Man of Steel (2013)

Title: Man of Steel (2013)

Director: Zack Snyder

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Antje Traue, Laurence Fishburne

Review:

Without a doubt Man of Steel is the hottest ticket in town; the quintessential ‘movie of the summer’, it’s the “gotta see” of the summer season; so of course I was excited as hell to see it. I had my ticket a whole week before it was released, nothing was gonna stop me from seeing this one! The anticipation was a turn on as they say. The last cinematic incarnation of Superman was Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006). Those of you who saw it know it was disappointing in the sense that we rarely saw Superman doing anything very super; unless you count being a super stalker, a super power. He spent too much of his time brooding over Louis Lane rather than kicking some ass. So naturally, the big question on everyone’s mind is will this new Superman finally kick some ass? The answer to that question is a resounding yes! There’s so much ass kicking on this movie that you won’t know if Superman is saving or destroying Metropolis!

Since this is the first film in a new chapter of Superman films, Man of Steel has to go through the rite of passage of telling, once again, Superman’s origin story which we’d already seen in Superman (1978) and Superman Returns. But don’t worry, the good thing is that Man of Steel does it through a series of flashbacks, we don’t really dwell too much in Superman’s teenage years. Like the story of Jesus in the bible, Clark goes from being a child to being 33 years old in the blink of an eye, which by the way is also Jesus’s age in the bible. Same as Jesus; Kal-El is sent by his father to earth to “save them all”, so the parallels with Jesus Christ are pretty blunt on this one, actually there's more of them: Clark ends up being a fisherman, just like Jesus was a fisherman. Hell, Superman’s father tells him “you’ll be a God to them”, so yeah, there’s tons of biblical references on Man of Steel. Superman is even portrayed as having Catholic beliefs, which for me is one of the weak points in the film because this was never a part of who Superman is, its one of the reason why I lowered the score a bit. But unfortunately, according to this film, Clark is brought up in a Christian family. Clarks earth mother Martha Kent (played by Diane Lane) even wears a crucifix on her neck throughout the movie, so yeah, Superman’s a catholic on this one. Why did the filmmakers choose to go this route with the character?  

The thing about Superman is that he is supposed to represent the best in humanity, our best qualities, our highest morals, so I’m guessing this is why they gave him a Christian background, because Christianity portrays itself as a belief system with high moral values, never mind the pedophilia and the mass murders they’ve committed throughout history, Catholicism is supposed to be wholesome, keywords here being “supposed to be”. So then we have Clark sort of trying to hide the fact that he’s Superman because his earthly father, Jonathan Kent tells him the people of earth simply wouldn’t be able to deal with it, one lady who witnesses Superman’s strength starts saying that he is a God send. So Clark is always walking that dubious line between maintaining his secret, or coming out to the world as a super powered alien being. I enjoyed how they explored that angle of Superman changing people’s perceptions of why we are here. They go a bit into how Superman’s existence finally answers the question “are we alone in the universe?” I wish they’d gone a bit deeper into that, I personally think a whole new religion would pop up that would worship Superman, but they don’t go that far into it. So as you can see, this Superman movie gets quite existential. 

"We going to church today mom?"

Superman has always been portrayed as an American icon. His very suit is made up of two of the colors of the American flag. In the old television shows he was portrayed as a character who stood up for “truth, justice and the American way”. So I guess that’s why there’s so much product placement on this film! I counted Sears, 7-Eleven and IHOP amongst the companies that paid moola for their name to appear on this movie. I personally hate that whole “American Way” aspect of Superman, because really, a guy that powerful would be a citizen of the world, not of the United States. If Superman is that noble, that wholesome, he would see past borders and nationalities, he wouldn’t be “as American as they come”. But that’s the way they want to portray Superman on this film and with this movie they’ve really gone all the way with that whole idea. I mean, right before the movie started, they gave a commercial for the U.S. Army in which they compare the American military to Superman as if saying that American soldiers are real life heroes, never mind that most of them die in the line of battle for their countries egotistical reasons, sometimes for reasons that the soldiers themselves don’t even understand. Never mind that the American military is used to invade and conquer other countries simply because they have lots of oil, never mind all the atrocities they’ve committed, like bombing schools and hospitals, never mind that they are the nation that has killed the most people in one single swoop; they are heroes! So, this is a movie that takes Superman, the most powerful being on earth and puts a ‘Made in America’ stamp on it. The most powerful being on the planet is an American, and he’s working side by side with the U.S. Army! Barf. Personally, I hated that about this movie, but no worries, this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this massive summer movie blockbuster.

And when I say massive, I mean massive! When Supes and General Zod go at each other it is a dangerous affair which puts the citizens of Metropolis in true peril. On this one you won’t get people eating Ice Cream and talking on the phone as Gods are fighting each other destroying the city like in Superman II (1980). Nope, on this one the citizens of Metropolis have to run for their lives or get killed in Zod’s wake! Buildings are toppled, cars fly up in the air and massive amounts of concrete is destroyed when these guys go at each other. The battles are epic and certainly surpass the fight between General Zod and Superman in Superman II; a film which I still enjoy very much. Before this whole superhero revival thing that started with X-Men (2000), Superman II was the best of the superhero movies for me. But of course, it was quickly surpassed by many of the superhero films that are so common today, like say for example The Avengers (2012), which set a new standard for superhero films. And there’s no denying that this new Superman movie is influenced immensely by The Avengers, we get dimensional portals, an alien invasion in a major city and superheroes dueling in the skies; sound familiar? It’s because that’s exactly what The Avengers was all about too. But don’t fret, this isn’t a Xerox copy of The Avengers, yet there’s no denying the influence that film has over this one. I would go on to say that it’s the first official film to be influenced by The Avengers in that it’s trying to reach the same levels of destruction and epic scope.

Yet, the film goes its own way offering us many original elements. For example ‘Krypton ‘, Superman’s home world is a wonder to behold; I loved how they portrayed the different levels of political hierarchy. The technology of the planet mixes the organic with the technological in a really interesting way. The whole deal with Superman’s father, and who he was on his planet, loved that whole bit. We get to see why the suit, why the ‘S’, why the super powers, basically, all the ‘why’s’ about superman are answered. This film simply explains things better. But what we really wanted to see with this new film is Superman kicking ass right? So don’t worry my friends, there’s tons of that! This movie delivers on the spectacle arena, you won’t be disappointed. As a summer blockbuster, this movie functions to perfection, without a hitch. Casting wise the film is perfect, Henry Cavill as Kal-El was perfect casting, he looks the part. There was a moment where I thought I saw Christopher Reeves face, but it could have been my nostalgia goggles messing with me. Amy Adams as Louis was great, she isn’t bitchy or cartoony, she’s just a smart reporter, though I do feel that Louis and Clark’s love on this movie comes out of left field because there’s nothing to really validate it or spark it, it simply happens, it feels like they fall for each other simply because that’s what happens between Louis and Clark, not because they genuinely fell in love. Michael Shannon is great as Zod, but I was expecting a more intense portrayal of the character coming from Shannon, who is used to playing intensely nutty characters. Still, he doesn’t mess things up, it’s just that I thought he’d do something just a little more over the top.

  

Bottom line is this movie didn’t disappoint with its spectacle and massive amounts of destruction, the only reason why the film looses a couple of points for me is for using Superman to spread patriotism (which to me is simply another form of fanatism) and for making him a catholic, which just sucks, Catholicism was never a part of the equation; but the rest of the movie? Freaking awesome! A great summer blockbuster that won’t disappoint in terms of constantly showing you cool stuff. I mean, how cool was it that Superman finally used his heat vision and his super speed? Trust me on this one you’ll see Superman doing stuff you’ve never seen him do on any other movie, like for example, seeking the council of a Catholic priest. After the film finished, the audience stayed behind expecting one of those cliffhanger endings that the Marvel and Fast and the Furious films have popularized so much, but don’t waste your time, you’re not going to get it here. The filmmakers opted not to give us a cliffhanger as if saying: "this is a DC movie not a Marvel movie and don’t you forget it!" I'm positive that this movie will make obscene amounts of money, and I'm sure a sequel is certain, actually, both David Goyer the films writer, and Zack Snyder, the films director are signed to return. The success of Man of Steal will determine if we will ever see a Justice League movie, so if you want to see that movie happen, go on and see Man of Steel. If Man of Steel is any indication, we should be in for something  special, DC style. 

   

Rating: 4 out of 5  

Take Shelter (2011)

Title: Take Shelter (2012)

Director: Jeff Nichols

Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart

Review:

The final frames in the Coen Brother’s A Serious Man (2009) are composed of a young man wearing his headphones, listening to his music as he looks up at the stormy sky, at the unrelenting storm that is undoubtedly on its way. The symbolism attached to these scenes comment on how ugly times are awaiting humanity in the near future. That things are going to get a hell of a lot worse before they get better, and that its something palpable, something we can see coming with our own eyes, just ahead in the near future. Taking in consideration the political, social and economical climate that’s growing in the world, one can’t help but agree with the visual metaphors on A Serious Man. I sometimes feel like humanity is headed towards some kind of cataclysmic socio political event that will affect us all. Take Shelter takes that idea of “the coming storm” and explores it by focusing on the typical middle class American family; the middle class being one of the few things that’s presently under attack by the ever growing economical woes of our world. It seems we are headed towards a world in which you will either be rich or poor. There’s no space for in between. Will all things continue getting bleaker in the world? Is there a light at the end of this dark tunnel? Will the storm ever fade away?

The film focuses on Curtis; your every day common man. He has his job, a house in the country, a loving wife and a beautiful daughter, basically Curtis is living “the good life”. But Curtis is having these nightmares that he takes as premonitions, nightmares about the end of the world. In his dreams, storm clouds form, thunder cracks the skies violently, and everything seems dreadful, sad and ominous; an overall aura of dread is felt in his dreamscapes. Are his dreams going to become a reality? Curtis fears he is going crazy because his mother suffers from schizophrenia, but is he really going crazy? Or are things looking bleaker and bleaker in the world?

So this is the kind of filmmaking I love, the kind that speaks about the world we live in. The kind that speaks for us and materializes feelings that are often times left unspoken. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that over the last decade or so we have seen the world shift violently. Suddenly, everything is three times more expensive, suddenly; it’s not so easy to live your life. Filling up the gas tank on your car used to be a 20 dollar affair, now it’s a 50 dollar one. And let’s not even go into medical bills! A trip to the pharmacy can be a nightmare if you have no medical insurance. I personally know some people who don’t bother going to the doctor even though they have serious physical illness just because they cant afford it! Is this the kind of world we are living in? I remember the day I noticed everything was going to the crapper. I was at the mall and this little girl walked up to me and asked me for some money to eat, her mother just a few feet away with her other two kids, who were probably hungry as well. Yeah the world has gone to hell…true, and Take Shelter is a film that captures that feeling perfectly, subtly. Curtis can’t visit a doctor because it’s too far and too expensive; when he goes to the pharmacy he is surprised at how much he has to pay for pills even though he is insured! I mean, these situations will feel all too familiar to anyone living in our modern world.  

What I loved about the film is how it explores the psyche of the “regular Joe” and how it is affected by the ever growing bleakness of the world. Curtis cant sleep, his performance at work is affected because he has all these worries on his mind. I take the bus to work everyday because I save a lot of money by doing so; I don’t have to worry about gas money or paying huge amounts of money to park my car. On my travels through the city, I see so many things that make me feel the same way Curtis feels on this film. Sad little tell tale signs, sad little details I see in everyday life. These observations accumulate, until finally, a dreadful aura is felt in everyday life. Suddenly you’re afraid, and you don’t know if “everything is going to be all right”.  This feeling of despair is what takes over Curtis’s mind until he feels he is going crazy. But is he? The idea in this film is that maybe he isn’t. Maybe the world is going to hell in a hand basket and we are not even remotely prepared for what is coming! It’s no surprise that a film dealing with this subject matter ends up being so frightening and bleak. The scariest movies are those that show us a future that might very well be. The feeling you get when you watch a film like Take Shelter is the same feeling you get when you watch films like 1984. Take Shelter will make you feel identified with many of the feelings and situations presented in it.

Michael Shannon proves once again that he is one of the finest actors of his generation. His intense performances have attracted some of the best directors in the field. Directors like Werner Herzog who used him in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (2006); a film that also focuses on the American family. Sam Mendez also used him on Revolutionary Road (2008), yet another film that explored family dynamics. On that one he portrayed an extremely anti-social character, which it seems is the kind of character Shannon excels at playing; the kind of character that freaks you out just by looking at you. A look into those eyes let’s you know something terrible is going on behind them!  The family showcased in Take Shelter is a middle class one, a family that lives with just enough money to survive and maybe escape once in a while on vacation, but for this family things are getting so bad that even their planned dream vacation is fading away. Shannon portrays a psychologically vulnerable and fragile man; tittering on the border of insanity. In reality all he cares about is the welfare and safety of his family. His wife, his daughter, these are the two things he truly cares about and the increasingly negative aura of his life is threatening their happiness, what’s the head of a family to do when his families happiness and safety is in peril? This is why I loved this film; at its heart it portrays a man who wants the best for his family. Jessica Chastain plays the supportive wife who is trying to cope as best as she can with her husbands troubled mind. Jessica Chastain continues to amass an impressive resume of films, like Shannon, she's also worked with some of the best directors in the field, most recently she was in Terrence Malicks masterpiece, and one of my favorite films of 2011, The Tree of Life (2011). 

For Curtis, the world outside is so scary that at one point he refuses to face it. There are some powerful symbolisms in this film; of course the impending storm that is perpetually coming in the film is the big symbolism for the growing problems in the world. The film adeptly identifies one of the main problems in the world: GREED. It is no surprise that in the film, the rain drops that fall from the sky look and feel like oil, like gasoline; this feels completely appropriate considering how we live in a society that depends so much on it. Have you ever stopped to think just how much oil is consumed in the United States on a daily basis? Let alone the world? Oil and gasoline have become scarce and the countries that have it are being invaded, hell, whole wars have been started simply because of it. I’m glad this film addresses this matter directly. There is a pivotal moment in which Curtis goes berserk and blows up telling everyone that they have no idea what awaits them, that no one is ready for what’s coming and I have to say that I agree. Like that young dude at the end of A Serious Man, everyone seems distracted by movies, music and video games. Take Shelter asks the following questions: does anyone realize the terrible things going on in the world? Does anyone realize how much worse it could get? Should we ignore the world situation? Make believe everything will improve on its own eventually without us taking charge and doing something about it?

This is a power house film that comes to us from a new voice in filmmaking, director Jeff Nichols and this was his sophomore effort. His first film is one called Shotgun Stories (2007), a film I intend on watching soon, it also starts Michael Shannon so Take Shelter actually marks their second collaboration.  I am looking forward to this directors future films and the themes he will tackle in them. If they are going to be as powerful and as relevant as Take Shelter is, then we’re talking about a very promising director here. Highly recommend this film, it speaks about us; now. Don’t miss it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done? (2010)

Title: My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done (2009)

Director: Werner Herzog

Cast: Michael Shannon, Willem Defoe, Brad Dourif, Chloe Sevigny, Grace Zabriskie, Udo Kier

Review:

“Produced by David Lynch, Directed by Werner Herzog” where the only words I needed to read from the box at the video store. I immediately snatched this movie up, I knew I was up for something weird, bizarre, artistic. After all, these two legendary directors have always specialized in the strange and unusual through out their whole cinematic careers. So I immediately knew I was in for something interesting.

My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done is the story of Brad; a man who is near the brink of completely loosing it. And by loosing it I mean going absolutely bonkers. This guy isn’t ‘loosing it’ in the allegorical sense of the world. Nope, this guy is really going crazy! Brad is the quintessential underachiever; both he and his girlfriend are living with his mother, with no plans of moving out any time soon. His mother is driving him crazy. She’s the kind of mother who still treats her full grown son like a 12 year old. In an attempt to find some meaning to his life, Brad enlists in a drama class. Unfortunately, drama class only fuels his hatred for everything, and gives him ideas on how to go about murdering his own mother. Based on a real life story!

The Man, the myth, the legend, Werner Herzog

“Sometimes truth is stranger then fiction” this is a phrase that can aptly be used to describe the films of director Werner Herzog. Herzog has always been a director who enjoys blurring the lines between reality and fiction in his films. He looks for real life stories that are amazing, and then turns them into a film or a documentary. Or both. This was the case with the story of Dieter Dengler, a man who survived the horrors of war and lived to tell the tale. Herzog found the story so interesting that he made a documentary about it called Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997). Years later, Herzog made the film version of that story called Red Dawn (2006) starring Steve Zahn and Christian Bale. But his documentaries aren’t entirely reality; they always have something of fiction in them in a way. Sometimes he uses visuals in his documentaries to manipulate the audiences’ perceptions of what they are seeing. And the same can be said of his films, sometimes they are based on real life stories, but they don’t stick one hundred percent to the real story that they are based on. This blurring of the lines between reality and fiction continues yet again with My Son, My Son, a film which according to Herzog himself is 70 percent false or loosely made up. So we are not getting the story behind Mark Yavorsky’s dementia 100%. It’s a film loosely based on his life.

Mark Yovorsky is a man who murdered his own mother with a sword, he did time in jail for his crime, and now he is out. The writer of this film Herbert Golder had been interested in developing this story into a feature film for many years, interviewing Yovorsky, gathering information and finally, contacting Herzog himself so he could direct the film. Herzog agreed to make the film and at one point decided to visit Yavorsky’s trailer home, just so he could get a more realistic background for the character. Funny thing is that even though Herzog is known for making films filled with weird characters and situations, he was actually freaked out by the real life Yavorsky! He walked into the guys trailer home, and immediately decided to leave, he said to himself that being there just didn’t feel right. The guy freaked Herzog out, that’s how you know the guy has got to be crazy as hell! I mean, if you freak Herzog out, you know there’s something wrong with ya.

So anyhow, in the film, Mark Yavorsky is played by Michael Shannon who seems to be the current go to guy if you want a nutcase in your movie. Check out his performance in Revolutionary Road (2008) to see what I mean. But his performance on My Son, My Son is his most demented yet. He plays a guy who is really disconnected from society; an outcast. Brad is the kind of guy who hates everything he sees in the world, and therefore is always angry or upset. He goes into sudden bursts of anger and violence. He is preoccupied with the existence of god and with religion. He is definitely portrayed as a character whose mind has been distorted and corroded by Christianity. His questioning of reality, and god and the meaning of it all, has driven him to insanity. Shannon does a memorable performance, makes one think of those demented performances that Klaus Kinski used to do for Herzog. One has to wonder how Klaus Kinski would have played this role had he been alive and in his prime.

The definition of a disfunctional family

But Michael Shannon is no stranger to Herzog’s brand of bizarre cinema; he had worked previously with Herzog on Bad Lieutent: Port of Call New Orleans (2009). He isn’t the only Herzog regular on My Son, My Son. This film is filled with many Herzog and Lynch regulars. We have Brad Dourif (who has collaborated with Herzog on three occasions) playing Brads demented homophobic uncle. Dourif’s character lets us see just why Brad is so crazy, I mean with family members like these, who wouldn’t go nuts? The same can be said for Grace Zabriskie who plays Brad’s mom. She freaked me out in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990) and Inland Empire (2006) her effect on this movie is pretty much the same. She still freaks me the hell out! The film is filled with a who’s who of eccentric character actors. Lot’s of odd looking faces. Both Lynch and Herzog enjoy using actors with odd features, which is why we get so many of them on this film. They united forces and gathered strange looking individuals from both of their usual gang of actors. As a result we get Willem Defoe (who’d collaborated with Lynch on Wild at Heart) and Chloe Sevigny, who is no stranger to bizarre cinema. Don’t believe me check her out in Gummo (1997). It’s no surprise she is known as the “queen of independent cinema”. We even have Udo Kier on this movie!

I have always liked Herzog’s attitude towards filmmaking. He doesn’t seem to believe in huge budgets and big stars. Actually, part of Lynch’s and Herzog’s attitude with this project was to make a “return to essential filmmaking”. Filmmaking that focuses on story, performances, and on saying something. Not on how big a budget is, or what big Hollywood star is in it. Both directors aimed to work with a low budget while still producing a high quality film. And I have to say they achieved it. Herzog has never been a director one would associate with horror films, I mean, the closest he ever got to that was when he made his Nosferatu (1979) remake. But with My son, My son, Herzog has made what he calls himself “a horror film without the gore, the chainsaws or the gore” and here comes the good part: “but with a strange anonymous fear creeping up on you” Amen to that Herzog! Amen to that!

Rating: 4 out of 5