Review: Precious

Precious
Director: Lee Daniels
Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton
Rating: R, for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language

I hesitated for before watching this movie. It sat on my shelf for about a week before I felt brave enough to watch it, but watch it, I did. And boy, was I glad I worked up the courage.

Precious tells the story of Claireece "Precious" Jones, an overweight, illiterate teenager growing up in 1987 Harlem. Pregnant with her second child by her own father, she lives with her mentally and physically abusive mother.

There's a reason people can't stop talking about this movie after they see it. You want to talk about raw? This movie has plenty of raw. Life has given Precious more than her fair share of hardships and it has no intentions of stopping. Abuse, sickness, homelessness, all these things continue to pile on top Precious until you can no longer stand it. She stands it, though, with help from her protective fantasy life and a healthy dose of strength.

The film keeps you in a hyper-real world, with bled-out colors and minimal use of steady cam, but with sudden flashes into the fantasies Precious uses to escape her harsh reality. The film uses these fantasies to help us escape as well, for no one wants to stay in her world. The real win of the movie, however, is its ability to shift Precious's (and our) desire for the fantasy to a desire to beat reality until the last fantasy flash is an intentionally, unwelcome distraction.

Sidibe and Mo'Nique deliver flawless performances, and I must say that both of their Oscar nominations are well-deserved. The subject matter could easily lend itself to over-the-top, stereotypical performances, but both women lend depth and subtlety to their characters. Each woman has the obligatory crying scene. Precious has remained stoic and resilient throughout the film, yet when life delivers one last blow, tears are inevitable. And contagious. Mo'Nique delivers her tears with incredible skill, managing to be at once sympathetic and despicable.

The entire supporting cast delivers great performances, even with rather stereotypical characters. The characters move from the stereotypical as the film goes on, especially the other ladies in school with Precious. One might expect the ladies to grow and become mature, yet they don't. They simply care more about Precious. They love her. And we do too.

My Rating: Tough, raw, and beautiful. 

Review: Twilight: Eclipse

Twilight: Eclipse
Director: David Slade
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Rated: PG-13, for intense sequences of action and violence, and some sensuality


"Never go for the obvious kill. They'll be expecting that. And you will lose."


Well Twilight: Eclipse, do you think you could have taken your own advice? It's troubled times again in Forks, WA. Mysterious killings have been going on in Seattle as Bella prepares to graduate from high school. Edward, her cold-blooded, vampire boyfriend, has finally agreed to turn her into a vampire--against his better judgement and mostly at the sinister insistence of the Volturi, the vampire elite of the world who keep order with their supernatural powers and their ruthless enforcement (And, by the way, they didn't show up nearly enough in this film). Bella's best friend, Jacob, has a big problem with Bella dating Edward. Mostly because he's in love with her too, but also because he's a seriously hot (temperature-wise, that is) werewolf whose natural enemies are the Cold Ones, one of whom Edward happens to be. Oh, and Bella loves Jacob, too, but she just hasn't admitted it to herself. Oh yeah, and, those mysterious killings happen to be orchestrated by an angry, red-headed vampire woman whose boyfriend was killed by Edward, and now she wants to take revenge on him by killing Bella. 

Convoluted enough for you? Yeah, I've read the book and it was a little much for me. Granted, it was a little much when I read the book, too. One of my biggest criticisms of the movie is its use of extreme cuts. Here's a little film history for you. When films were very first created, the idea of "cutting" from one scene to another confused audiences like crazy. They wanted to know what had happened. Why was the action suddenly in another location? What had happened between the current scene and the previous scene? Well, contemporary movie-goers are savvy. You can pat yourself on the back because you understand the concept of cuts very well. Every now and then, however, a massive story comes along, and an ambitious director believes he can make one movie out of it by cutting certain things out. Slade, however, along with his editor, Art Jones, chose to make such drastic cuts that I found myself jolted out of the story. For example, Bella talks with her father about going to visit her mother in Florida. Cut to: Now, in a normal film, the cut might be to the airport, or arriving in Florida. No. This film cuts directly to Bella and her mom sipping cool drinks on her mother's porch. This is not the only example, but this is the only example I'll take time relating to you, dear reader. 


You might be wondering why I chose the quote at the beginning of this review. To be honest, I thought it would be a smart and snarky sort-of ironic quotation in regards to this movie, for Eclipse goes for every, single, obvious "kill" you would imagine for this film. Hip soundtrack? Check. Overly dramatic, emotionally-wrought dialogue? Check. Fight scenes with ramped up speeds jammed against slow-mo? Check. An impeccably tousled Robert Pattinson doing his broody best? Check. Shirtless Taylor Lautner? Check, check, check, check, CHECK. My goodness. Even Edward asks Bella, "Doesn't he own a shirt?" It might have been more bearable if I found Lautner attractive, but since I don't, it was mostly humorous torture. Feel free to hate me, Team Jacob.


These "obvious kills" mostly made me roll my eyes, so, trust me, they were tired by the time the movie ended. What did I like? Well, sure, a hip soundtrack is an "obvious kill," but it's still one that I like. The obligatory Muse track made me happy, but again, I'm not thrilled that a growing number of Twilightians (has anyone else coined that term? I call dibs.) are flocking to Muse. When the end credits started rolling and a song by Florence + The Machine came on, I did sort of flip out. Love that band. Love her voice. Liked the movie a little better for including it. Other than the soundtrack, the film got a little better once the fighting started. Great effects when it comes to killing Vampires. Dare I say it? Cooler than Buffy? But only there, and nowhere else. Don't worry. Scooby Gang, forever!


My rating: It met all my expectations, so . . . I was OK with it. 

Review: TiMER

TiMER 

Director: Jac Schaeffer

Cast: Emma Caulfield, John Patrick Amedori, Michelle Borth, and Desmond Harrington

Rated: R, for language

"When will you find the one?"

In the world of TiMER, the "science of love" has been perfected in the form of an implantable device called The Timer. Once an individual reaches high school, he/she can have a Timer implanted. In this world, if your soul mate also has a Timer, your timer will begin a countdown that will "zero out" at 12:00 a.m. on the day you meet your One. The moment you first lock eyes with your One, both of your Timers will sound an alarm. The Timer alerts you to who your One is, but the future is up to you. And the Timer is never, ever wrong. 

Sounds crazy, right? That's what I thought when I saw this movie, but I found myself interested enough to watch it. The movie follows Oona (Caulfield) as she attempts to find her One. Her Timer has yet to start a countdown, which means that her One doesn't have one yet, and she's worried because her 30th birthday is looming ever nearer. She's gone through men in an almost scientific manner: look for a blank wrist, see if there's chemistry, ask him to get a Timer, realize he's not her One, repeat. Helping her through all of this turmoil is her step-sister, Steph (Borth), who has troubles of her own--her Timer won't zero out until she's 43. Steph uses this as an excuse for an endless string of one-night stands, which she says is what she wants, but really, who is she kdding? Steph encourages Oona to loosen up and have some "fun" and Oona tells Steph that she should reevaluate her version of "fun." Both women take the other's advice, and in the process meet men who change them, challenge their thoughts about the Timer itself, and the nature of love and life. 

I found that I enjoyed the convention of The Timer rather than being distracted by it. I thought that a device implanted into a person's wrist might be a little hokey for me, but the commitment of the filmmakers to the premise almost made me wonder why I haven't seen any around me in the real world. The actors portray their roles with heart and dedication, never winking to the camera or making a conceit out of the Timers stuck to their wrists. Though the characters may be rather stereotypical and unimaginative (Oona is an orthodontist who is very type A, methodical, and repressed while Steph is the bartender who has one-night stands and refuses to give herself to anyone on an emotional level), they're still characters that you can like and identify with. Caulfield, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame is the standout of this film. Her performance is funny and moving, yet subdued. It was great to see her in something in which she plays a character that's not a 1000-year-old ex-demon. 

The end of the movie has a twist, which, of course, is to be expected; however, don't expect it to be the twist you expect (and kudos to you if you figured out THAT sentence). The message boards about this movie simply buzz with chatter about the ending. Some people hate it, and some people love it. Me? I liked it. In many movies like this, one might expect that the Timer is right for everyone except our heroine who turns out to be one, unique woman. That doesn't happen here. The Timer is never wrong, so if it zeros out for someone, no matter how strange, young, or inconvenient it may be, that person is your One. Also, the movie doesn't tell you what to think about that. The events at the end happen, and then the movie leaves you to unravel the rest and make your own judgments. I like that. 

The movie features a great soundtrack and some attractive actors. If I hadn't had so much to chew on after the movie I might have felt that I wasted an hour and a half of my time. It wasn't badly made, but it wasn't a stand out feature either. If you are interested in the ideas of soul mates, destiny, and love, you might find a few things to chew on here. The movie's rating is appropriate, so if extensive cursing bothers you, steer clear. 

My Rating: Worth watching for the ideas

Reviews coming soon!

This is proving to be much more challenging than I had anticipated!

Reviews of movies and shows coming soon!