Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The English Teacher movie review

Cast: Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear, Michael Angarano, Lily Collins, Nathan Lane
Director: Craig Zisk
Running time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
  The English Teacher is the story of an English teacher, her old student and his play. Linda (Julianne Moore) is a high school English teacher that lives a pretty ordinary life until she runs into her old student Jason (Michael Angarano) and gets a look at his play. Now she is determined to get "The Chrysalis" produced along with the help of Jason and Carl (Nathan Lane),the drama teacher. But things don't go as expected. What will happen to the play? And what will happen to Linda Sinclair?
   I like Julianne Moore and she was one of the reasons (the other one was Gregg Kinnear) that i started watching this movie. And unfortunately i can't say I'm glad.
  But first thing's first. There were some positive things about "The English Teacher" that are worth mentioning. A big part of the movie was Kinnear's , Dr. Sherwood's, relationship with his son Angarano, or Jason as was the character's name. Their relationship is obviously damaged but what was very interesting and what i really appreciated was that it wasn't all blamed on the father or all on the son as we see in many films these days.They both made mistakes and they were both to blame and that was depicted nicely in the movie. It was an element that made "The English Teacher" more realistic and relatable, in my opinion.
  I, also, really enjoyed Nathan Lane's character, Carl. Carl is the drama teacher that tells stories about how he met famous theater directors and producers and how they all saw a rare talent in him. I saw Carl as a very common and everyday kind of person in the way he tried to cover up his own insecurities and fears by trying to impress others with made up over-the-top stories. I feel that Carl as a character is someone very flawed and very human that exists in all of us. More in some and less in others. One incident in the movie that stands out about Lane's role is when he confessed to lying about how he met some famous theater guy (i can't remember who) but still by the opening night he was back to his old tricks.
  Now regarding the weaknesses of the movie and the main characters. My main problem was that non of the characters are developed, have any real backstories or have personalities to be honest.
  Linda is portrayed as a simple, passionate woman who is stuck in a boring life but that's all we get. In order to understand her and understand her decisions (like why she slept with a former student) we need to know a little more about her life previous to the "incident", meaning the random one night stand, or more about her family and the people that contributed to who she is at this point or her interests, we know she likes literature but the movie doesn't even get deeper into that, or anything really. She is just blank and dull and the audience has no connection to her whatsoever. In fact the way this character is depicted in the film seems pretty unlikely. Why now?? Why this student?? Hasn't she met anyone talented before??What is so special about Jason??
  Which brings me to my second point. Jason. Jason is obviously disturbed in some way so that he makes up such elaborate lies about his relationships with his father,his mother and anything else he lied about. What was his childhood really like and what really happened with him and his father?? and where is his mom?? Why he lied about her being dead?? and so many more questions i could ask but i won't because i don't to bore you. 
  The same goes for all the characters in "The English Teacher". No one has any substance, character development or backstory. But it doesn't just stop there. The infamous play is a very mysterious thing in the movie considering it's such a main thing.But that doesn't get developed either. What i've gathered from watching the movie is that there is a daughter, her mother is dead, she has an Irish stepmother, she has a father and at some point she is transformed  into some kind of insect (?). The whole thing of "The English Teacher" is that there is a play that is so wonderful, so sad and so perfect that it needs to be produced but we don't know anything about it (except the bug thing). We are supposed to have such strong feelings regarding the play, like the movie characters, that we become filled with excitement, anxiety and worry about what will happen. But we're not. We don't care at all about what will happen with the play. Or at least i didn't.
  And that's not the only problem about the play. How can it be so perfect and how can Linda and Carl love it so much but still change its ending?? How can they fight so hard to keep it intact but end up changing the most important thing about it and it still staying great?? I'm sorry but i don't buy it and it pisses me off a little bit because it's so unrealistic. You don't get a masterpiece from changing the ending of a play in order to make it safe to be a high school production. It doesn't work like that.
  And finally, i found the whole love story between Moore and Kinnear unnecessary. It feels forced not  because of the acting but because of its nature. And what i mean is that it is only incorporated to the story to keep the audience interested. Not every story has to have a love story and a happy ending. Most great stories don't. 
   In conclusion,"The English Teacher" has a nice concept and some funny bits and situations but it would be a million times better if it was an indie drama about a teacher, her old student and his play.
Score: 28%

m.
Courtesy
Cinedigm Entertainment
Tribeca Film

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie review

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Francis Lawrence
Running time: 2 hour and 26 minutes
  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the second installment of The Hunger Games movies. Katniss and Peeta are back after winning the 74th annual Hunger Games and about to leave for their victory tour. During the tour both, Katniss and Peeta, realize that a revolution is starting and Katniss is in the center of it all. But there are more in store for them. After they come back from the tour it is announced that in this year's annual Hunger Games the tributes will be selected from the existing pool of victors. So, once again, they are off to try and win in this deadly game.And this year President Snow has made sure there can only be one winner. 
  I LOVE this movie. I really loved the first one but it doesn't even compare to this one. First of all we get to learn more about the characters,especially Peeta and Gale,from whom we saw almost nothing in the first film.
  Here we see a stronger,more determined but still funny, charming and kind Peeta. There was more personality to him while in the first one i felt he was just a clueless victim. He understands now that everything about the love affair between him and Katniss were for the cameras and he accepts it but he still tries to establish at least a friendship with her. He is now a protagonist of the movie along with Katniss while in the first hunger games that wasn't the case. 
  We, also, get to know a little bit about Gale and get to see his relationship with Katniss. We see that he cares for her and that she cares for him too but we experience him beyond that. We learn more about his thoughts on the Capitol and the revolution, which he mentioned in the first movie but only briefly, and see him taking action against the authorities in order to save others.
  Katniss is tough, caring and a survivor. We got to know quite a bit of her in the first movie but here she shows how much she cares about people and we understand why everyone sees a leader in her since she is caring but has, also, the strength to fight for those who can't. 
  One thing i really enjoyed was how clear it is that Katniss has feelings for Peeta. In the first Hunger Games movie you get the impression that she starts to feel something for him but it is obvious that for the most part she is lying in order to survive. In the second Hunger Games movie there is a bond that forms between them during their time together that is very strong due to fact that they experienced a lot with each other while trying to survive their first time in the games but, also, because they know that they will have to go through that again and this time only one of them will survive.
  Moreover, i really liked watching Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. We got a lot more of him this time around and i really enjoyed it. I am very happy that we will see even more from him in the third movie in a different way because of the information we got from the second movie. The same goes for Effie (Elizabeth Banks) i had fun watching her and she showed us a more sensitive side to her and i can't wait to see how she will be incorporated in the third Hunger Games movie.
  And finally, one of the biggest things that bothered me (i really hate it) was the fact that have the movie was shot in a very-shaky-camera way. But thankfully that was not the case for the second movie. The camera work was pretty steady for the most part and that allowed the audience to really focus on what was happening rather than getting distracted every five minutes.
  There were a couple of things that i didn't like about The Hunger Games. The first one was that even though Peeta was portrayed as a kind but strong person in general during the games he was shown as a very weak competitor. I feel that he would be a stronger contender based on the first movie. In the original Hunger Games we saw that he was very good at lifting heavy weights and camouflaging himself in order to blend into the background but in Catching Fire he doesn't take advantage of his strengths at all.
  Furthermore, SPOILER ALERT!! the big reveal at the end was that Finnick and Johanna and some other tributes where part of a group hoping to start a revolution and they were trying to save Katniss so that she would be the leader. And that would be a great surprise and ending if it wasn't for some unnecessary comments made by Johanna, mostly, that made it obvious what was the plan. I saw the twist coming and it took all the fun out of the ending. I wish it was more unexpected.
  In conclusion, i love The Hunger Games trilogy and this is my favourite so far. Worth more than just one watch. And to give a hint on how much a liked it i will say it was 2 and a half hours and i didn't want it to end.
Score: 95%
And remember, the odds are never in our favor.

m.
Courtesy
Lionsgate