Patrick Stettner's The Night Listener (thriller, drama)
7.5 / 10
I struggled for a while trying to decide on a score for this movie, and I'm still not entirely sure if I've hit the mark. The Night Listener was definitely a good movie, but something about it made me feel it wasn't a great movie. Maybe I'll understand more as I go.
Yes, I talk about the plot, but I don't give anything away. Scout's honour.
Cast-wise, I don't think better actors could have been picked for these roles. Robin Williams, in one of his many "I swear I'm not just funny" films, plays Gabe Noone, a late-night radio show host. He tells stories about his life, often stretching the truth, and comes across a patch of writer's block. He is given a copy of a book written by a young boy named Pete, telling about the child's traumatic experiences at the hands of sexually abusive parents and friends. Pete is played by Rory Culkin -- yes, the younger brother of Macauley Culkin -- and does a damn fine job for a teenage actor. You may have seen the young lad in MNS's Signs.
Gabe starts talking to Pete on the phone after discovering that Pete has AIDS. Pete is his "biggest fan", and they develop a telephone friendship between Pete's visits to the hospital. Toni Collette plays Donna, Pete's adoptive mother. She plays Donna incredibly well, evoking the correct emotions from the audience at every point in the movie. Eventually, questions begin arising concerning Pete, as the book agent who provided Pete's story never actually met him, or his mother. Gabe's partner, Jess (played by the ever-charismatic Bobby Cannavale), begins doubting Donna and Pete's sincerity after the mother and son conveniently avoid meeting Gabe in person on a handful of occasions. Drama ensues.
Spoilery: One aspect of the movie that I particularly enjoyed involved the over-the-phone scenes with Pete and Donna. Because Gabe has no idea of what Donna looks like, she is portrayed as, presumably, what Gabe wants her to be. However, later in the movie, Gabe is confronted with the "real" Donna, and she isn't quite what he expected. Done spoiling.
The Night Listener title relates to the cinemetography, as well as the plot. Very many scenes took place at night, or in dark places, giving the movie a bit of a creepier feel than it would have in a bright, cheery, sun-filled environment. Plus, most of the daytime that the audience gets to see is cloudy and gray. Spooky! Or something.
For some reason, most reviews I've read of this movie focus on the fact that Robin Williams and Bobby Cannavale play -- gasp -- gay men. OH NOES. Okay, so maybe I'm more liberal than most reviewers, but I thought that it added depth to Gabe's relationship with Pete, since Bobby's character Jess was diagnosed with AIDS as well. We're told through dialogue that Gabe is the type to want to protect others, and that he did so with Jess; it's a nice touch to see him try to protect Pete. If there was any homosexual interaction between Gabe and Pete, I could understand reviewers pulling out their 'Marriage Is Sacred' signs and hopping around with their Bibles. But nope, it's platonic, and cute in a father-son way. Nice try, extremists.
Watch it. I have a copy, and you can borrow it. Seriously. It isn't scary, but it is creepy, and I like it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Happening
Told you I'd get it reviewed! But first, I have to come up with a system for grading said reviews. I was going to make something fancy involving marking schemes and rubrics, but I think I'll just give a movie a number and help you explain how I got there.
M. Night Shymalan's The Happening (thriller, horror, drama)
8.5 / 10
This movie got, and continues to get, a lot of flack from online movie reviews and the public in general. And I could not care less. I have been a fan of MNS's movies since I watched another of his unappreciated movies, The Village, at the drive-in. What the hell is wrong with The Happening?
Some reviews poo-poo the acting. Frankly, I think Mark Wahlberg did a half-decent job, considering that I have never seen him in a role that allowed me to take him seriously. I mean, come on! He's Marky Mark! Honestly, though, I thought he played the character well. I liked the character, and that's usually a good sign. John Leguizamo is an actor that reviewers loved to hate on, and again, I think he did alright. Maybe I'm a bit biased, since the first of his movies that I watched was Romeo + Juliet, and he was a total babe then. The man's been in every damn movie since the dawn of time, and he earns more money than you, so hush. Finally, there's almost nothing to say about Zooey Deschannel. She's always cute, but lacking in depth.
Story-wise, shut the hell up. I thought the plot was solid, and it sure had me interested from the beginning. I mean, when the action starts not even ten minutes in, you're never sure what you've gotten yourself in to. In this case, I got myself in to a movie that made a lot of sense, surprisingly enough.
Now, I'm going to talk a bit about the plot. If you know the basics of the movie, I won't be giving away any crucial information. However, I do reveal the cause of "the event" and if you would rather not know, skip the next paragraph.
Spoilers: The premise is simple: we pissed off Mother Nature. Our main character gives us enough knowledge to surmise the general plot when he mentions a nifty ability of the tobacco plant. Turns out, if the plant is being "attacked" by a certain species of catterpillar, the plant will release a chemical in to the air that tells nearby wasps where to find a nice, juicy catterpillar. It's a survival mechanism, and that's exactly what happens in The Happening. Plants all over north-eastern states in America decide that humans are big, planet-hogging jerks. Except, instead of plants signalling wasps to come munch us up, they release a neuro-toxin that effectively shuts off the human survival mechanism, and indeed seems as though it pushes it to the extreme opposite. Cue mass suicides. I guess MNS really wants us to cut back on the carbon emissions, or something. Done spoiling.
This is the first of MNS's movies to boast an MPAA rating of 'R', and deservedly so. If you can't handle gore, you won't want to watch this movie. In fact, you'll probably shut it off after the first ten minutes that I talked about earlier. As for the scariness factor, it gave me the willies, and I think I jumped once or twice. It wasn't anything that'll make you poop your pants, if you're old enough to be watching the movie in the first place.
Closing thoughts? If you don't like MNS, don't watch his friggin' movies. It's that simple. Didn't like The Village or Unbreakable? Don't bother with this one. You won't like it either. I found that a lot of his films were marketed poorly before theatrical release, such that they appeared to be of a completely different genre than they really were. This one was pretty spot on. If you're ambivalent to or a fan of M. Night Shymalan's films, you might get a kick out of The Happening. As always, with MNS, go in with an open mind, and you'll come out with a brain full of delightful MNS oddities.
M. Night Shymalan's The Happening (thriller, horror, drama)
8.5 / 10
This movie got, and continues to get, a lot of flack from online movie reviews and the public in general. And I could not care less. I have been a fan of MNS's movies since I watched another of his unappreciated movies, The Village, at the drive-in. What the hell is wrong with The Happening?
Some reviews poo-poo the acting. Frankly, I think Mark Wahlberg did a half-decent job, considering that I have never seen him in a role that allowed me to take him seriously. I mean, come on! He's Marky Mark! Honestly, though, I thought he played the character well. I liked the character, and that's usually a good sign. John Leguizamo is an actor that reviewers loved to hate on, and again, I think he did alright. Maybe I'm a bit biased, since the first of his movies that I watched was Romeo + Juliet, and he was a total babe then. The man's been in every damn movie since the dawn of time, and he earns more money than you, so hush. Finally, there's almost nothing to say about Zooey Deschannel. She's always cute, but lacking in depth.
Story-wise, shut the hell up. I thought the plot was solid, and it sure had me interested from the beginning. I mean, when the action starts not even ten minutes in, you're never sure what you've gotten yourself in to. In this case, I got myself in to a movie that made a lot of sense, surprisingly enough.
Now, I'm going to talk a bit about the plot. If you know the basics of the movie, I won't be giving away any crucial information. However, I do reveal the cause of "the event" and if you would rather not know, skip the next paragraph.
Spoilers: The premise is simple: we pissed off Mother Nature. Our main character gives us enough knowledge to surmise the general plot when he mentions a nifty ability of the tobacco plant. Turns out, if the plant is being "attacked" by a certain species of catterpillar, the plant will release a chemical in to the air that tells nearby wasps where to find a nice, juicy catterpillar. It's a survival mechanism, and that's exactly what happens in The Happening. Plants all over north-eastern states in America decide that humans are big, planet-hogging jerks. Except, instead of plants signalling wasps to come munch us up, they release a neuro-toxin that effectively shuts off the human survival mechanism, and indeed seems as though it pushes it to the extreme opposite. Cue mass suicides. I guess MNS really wants us to cut back on the carbon emissions, or something. Done spoiling.
This is the first of MNS's movies to boast an MPAA rating of 'R', and deservedly so. If you can't handle gore, you won't want to watch this movie. In fact, you'll probably shut it off after the first ten minutes that I talked about earlier. As for the scariness factor, it gave me the willies, and I think I jumped once or twice. It wasn't anything that'll make you poop your pants, if you're old enough to be watching the movie in the first place.
Closing thoughts? If you don't like MNS, don't watch his friggin' movies. It's that simple. Didn't like The Village or Unbreakable? Don't bother with this one. You won't like it either. I found that a lot of his films were marketed poorly before theatrical release, such that they appeared to be of a completely different genre than they really were. This one was pretty spot on. If you're ambivalent to or a fan of M. Night Shymalan's films, you might get a kick out of The Happening. As always, with MNS, go in with an open mind, and you'll come out with a brain full of delightful MNS oddities.
In the beginning...
Well, this sure is a blog. I've been dying to get some writing done in my spare time. I'll see just how long I can maintain this little space. I intend to post movie reviews, as original as it sounds. However, instead of getting a generic review from the standpoint of someone whose demographic the film never intended to target -- sorry, Roger and Ebert -- you'll get a rambling, opinionated review from yours truly, Alana, a nineteen-year-old girl/woman. Call me whatever you feel like calling me, but I am the demographic.
And it gets better: I don't just watch chick flicks and college-style humour. Oh, no. I watch horror movies, "guy movies", science fiction movies, fantasy movies, based-on-reality movies, blood and guts movies, war movies, bad movies, good movies, and pretty much everything except for westerns. Yeah, I know. I'm being judgemental. But I really can't get into the cowboy mindset unless it also features time travel and/or giant, carnivorous worms. Kudos if you know which films I'm talking about.
My only other weakness as a film critic rears its ugly head when I'm asked to talk about anything made before 1989: I didn't exist. It's taken me a while to work my way back to older movies while still attempting to keep tabs on new releases. Any and all readers will get to read a review of Gone With the Wind from someone who has genuinely never watched it. Honestly, I don't even know what it's about.
With any luck, I'll be posting my very first review later today, after I've, you know, slept. I'll be covering M. Night Shymalan's The Happening. Why? Because I feel like it. And because it's the last movie I watched.
Cordially,
Alana
And it gets better: I don't just watch chick flicks and college-style humour. Oh, no. I watch horror movies, "guy movies", science fiction movies, fantasy movies, based-on-reality movies, blood and guts movies, war movies, bad movies, good movies, and pretty much everything except for westerns. Yeah, I know. I'm being judgemental. But I really can't get into the cowboy mindset unless it also features time travel and/or giant, carnivorous worms. Kudos if you know which films I'm talking about.
My only other weakness as a film critic rears its ugly head when I'm asked to talk about anything made before 1989: I didn't exist. It's taken me a while to work my way back to older movies while still attempting to keep tabs on new releases. Any and all readers will get to read a review of Gone With the Wind from someone who has genuinely never watched it. Honestly, I don't even know what it's about.
With any luck, I'll be posting my very first review later today, after I've, you know, slept. I'll be covering M. Night Shymalan's The Happening. Why? Because I feel like it. And because it's the last movie I watched.
Cordially,
Alana
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