Redford On Boomer Regrets

Robert Redford's latest movie, The Company You Keep, is a film for boomers who are going to the cinemas in full force to support this film. As a poster boy in the 60s and 70s, Redford has transformed himself from just a pretty face on the big screen to one of the most respected filmmakers, philanthropists and environmentalists in the 21st century.

Redford is always more talented as a director than an actor. Among the nine films directed by him since 1980, I like Ordinary People (won him the Best Director Award at the Oscars in 1981), The Horse Whisperer, The Conspirator and now The Company You Keep. They are always subtle and non-traditional. In the last 30 years, Redford has also never made a movie with the box office in mind. Perhaps, now he can afford to do so just for the art alone.

Baby boomers often reminisce about we have done in our youth. Perhaps some of us even regret about our past follies. The Company You Keep is about how a group of former activists under the umbrella name of Weather Underground all resurface again to confront their own demons. It is about doing what's right for the younger generation. The thriller keeps you on the edge of your seats but the plot is never that complex. When you've watched about two-thirds of the movie, you can sort of guess where the plot is going. The film was beautifully shot in Vancouver and is a very classy, intelligen and concise thriller that only Redford can make.

What's most delightful about the film is the gang of boomer actors who were all superstars in their gloriest days - Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Chirs Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Brenda Gleeson, Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott. The only two young actors in the film - Shia LaBeouf and Brit Marling - carry their own weights in front of the veteran actors. A talented actor like Terrence Howard does not need to play the role of the FBI chief in this film, but I guess if Robert Redford calls, you just don't say no! I read about Julie Christie initially refusing her role, but Redford went to Canadian director Sarah Polley, who directed Christie in Away From Her, for advice. Christie finally accepted the invitation and gave a brilliant performance as the irresistible Mimi.

I have to admit, however, that it's scary to watch how Redford has been aging over the years. At 76, he's still cool as a cucumber, but his face on the big screen looks like plastic surgery gone awry. There's also a scene where a jogging Redford could easily be mistaken for an old woman running in the park. Perhaps it's time for Redford to consider just staying behind the camera instead of still appearing in front of it?

Playing Games With Memories

In spite of the critics' lack of enthusiasm for Danny Boyle's new movie Trance, I had to pay attention to anything that the director produced after his Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. Plus, Vincent Cassel (who won a Cesar award for his role in Mesrine) is one of my most favourite actors.

This is another flick that constantly works your brains. Just when I thought that I had the whole plot figured out, there came another surprise - layers and layers of it! The ending is shocking and incredible, but if you constantly question the storyline of movies, half of them would not be watchable!

This stylistic heist is a big play on human memory. Somehow, this has lately become a popular theme for movies - Inception, Total Recall, Oblivion and now Trance. But if you believe in the power of hypnotics, then this is the movie for you. But coming from Boyle, the movie is a bit disappointing. This is a thriller with a lot of violence and action, but short of brilliance. It's as if Boyle, after his witty direction of the London Olympics, wants to continue with showing off London in its best form. Under his direction, London is hip, mysterious, romantic, stylish, sinister and foggy. But style trumps substance - that's where the problem lies.

But at least the actors are strong, particularly Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson. James McAvoy's innocent looks always limit his versatility as an actor. He always gives 150 percent but efforts do not necessarily imply impact and depth.

For us Vincent Cassel fans, we always wonder why he's not a bigger star in North America. He has won numerous awards in France and appeared in many Hollywood movies (Eastern Promises, Black Swan and Ocean's Trilogy). But he's always just the bad guy, that's it. I understand that he's currently living with his family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he's producing a new movie. Maybe it would be finally a movie with him demonstrating his full acting talent without strutting his animal magnetism?

Rosario Dawson is always a formidable actress and talented artist. Whether it's her teaming up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit "1999," or her performance in Quentin Tarentino's Death Proof, she's always got a cool factor in her. Because of her exotic ethnicity - Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent - a lot of film critics find her beautiful.  Judging from her romantic history (she's dated former Sex and the City star Jason Lewis for two years and then dated Danny Boyle in 2012 when they were shooting this movie), obviously the men in the acting world agreed. Although most of the film critics raved about the sex scene between her and Cassel in this movie, I just didn't find it that significant. But Dawson might garner an Oscar nomination for her performance as Elisabeth Lamb, the hynotherapist who turns the world upside down in the film.

I salute the director for keeping me guessing till the end, but is the conclusion ridiculously unbelievable? Yes it is, but I like it even though I'm disappointed with Boyle.

Tom Cruise Surprises Again

I was never a fan of Tom Cruise or sci-fi movies, and originally had no intention of watching his latest movie Oblivion. But to make a long story short, I ended up in the cinema on the first night when the movie premiered. Once again, I have to say - Cruise surprises me!

Most of the film critics panned the movie, so I went with the lowest of expectations. But whether you like Tom Cruise or not, this is a visually stunning movie. Credit, of course, goes to director of cinematography Claudio Miranda, who won an Oscar this year with The Life of Pi. With a combination of digital effects and brilliant cinematography with a huge budget, your breath will be swept away by the power of the universe - mountains, cliffs, bridges, valleys, caves, waterfalls and volcanoes. The use of minimalistic white for the interior shots is equally stunning and effective. I wouldn't be surprised if Miranda wins another Oscar next year.

I read that this is only director Joseph Kosinski's second movie (his first was Tron: Legacy) which he adapted from his never-published comic book. His latest work was fiercely criticized by reviewers who claimed that it was a mishmash of a number of other renowned epics. It's true that the film reminds you of Blade Runner, Total Recall, The Matrix, The Planet of the Apes, Inception and many others. But the plot kind of makes sense in a sci-fi kind of way and before you realize it, you're entertained by Tom Cruise (playing the technician Jack Harper in 2077) again - and he doesn't even need to smile!

The film is also a love story and Cruise's leading ladies do not disappoint. Ukranian-French model/actress Olga Kurylenko (as Julia) is so ethereally beautiful that I wonder why she was hardly noticeable as a Bond girl in Casino Royale. I understand that Kurylenko got the role only when Jessica Chastain dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Andrea Riseborough who plays Cruise's partner Victoria is appropriately chilling and aloof in her performance. After playing Wallis Simpson in Madonna's WE, the British actress has once again proven her versatility.

The US$120 million production partially accounts for the technical supremacy and flawless filming in eight locations including Reykjavik and Jarlhettur in Iceland; New Orleans, St. Francisville and Baton Rouge in Louisiana; June Lake and Mammoth Lakes in California; and New York City. If the film were edited down by 30 minutes and some of the sappy music be replaced by more original scores, Oblivion could have been a better sci-fi movie.

Ginger & Rosa A Must-See

The new BBC-Produced movie Ginger & Rosa was an absolute delight to watch. It's the tumultuous world of 1962 as seen through the eyes of two British teenagers - Ginger played by the flawlessly natural and gifted American Elle Fanning; and Rosa played by the18-year-old Australian actress, Alice Englert, daughter of renowned New Zealand director Jane Campion (The Piano).

I've never seen any of writer and director Sally Potter's previous movies. But having seen her latest, I've concluded that she's a creative force to reckon with. The movie stays away from cliches but still reminds us of our own teenaged years or offsprings. Only a woman writer/director can produce such a masterpiece with a strong screenplay coupled with sense and sensitivity.

But what makes the movie almost perfect is the wonderful cast ensemble (apart from the two teenaged leads) - Alessandro Nivola, Christina Hendricks (Joan from Mad Men) and Annette Bening. The music (from Schubert to Charlie Parker to Miles Davis) and poetry are also great icings on the cake.

Elle and Dakota Fanning are probably two of the best-known child actresses in North America. But the younger Fanning even outshines her older sibling with her accomplishments so far. Her performance in this movie reminds me of the very young Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver and has already garnered her nominations for the Best Actress Award at the British Independent Film Awards and also the Best Young Actress Award by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The 5'8" lanky teenager from Georgia, U.S.A., who has been acting since she was three, will further win numerous accolades as she matures.

I'm really proud to see that Canada is one of the producing countries of this film in addition to the BBC and other independent film companies from Denmark and Croatia.

Noomi Rapace Underutilized In Dead Man Down

Dead Man Down is one of those movies shot for the big screen, but could be perceived as a made-for-TV crime drama. Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, best known for his Swedish movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, built his career from the production of a series of TV movies. The 2009 Swedish thriller - the first in a trilogy - made such an impact internationally that it not only made Oplev famous, but also generated worldwide attention to its leading actress Noomi Rapace as well.

When comparing the Hollywood version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo with its Swedish counterpart, the latter is definitely stronger and more impactful. But that's why, perhaps, Dead Man Down is disappointing since I expected Oplev's American theatrical debut to have a bigger 'wow' impact. It's entertaining and suspenseful if you like thrillers and action movies, but the plot is too weak to be credible. The story tries to paint revenge as the biggest priority for crime kingpins and assassins, but the attempt to add a good conscience to the underworld characters is just not convincing enough. Unlike Quentin Tarentino whose movies are very often about revenge as well, this flick lacks depth and poetry.

But the weakest link in the entire film is that Noomi Rapace's talents are very underutilized. Rapace's performance as Lisabeth Salander in the Millennium Trilogy was breathtakingly excellent and will, probably, continue to haunt audiences around the world for a long time to come. But her accolades throughout her career - from her stellar stage-performing record to her Best Actress award at Sweden's prestigious Guldbagge Awards - should lead to an ongoing expansion of her roles rather than repetitive and limiting ones. The Spanish-Swedish actress should really stop playing physically and emotionally tormented women on screen. She undertook such an insignificant and totally dispensable role as the gypsy in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. In Dead Man Down, she once again plays a physically-abused, but tough woman seeking revenge.

Along the same line, Colin Farrell's talent as an actor is also not maximized. Having seen his performance in Phone Booth, I continue to wonder why he continuously chooses action-hero roles with very few facial expressions required. I can only say that the star power of Oplev and Rapace had to be the only reason why there's a cast of renowned actors in very minor, supportive roles in this movie - Oscar-Award nominee Terrence Howard, French actress Isabelle Huppert and the always charismatic Armand Assante.

The Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo may be more successful, but Rooney Mara has moved on beyond her Lisabeth Salender role whereas Noomi Rapace still has not.

Building A Positive Future Trumps Chilean Dictatorship

As a marketing professional, I'm particularly interested in the Spanish-language film No directed by Chilean director Pablo Larrain. Like Argo, the film is based on history, albeit an overdramatization of what happened during the 1988 plebiscite. The premise of the film is very simple - an advertising executive devised and implemented a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum peacefully after 15 years of dictatorship.

The film was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Oscars but lost to the French movie Amour. Its simplicity drew many criticisms, but I think it's the simplicity that resulted in a nomination. The ad campaign drives home a direct message: both politics and marketing are built on dreams of the future. Pinochet's camp and its Yes marketing team didn't get that and underestimated the opposition. General Pinochet's administration further tried to suppress and intimidate the No team with oppressive moves.

The movie was filmed video-style to give an impression of a documentary-like cinema piece in the 80s. Of course, we all understand that it took more than an advertising campaign to overthrow the Pinochet autocracy, but the message of a happy and promising future free of dictatorship was too irresistible for Chileans. Yes, the ad campaign might be tacky and plagiaristic at times, but the marketing goal was ultimately achieved.

The film is successful because it's serious and funny at the same time. We see the real footage of the oppression and the intimidation. At the same time, we also see the strengths and weaknesses of what marketing can and cannot do. We also witness the power of third-party endorsement when real footage of Hollywood celebrities showed their support for the No campaign - Superman Christopher Reeve, Jane Fonda in her activist mode, and Richard Dreyfuss expressing his support on TV in Spanish. 

But the film's success is largely attributed to its lead actor, Mexican superstar Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries), who's renowned not only for his acting talent, but also for his choice of roles. Bernal expressed in fluent English in a London TV interview that politics is very much part of everyday life in Latin America, and this became the essence of the movie No. Even though he started his career as a TV soap opera heartthrob in Mexico, Bernal became the first Mexican actor to be accepted at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London at the age of 19. His acting is a combination of emotional intensity with the authenticity of an everyday hero. Bernal is a thinking woman's Romeo in Latin America - no wonder Natalie Portman dated him for several years before moving on to others and marrying ballet dancer Benjamin Millepied.

This movie is an intelligent production, but like the Academy Awards jurors, I prefer Amour even more.

A Stunning Hitchcockian Thriller

I've not seen such a masterpiece in the thriller genre for a long time - watching Stoker today was like simultaneously reading a poem and a suspense novel!

South Korean director Park Chan-Wook's first English-language film is a stunner - visually mesmerizing, sumptuous in imageries, and Hitchcockian in suspense! No wonder the film garnered a lot of attention at the recent Sundance Festival. Park is famous for stylistic violence, but with this English-language film debut, he has ascended to superstardom. Park's background is so interesting - a former philosophy student and a former film critic, he decided to try to become a filmmaker after seeing Hitchcock's Vertigo. After winning the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for his film Oldboy, he became famous for The Vengeance Trilogy. It's not surprising that director Quentin Tarentino is a huge fan of Park's.

Like Chinese-American director Ang Lee, Park used an interpreter on set even though he speaks English. But Park's accomplishment with Stoker is obviously supported by many other pleasant surprises, First and foremost, there is a total of eight producers including such famous names as Ridley and Tony Scott and Wentworth Miller, the hugely-popular leading star of the TV drama Prison Break. A Princeton graduate who majored in English Literature, Miller also debuted with his screenwriting talent in this movie, proving that he's not just a pretty face.

The cast is absolutely excellent - Mia Wasikowska (the lead actress in Jane Eyre) as the 18-year-old India Stoker; Nicole Kidman as her unhappy, self-destructive mother; and Matthew Goode (from Woody Allen's Match Point) as the ultimate creepy charmer, Charles Stoker. British composer Clint Mansell also wrote a mesmerizing score for the film.

For thrillers to be successful, they need to make the audience guess what's going to happen next. Stoker not only makes our brains work fast, it also makes us crave more - that's the creepy success of this masterpiece!