The Limits of Control

I have liked Jim Jarmusch films in the past (see Broken Flowers and Lost in Translation). These films are slow and quiet, but meaningful. They tell a story, even if it is one of depression or loneliness. The Limits of Control is also slow and quiet, but too slow and too quiet. A man gets an assignment to do something, and then flies to Spain to do it. He meets people along the way, exchanging match boxes with messages in them. This fact in itself hooked me. I wanted to know what the man's mission was, what were the messages, etc. But after four meetings, four exchanges, and about four lines of dialogue (in total), I couldn't bear it. I tried a bit of fast forward, a bit of web browsing to pass the time, but still the film didn't go anywhere fast enough to get me to a resolution. The filming of Spain was nice, but not spectacular. The choice of architecture was interesting, but not alluring enough to pull me in. If I could offer a spoiler here to tell you how it resolves in order to save you the effort of watching this film I would. Alas, I don't know since I couldn't get through it.

1 star (out of 5)

X-Men: First Class

Two Kevin Bacon films in one week -- bonus. This X-Men prequel goes back to the 1940's in order to tell the story of how mutants were first "discovered". Bacon plays the evil Nazi scientist who maintains a goal of helping evolution along by eliminating humans. His first discovery is a boy who eventually grows up to be the Magneto we know and love, and of course psychologically devastates the boy to provide a lifetime of hero/nemesis interactions for Marvel Comics. We are also introduced to Professor Xavier in his pre-professor days when he needed to put a thoughtful finger-to-the-temple in order to utilize his mutant power of telepathy (reminded me of Austin Powers every time). This film does a good job of providing the X-Men backstory, tying it in to crisis in actual history (which is always fun), and showing off some cool action/effects with the mutant powers. So a good solid film, but not great or groundbreaking in anyway. Fortunately, I don't think the film was trying to be groundbreaking. Just fun.

3 stars (out of 5)

Footloose

Annika couldn't believe that I had never seen this seminal film, so we watched it one night. Amazingly, it holds up. Kevin Bacon plays the new kid in a sleepy, conservative town dominated by the local pastor (John Lithgow). Based on a past event, the town has outlawed dancing (since it obviously leads to all kinds of actual sins). Unfortunately, Bacon loves dancing and is a bit of a rebel. Controversy, protest, and rebellion ensue. The dancing is pretty good and the 80's music (that was current when the film was made) is actually pretty good 80's music. The film maintains the appropriate amount of cheeky humor and was enjoyable. A fun little flashback...

3 stars (out of 5)

Takers

I love a good heist film, and this one is pretty good. The story revolves around a group of partners that commit high end thefts (banks, armored cars, etc.) on a grand scale, but only infrequently. When one of their former associates is released from prison and returns to the group with a hot tip on a new job, everyone has to decide whom to trust. In parallel, Matt Dillon plays the grisled cop with a screwed up personal life and only the job to give him meaning. Like a dog with a bone, Dillon is relentless in his pursuit. So while the story is one of heist and detective work, the real value in this film is the development of the personalities and relationships of the players. Each individual has a little bit of background that plays into decision making and affects the trajectory of the entire group. Two things could have made this film great, instead of just good. Pushing the depth of each character and actually allowing the viewer to have someone to root for. I don't mind not always being able to root for the good guy since some time the bad guys are more sympathetic. But there must be someone who can come out a winner in the end that can give a real sense of satisfaction. That piece was missing.
4 stars (out of 5)

Blue Valentine

This is a story of love and the drudgery of life when love is no longer around. Or perhaps it is the story of how life becomes drudgery when we forget how to love. Cindy and Dean are working class people in the northeast. Cindy has aspirations, Dean doesn't. Dean loves his daughter and loves the lack of responsibility and intensity that his life as a laborer affords him. But without any forward thinking, he and Cindy have sunk into a monotony that is wearing them both out. The story is well told, with alternating clips between the present life and their meeting and courtship in the past. There is really only one lighthearted scene in the entire film, where Dean and Cindy sing and dance on a date. Otherwise, the tone of the film drops its full weight on the viewer, forcing you to feel as trapped as the protagonists. Not really fun to watch, but a really well made not-fun-to-watch film.

3 stars (out of 5)

Battle of Los Angeles

If ever there was a SciFi B-movie, this was it. I felt like I was watching Saturday afternoon TV in July when the only things on are golf, BMX bike racing and an old alien invasion film. What is surprising is that Battle of Los Angeles was made this year, probably to gain advantage from the theatrical release Battle: Los Angeles. There is not a single thing (acting, writing, special effects, plot line, etc.) that does not say "direct to video". The plot is actually irrelevant enough for you to not really know what is going on for the first 20 minutes or so. I was very close to walking out of this several times, and only the fact that I could be in the kitchen making lunch at the same time while it ran in the background preventing me from bailing out. So, since I did see it through to the end, and since it is an excellent example of B-film making, it gets

2 stars (out of 5)

TiMER

I read about a book coming out this fall (sorry, don't remember the title) in the Hunger Games genre about a society in which everyone is matched by a computer for their optimum compatibility. In TiMER, we get a variation on that theme, and a well done variation at that. A company has figured out how to read your biochemistry to determine who your perfect true love will be, as well as to identify how much time will pass before you meet that person. Very SciFi and we don't get the details of how this would work (even as I write it, too many "practical" questions come to mind). Regardless, this is a story that centers around how we live our lives and make the decisions about relationships that we do. What would you do if you knew that you would not meet your true love for another 10 years? What would you do if you knew it was tomorrow? How would you live your life if your TiMER was blank, meaning that your true love did not have a TiMER installed. You could have already met them. So we get a serious and lighthearted (it has to be lighthearted lest it travel toward depressing) look at the difficult decisions made around relationship. And like a true modern romantic comedy, it wraps up nicely. I would have preferred a bit more of a SciFi ending, where you are left wondering about the possibilities, which would have been easy to do. But I am sure it would have been largely unsatisfying for most viewers.
4 stars (out of 5)