Film Review: GRAVITY ★★★★½☆

It's been a whole since I left a screening feeling the way I did after seeing Gravity. Simply put, it's a film that is an experience like no other. Visionary director Alfonso Cuarón has delivered a mesmerizing edge of your seat story of outer space survival that will keep you and leave you gasping for breath from start to finish.

Cuarón dared to steer the big screen Harry Potter series off the page and into new dark territory with The Prisoner of Azkaban, gave us a unique bleak look at the future in Children of Men, and pulls no punches here by presenting one of the most harrowing and realistic depictions of the outer space dangers faced by astronauts.

Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, an NASA medical engineer posed with the unimaginable task of maneuvering through space with limited aid after her space shuttle and crew are violently wiped out by runaway shrapnel following the scheduled destruction of a obsolete Russian satellite. Also fighting to stay alive is Matt Kowalski, Stone's space veteran mission partner whose nerves are hardly rattled (because he's played by George Clooney) by the deadly turn of events during their daring tethered spacewalk 372 miles above the Earth.

The two rely on each other to share the rapidly dwindling oxygen supply left between them in order to make their way to one of the nearby remaining operational space stations in orbit. To think this would pose to be an easy task would rob the film's powers to immerse you in its prime directive of keeping the tension level on high alert.

To call Gravity a visual and technical triumph of film making may be just the tip of the iceberg. From the breathtaking 13-minute continuous shot the film opens with (only the first of many), to the jaw dropping visual effects, to the complete success of making you forget that the actors were not really in space but rather on green screen stages suspended with wires for weeks reacting to little more than meticulous director and  camera cues, the film never shows its hand.

Cuarón's penchant for numerous long takes and continuous shots are seamless, and the way they become such an integral part of his storytelling process is a testament to his successful groundbreaking marriage of effects and prowess behind the lens.

It's Bullock's show in a standout performance and she anchors the film as our outlet for the feelings of isolation, suffocation, and hopelessness. The drop dead sense of real world danger you felt in Children of Men is matched here by the unfathomable hopelessness of being trapped hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface. If you drift one way, off you go on an endless journey into the infinite void of outer space. You drift the other way, the Earth pulls you down and you will be burnt alive during atmospheric re-entry.

Gravity is groundbreaking with the terrifying realism regarding the dangers present in the vacuum of outer space. When disaster strikes, there is not a sound heard from the depictions of mass destruction. Space shuttles and stations are torn to shreds by incoming barrages of satellite scrap metal, and your sense of hearing offers nothing to add to the horrifying visuals of that. You don't realize how off putting that is until you see it in IMAX 3D.

Alien made the tag line "In space no one can hear you scream" a pop culture catch phrase. Gravity takes that to the limit and treats the science of science fiction in a similar fashion alongside 2001: A Space Odyssey and even the more recent action oriented fare like Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica reboot by treating space as a cold scary adversary. There are also healthy similarities to the sense of hopeless dread felt in Apollo 13 and Castaway, but in Cuarón s hands, the stakes and level of tension are amped up exponentially.

The film could have taken many different paths, Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. were attached to the film before Bullock and Clooney signed on to star. Who's to say what the other interesting possibilities different actors may have brought to the table, but the chemistry between Bullock and Clooney works, even if they are physically separated by NASA space suits. Make no mistake, in the screenplay the Matt Kowalski character could have simply had "George Clooney" substituted in up until the final shooting script. Clooney brings his A-game cool cat Clooney charm, and he's the sole source of any break in the thick tense tension.

Cuarón wisely treats the 3D technology with restraint for the most part, but makes it wildly effective for the FX heavy sequences that really hit home the sense of weightlessness or the mortal dangers of incoming space debris at high speeds. The meticulous camera choreography is not lost in translation on the big screen, and balances a fine line between grand big screen cinematography and a visceral documentary feel.

Cuarón  has crafted a unique and groundbreaking sci-fi tale that successfully combines his kinetic camera work and incredible storytelling abilities when dealing with the human element. I left the theater awe struck and searching for the chance to enjoy my first easy breath in 90 minutes. I really can't say the last time I was prepared to look up at the projectionist booth and demand a film be promptly repeated, but that was my immediate reaction. I can honestly say I have never seen a movie quite like it before. It is not to be missed. Gravity is mesmerizing, a mandatory must see in IMAX 3D, and the hands down reason movies still need to be experienced in all their grandeur on the big screen.

Gravity opens in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D on October 4th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★★★½☆
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Screenwriters: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonas Cuarón
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 93 minutes

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Film Review: PRISONERS ★★★½☆☆

Prisoners is that rare nail biter thriller that wastes no time in firmly grabbing you by the throat and doesn't let go until its done with you nearly two and half hours later.

With a unforgiving plot that is sure to wreck havoc with any and every parent in its movie goer audience, when two six-year olds are kidnapped, to what lengths would you go to find them when the police's efforts do not turn up enough evidence to charge a likely prime suspect?

Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard star as the fathers of the pair of abducted girls, and are taken on a gripping emotional roller coaster ride over the course of the nine days in which the film is set. Jake Gyllenhaal as the dedicated but too straightforward cop on the case adds a lot to the complicated emotional fire that will leave you drained.

Jackman is extraordinary as the antagonized and distressed Keller Dover. He embodies a complex man put through the wringer and the horrendous toll resorting to the desperate measures will have on someone. He plays a full range of emotions from frantic panic to pained utter rage, to be-all end-all desperation. 

When he's not Wolverine, Jackman has enjoyed a varied career with his choice in roles. I've always felt his performance in the little seen meta sci-fi downer The Fountain was vastly underrated. That film may not have been everyone's cup of tea, Les Mis wasn't mine either, but it showcased the incredible acting chops Jackman keeps in his holster. In Prisoners he easily exceeds the whirlwind of gut wrenching emotions displayed in The Fountain. With his heavy sullen eyes, you feel like you are right there clinging to the anything and everything he needs to do in his obsessive mission to find his child.

Paul Dano easily slips into his role of Alex Jones, a mentally and emotionally challenged local who finds himself the first and easiest suspect in the abduction. No stranger to off kilter performance, Dano (There Will Be Blood, Looper) balances the creepy and the sympathetic all the while the plot thickens and morals are clearly left behind in the search for truth.

As the window to the audience's eyes, Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki, an oddball tattooed local lawman, shows little emotion towards the grieving parents' plights. While far from skimping on his detective duties, his cold public demeanor does little to ease the growing anxieties of anyone he comes in contact with during the twists and turns of the investigation.

While Jackman represents the part of you that reacts and does whatever is necessary, Maria Bello as Grace Dover puts in a great turn as the emotionally shattered mother left increasingly numbed every day her daughter is remains missing.

You could say the film greatly echoes the emotions wrought from 1996's Ransom starring Mel Gibson, but Prisoners is far darker than that film ever dared to go. In addition to the emotional performances, director of photography Roger Deakins plays a huge role in maintaining the film's relentless cloud of gloom. Deakins' consistent excellent work always speaks for itself and in this case is almost its own character in the film. The underlying mood set by the overcast days, rainy nights and dark unexplored locations give that much more weigh to the constant state of uneasiness.

Director Denis Villeneuve brings a lot to the table here. In addition to letting scenes to adequately and effectively breathe and his cast to deliver lines without cutting away to reverse reaction shots, he also makes great use of your fears of what is not revealed on screen. At moments where you are ready to look away, you are then not given a reason to. What you don't see is far more dreadful when left to your own imagination. I have no doubt what was in my head at crucial points was worse than any visual reveal that could have been made. At the other side of Ransom, Prisoners has a lot more in common with the sinister themes of a Seven-era David Fincher film, but rather plays its hand without the literal gruesome reveals and relies more on scant sound design and raw human reactive emotion.

Prisoners will keep you firmly on the edge of your seat from the start and leave you emotionally drained by its finish. The entire cast makes this thriller work, but it's Jackman's show giving a standout emotionally gripping performance that will be hard to ignore during awards season. It's a unforgettable pulse pounding ride to the end, even at two and half hours. I can't say I can comfortably recommend this to parents of young children given its effective execution of a Godawful nightmare scenario, but is without question the most riveting film I've seen all year.

Prisoners opens in theaters on September 20th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★★½☆☆
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, Viola Davis
Screenwriter: Aaron Guzikowski
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 153 minutes

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Hugh Jackman Praises 'X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST' As Three Movies In One

Access Hollywood has been on full Toronto Film Festival coverage since its kick off last Thursday. Hugh Jackman is in town for his powerful new drama Prisoners, and talked up the post-credits scene in The Wolverine, Bryan Singer's lasting contribution to the big screen superhero genre, and Christopher Nolan's first reaction to 2000's X-Men with AH's Scott Mantz (for full disclosure: I am also on the AH Toronto team taking on camera duties shooting press junkets and red carpet premieres).

While discussing The Wolverine's crowd pleasing extra scene (*SPOILERS* ahead), Jackman revealed his thoughts on the scope of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

"I was in at a screening, when the little easter egg as we call them, came up during the credits of Wolverine. I just kept hearing people yelling an cheering. To see Patrick Stewart come back out you know in the wheelchair, to see Ian McKellen with the fedora on. I know having sat at Comic Con at that panel with that extraordinary cast, this is I keep saying, this is two movies in one, but the size of it is like three in one. And he's really gonna blow people away with the story. I think Bryan Singer is going to be the first director to make increasing better movies in a franchise. I'm not sure if anyone else has done it."

He also went on to further praise Bryan Singer for (thankfully) turning the tide to making darker character driven superhero films, and what Christopher Nolan's reaction was when he saw X-Men in 2000.

"Few people credit Bryan for what he deserves credit for: which is really inventing that genre. There really wasn't a superhero genre before X-Men came out. And funny enough I remember catching a plane while we were promoting The Prestige with Chris Nolan and he said to me he's always had the Batman in his mind, even way back. Even before 2000. He had the version of Batman he ended up making in his head. And he said when I went into the cinema and I saw X-Men he was like 'Damn that's my idea,' the idea that you can really delve into the emotional life to the vulnerabilities of these characters and that that as well as being fantastical and amazing and action is what's gonna hook people and make them care. And that's what Bryan did, he had a lot of courage to do that."

Hugh also laughed off that picture he tweeted of himself lifting an astounding 460 pounds, "just showing off," the embarrassed 45-year old actor said. 460 pounds. Seriously. You need any more inspiration to get your lazy ass to the gym?

It's no exaggeration when people say Hugh Jackman is one of the nicest folks in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter. I have been fortunate to be a part of NYC press interviews with him since 2000's X-Men and continuing to Van Helsing, X-Men: The Last Stand, Les Miserables, and The Wolverine. Jackman is a consummate cordial class act, so I will without shame include the picture we took after the Prisoners junket interview.

SOURCE: AccessHollywood.com

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Pierce Brosnan On Daniel Craig As James Bond: "I Haven't Seen His Movies!"

Pierce Brosnan, one of the elite six who have played 007 on the big screen, admits to Access Hollywood that he has yet to see a James Bond film starring his successor Daniel Craig.

In this video interview conducted during 2012 The Toronto Film Festival, while talking up his new film Love Is All You Need, the topic of James Bond and the character's upcoming 50th Anniversary was something that could not be overlooked, and Access' Scott Mantz first asked Brosnan to reflect on his contribution to the enduring legacy of the series from 1995 to 2002.

"It's a small group of men now who played this role. So I'm deeply proud to be a part of it. It changed my life. It in many ways allowed me to make my own company, make my own films, the Thomas Crown (Affair), or The Matador, or Evelyn. And it's just the gift that keeps giving. So once you are that man, and if you embrace it, celebrate it, you can have a great time."

But there was an unexpected response when asked about moving past the series and his reaction to the first time he saw Daniel Craig's performance as the legendary secret agent in Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace.

"I haven't!" he laughed.

"I haven't seen his movies. I haven't looked," said the actor, who starred as 007 in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day.

"I think it's time, Daniel. I know you're doing great out there," he said to camera to the current Bond. "I know he's stealing thunder as he should and will continue to do so," he added regarding his friend Daniel Craig.

He honestly elaborated his concerns on following Timothy Dalton's two film stint as 007. "It was so difficult to enter into that that mansion, that world. And then to do it, and to get away with it and to have it live around you. And you to be the character, and when it finished I just had to keep looking in another direction because it's a hard one to dig yourself out from under. Or to move on. Or how do you move on from it?'" he admitted.

But that's not to say that Brosnan has not had the opportunity to check out the newer films in the series. He recalled a time when he was confronted with the perfect chance to watch Casino Royale, as an in-flight movie no less.

"I was on a plane years back and Casino Royale came on, and I thought 'Ah well, 37,000 feet. It's a good vantage point to watch it, to see what this lad's up to, you know Daniel,"' he recalled.

"He and I know each other, we're friends. Anyway, I was watching it, it broke down, and I was like 'Excuse me? Can I just, you know? Kaput.' And so it started up again, and it broke down. And then I tried it a third time and it wouldn't work. And I thought 'Alright, time enough. Time enough for that. I'll come and see it.' But it's what a celebration. I mean there was no other movie like it in the history of the films in fifty years."

There probably would have been double take after double take on that plane, as people passed by Brosnan's seat and catching a glimpse of James Bond watching a James Bond movie. But for Brosnan, there may be little escaping the upcoming onslaught of the fantastic Skyfall (reviewed on NerdyRottenScoundrel.com here), which like GoldenEye, could not do the series more proud as a defining, if not a re-defining chapter.

SOURCE: Access Hollywood

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Film Review - LOOPER ★★★½☆☆

Time travel adventures tend to be a tough bunch to roll through. The concepts of changing history, running into oneself in the past or future, the ripple of the butterfly effect in the timeline, the disastrous effects of a paradox, and of course, what shape does the time machine take? A plutonium powered DeLorean? A blue '60s style British Police Box? Or why the hell not, how about skipping through time in a hot tub?

Thankfully, Looper manages to get a substantial amount right in concept, execution, and presentation, putting it high on the horse in its handling of time travel. These kind of films are dissected ad nauseam by critics and fan boys alike, whether its on the scientific aspects of it all, or to see if it manages to makes any logistical and plausible sense. Some films execute the concept with a grain of salt, Looper does not.

The one-dimensional ads don’t do justice to this high-concept cat and mouse sci-fi chase. The commercials rely on simply hooking you in on Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a futuristic hit man (a “Looper”), being faced with the unexpected assignment of executing his future self, who is sent back to the past, and played by Bruce Willis. Frankly Looper goes above and beyond that on multiple levels, and soars beyond being a simple cause and effect time travel movie.

What works incredibly well in director/screenwriter Rian Johnson’s film is his investment in moody visuals and rich character development. Nobody in the impressive cast is shortchanged for a meaty part with plenty of depth written into their character.

Looper sucks you in from the get-go with a quick grisly attention grabbing opening scene which brilliantly sets both the stage and tone for the film. Another brilliant sequence follows Levitt for thirty years as he lives out his life of drug fueled violence as a gangster, which leads right up to the point where his older Joe (Bruce Willis) is sent into to past to be killed by younger Joe (Levitt).

To attempt a better plot explanation. In 2072, time travel is illegal and carried out only by the mob in secret. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a Looper in 2044, who is hired by said mob to kill vagrants on a clean slate by sending them tied and blindfolded into the past where their bodies have no record. This simple straightforward lucrative job for Levitt’s Joe is thrown out the window one day when he looks into the eyes of his latest kill, and they are his own. It turns out Joe’s employers have decided to close his loop, which means sending his 30 years future self back in time to be killed by his younger counterpart. Bruce Willis' Older Joe manages to elude execution and attempts to carry out a multifaceted plan that will have major repercussions on preventing a dystopian future. And go...

Why do you need to see Looper? Let's start with the performances. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives a star worthy performance as the young Bruce Willis. It's hard to figure out where prosthetics meet the subtle CGI which assist Levitt's morph job, but none of it takes away from the old school homage to Willis he physically and convincingly pulls off throughout the film. It's a performance that eerily mirrors Willis' facial mannerisms so much you wish you could forget the actual decades younger Bruce from Moonlighting and Die Hard.

These days Willis can phone in a performance and simply chalk it up to Bruce just playing Bruce (Cop Out anyone?). But here he plays Bruce the way Bruce is best played: some parts Pulp Fiction's Butch, some parts 12 Monkeys' James Cole, and this makes one bad ass role whose ultimate, overall, and driving motives force you to wonder if he is the hero or villain of the thick story line laid down. Older Joe is a character whose motives in his past border between simply self serving and heroic, and to attain his objective, he must persevere through heart wrenching and reprehensible actions. Willis has lot to work with here, and he knocks the role out of the ballpark.

Emily Blunt as Sara factors in when the film switches pace gears from its brisk opening hour to a grinding halt in its Witness-esque mid-section. But it's the relationship and subplot developed between Gordon-Levitt's Joe, Sara, and her ten year old son Cid (Pierce Gagnon), that gives the center the movie it's heart. The film builds upon that relationship until its threatened for the sake of the greater good, or what could be perceived as the greater good.

While the film generously grabs some of the best aspects of The Terminator, Back To The Future, 12 Monkeys, and even Akira, Johnson's solid screenplay manages to meld it all together into a moody fresh take. As far as its view on time travel, Looper cleverly takes mostly a direct cause and effect when events in the past effect the future, or even people from the future now living in their own 'past.'

To seriously over analyze or logistically dissect Looper  would take away the thought provoking character driven originality the film deserves. As a time travel concept snob, I did myself a disservice in the theater by over thinking the grand scheme of it all. Trying to figure out all the possible twists and turns that you should't be trying to figure out, not the way to go. Its a thinkers movie without question, but let it all flow and sink in as it moves along.

Looper succeeds as a gritty no-nonsense tense mind bender, and pulls no punches in some imagery that may not sit well with everyone. But there are plenty of terrific action sequences, a fantastic supporting cast, well executed drama, and the film isn't afraid to take the edge off a truly tense moment with a little humor every now and again. But its also satisfying that Looper will also stand tall among the notable entries of time travel films.

Looper opens in theaters on Friday, September 28th.

REVIEW RATING:  ★★★½☆☆
Directed By: Rian Johnson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels
Studio: Sony Picture
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 119 minutes

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Film Review - THE RAID: REDEMPTION ★★★★☆

The Raid: Redemption is that rare, exceptional, and simply unstoppable action film that will leave you gasping for air at every turn. Once it gets into gear, which is within mere minutes after its opening scene, prepare to have your senses beaten to a pulp in the best way possible.

The plot is pretty straightforward, a SWAT team comprised mostly of rookie cops is sent to infiltrate the high-rise lair of local crime lord Tama (Ray Sahetaphy), and end his reign of terror by bringing him to justice. It's worth nothing that Tama has an unstoppable right hand man killing machine know only as Mad Dog, and said high-rise building also happens to have thirty floors worth of apartments that house a virtual rogues gallery of thugs, killers, and drug addicts.

When at first the mission entailed breaking into the building and capture Tama, the tide is quickly turned on the newbie cops and simply surviving long enough to get out of the building becomes the new goal. Relentless tension and action ensue as our fists-a-flying hero Rama (Iko Uwais) goes from floor to floor, room to room, and thug to thug in what seems to be an endless maze of potential deathtraps. With a fallen commander and a wounded comrade, he is left only with the aid of unlikely allies and his own survival skills to hope to see the mission completed (and safely return home to his wife who is carrying his unborn child).

When nearly every tenant in the run down, grimy building is a gangster, you can be sure they possess both a deadly weapon the intent to use it with skill and agile force against the police intruding on their home turf. Guns, machettes, fists are all utilized on the confined battle field.

Iko Uwais, in addition to giving a star making performance in the film as the hero Rama, is responsible for choreographing the amazing fight sequences, which come fast, furious, and at a non-stop pace. A lesser film could easily slip into the trap of becoming a monotonous series of mindless video game fight sequence after fight sequence, but The Raid excels in its set-up and execution of the successive stages in the mission.

The frantic, yet rock solid, cinematography is matched by it's masterful martial arts choreography and solid cast. What keeps the raw action both grounded and brutal is the precision of the hand-held camerawork. The film doesn't resort to falling back on slow motion or Steadicam shooting to evoke a super cool style, and thankfully no attention is given to gratuitous gravity defying wire work or even worse, Matrix-esque bullet time effects.

Every single visceral punch and kick is felt and heard, and there must be hundreds of them. Yayan Ruhian as Mad Dog is both a relentless killer and a memorable villain. More so as an unstoppable force, and not immediately as an imposing figure since he is physically smaller than most of the adversaries he dispatches with the utmost of ease. 

Directed, written, and edited by Gareth Evans, the Indonesian film has been gaining steady word of mouth with successful runs at the Toronto, SXSW, and Sundance Film Festivals. The film also boasts an original score from Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, who makes a winning debut here as a film composer.

You can make easy comparisons to Die Hard for its high-rise/high body count plot, or John Woo's action icon Hard Boiled, but The Raid: Redemption has more than enough going for it to proudly stand all on its own as an adrenaline charged action epic, and will easily be ranked as one of the best in its genre.   

The Raid: Redemption opens in select theaters today.

REVIEW RATING: ★★★★☆
Directed By: Gareth Evans
Starring: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Ray Sahetapy, Joe Taslim
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Rated: R