MY REVIEW OF ‘CHRONICLE’
*I had the pleasure of seeing this last night in an Austin event hosted by Harry Knowles. Director Josh Trank was in the audience and did a splendid Q & A afterwards.
The aspect about CHRONICLE that left & stuck with me the most, long after the eerie-scored credits, was its will. It’s a very strong-willed almost stubborn movie, but in a positive, contemporary way. We are lucky this ended up in the hands of director Josh Trank & screenwriter Max Landis, because if it were up to any other person or even another duo, we would have gotten something completely different…and more than likely a complete mess.
I can honestly go either way with origin stories. Because I’ve seen origins told either very well or very poorly, the phrase ‘it’s not the journey, it’s the destination’ holds strongly in these situations. This origin anecdote though, boys and girls, is special.
The whole ‘found footage’ story-telling method is justified in the first minute of the movie. To say that Andrew (Dane DeHaan) has a bad home life is putting it mildly. With his father constantly beating him & his mother horribly sick in bed, he turns his outlook to a camera, hoping to create a world that’s not his own. While being forced to attend a party filled with fellow high school kids that look down on him, he makes a discovery along with his “distant” cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and the strangely nice popular kid Steve (Michael B. Jordan). This discovery gives them all superpowers (the scene that shows them ‘acquiring’ these powers is bombastic and shouldn’t be ruined here). Matt & Steve do their best to balance their powers with their regular lives, but not Andrew. The less focus on his regular life, the better. He slowly but surely starts to perfect what he has, to a degree that forms into something frightening…
Because it’s a found-footage flick with a small budget, to be able to ask three relative unknown actors to carry an entire movie is big. To ask said actors to get us, the audience, to invest everything and accompany them on their journey is a ballsy move. And the fact that these three actors not only accomplished that but also made themselves the hottest rising stars in Hollywood at the same time, that’s just straight potato sacks. I can’t predict how much this movie will make when the dust clears, but mark my words: DeHaan, Russell & Jordan will be on everyone’s radar starting tomorrow. As described by Trank during the Q & A, it’s unique and damn rare to get three young aspiring actors, who are strangers to each other, put them in a room and right off the bat get the feel that they’ve been best friends since the playpen. In a way, it’s beautiful when the three of them are together in the scenes that they’re in. That’s the second act, and you never want it to end. The scene where they realize they can fly, and the events that follow it, combines humor, excitement and nobility like a perfectly put together Lego tower (you’ll get the reference when you see it).
But like any origin story that combines eventual enemies, what goes up must come down. Hard.
Things start to go on a downward spiral after a high school incident, and Andrew is bursting out of control. Every selfish, merciless act of the trio leads to the prominent climax, and this is where director Trank got his chance to shine. As mentioned earlier, if the hands of someone else, this would have been a mess. In fact, this part of the script in the hands of huge comic book geek or a ball-busting directorial tyrant would have been a downer. Mixing genres and moods and atmospheres during a movie, it’s tricky but it can be done. Radically jumping all three of those from one vibe to another is even harder to do. In that jump, we could have gotten something in the vein of Every-Superhero-Movie, complete with hero music, one-liners and unwanted helping of cheese.
But Trank, during the Q & A, made apparent that his main appeal was the story of the kids, not the story of what they could do their powers. Their story, their shared joy and eventual pain, comes first. Which is why instead of getting a third act finale that was silly, we got one that sticks to its guns of clemency. While the action comes fast and at special effects-heavy speed, we never forget who and what we’re dealing with: friends that are hurt, angry, and vengeful. Andrew has suffered, and now he wants the world to pay. His friends simply cannot let that happen. The ending doesn’t go into full-fledged ‘super heroism’ and I for one appreciated that.
CHRONICLE is a special gem of a movie. It’s a found-footage flick turned into a cinematic adventure, showcasing four huge talents with nothing but promise ahead for them. Oh and one more note: despite what I said about that ending, I never said there wasn’t an abundance of action. I’ll put it this way: that ending, although short…well folks, it’s a close was we’ll probably ever get to a live-action Akira. And salivate.
MY REVIEW OF ‘THE GREY’
By the time the lights come up in the 500-seat auditorium and the credits begin to surface, I am withdrawn of any physical act other than to just breathe in ever so slowly. I was emotionally drained; emotionally beaten. Most of the patrons are able to leave and just go home or wherever; I sit down and stay that way for just a little bit longer. I had to.
I feel like I just got into a god damn boxing match with a story. It beat the living shit out of me.
I recall writing about how I hoped that this movie would take me for a wild, emotional ride. If I had known THE GREY would not only keep its promise and then some…well I was going to say I would have prepared better, but it wouldn’t have mattered.
Liam Neeson plays Ottway, a lost man who works for an oil drilling team somewhere in Alaska. Thanks to a sort of tyrannical work by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, it honestly looks like the place God forgot. That sense of feeling comes true after his plane, filled with other workers, goes down in the middle of the cold, unforgiving wild (the use of surround sound during this scene genuinely scared me). He and a small handful of survivors awaken and without even given a chance to properly come up with a game plan, the place God forgot quickly thrusts upon the truth that they will die if they don’t leave. In the form of some of the most evil-looking wolves you’ll ever see.
While I wouldn’t say the list is huge, I would say most of us have had our share of movies about people trying to survive in the wild for whatever reason. Apparently, and thankfully, nobody told co-writer/director Joe Carnahan about this list. The story of man vs. wild isn’t new, and I wouldn’t even say he redefines it; he just did it his way. Profane, ballsy, but with a heart and soul that is truly is own signature.
Not since the days of NARC has he been this tapped into the drive to shake us, the viewer, down to our tender core. The script (shared with co-writer Ian Mackenzie Jeffers) perfectly mirrors what the central group of characters are going through: we act & talk tough (I loved how in a humanistic story they still didn’t ditch the language) but on the inside it’s scared of what could creep around the corner…around the tree…around the next page.
Like a real-life horror villain, the fantastically sinister wolves pick off our survivors one by one in a calculated, heartless dance. The fact that they’re brought to life by KNB effects and properly timed CGI effects doesn’t help our tense grip either.
The execution of their plight gets is so brutal it’s exhausting. By the time the ending comes around, I’ve already been reduced to tears long enough. I’m a man, and can admit when a movie makes me emotional. I wish to my credit I could say they were just a few; that I sniffed up and carried on. But by the time the ending comes around, I’m just barely recovering and then POW. Another shot to the gut. The past two hours mash and morph into this brooding yet beautiful realization. It hovers over me like a fist that’s cocking back preparing one final strike that will surely KO me, or even kill me.
The condition of the human spirit is a mixed bag; how we treat any fight-or-die situation is different to all of us. Through wonderfully developed characters, a thoughtful ensemble performance (led by a first-rate Neeson), and the outstanding work of an all-around crew, we are given the human spirit at its most raw, at it’s most naked and vulnerable. It’s not easy to handle.
Carnahan knows this like its embedded in his blood, and treats it with respect and devotion that he knows, and nobody else’s. That’s why on a list of survival movies, this ranks as one of the best I’ve ever seen.
The punch comes in, and knocks me down. I release how I feel, covering my face. The movie’s over, people are leaving. I even stay after the credits for…well I won’t spoil that. I get up to walk and I am drained. This is wanted, and I am so damn happy.
MY 25 MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIES OF 2012
Please believe me when I say that I had to make this list of 25 out of over 100 choices. And to say that it wasn’t easy is like saying like taking an understatement and beating it over its head with a mallet. But the list is done and I hope you all enjoy. It spans over 3 pages, so just click the left arrow at the bottom when you want to move on.
Once again, enjoy. And let me know what you think!
25. THIS IS FORTY
Director: Judd Apatow
Release Date: December 21
Of all the years of Judd Apatow’s film career, this one will prove to be his most interesting. His first two directorial efforts, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, were huge both critically and financially. His last movie though, FUNNY PEOPLE, was the exact opposite of that. The man’s got nothing to prove, but in reading recent interviews & stories, you can tell he wants to come back in a big way. I’m hoping his newest shot will do just that.
24. SAFE HOUSE
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Release Date: February 10
Before the slew of new trailers that hit the web weeks ago, I ranked the first trailer to this flick as my favorite of the year. Talk about the ultimate sales pitch: bringing one of 2010’s Blacklisted scripts to life with Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds as your leads, having a hot new director (Daniel Espinosa, SNABBA CASH) behind the reins, showcasing excellent action shots, and all to the tune of “No Church in the Wild” by Jay-Z & Kanye West! God damn. Even if the movie’s no good, we’ll always have that trailer.
23. SKYFALL
Director: Sam Mendes
Release Date: November 9
Bond is back! Daniel Craig’s Bond is back, to be more precise. After the wave of financial woes finally settled over at MGM, Sony was able to help bring the British spy back for his next mission. I’m excited, but also perturbed. Sam Mendes is directing, and the last time a non-action director made a Bond film was, well, Marc Forster’s QUANTUM. And that…was just horrible (I won’t even get started on my beef with that guy). Medes is more than accomplished, so here’s to hoping he won’t make the same god-awful mistake.
22. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
Director: Peter Jackson
Release Date: December 14
I was worried when Guillermo del Toro dropped out as director. I was VERY worried when Warner Bros. pulled the contract card to get Peter Jackson to come back (instead of him going of his own accord). But all these months later, the worries have been put to rest, thanks to his set visit videos, the details that he’ll be shooting the movie at an astounding 48 fps (has never been done for a movie before) and of course that wonderfully pleasant teaser trailer. I can’t wait to go back to the Shire.
21. STOKER
Director: Chan-wook Park
Release Date: TBD
A new film from Chan-wook Park (OLDBOY, pictured left) is enough to raise the anticipation of any cinephile, but this particular project is special as it’s his American debut. Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Dermot Mulroney and Matthew Goode star in the story about a mysterious uncle who shows up to his brother’s funeral, and brings unease to the rest of the family.
20. THE EXPENDABLES 2
Director: Simon West
Release Date: August 17
The first trip to Testosteroneville was a fun ride, and the sequel already has the right frame of mind for the kind of movie it has to be: bigger. Much, much bigger. Bring in some more icons (Chuck Norris, JCVD), give your two previous cameos much meatier roles (Willis, Schwarzenegger), and kick things off with a short, but very kick-ass teaser trailer. And that first cast-filled poster…hell man, just looking at it makes you want to punch a bull and grow a third testicle.
19. CHRONICLE
Director: Josh Trank
Release Date: February 3
To a lot of people, the found footage genre has already overstayed its welcome (thanks for nothing APOLLO 18 and THE DEVIL INSIDE). Me? I can’t get enough of these kinds of movies. So imagine my anticipation when I learned it’s the format of choice to tell the story of 3 teenage friends who suddenly acquire super powers…and one of them decides to use his for evil.
