche and its influence on how we perceive the world is really felt through this film. So much so that Mickey and Mallory’s final violent statement is aimed at a media mogul! When the media guy pleads for his life Mickey says “You are scum, you did it for the ratings. You don’t give a shit about us or anybody else except yourself”

So yeah, this film was a big controversial thing. The MPAA kept telling Stone to cut out the violence, and Stone was obligated to do so since he was contractually bound to deliver an ‘R’ rated picture. When the film came out it was blamed for quite a few copy cat murders. Yes my friends, some people out there in the real world went out and committed murders, blaming the film for what they did. They stated that they had either seen the film the night before or that they were emulating what they saw on it The big question that pops up for me is: why did so many people connect with this film in a way that would make them want to behave in the exact same way that Mickey and Mallory did in the film? Is it because they feel the same hatred towards the system as Mickey and Mallory did? Did they see Mickey and Mallory as a pitch perfect reflection of themselves? In the end, I am not one of these people that would blame a film or a song for the way people behave. An artist cannot be held responsible for the way somebody will react to his or her art. It is the main reason why all these lawsuits against Stone and his film never pulled through, the first amendment backed Stone up. Plus, what is Oliver Stone doing in this film if not commenting on the way the world already is? Isn’t that what art is supposed to do?

This is precisely the reason why I admire Stone as a filmmaker so much, because he speaks about the way the world is through his films, and most of the time he holds nothing back. Natural Born Killers is like a barrage of information, fast, quick and scattershot, it’s the Oliver Stone way. If you see his films, many of them have that pacing, that frenetic, speeded up sensation, like life is going on in front of you and you better pay attention or you’ll miss something. Natural Born Killers is like a freight train of images, an avalanche of visual information. Stone uses so many styles and formats on this film, he’ll go from black and white, to color, to oversaturation, to shooting in 16mm , to showing projections in the background and he even uses some morphing! I mean, if Mickey and Mallory were breaking all the rules, I’d say that Oliver Stone was right there breaking them with them while making this film.

Final word: Natural Born Killers is a film that needs to be seen more then once. It comments on so many themes, and it encompasses so much that one viewing will simply not be enough for you to absorb everything. Yeah the film is violent, and yeah the main characters are troubled individuals dealing with their own personal demons in an extremely murderous and psychopathic way, but just remember, this film is not made for you to go out there and shoot whoever the hell looks at you the wrong way, its meant for you to learn from it, and see what we should never become: desensitized individuals with no respect or appreciation for human life. This film is there to tell you that not everything the media tells you is true. That the ones behind media don’t care about you, they only care about their ratings, about making their money. It’s here to tell you that maybe you shouldn’t watch television 24 hours a day seven days a week, maybe you should go out there into the world and live your life, go out with a friend, fall in love, have a good time, experience things, grow, care. Just like Mickey says in the film: “The only thing that kills the demon…is love”

Rating: 5 out of 5

 

Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth (1993)

Title: Heaven and Earth (1993)

Director/Writer: Oliver  Stone (based on the book When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Lely Haislip)

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Hiep Thi Le

Review:

I'll start this review by saying that during the next couple of weeks Im gonna be reviewing some Oliver Stone films; the reason being that I just bought an Oliver Stone boxed set which includes a lot of movies from Stones repertoire that I had not seen yet. Heaven and Earth was one of them. Im not a big fan of war movies, but when they are good they are good. My favorite thing about war movies is that they show that completely dark side of human nature, it presents us with the question: once you've committed horrible acts of mayhem during war, once you've actually killed people for your government, can you go back to being a normal person? Can you fit right back into society all fine and dandy, no harm no foul? A lot of films have explored this subject matter, for example: First Blood (1982), The Deer Hunter (1978) and The Hunted (2003) which by the way, same as Heaven and Earth, also stars Tommy Lee Jones. Recent examples include Brothers (2009) and Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winning film The Hurt Locker (2009) an excellent war film showing how once a man goes through the horrors of war, psychologically, you are scarred for life. After surviving war with their lives intact, can these men go back to going to the supermarket and mowing their lawns as if all that madness had not happened? On Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth,  we see these themes explored through Tommy Lee Jones character, Steve Butler, a man who's been torn apart by war, and is now trying to find some happiness, love, peace. This war torn soldier decides love is all he needs, so he decides to marry a young Vietnamese girl.

Heaven and Earth is the third film in what is known as "Oliver Stone's Vietnam Trilogy". The three films included on this trilogy are Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and the movie were discussing on this review, Heaven and Earth. As opposed to Platoon, this movie is less about the war itself and more about how the war affects the lives of the people whose lives it is ravaging. In this particular story we meet Le Ly a little Vietnamese girl who grows up in this beautiful paradise where families grow rice in the fields and the landscape looks like something out of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. An island paradise. Until it is invaded by American forces that is! Then it is filled with death, a nation in rebellion, rape and mass murders!  I love how Oliver Stone points these historical events out, how theAmericans invaded that land with their tanks and their helicopters. That's how it went down, and it is represented on this film, pointing a finger, as Oliver Stone films usually do, to an evil in society. Usually, in Oliver Stone films, the roots of evil come from the American way of government and from the effects of it, i.e. The Revolution. 

The Man, the myth, Oliver Stone

But this is not a film that hates America, it simply hates the way its government acts during certain moments in history. Like the Vietnam War for example. Lots of evil came out of that war, lots of people suffered. Many lives destroyed. One of the lives that was destroyed was LeLy Haislip, the author of the two memoirs on which this film is based on. All that real life hardship and suffering are on Lely Haislips two memoirs, "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" and "Child of War, Woman of Peace" Stories in both books should bring any one who reads them to tears. These Vietnamese girls really went through hell surviving in the midst of the war between the Americans and the Vietcong. But on the other hand, the film presents America as the savior of Le Ly. She moves to America, becomes rich. And changes from a tramp begging on the streets into a successful business woman. So America saved the life of her and her children at the same time. I enjoyed that political eveness the film has; Heaven and Earth doesn't just stick to one version of the story, it brings us both sides of the tale. Yes the American soldiers killed many people, but so did the Vietcong. 

This film is very similar to Oliver Stone's Salvador (which I will be reviewing soon), that film stars James Woods as a photojournalist who is living in Salvador, documenting through his pictures how that countries government stepped on its people. On that story, the same thing happens. An American falls in love with the Native and in an act born purely out of a need for redemption, tries to marry the girl and save her from the hell that is erupting in her country. He also takes the womans children as his own, and his plan is also to take her to America. So its structured very similarly to Salvador, an early Oliver Stone film which I urge you to check out if you like films with a rebellious streak to them that portrays lives being directly affected by war, but also focuses on how during these horrible conditions true love and humanity can emerge and outshine the darkness. 

At its core, this is a film about true love and understanding over coming it all. Even the darkest horrors in our lives.  Out there in filmland theres a term called "tearjerker". This term is used to refer to films that have a story so sad, so crushing that you'll probably end up crying as you see it. Some fail horribly, but some work like magic. Don't deny it, you all know it, some films have made a tear or two come out from your eye sockets. So anyways, for me Heaven and Earth was one of these movies! The story is so epic, you feel like you get to know these characters and when things happen to them, it really breaks you up! Plus, the performances feel so genuine, the dialog so true, that it makes the film that much more believable. Since the film is based on two memoirs, you also know as you watch the film, that many of the situations depicted on it truly did happen like that, so it makes you even sadder. But strangely enough, there are some truly happy moments as well. You will go through a rollercoaster of emotions with this movie. There is some truly beautiful imagery. Parts of the film were shot in Vietnam and Thailand; the end result is a the portrayal of a beautiful looking Vietnam;  a paradise. I don't think Id be wrong to say that this film is one of Oliver Stone's most beautiful looking movies. The landscapes the vistas are something to behold.

My advice with this movie is, see it, stick with it to the very end and you'll end up feeling like you saw a truly satisfying movie. Its obvious Stone took extra special care in making this movie beautiful and moving, and emotional, this was after all a film that he made expressly for his mother.  When the film ends we see the words "To My Mother Jaqueline Stone" before the credits role. So in a way, this is Oliver Stones love letter to his mom. It has a big "I love you Mom" written all over some of its images. A very moving and emotional film that shows us a whole life, from suffering, to survival, to redemption, to total bliss and happiness. Its a trip, one of Oliver Stone's most epic, emotional films. If I had to say that the film had a weekness, it would be that since the story covers so much, during its first half, the film seems to go in a big rush, events happening super fast. But its best moments come when characters slow it down and try to connect as human beings.  But thats not really a big deal, in my book this is a five star film every step of the way, not to be missed.

Rating: 5 out of 5