Carriers (2009)

The Post-Apocalyptic genre is becoming this generation’s Freddy Kruger, Michael Meyers, and other subsequent boogey men. When the ‘80s had Jason, the ‘90s had Skeet Ulrich, and now, the 2000s and subsequent ‘10s (‘one-ohs’ or ‘tens’, depending on the vernacular) have Scorched Earth Theory. There is a strange and almost disturbing cultural undercurrent of curiosity and introspective assessment with regards to the destruction of the world. With the world getting larger in population, smaller in geographic density, and seemingly more calloused and dehumanizing, creative minds from across the spectrum have been ramping up the subsequent lore of a world, post-Homosapien. Long before the advent of film, Man has been envisioning his eventual demise. Film brought the visual, visceral ability to let Man envision a world where consequence met vice; where Man’s sins of science and the metaphysical became manifest.

‘Carriers,’ starring Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, and Christopher Meloni, bears that flag of reflecting human consequence, but invents nothing new along the way.

With a title like ‘Carriers,’ knowing the film is of the horror genre is generally enough to pique the interest. Then there is knowing Chris Pine, who captained the Enterprise as the re-imagined James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot, in this movie. Law and Order: SVU fans would be interested to know that Chris Meloni has a bit part in the first act of this film. The lovely Piper Perabo, best known for her work in Coyote Ugly, rounds out the notables as our main protagonist’s love interest in this world-gone-to-hell post-apocalyptic movie du jour.

‘Carriers,’ on the surface, is just another B-Movie, straight-to-DVD horror flick. There is a general subset of the movie-going audience that is eager to consume these types of films. Where ‘Carriers’ truly shines, however, is the performances of Pine and Perabo, and the dynamic those two bring to the screen. Opposites attract, and these two are essentially polar emotionally. While Brian (Pine) is holding onto his humanity by a thread, Bobby (Perabo) is maternal. Bobby is the thread, in a world where eighty percent of humanity is dead or infected, that keeps Brian attached to what is left of his humanity. Ironically, Brian is a Chosen; immune to the infectious disease that is ravaging the land and killing everything human. How Brian discovered his status has resulted in a secret that has been slowly consuming him.

There is also the subject of Brian’s brother, Danny. “Ivy League,” as he keeps calling his little brother, has no intestinal fortitude. Only, it seems, by the strength and guidance of a thick-headed brother is Danny still alive. Danny has not had to make the hard decisions; his alpha dog brother has made them for him. Danny is an intellectual, but Brian will not let this fact get his brother or anyone else in the group killed. Whereas Danny wants to think out situations, Brian is more capable and comfortable using blunt force or emotional detachment to get the job done. Yet again, Brian is working towards a goal of hardening his little brother; making him ready and capable if Brian is unable to be there. This, too, is harbored in a painful secret only Brian carries.

Pine, it appears, is a character actor. Now that is not to say that this is a bad thing. In his 'Star Trek' role, he is known for the same behaviors. If there is anything to complain about, it is that Pine lacks imagination in script choice, not acting skills. His waning attachment to humanity is believable; his continued ambivalence to the human condition coupled with a sardonic view on what is left. Brian’s machismo shields him from vulnerability. Pine executes this role well.

Perabo and the supporting cast attempt to elevate the cast and movie to an emotional level that never gets there. The movie tries to stir emotion, but something in the directorial style keeps the film from ever pushing the right emotional triggers. The closest scenes would all involve Christopher Meloni and his daughter, who, in the first act, are used by the writer and directors to ask what the viewer would do if it was their child. While every good movie of this genre has scenes like this, something in the execution brought it up flat. That is not to knock Meloni’s performance; the melodrama was just predictable.

In most of these types of films, there is a level of gore and otherwise putrid visual exposition. ‘Carriers’ focuses less on the gore and mostly on the psychological possibility. Death and the sometimes nascent decomposing remains are used for making a point, not merely shock value. This makes for less visceral, sinewy visual abuse of an already desensitized viewing audience, but moves the experience to just outside the frame, leaving the mind to speculate what’s in the body bag, under the sheet, or behind the door.

While this movie was never released as a major motion picture, it does lend some credence to a study in human nature in a post-human world. Pine’s performance, coupled with a supporting cast, raises the bar on what a good straight-to-DVD movie can be. While some of the action and the lines can be formulaic for the genre, the story and character arcs keep the story moving. For a spooky, if somewhat unoriginal, look at what a world could look like if something like H1N1 was to wipe out almost all of human kind, this movie is worth a watch.

The Secret of Kells (2009)

A Saint Patty’s Days tribute:

Here is a movie I made no claim to knowing anything about before I sat down to it. I had no basis for observation except that of a critical movie viewer, watching for substance and meaning as well as entertainment. This is reviewed solely from the eyes of a man who enjoys ‘Cowboy Bebop’, loved ‘The Princess and The Frog’, and regularly enjoys an animated film such as ‘Up’, ‘The Incredibles’, and a pretty selective taste in anime. I regularly take in these jewels vicariously through the eyes of my daughter, whom I have been steadily introducing to more and more feature-length animation.

Watching the Oscars, the standard fare of animated movies I had seen throughout the year were nominated and shown.

But then, there in the mix, was a pair of two eyes through brush. Those eyes were the first mystery to me. I jotted the title down, and anticipated a chance to catch the movie. I purposefully do everything I can to avoid reviews of these movies, which is really counter to the trade I have here. I wanted to see how an otherwise unknown Oscar-nominated animated film fared against the titles I already knew.
I was pleasantly surprised at what I got.

‘The Secret of Kells’ is based on The Book of Kells, a Christian relic of the 9^th century that was created by monks at Kells Abbey. This setting is the background for the story unfolding in the movie.

The story follows a little boy, Brendan, and the discovery of his love of “illumination.” The backdrop of the threat of Viking attack puts his reasonably overprotective uncle (voiced by Brendan Gleeson, one of my favorite actors) on edge. He is leading the charge to fortify the abbey the monks live in. While doing so, a master illuminator from another abbey arrives on the Kells doorstep. And so begins our little hero’s quest of discovery.

There is a small quest, which will soon reveal the owner of those aforementioned eyes. There are Vikings, wolves, a snake god, and moments of visceral honesty all wrapped up in this surprise animated classic. The animation is sharp; different and initially perplexing to look at. Once used to the style, it really became quite beautiful, interesting; different. I initially watched this with abandon, no understanding of the history behind the story. I’ll admit to having no context to judge the movie on. However, after researching the back history, I found the movie to be very true to source, and give light to the sequence of events, making this more myth than story. It’s a fantastic little film, and a worthy contender against all the big studio productions. I’m a better person for seeing it. If you care to learn the history behind the story, you will be, too.

A. A colorful, enlightening story behind a piece of Christian history. Honest and interesting, beautiful and moving, this gem is worth a watch if you have the cultural background to understand it.

Das Q: The Lovely Bones (2009)

I hate Stanley Tucci. A lot.

There. I said it. He does a fantastic job playing roles where I want nothing more than an icicle to stab him in the neck. But I digress.

If you have children, don’t see this movie. If you have daughters, remember there’s a 7-day waiting period on guns. If you have a pulse, leave after the book is found. You’ll understand what that means, and you’ll understand why I say that after you sit through the wayward sap that ensues following that moment.

I enjoyed (and by enjoyed, I mean had my emotions toyed with like a cat plays with a mouse before severing it jugular) the movie right up until the end. Peter Jackson started strong, kept the intensity on, and drove it, like a car chase scene, right off the cliff and into the slow-motion segway before the crash and explosion at the bottom of the cliff.

Fast-paced, well acted, and then launches off the cliff into the waiting sinkhole(You’ll understand that later) of melodrama.

B+. (Great effort, lacks a strong finish)

Das Q: The Boon Dock Saints 2: All Saints Day (2009)

It is with a heavy heart that I pronounce the Brothers dead. Did I just spoil that for you?

No.

Well, to be honest with you, I don’t know. Maybe they die in the end, maybe they live on in some sort of infamy. I couldn’t tell you, because about fifteen minutes into the movie, I stopped it, swore incoherently under my breath, and put the original back on. I couldn’t take the dialogue, the acting, the story.

Why?

Because there was none. The only shining star in this movie was Julie Benz, what I saw of her, fresh off her ending story arc in Dexter. She made me keep the movie on for longer than I would have normally.

Troy Duffy, you have officially made me turn off a movie. That has not happened to me before. I was so angered with what Duffy was doing to these characters, I had to cleanse my pallet and turn on the original. For me The Saints, as The Dropkick Murphys sing in “The Green Fields of France”, will “be forever nineteen.” As in 1999, the year of the original release.

It is appropriate that the song is a dirge.

The Road (2009)

This review has been haunting me for weeks. After seeing The Road, the feel-good movie of the year, I was depressed for the better part of a week. There were not words for the emotions it conjures; the world dead and a man who’s only warrant is to keep his ten year old son alive for no other reason than to live on. The haunting performances and the world in which these characters had me in an introspective funk for days, pondering, the real meaninglessness of the movement of our daily lives when faced with true and final adversity. It is rare that a movie will take a man down a notch; make him stop and reevaluate everything that is important in lieu of loosing everything.

The story follows “The Man,” played by Viggo Mortensen, as he is named in the Cormac McCarthy book by the same name. The world has died, for whatever reason, and he and The Boy are surviving together ten years on. The world is dead, The Man explaining in a voiceover: “There was a bright light, followed by a series of loud booms.” The movie, and the book I’m told, takes no time to explain why the world is dying; it simply is, and these two are the only thing each other have. They take to the road, The Man’s wife suggesting that if they move south, they can get somewhere where it is much warmer.

The movie, from my understanding, is far bleaker than the book. Nothing has survived. Cannibalism is running rampant. There is no food; our protagonists are eternally hungry. They scavenge and they move and they hide from the prowling marauders of cannibals that move across the countryside.

Really though, these plot devices are really only used to show the relationship between The Man and The Boy. The Man is eternally suspicious of everyone, anticipating the worst for him and his son at every human interaction. The Boy, born into this world, has a far less sinister observation of the world, and yearns for human contact outside his father. The dynamic puts the two at odds. As the two move across the landscape, the father attempts to instill into his son the lessons of a world long since dead. This is counter to the reality of the world they live in now.

In one particular scene, The Man tries to explain to The Boy what a Christmas tree is. The Boy, born into a world that knows no Christmas, looks at him blankly. What would be to us a charming nostalgic moment demonstrates the disconnects between realities; The Man trying to hang onto parts of his world, and The Boy trying to process the reality that history, as we know it, is dead.

Another moment finds them on the beach, looking out at the water. The Boy asks “What’s on the otherside?” The Man simply answers: “Nothing.” There is no need for a lesson here; it has no use to their current survival.

This movie makes you think. This movie challenges you. The current fad of Armageddon end-of-the-world movies is supplemented by Mortensen’s intensely personal and emotionally wrecking performance. There is a whole sequence of flashbacks regarding Charlize Theron that will emotionally crush you. I didn’t have a moment of disbelief when watching a new star in the making, Kodi Smith-Mcfee. There is a story that the boy got the part by recreating the scene where The Man shows The Boy how to commit suicide by putting a .45 in his mouth.

Yeah. It’s that kind of smiles and sunshines that keep this movie going. There is a hook at the end of this movie that has led me personally to much speculation. There is discussion by The Man discussing what happens when they dream. Pay particular attention to this at the end. I have theories, but I will not spoil here.

All in all, the end is worth the means. Take a few hours and travel “The Road.” You may find yourself reconsidering what is important to you, and anything that can do that is worth a watch.

A. Moving. Disturbing. Lost in the world that Director John Hillcoat brings to life, you’re with these two as you can’t help but hope for them through the gray.

Crazy Heart (2009)

This one is just in time for the Oscars:

To all my hard-livin’ friends in the honkey-tonks and dives, I raise a glass and a review. This next one here was written just for you.

I did everything I could to avoid finding out about what “Crazy Heart” was about. When I had heard Jeff Bridges had given an Oscar-nominated performance, like every other male in the 18-25…ish demographic, I wanted to know what The Dude had done. Or, El Duderino if you’re, well, you know.

What I discovered was nothing less than the dusty jewel of what I can only imagine every country singer wishes to capture in the words and music of the art they perform. This story, this journey of Bad Blake, a man apart, spoke volumes to anyone who has ever called a honkey-tonk dive a home and fifth of the cheapest sour mash whiskey a blanket. This movie empathizes with those who have traded, as the song goes, ”wedding bells for the sound of clinking glass”. This movie hazards an observation of the most talented among us, the artistic undercurrent of those who lived life the hardest and sucked deep at the dusty wind of a spring morning and were chewed up by the demons they made their bets with. These poor trubadors just never took the time to die, roaming the countryside, singing their songs of truth, and love and pain.

“Crazy Heart” takes a strong, hard look at the life of a man lived in regret, seeking some redemption for the mistakes he’s made and some inspiration to harness what he once had into something new. Saturated with whiskey, women, and more talent than any one human deserves, he’s meandering through life, failed marriages and relationships scattering the countryside. His strength is his charm, but so is his weakness. He’s an entertainer, a consummate performer and a tribute to this trade. Even if he does stumble off a stage to puke mid-song.

With a surprising performance from Maggie Gyllenhall, sudden “what the Hell?!” moment(s) from otherwise movie bad boy Colin Ferrel, and an accapella from none other than Robert Duvall, it’s a heart-warming and heart-breaking ride through the life of a man who’s most prized possession is his classic guitars and his ’78 Chevrolet Suburban, ‘Bessie’. Anyone who’s known anybody with too much talent and too much time, with a good heart but an old, sad soul, will understand this movie on a different level.

The added bonus of the movie is Jeff Bridges does all his own singing and playing of the guitar. The same for an aforementioned character. I was actually a little distracted by that question, and it made it all the more powerful when I realized that it truly was Jeff Bridges letting loose on the ballads. The music director and an executive producer on the movie is none other than T-Bone Burnett, the great Nashville record producer (he’s produced many number one hits and was once married to Shania Twain). He wrote and produced almost all the music in the movie, and the quality shows. Bridges lent his voice, and there wasn’t a question to the validity of his ability. The man has chops.

So does this movie.

A. Jeff Bridges delivers with a surprise supporting cast and the heart-breaking truth prevails over any Hollywood dream.

Das Q: Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

I enjoyed Spike Jonze’s work on it, it just was NOT what I was expecting. The kid’s subconscious and the manifestation of all the creatures as his insecurities. Was not expecting that, and I respected Jonez (and Maurice Sendak, obviously) for going that direction. For a long while, I thought the film was meandering and pointless, but it really had a strong underlying theme of the pain of being a kid and growing up. I really had to think about it to process, and it took on a whole new meaning, albeit too late in the movie to really “like” the movie. I understood it at last, but didn’t really enjoy it.

Again, the thought I kept having as I left the theater: unexpected. Perhaps a second viewing in a year will see how it holds up.