Tag Archive for 'Michael Peña'

Lions for Lambs

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in College, Drama, Government, Middle East, Politics, Thriller and War
. 0 Comments

Liz and I watched Lions for Lambs immediately after American Gangster and even though I liked it, this one wasn’t quite as awesome. In a way it kind of came of as political propaganda and wasn’t always sure what they were trying to make me believe. It also reminded me of Rules of Engagement in the sense that a side-story is two stranded marines but the movie is really people talking about that situation.

Directed by Robert Redford and written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom), you could definitely see similarities in style and theme from some of their previous work. Redford, who also acted in this, plays a college professor trying to inspire one of his slacker-students to greatness in California. At the same time Meryl Streep is interviewing Tom Cruise, an up-and-coming senator aspiring to the presidency, about a new military plan of action in Afghanistan. Thirdly, we are watching this new plan unfold as two marines, played by Michael Peña and Andrew Garfield, are pinned down by enemy gunfire and just happen to be former students of Professor Malley, Redford’s character. So as you can see, this is one of those movies where everything is connected in some way. One thing that was cool about this is everything is happening simultaneously around the world, which is reflected by the time differences between the different situations.

Liz pointed out that Tom Cruise, Sen. Jasper Irving, was really just a cleaned up Frank T.J. Mackey from Magnolia. He used the same tactics and cunning to bend his listener’s will toward wherever he wanted. He was very manipulative and never really said what he meant; all the while trying to control things around him like the Wizard of Oz.

Streep’s character, Janine Roth, represents the media. She sees through the senator’s manipulation, but her editor won’t allow her to write what she really wants because they have to worry about ratings. This is definitely trying to make a point about the media today with how they’ve covered the “wars on terror.” I also liked to see Streep acting again compared with her last performance I saw, The Devil Wears Prada, where she wasn’t really doing much at all. I realize she won awards for it, but I felt like the other nominees were much more deserving.

Redford’s professor seemed just a little bit too forceful to me. It was almost as if he was manipulating his student, but I’m not sure exactly to what. Trying to make him care more about his studies is definitely a positive. However, beyond that I’m not sure what the end goal was.

Overall, I’d say this movie is definitely worth seeing before Oscar time rolls around. It might even get nominated for something.

Babel

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2007
in Drama, Multiple story line and Thriller
. 0 Comments

I’m going to start off by saying I thought this movie was mediocre. I think there were some great performances, but overall, it wasn’t tied together well.

First off, this was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. He’s done some great stuff like 21 Grams and Amores Perros. I respect the guy. He does good work. Actors include Gael García Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Kôji Yakusho, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. These are all great actors.

The story - now here’s where I have the problems. My first impression, from the previews and the “buzz”, was that this was similar to Crash. Maybe I didn’t give this a fair shake, but let me know what you think. The film Crash was about a bunch of different people with different lives, of different races and of different socio-economic classes. All of them resided in the LA area and all of them were connected through one circumstance or another. All of them were important to the story and you got a peak into each one of their lives. The film Babel is centered around an American family and a few other people that are somewhat connected to them and/or the story. During and after the movie was over, I was left with a feeling of, “why did I need to care so much about them?” This wasn’t quite as extreme as in The Fountain when you never found out why it was so important Hugh Jackman’s wife lived, but there was nevertheless something lacking. You find out only a little bit about the American family through snippets of conversation but that’s it. The film is mainly based on the circumstances of what is happening. The circumstances were very important and quite dire, but at the same time I feel there is value to making the audience feel connected to the characters.

The story of the girl and her father in Japan felt very much like a “dangling shad” of a Florida election ballot to me in reference to the plot. The father is connected because of a weapon, but that’s it. His family is also messed up due to the death of his wife but if that whole part of the movie was cut, I don’t think the story would have changed much at all. Their story might have been fulfilling some stylistic element or something, but I think it could have been cut or beefed up in some way. If it had been cut though, I feel like the movie would have been even more lacking because then the story/plot isn’t very unique at all. I felt like there needed to be either something else connecting the Japanese family to the American family or another character and/or circumstance to add to the Japanese part.

As I said before, performances were great, but that doesn’t make the movie great. I think films like Monster and Ray are other examples of that. You may totally disagree with me here, and if you do give me a comment. I’d love to discuss this film with you. I think this this movie had a lot of potential, but it just fell short in my eyes.

The United States of Leland

Published
by
Chalupa
on June 6, 2005
in Crime, Drama, Dysfunctional, Family and Independent
. 0 Comments

Bendog and I watched this the other night and I thought it was awesome. I remember watching previews over in Delta with my venerable roomate - Ben - and we both thought it looked pretty good. This one stars Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Kevin Spacy, Jena Malone and Chris Klein. The story line goes something like some kid stabs and kills a retarded kid. Nobody knows why. Everybody is trying to get to the bottom of the story. The suspect happens to be the son of a famous writer who has never really taken the time to help raise his son and a teacher seems to be the only adult male actually looking out for the guy. Meanwhile you have Klein playing the role of an almost abandoned child taken in by a caring family. Interestingly enough, he seems to be the one who cares about, looks after, and tries to protect that family the most. The only problem is that nobody seems to care. The real heart of the movie is Leland’s thoughts and ideals. His philosophy on life. You find out why he did what he did. Is this boy a devil worshiper? Is he insane? Is he not quite all there himself? I guess that’ll be something you’ll have to decide. This gets two thumbs up from me.

Crash: Second Review

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 13, 2005
in Crime, Drama, Independent, Multiple story line, Racism and Social Commentary
. 0 Comments

Just enjoyed this movie with Lana, Liz and Jenny. It was amazing. This is one of those movies where you have a lot of different characters going through different things and it all ties together in the end. Liz said she heard somebody compare this to Magnolia which is true only on the basest levels, but as a whole the movies are very, very different.

This movie deals with so many things it’s hard to know what to describe first. You have a woman dealing with anger. You have a man disgusted with his co-worker and trying to do the right thing on the job. You have several people dealing with racism on different levels. There is a son trying to do everything right and a mother who is worried about her other son. There are men trying to take care of their families and there children trying to protect their parents. There’s cops and robbers, country and hip-hop, love and violence….this movie has just about a little of everything in it.

One of the ‘tag-lines’ or quotes or whatever you want to call it is Don Cheadle talking about how we’re so worried about making contact with people. We’re so uptight about having our own personal space and not getting close to people. It’s actually pretty true if you think about it. When is the last time weren’t afraid to pickup a hitchhiker or accept a ride from somebody while walking? When is the last time you offered to help a total stranger when they obviously were in a bind? When is the last time you realized that everybody is human and no matter how weird or strange they are, they still feel awkward and vulnerable and just want to be liked and have friends?

After the movie we all agreed there was solid acting all around…even with Brendan Fraser in it - and that’s a bold statement. Bold like those A1 commercials. This film contains drama, comedy, tragedy and even a tad bit of action, depending on how you look on it. It even almost made me cry. I’d say this movie has the potential to stretch ya and make you think if you let it. If you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood you might want to check this one out. It sorta follows Clint’s anti-happy ending theme. This is definitely going on my buy list.

Hey Neville - I just looked here after posting and didn’t know you had just posted about the very same movie. Instead of deleting or trying to add a comment I’ve decided to just leave it and see if we said anything similar.

Crash

Published
by
Neville
on May 10, 2005
in Crime, Drama, Independent, Multiple story line, Racism and Social Commentary
. 0 Comments

“Crash,” Paul Haggis’ directorial debut (he wrote “Million Dollar Baby”) is as impressive as great films come. I’ve heard people talk about “Crash” and sigh because they think all it was about was racism. But it is about much much more than that. It’s about the goodness in people, and about the bad inside all of us. It’s about how people—especially in L.A.—suffer from a lack of human-to-human contact, and emphasizes the needful craving we all have for relationships. And of course, it’s about more drama and more coincidences than you can shake a stick at, but that’s all well and good in my opinion. It’s been compared to “Magnolia,” which I can see but feel that it’s somewhat of an unwarranted comparison. Just because a movie juggles a dozen characters wonderfully and complexly doesn’t mean they’re “Magnolia” or worthy to be compared to it. But “Crash” has some elements similar to it, and so, I can see why people are saying that. Although it’s not nearly as brutally honest or provocative or shockingly intimate as “Magnolia” was and is, “Crash” is wonderful in its own ways, one of which being in the way it manages to take a group of characters and make them multi-dimensional and multi-layered. I was fascinated by where they all were going and I was intrigued and entertained by them at the same time. And for a film so dark and naked in its portrayal of racial and ethnic stereotypes, it still manages to make you laugh and make you laugh at yourself.

Also, if there ever was a movie that showcased my favorite Madeleine L’Engle chapter entitled “What Are You Looking For?” (from “A Stone for a Pillow”) it would be “Crash.” It proves—in the first 10 minutes—how people see what they want to see, and how people will find whatever it is they are looking for. Be it bad, or good, or ugly, or racist—it’s all out there….waiting to be turned into something meaningful.

“Crash,” like “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,” sees America as it is today–particularly in terms of language differences and culture clashes. It is a gripping little imperfect piece of cinema, that will most likely garner a spot on my top ten list for 2005. Despite a few things I would’ve changed had I been the one making the movie (i.e., the end song that closes with the credits just does not fit—and ruined the mood of the film for me) and the final, ambiguous, yet, could-it-be-preaching-for-or-against-illegal-immigration shot—also felt out of place to some extent. However, this is a film you should definitely see, as long as you’re in the mood for some tough entertainment. Beautiful score, unforgettable moments, powerful movie…period.