Saturday, January 31, 2015

Movie Review: Project Almanac


Dean Israelite brings us his feature debut with Project Almanac.

David (Jonny Weston, John Dies at the End) is a senior, and super-smart inventor, who just got admitted to MIT.  He can't afford the tuition, so he and his friends start looking for something he can use to secure another scholarship.  While digging through his father's things, who died when he was a kid, he stumbles across plans for a time machine that his dad was developing for the military.  He, along with his two nerdy best friends and his sister, begin working to finish the project.  Of course there needs to be a love interest, so the only way he can give the machine enough power is with a battery from a hybrid car.  His long-time crush just happens to have one, and is going to a party in his neighborhood.  So, she gets drawn into the group as well.  They complete the time machine and start going back to redo little things from their past to make things better.  They make a pact to always travel together, but you know that's not going to happen.  Things eventually go awry and they all learn a little lesson about life.

I have to put this out there right away.  Please stop with the found footage!  This movie actually works on some levels.  Is it great?  No.  Are there other flaws?  Yes.  But, I have to say, the biggest detriment is the found footage.  This is even one of the few films that finds a legitimate reasoning behind it.  It's still a stretch, but it works okay.  The problem is that it would have worked a lot better as a straight narrative film.  Found footage was more of just a gimmick.  Why use it?  You already have the gimmick of time travel.  Time travel sells, focus on that.  The biggest problem with found footage, with this film included, is that there is always inconsistencies with static shots magically changing focus and zoom, and also times when someone is filming something that no human would ever film.  Just stop it already.

Now, off my soap box and on to other matters at hand.  The main catch of the movie, the time travel.  The mechanics are jumbled at best.  They try to explain it some, but none of it makes sense.  They build the thing out of an old X-Box 360 and control it with a cell phone.  The main point is that through some gobble-de-gook explanation, we are informed that they can only go back several weeks because there is not enough power to send them back any further.  I'm not sure if it makes sense, but it helps focus the story.  The good news is that none of that matters, because the real strength of the film lies not in how they get time travel to work, but what they do with it.  Instead of taking the drastic route, the characters in this film actually do what you would expect high school kids to do with something like this.  Quinn (Sam Lerner, Monster House) goes back to pass a chem test, Adam (Allen Evangelista, Mozart and the Whale) goes to win the lottery, Christina (Virginia Gardner) goes back to confront some bullies.  Then, of course, the whole group goes back to enjoy Lollapalooza.  David eventually realizes that Jessie (Sofia Black-D'elia, The Immigrant), whom he has a crush on, also actually likes him.  This is of course is what leads things to go awry.

I love time travel movies and shows and will watch any and all of them.  Only thing is, that no matter how well someone pulls it off, if you think too hard about it, there are holes and it's a headache at best.  With this film, not only did the director have the kids do what you would expect them to do, he also handled the rest of the headaches of time travel competently as well.  Characters meeting themselves, the ripple effect, memory issues on the return trip to the present.  All are dealt with quite well, I felt.

I didn't think there were any standout performances by anybody, but the acting was fine as well.  There is not much of anything to comment about on that.  The story is pretty simple and straightforward with nothing to really grab you.  With that being the case, it ends kind of flat.  Not bad, just not great either.  Overall, Project Almanac is not anything you need to run out to see.  The found footage really is distracting, but if you like the idea of time travel and what ideas people bring to the table, then Dean Israelite might have something here that will at least pique your interest.

Rating: *****----- (5 out of 10) [Netflix it]

Memorable Quote:
Christina: I'd go back to the original premiere of Star Wars.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Movie Review: Blackhat


Michael Mann (Heat) hacks his way into theaters with Blackhat.

A nuclear plant in China is hacked into, resulting in the explosion of the plant by overheating the pumps.  Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang, Lust, Caution), a member of China's cyber warfare division, is given the task of tracking down the hacker.  Meanwhile, in the states, a trade exchange is also hacked into.  It seems that the same virus was used in both cases.  Dawai, along with his sister Lien (Wei Tang, Lust, Caution), work together with the FBI.  It comes out that Chen had written the original code for the virus, along with his old college roommate.  Enter super-hacker, extraoridnaire, Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth, The Cabin in the Woods).  He's been in prison for computer crimes, but Dawai insists that he be released to help them catch the hacker.  What follows is an hour and a half of computer typing and code.  Then we get 20 minutes of action to spice it up, which is too little, too late.

I went into this movie wanting to like it.  I really did.  I feel that Mann has more hits than misses.  This just happens to be one of his biggest misses.  Ultimately, what killed this movie for me, is what usually draws me to most of his work.  The guy brings a level of authenticity to his films.  You want to know what authenticity in hacking is?  It's boring.  Forget all those movies where people can hack into anything with the touch of a button on a cell phone.  Real hackers send a .pdf file with a virus attached and wait for someone to open it up.  It's not real exciting.  That seems to be exactly what you get for the majority of this film.

It's almost as if Mann realized this exact problem with about a third to a fourth of the movie left.  He thought, wait a minute, I've got Chris Hemsworth.  There should be more action.  So, it turns out that Hathaway is not just a super-hacker, he can also kick all sorts of ass.  The problem with this, is that he ends up going on FBI raids.  He's a criminal being used for his computer skills.  Why is he now fighting alongside the FBI in shootouts, even if he is very capable?  I will admit, some of the kills towards the end are quite brutal.  Still, too little, too late.

So, what is it that you need if your "thriller" is nearly void of any action?  How about a good script, with some engaging dialogue?  That's another thing you will sadly not find in this film.  I can't really recall any dialogue in this film that held my attention.  Lien may have had some good lines, but I wouldn't have noticed because her English was so broken that for most of the film I could barely understand a word she said.

That brings us to the actors themselves.  I thought they were all kind of wasted here.  I genuinely like Hemsworth, but he wasn't given much to do with this role.  Viola Davis was also a big wasted opportunity as the FBI agent they worked alongside.  I think she is an excellent actress, but again, was given nothing to do.  All the other roles seemed to be just as forgettable.  The hacker himself did not even get any face time until the end.  It's unclear what the motivation was for filming him with his face hidden throughout the movie.  There is no impact whatsoever when it is revealed who he is.

One thing that did work in this movie was the cinematography.  Like most Mann films, the way he sets up his shots, it feels as if you are right there with the characters.  There's a grittiness and a realness to you that just kind of draws you in.  This, again, isn't enough to save the movie though.

With the real life threat of hackers going on today, such as the big Sony hack, this film could have had some real relevance.  Instead it just kind of falls flat.  The cinematography is good and the action picks up towards the end.  I even appreciate that it gives us a realistic view of hacking. It's just not enough.  Also, if you want to know what blackhat actually means, pay close attention.  It's thrown into the dialogue almost as if it was an afterthought.

Rating: ***------- (3 out of 10) [don't go out of your way]

Memorable Quote:
Hathaway: I'm doing time.  Time isn't doing me.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Movie Review: The Babadook


If you want a good film, then take a look....at Jennifer Kent's directorial debut, The Babadook.

Amelia (Essie Davis, The Matrix Reloaded) is a single mother raising a troubled 6 year-old, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), who has behavioral problems.  Amelia's husband died on the way to the hospital for Samuel's birth and she seems to never have properly dealt with the grief of this.  Meanwhile, her son truly believes in monsters under the bed and arms himself against them, while also lashing out against anyone who doesn't believe him.  These behavioral problems eventually get him expelled from school.  One night, Samuel finds a book about Mister Babadook on his shelf and has his mother read it to him before bed.  Samuel becomes convinced that the Babadook is real and his behavior worsens.  Amelia slowly starts succumbing to the stress of raising her child alone, dealing with the unresolved feelings about losing her husband, and every bad thing that goes along with those things.  Her descent escalates as she begins to believe in the Babadook as well, and supernatural occurrences begin to plague her and her son.

 First things first, this is an excellent film.  If you are looking for a traditional supernatural horror film, then this still can work for you, but I must warn that it will seem a bit of a slow burn though.  When it comes to the Babadook itself, Kent uses the less-is-more approach, and it works.  You get little to no jump scares, but the imagery planted throughout the backgrounds and in the shadows will haunt you.  Kent doesn't completely deprive you though, and she does deliver a few full on looks at the creepy Mister Babadook.

Where this movie thrives, however, is as a psychological thriller/horror.  It is a character piece about a single mother's slow descent into madness.  Samuel is played annoyingly perfect by Wiseman.  He is one of those kids that just doesn't stop and can just grate on your nerves.  The fact that he annoyed me for the first half of the film just made it work that much more for me.  Every parent has had those days where lack of sleep and a constantly misbehaving child just makes them want to scream.  This gives you a weird sense of sympathy for the character of Amelia even though she is diving straight into the deep end of insanity.  Her struggle throughout the film is the most terrifying thing about it.  You just don't know how far she is going to go, and that is where the tension lies.  The Babadook just becomes the catalyst.  That being said, this whole film rests on the shoulders of  Davis, and she gives an Oscar worthy performance.

The sound and visual design also both really work well.  You don't get much of a score for the first 30 minutes of the film.  A lot of what you get is quick cuts and sharp, jarring sounds.  As the Babadook slowly makes himself known, the score slowly rises until you finally get the sharp crescendos in the thick of the action.  The colors and tones in the house also fit the tone of the film.  The house is shot in bleak, drab tones to match Amelia's setting depression and hopelessness.

Essie Davis really does carry this film, and Wiseman does a good job of it as well.  As for the rest of the cast, I have know real complaints.  They all did a fine job with what they had to work with.  I think side characters was where this film lacked just a little.  Most of them didn't end up amounting to anything other than a plot device.  Some were barely even that.  The one place where this film actually fell slightly short for me was the ending.  I felt Kent didn't stick the landing.  Without giving away any spoilers or plot points, I felt she just didn't know where to take it and just kind of ended it.  Don't let this deter you though.  It didn't fail, or even lower my feelings for the rest of the film.  I just didn't stick for me is all.

I can probably safely call The Babadook my favorite horror of the year.  I would recommend it to any die hard horror fans.  The practical effects are fantastic, and a nice change of pace from all the CGI out there.

Rating: *********- (9 out of 10) [Full price!]

Memorable Quote:
Samuel: I'm really tired because of the drugs mommy gave me.