CinemaLeviathan Blog

Under discussion:

Flags of Our Fathers  (2006)

Clint Eastwood brings us a character inspired war drama based on The Battle of Iwo Jima and the men that raised the flag and inspired the world and became a patriotic symbol of hope, inspiration, and victory.

William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis adapted the screenplay from the book written by James Bradley and Ron Powers.  As the producer, Steven Spielberg takes a step into the non-fictional world of feature war drama with Flags by telling the story of the actual men in the service and their families during that time of World War II unlike, Saving Private Ryan – which can be seen as an obvious inspiration during the battle sequences in Flags.  Like Steven and his Director of Photography, Janusz Kaminski, Clint and his DP, Tom Stern, chose to portray the battle as a non-glamorous event by using handheld camera techniques, washing the color out from the sequences, and creating brutally realistic effects consisting of both practical and CGI.  An example of great CGI usage in the WWII drama is the sequence when the fleet of ships is heading to the island of Iwo Jima and a small group of planes zoom past our main characters on one of the ships.  Clint presents the audience with a panoramic view of the fleet of ships slowly plowing through the ocean revealing its gargantuan size. Then Clint presents us with a in-the-crowd POV with our main characters as they wave their hats and cheer on the fighter pilots as the small group of planes jet by at amazing speed.  The sequence is visually stunning due to its size and factually stunning due to its detail.  One example is when a man falls overboard and his friends laugh, joke, and casually throw him a floating device … as he continues to scream for help, his friends notice the ship isn’t stopping. A man then states,

“They’re not going to stop. None of them are … they can’t.” his friends suddenly realize it’s the last time they’ll see him as he floats away into the distance.

The gore level in the movie is realistic and factual. For those with weak stomachs, don’t blame the movie, blame the effects of war for that’s what you’re seeing a glimpse into.  One shot, I won’t mention which, pulled me out of the movie due to it’s hokey gore feeling – the type of shot that belongs in a bad horror movie.  Maybe it will be cut – maybe not … all in all, it reveals my level of conditioning through horror movies and the use of bad gore.  The shot captures the realities sporadic war and how you never know when a shell is going to land at your feet.  Clint uses a lot of the sporadic casualties as a way to shock the audience.  For example, a soldier will comment on someone’s death near the end of the movie, walk ten feet, suddenly a plume of dirt and smoke engulfs him as a bomb hits below him.  

On the other side of this story, there’s the political crisis of bankruptcy as well as campaigning.  The writers really bring the truth of the historic statue to the surface along with the characters’ feelings of guilt.  The audience grows to love the character for who they are and accept them as an everyday man as well as a hero. 

This is an excellent story and short history lesson that everyone can enjoy as an American, neighbor, or moviegoer.  It is a notch in the history of film on war and deserves recognition by audiences for the fantastic performances, direction, writing, special effects, make-up, and wardrobe.  For the little I knew about the event, I found the film uplifting, revealing, educational, and it moved me as a person who was served by those men in The Battle of Iwo Jima and as a moviegoer.  

Be sure to stick around through the credits in order to catch a quick glimpse of the memorial set up at the top of Iwo Jima were the flag stands.

: ) 

Under discussion:

Flushed Away  (2006)

As Roddy the mouse sleeps peacefully in his owner’s mansion, a sudden explosion of water spits up through the drains revealing Sid, a sewer rat who reflects the average male in today’s world.  Sid takes over the joint, turns the television to the World Cup.  Roddy has enough, and attempts to outsmart Sid by insisting he gets into the swirling ‘Jacuzzi’ before the game. Sid suddenly shoves Roddy into the toilet and Roddy is Flushed Away to the underground sewers.

As Roddy swirls down the drains toward the sewer, he hits corner after corner in an old-fashioned kind of comic humor, catches an orange fish who asks,

“Have you seen my dad?” and finally falls into a river of sewer water where he encounters sewer slugs.  Originally the slugs only had the bit part during Roddy’s intro to the sewer but because of their popularity and laugh-out-loud visual and audible humor, the slugs appear again and again through out the movie. 

The movie is outrageously exciting for the kids and hilariously relevant to today’s world for the adults. The adventure follows two little mice, Rita and Roddy, voiced by Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, as they make a ‘spit-n-handshake’ deal to take on the impossible and head back “up top” to the surface form the sewers in order to get back to Roddy’s home where he then will set Rita on her way with a real ruby – due to the fact that he broke her treasured glass ruby.  The characters’ goals a clear, motivated, and classically short-ended producing an emotional climactic ending as they realize their goals didn’t involve each other. The emotion is light, the humor is layered, and the creative sewer world is unlike anything seen before.

The conflict is high, smart, yet light enough for kids; Toad wants to steal a power cable from Rita, whom uses it as a belt, in order to power the giant door to the sewer line to open during the half time of the World Cup. Why?  Because like Sid, everyone always waits to go to the bathroom until half-time, which means if the doors are open, the city of rodents will be destroyed and Toad, along with his army of infant tadpoles, will rule the under world.  It’s a great twist on flash floods from a writer’s point of view because it’s not just a flood of water, it’s a flood of … anyway – the stakes are high for our two protagonists and the comic relief is around every corner – in the form of slugs.

The movie personifies not only the animals superbly but also the situations and characters involved resulting in a powerful message that wealth and loneliness simply don’t compare to love and family. Whether it is classic movie homage or slap-tick humor this movie has it all.

Overall, this movie is a fantastic ride for kids and adults and surprises audiences over and over with new jokes, old jokes, and everything in between.

: ) 

Under discussion:

Beowulf  (2007)

As one of the oldest tales, this story still lives on and evokes emotion from modern day audiences! The first, of many to come, Digital 3D films to hit the screens from Paramount and DreamWorks, Beowulf surprises the audience with eye-popping special effects and 3D moments hidden within the storyline.

  Grendel is terribly horrific, as the original tale intended, and forces the beads of sweat to form as he reeks fatal havoc on the townspeople. Beowulf is the classic arch-hero, both strong and wise, and the audience feels comforted after his arrival following the first attack in the Mead Hall. Beowulf's tragedy is spawned from his victory over Grendel, just as the previous King's tragic ending started, and he must face a whole new creature torturing the town, Grendel's mother. Needless to say, this story hosts one of the most primal thematic morals of all time, and resonates to this day. 

The VFX department behind this film really delivered what the trailer promises, and more! At first glance, specifically the first establishing shot of the film, the scenery almost looks like that of a video game, but as the story unfolds, the audience quickly forgets they're watching animated CGI characters and worlds due to the extremely life-like quality of the imagery. In fact, the extreme close-ups seem to look more realistic than the establishing shots for some strange reason; no matter, the film is spectacular, and deserves the academy award for Best Animated Feature. 

Check out the score when you get the chance; number one is as epic as any song can get, and "The Last Seduction," the mother's theme song is eerily dead on.

Under discussion:

August Rush  (2007)

This modern day yarn weaves its tale through the world of music and the people that not only play it, but listen as well.  Freddie Highmore plays the lost son, and musical prodigy, of two musicians who were forced apart by their families, and delivers an excellent performance portraying the orphaned child in search for his long-lost parents. Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers are a match made in heaven, and the audience is absolutely thrilled to experience their brief night of coming together in New York city due to the genuine love that expands from their first meeting. Furthermore, Robin Williams reveals a new side of his acting abilities as his character evolves from a cool, sleek, street-musician to a cut-throat, abusive, street-agent.  All in all, the acting is great.

The story winds through the dangerous street of New York City, which to August, is a whole new world compared to the small orphanage in the countryside. This new world presents new friends, foes, and challenges August must confront making for classic dramatic situations and character development.  

  The lovely thing about this film is that it's a fantasy for modern audiences. Most of the time, and this is no exception, these sort of movies are shunned due to the audiences unwillingness to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the fantastic story unfolding before their eyes, but musical prodigy isn't something from fantasy or science-fiction ... it's real. The stretch is when the character leans into the realm of hearing his parent's music, but then again, it's a classic literary device: a metaphor, and it represents his faith.  

Simply put: this is an extraordinary story! Great character arch for August, great cathartic resolution, and new and exciting realm of music never before experienced by audiences, this film is almost perfect! One small plot-hole in the set-up seems to skip a beat thanks to what seems to be a missing scene and an abrupt ending are they only problematic areas that could have earned more points.  

:)