Seven (1995)

Photo Credit: Se7en / New Line Cinema

Whispers of intense disappointment or adoration follow Se7en everywhere. The story could be described as a typical crime drama, but how an iconic director sets up its setting and characters is why this 1995 film is a cut above the rest.

Somber and soon-to-be retired Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is getting replaced with a younger idealistic Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). In an unidentified decaying city, the pair investigates a bloody and gruesome set of crimes 'inspired' by the seven sins; gluttony, greed, pride, sloth, lust, wrath, and envy.

Director David Fincher is known for his dark auteur style. His films' color and landscape are bleak and the characters rarely find happy endings. Right from the start of Se7en, the plot is relentless in its threat of danger and hopelessness. Crime and inhumanity over-runs every street corner. A never-ending downpour keeps the city wet, cold, and harsh. The faces of Mills and Somerset become the only familiar and welcoming sight as these violent murders become a common affair over one week. Unfortunately, the plot nor your imagination is gifted with a break of sunshine or hope.

Women in Film Blogathon

John over at Hitchcock's World began a marathon earlier this summer about Women in Film; a challenge for bloggers to spotlight a female character from any film genre or time period and explain the various qualities that make them a strong character in the masculine entertainment industry.

There were a lot of interesting choices. As a big Harry Potter fan I thought I'd write about J.K. Rowling's range complex witches like Hermione Granger or Professor McGonagall, or George Lucas's Princess Leia. However, Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise caught my attention and held it more strongly.

Growing up, I remember seeing the first three films in theaters, and of course, was overjoyed by Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow - as most of the world was at that time. But also Keira Knightley as the governor's daughter turned pirate, wife, and mother was an interesting evolution I didn't notice as the films rolled out.

The adventurous Pirates series are centered around the ridiculous mishaps and broken promises of Captain Jack Sparrow. Most of Elizabeth's goals inevitably has to do with saving herself or Will. Yet, Swann isn't very much like other damsels in distresses within the pirate/action genre.

In the first film, she defies the social morals of the 1700s as a respected governor's daughter. The  adolescent portrait of Swann is often forgotten. With her father sailing across the ocean, she is enraptured by the life of a pirate and scallywags brought aboard. Her father and his commodore try to keep her in the dark about such scandalous behavior. She will eventually grow up, stop having such foolish hobbies, and will be married off as political leverage.

Or that's what the plan was. She is everything a well-brought up girl should be, but underneath she wants more adventure and freedom. When she well into her teens, Swann is captured by Captain Barbossa, but doesn't allow her passage aboard the grim Black Pearl scare her into submissiveness. She tries to manipulate and guarantee her safety. Of course she has to do this to protect herself. This example doesn't cover the many ways she is bad-ass from day one; going for the swords when pirates first break into her house, stabbing Captain Barbossa the second she has a chance, using all of Captain Sparrow's rum to get the attention of the militia for her own rescue. As the films go on, and she becomes more like her counterparts: doing what is necessary to survive, going where the sails take her, and dealing what comes across her path.

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments for Elizabeth is when she wears a corset gown her father had bought her. Atop a cliffside unable to breathe and listening to a heartfelt proposal from her fiance-to-be, Swann falls into the ocean below. Once brought ashore by Sparrow, she is rarely found in the same feminine and confining wardrobe again. As her pirate persona grows stronger, the studios didn't take advantage of this and give her less-to-wear wardrobe. Her costumes let her breathe, move, and look like an actual pirate; not fancied or frilled up. Later, she even fakes passing out so Will can rescue Jack. By doing so she goes against her father and the entire militia's orders. This girl was not meant to be tied down and constricted.

No one said a strong female character can't be in love, but Swann also doesn't deny that she wants to be married either. In the second film, Will fails to show up to their wedding after one of his escapades left her behind. Swann goes on her own search with Sparrow to find him. Along the way, she struggles to keep her moral compass and to fight for honorable men. Her days as a governess taught her that's how life should be. But being surrounded by pirates she becomes less subservient to the all-male crews and grooms herself to survive in this dog-eat-dog world, doing what she can to find Will but also getting caught up in the pirate's life she was supposed to avoid.

In the third film, she is unwilling to be dependent on others but secure her own fate. Swann becomes a leader of her own crew, defends herself in sword fights, and isn't afraid to take calculated risks - if its in the name of love or her own freedom. Swann and Will are a more cohesive couple out on the open seas, but she grows more independent and retaliation is in her blood. When the stakes are down she delivers the "speech of the king"; not Jack, Will, or Captain Barbossa and moves everyone to fight until the end.

In the closing moments of the final film, Elizabeth and Will are married, only he is bound working on the Dutchman's crew. Stranded on an island with their child, she fends for herself. She gets married to a man she loves like she always wanted. The deserted island motif is a bit extreme, but she has long shed civilized society. Even though Elizabeth is often associated alongside Will because of their relationship, it was more difficult to find anything as Elizabeth Turner (his surname) other than Elizabeth Swann.

Long live the pirate king!

The Fault In Our Stars (2014) demands to be felt

Photo Credit: The Fault in Our Stars / 20th Century Fox

Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley)'s thyroid cancer has progressively grown into lung cancer. For the time being her condition is stable when she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) at a support group. Accepting her limited lifespan which has no specific expiration date, Grace tries to limit the relationships she's involved in by not wanting to hurt the people she loves. As she and Gus become friends, her will to avoid his attempts at wooing fail. The typical young adult genre of "love worth dying for" transforms into a story of love worth living for.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green was originally published in 2012 and has managed to stay atop bestseller's list for the past two years. The story of teenagers falling in love despite facing the inevitability of oblivion has become a cultural phenomenon. Millions of readers dote on how the novel captures a voice of a generation, a relationship centered around realistically grim circumstances, and characters facing mortal affliction. Adapted to the big screen, The Fault In Our Stars is an endearing emotional fixation and success.

A book that offers a sarcastic and teenagerly-honesty perspective could have had big mistake written all over it when Hollywood knocked on Green's doors. Riding on the wave of failure or success, the movie truly rests on Woodley and Elgort - not just for meeting reader's expectations but also how their characters could've been performed by other actors. On their own, and as a pair, both are charming and tender delivering a right balance of endearing comedy and heartbreaking drama. Its supporting cast, which includes Willem Dafoe, Laura Dern, and Sam Trammell, also deliver entertaining and subtle performances. With the right guiding and attentive hand, the production captures the love that emanates from readers to author, and character to character.

A polarizing aspect of this adaptation, which has held a stronghold on the media and internet for most of 2014, is the overwhelming praise the book has earned. Despite my blog's appearance, I cannot call myself a Nerdfighter; a hard-earned label Green fans call themselves. I read the book cover-to-cover more out of curiosity than any buzzworthy acclaim. I fell in love with his realistic yet all-too-optimistic world and had high aspirations that it could be a good adaptation, but I didn't harbor intense passion like many fans.

Respectfully, I was able to have some emotional distance. The movie was enjoyable for watching scenes from the book come to life and still look at it from a perspective by someone else who might be watching the movie out of curiosity. For the latter, I won't refrain from saying that in very few scenes did I feel like the camera work or pacing could have been improved. The actual romantic themes in the film are formulaic; the novel and book are not typically daring in terms of boy and girl meet and then fall in love. What is different about the pairing of Grace and Waters from other couples is how these characters handle life's most difficult crises and still come out the other end hopeful, loving, and vulnerable. There are degrees of relativity in this movie that most people might not suspect either having personally dealt with cancer/family member with cancer or falling in love for the first time. It's the emotionally rousing delivery of youth in love with all its euphoric highs and soul-crushing lows that continuously makes these characters and their dynamics so beloved.

During the production of the film, Green was given slack for crying on-set because he was emotionally compromised watching his novel being adapted. I can't say that I blame him. The story is the stuff of movie magic where as a reader most of the details you pictured were depicted straight from your own imagination. For such a big movie with unbelievably high anticipation riding on the book's coattails, the film experience is surprisingly intimate. During the three-month press tour of the cast and crew sharing praise and dedication for the movie's release, the gratitude everyone had for the material shows in all the right ways with the best cast, script, and studio for the job.

As much excitement has set the world on fire as this being a box office breaker or a love story of the decade, The Fault In Our Stars is able to come alive just as a good movie and adaptation; it's not entirely faultless but definitely funny, uplifting, and lovely.

Rating: ★★★

Have you seen The Fault In Our Stars? What do you think?

The Matrix (1999) walks the path of complexity and entertainment

Photo Credit: The Matrix/ Warner Bros

Directed and written by The Wachowski Sisters, this 1999 sci-fi flick takes us into a new reality called The Matrix. The world as we know has utterly collapsed from mankind's egotrip known as artificial intelligence. Sentient machines we created betrayed us and scorched the Earth. In doing so, they subdued humans into a simulated reality and use our natural bodies heat and electrical activity as their main energy source.

The Chosen One Neo (Keanu Reeves) is a computer hacker who is shown the truth. A group of human resistance fighters led by Morpheus (Laurence Fishbourne) guides our hero to realize his potential to save the rest of the human race and end the war.

Before watching The Matrix, expectations from the film's hype since my teenage years weighed on my mind. Mostly, my thoughts stemmed from the film's glory days when it was a huge hit in the late 90s / early 2000s. Fans' fervent love made me excited but also anxious I might encounter nothing but disappointment; to only be reminded of the criticism and parodies that often plagued the first installment when it came out.

Some movies throw all the darts to the wall and let the chips fall where they may. For a percentage of films, the results don't live up to the expectations. The story falls apart, characters are reduced to flat caricatures, and there is simply not enough world-building especially science fiction movies. I was surprised to see that as ambitious The Matrix is, it all worked.

If noir and cyberpunk got it on, the results would be this movie. The opening defines the "supposed law abiding cops" versus a vixen in black attire with a major chase scene. Leather jackets replace trenchcoats. When characters are threatened, everything from the cinematography to an actor's physical movement is choreographed to move fast. When the tension rests, the production moves ultra-slow. Dialogue, action, and script all balance an unique rhythm, avoiding in-authenticity or corniness. All of the components at first almost feel too genre(s) specific to be its own original film.

As layers begin to peel, it's easy to grasp onto the matrix and let it plunge you into this engaging and intriguing science fiction ride. You begin to question what is the true matrix? what is the truth - in general - reality or what our brains are wired to compartmentalize as reality?

The cast of characters leads us on a wild chase and become the good guys to root for. Neo is the hacker trapped searching for answers to a question he has long held onto. We must trust Morpheus as the father-leader is telling the truth about a reality that seems impossible. Trinity (awesomely played by Carrie-Anne Moss) is the mysterious femme fatale carrying a major secret. The main villain Agent Smith - a sentient machine posing as a human - all but jumped off the screen as someone you love to hate or just love to love. The movie became something I loved and questioned why hadn't I taken a chance on it sooner.

The Matrix rekindled what a fun and intellectually stimulating moment in cinema it must have been to see in theaters. For such a big movie, it feels wonderfully intimate. Action sequences combined with special effects, combat fighting, and wire techniques are iconic. And, then there's that damn question again: what is truth? Is what we truly believe or what we are shown to believe? Would you (do you) accept a reality if it's a comfortable lie? The list goes on and on.

Often I feel the poorest films are the ones that have to sell a moment; one that so pushes characters and scenes off the screen to evoke sympathy, anger, or understanding - they become cringe-worthy in their force and efforts. Even though action and science fiction have grown with its use to special effects but the hiccups have grown larger too. Studios judge that audiences aren't smart enough to follow complex worlds, and stories often fall short balancing entertainment and enlightenment. In its huge collage of genres and blockbuster mechanisms, The Matrix maintains being fun and complex.

With all of the components of The Matrix brings together, fifteen years later after the movie's initial release, it succeeds on almost all of its levels. It gels in a way that the movie makes me realize how much I miss when science fiction was cool and could make me think. It's not a perfect film (the Trinity + Neo relationship I could've done without but in a world with no human contact, you're gonna love the ones you're with) but it's an enjoyable one. I was reminded of an exciting time in cinema when movie stars like Keanu Reeves were at the top of their game but weren't detracting from enjoying an engaging blockbuster. Like Neo who chooses to see the truth of reality, as the audience, we're asked to follow the white rabbit into another world that takes a while to come to terms with. It was a good decision to watch this movie.

Rating: ★★★ Have you seen The Matrix? What do you think?

My Life in France by Julia Child

With the help of admirer Alex Prud Homme, six-footer Julia Child recounts the several years she and her husband, Paul Child, spent together in France where her cooking ambitions began in her autobiography My Life In France. What began as a passion towards the French cuisine grew into a cooking empire, and still one of the most influential and iconic cookbooks Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Every chapter is simple and easy to breeze through. Once in a while, I'll come across an autobiography where the content is so detailed it seems the author is suffering from the classic celebrity syndrome of an unbearably huge ego. None of that can be found here.

The Californian-native is detailed about her relationships with fellow Gourmettes and her ventures into the publishing and television world without long-winded stories that finish in a dead-end. Child's descriptions of the scrumptious foods she made are absolutely mouth-watering. The deeply devoted Democrat leads us through the years of her life with wit and a notable zest for life in general. Her enthusiastic curiosity to embark into every world, culinary or otherwise, no doubt leaves an impression that she must have been a terribly fun person to share food, wine, and conversation with.

"This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!"

Julia provides the main narration, but the journey is as much of hers as it is Paul's. In the modern world where many celebrity marriages seem like almost a joke where shameless tabloids exploit divorces and affairs, it was heartwarming to read how a couple supported each other when delving into unknown territories, especially fame.

Paul had Julia's back 110% with her cooking aspirations and often encouraged her to continue cooking and writing when she felt like throwing in the towel. He also used his passion for photography to snap photos of his wife cooking for her books and put his U.S. government experience with the media to work when Julia dealt with her first rounds of book signings, magazine interviews, and television appearances. As the couple lived abroad, they aimed to enhance each others' lives and their relationship is overall exceptionally loving.

My Life In France is such a delicious read and made me want to hop on the next plane and relocate across the pond to follow in Child's steps. After some consideration the idea wasn't very practical, this yummy autobiography did jump start my own interest in cooking. With the picturesque and romantic life Julia and Paul lead, this book left me with a bigger appetite to experience life with more vivacity.

In 2005, Julia Child's life was merged Julie Powell; a blogger turned author who cooked her way through Child's famous Master the Art of French Cooking. The novel was eventually adapted to the big screen in 2009 with Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci, respectively playing Julia and Paul, with Amy Adams fronting as Powell.

Directed and written by Nora Ephron, the film splits time between Child and Powell's trials and tribulations in both their professional and personal lives. The performances by the trio are exceptional, though I found the characterization of Powell to be quite unlikable and catty. (Adams managed to make her character more charming than Powell's persona). Though the Julie and Julia novel is not as enjoyable as Child's autobiography, the adaptation gives a brief biopic of the couples' relationship intermixed with Powell's journey through cooking, and it's a fun Friday night movie for fans of the unforgettable culinary duo.

Blockbusted Blogathon: The Haunting (1999)

My weekends are often filled with the happy voluntary indulgence of watching blockbusters - Speed, Twister, Poseidon - and the list goes on and on. Across the board online is a movie that earns not one but three worst movie accolades; remake, horror film, and book adaptation. In terms of fulfilling a guilty pleasure, let's talk, rave, and analyse the insanely-awful movie The Haunting (1999).

As the story goes: Eleanor “Nell” Vance (Lily Taylor) has a terrible string of bad luck and arseholes ruling her life. After caring for her invalid mother for eleven years in a rundown Boston apartment, her sister and boyfriend evict Nell from her home via her mother's last wishes. Nell receives a phone call to participate in a sleep research study helmed by Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) in an isolated mansion on Hill House. She uses her newfound "freedom" and nightmares as a means for escape to join the experiment. Once all have arrived at the manor - Marrow and fellow participants Luke Sanderson (Owen Wilson) and Theodora (Catherine Zeta-Jones) - they're cut off from the bordering town and the house soon shows its true horrifying colors.

Honestly, they are horrifying - not in the sense of the movie being scary. Two key ingredients of horrible films are plotholes and/or unrealistic plot circumstances. While offeringcheesy moments of suspense such as unexplained drastic temperature changes, constant conviction by the main character that she is seeing ghosts, and scenes of waiting to see what's lurking behind the corner to make you jump, The Haunting is all but laughable - probably one of the only reasons I watch it; to revel in its bombastic storytelling.

Musical Chairs (2012) final scores are admirable

A young Bronx-bred studio handyman Armando (E.J. Bonilla) aspires to be a dancer. When Mia (Leah Pipes), the studio's star performer is involved in a car accident, her dreams of a dance career are dashed. Armando befriends her, and as they fall in love, team up with other patients at the rehabilitation facility to compete in a New York City Wheelchair Ballroom Competition.

Director Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan) produces a charismatic film of young love and persevering when life throws a curveball. Starring E.J. Bonilla and Leah Pipes, Musical Chairs is a feel-good romance in which to escape. Both actors radiate charisma and delightful star quality. As the ambitious Armando, Bonilla exuded captivating passion as an enthusiastic young man transforming a tragedy into dreams. And, Pipes as his counterpart is eloquent and vividly expressive as her character grows from her life-changing ordeal. Together, their performances transcend the film and are a promising duo illuminating the film's ambition.

Next to the performances the film most succeeds with its music, the romantic escapism, and its message on the emotionality of dance. Inviting and upbeat, Seidelman compiles a charming cast to transport the audience to a world where life is managing to find the beat to your drum. Part of its romantic escape is perhaps forgetting about the logistics of such a life-altering accident that would leave you immobile from the waist down. In the film world a cast of characters confined to wheelchairs train for a ballroom championship competition in a matter of weeks defies a bit of realism. The most connective and enjoyable scenes are shared when the characters are training; particularly Armando and Mia whose relationship is tested by her adaptability. The emotional connection carried by Armando and Mia drives the film to a poignant ending wherein the final scores aren't as important as their achievement of not giving up.

The story runs smoothly, however, cannot avoid a few cliche hiccups here and there. Like an Old Hollywood musical some of the conflicts are too conveniently ended for happy-go-lucky results. The script felt limited in terms of effectively showcasing the vivacity of New York City's melting pot of characters, and seemed to a bit to determined to recycle cinematic stereotypes. A shining performance by Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) delivers as Chantelle - who is a transgender woman falling in love with Armandos' old-fashioned uncle. However, Cox's strong heartfelt performance was presented in a finite view of her struggles. Although the supporting cast was indeed engaging, their storylines were trite.

Helmed by two fine rising actors and eccentric supporting cast, Musical Chairs should as a cinematic buoyant expression rather than a documdrama on disability. On that note, I found it quite enjoyable and worth a watch despite its script issues. Focused as an inspiration take on moving through the upswing and downbeat of life, this movie certainly achieves its goal of drama and dreams with appropriate cheeriness.

Rating: ★★☆