Archive for February, 2012
Way late review: Floored
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
One can’t help but notice the subjects of the film, struggling to adapt to the new ways of doing business (computer vs. in-person trades), resemble professional poker players. They wear odd clothes to distinguish themselves on the floor. They are driven by the thrill of making major money in a split second. They thrive in a high stress environment where reading faces and feeling the vibe of the room can be just as important as the math behind it all. Telling these men that their livelihoods is now going to a world dominated by computers is like telling a pro poker player all the money is in online poker. With that one revelation their worlds get flipped upside down. And that reality is the one that Floored examines in its last act. Along the way are fascinating characters, stories, and insights into a world that most of us never get to see, nor will we in the case of the manic days of trading on the floor.
Being a fan of Michael Lewis’ Liar’s Poker, where he tells his story of working at Salomon Brothers in the ’80s, made me particularly interested in watching Floored once I discovered it thanks to Netflix’s recommendation. I was not disappointed. A relatively short film (77 minutes), it wastes no time getting into the insanity of trading floors, including a brief but helpful explanation of what all those crazies yelling at each other in the middle of a pit do. Unbeknown to me, many of those in the pit put up their own money in the trades. That fact alone leads to some intense pressure.
Let there be no doubt, the love of money drives these guys. They are every bit materialistic as they are thrill seekers. Regrets are not expressed by the sadness of losing oneself in insatiable greed or the loss of fellow traders to suicide. No, regrets from these men are often about not staying ahead of the game, either by adapting to the change to computer trading or missing out on some great trades.
Stories of fights after trading hours breaking out include one where two traders take it out to the parking lot. After trading a few blows, one of the traders swings while the other ducks and the punch lands through the window of a car. The trader with a bloody, glass filled hand asks the other for a ride to the hospital. The request for a ride is refused. Mind you, the trader telling this story (the one who refused to give a ride) is eccentric to say the least. We meet him at his house where he shows off an endless display of taxidermy animals he’s killed over the years. Bonus points for putting some of them on wheels, including a giraffe. While giving a tour of the place, this former floor trader states that it’s not any fun if you can’t get killed. I think he was referring to hunting wild animals, but I think his motto applied to his approach to trading.
There is little sympathy in the end for those who find themselves on the way out as a new crew takes their place in the form of analysts, computer scientists, and mathematicians. The game is being played by better players. Too bad that same game is one where most of us are blindly invested.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | No Comments »
Way late review: Higher Ground
Monday, February 27, 2012
Corinne (Vera Farmiga) is a young girl at what appears to be some sort of Bible vacation school. The pastor presses the young children in front of him for a decision to invite Jesus into their hearts. It’s a tactic that would likely make Charles Finney beam in pride and John Calvin weep. After surveying the kids around her, Corinne raises her hand in response to the pastor’s plea. Thus begins Corinne’s journey of faith.
Higher Ground is a rare film that doesn’t attempt to belittle the Christian faith nor does it try to gloss over the sins and peculiarities of those who hold to that faith. In place of cynicism we get a view of Corinne’s life and the impact Christianity has had. As a teen, Corinne is the quiet writer contrasted with her sister who is more of the wild child. Somewhat surprisingly, Corinne falls for a wannabe rock star, Ethan (Joshua Leonard), and soon after gets pregnant then married. Their life is one of instability, as Ethan pursues his rock n’ roll dream while Corinne attempts to care for their child. All that changes once the two are in an accident that lands the band’s van in a lake. Mom, dad and baby all make it out alive. Ethan determines this is a miracle from God and begins digging into the Bible. It’s not long before Ethan and Corinne are baptized in a river. Enter the Jesus people stage, one filled with church service in the outdoors, a charismatic twinged faith, and lots of groovy clothes. Again, this seems to be a fairly accurate portrayal of this movement within the Christian faith at the time.
The movie makes a misstep when it attempts to add humor with the Christian married couples’ attempts at grappling with sex in their marriages. Where most of the movie has an authentic feel, these scenes feel like cheats for laughs. They come dangerously close to not laughing at the situations but laughing at those in the situations.
Almost as important to her as her faith in Jesus is Corinne’s friendship with Annika (Dagmara Dominczyk), an adventurous soul who fascinates Corinne. The two friends share a number of memorable moments together as they both learn more about life, faith, and how the two intersect.
A heartbreaking turn of events happens that tests Corinne’s faith. It is at this point in the film we see a clear divergence between Corinne and the rest of her church, including her husband and kids. Corinne finds less and less comfort in a sovereign God who allows terrible things to happen to seemingly good people. This spiral of doubt and sorrow leads to Corinne’s falling out of her faith and marriage. It’s at this point I fully expected the film to teach us how Corinne finds true fulfillment at last as a woman freed from the bondage of Christianity. Instead, we get a glimpse of one who feels free to do what she pleases yet finds little joy. She discovers the allure of greener pastures can often be a mirage.
There is a scene towards the end of the film where Corinne reconnects, if only for a brief moment, with her ex-husband around the kitchen table in celebration of their child’s birthday. It’s not a big scene with sweeping music which makes it even more impactful.
The film’s ending falls into a bit of a trap by making it crystal clear where Corinne is at in relation to her faith. Instead of letting viewers grasp that this is a near middle aged woman with likely many more years left to live and more story to play out, we’re left with a stump speech of sorts. Christian films, those that often are made to evangelize, get raked over the coals for using this often clumsy technique and Higher Ground is not immune to the critique. The difference being that instead of preaching a message, Corinne tells us where she is at in terms of faith in God. It leaves an overall solid film on an off note.
Vera Farmiga succeeds in not only carrying the load of this film based on real life memoirs of Carolyn S. Briggs, she also directed it as a first time effort behind the camera. I admire her attempt to tackle a subject that is not a popular one in her circles and generally handling it with great care, never taking the easy route of cynically portraying her characters while also not hiding their struggles and faults.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | No Comments »
Way late review: Beauty Day
Friday, February 24, 2012
Before Youtube and before Johnny Knoxville and his crew there was Ralph Zavadil, aka Cap’n Video. A local access cable show in St. Catharines, Ontario, Cap’n Video existed in obscurity until Zavadil’s alter ego attempted one too many dangerous stunts. And it is that stunt, a botched plunge into a covered pool off a shaky ladder, which opens the documentary Beauty Day.
Not being a fan of watching people put themselves through bizarre, dangerous and often times disgusting stunts, I was hesitant to watch a documentary about one of the early pioneers of the genre that now dominates the web and fills far too many TV channels. Much to my surprise, Beauty Day is far more than a story about Cap’n Video. It is a well told story of a character you wouldn’t believe existed in real life, proving the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction.
Zavadil nearly loses his life after the pool plunge stunt. Had it not been for a neighbor hearing the crash, Cap’n Video would have been in the next day’s obits. While I would assume these antics are done purely for the attention they might gain, the film portrays a more nuanced motivation. Cap’n Video was Zavadil’s attempt to live life to its fullest, albeit in his own odd way. The show and its title character were his way of acting out creatively, escaping a dead end job at the local factory.
Interesting characters make or break any film, documentaries are no exception. But what puts Beauty Day over the top are director Jay Cheel’s choices of music, editing, and cinematography. Very little of the documentary is typical of the genre. Opening with the stunt that ended Zavadil’s show and nearly ended his life is bold. Even the opening title sequence is noticeably different, as it is bright blue with bold white typography. And the use of video grids early on is a great way to further entrench the viewer with the vibe of the Cap’n Video show of old while establishing the unique aesthetics of the documentary itself. Even talking head interviews are interesting, as the first one to show on screen is Ralph with his alien looking light helmet on his head talking about the accident while smoking and drinking. The use of 2:35 aspect ratio for everything but clips from the television show adds to the cinematic feel.
The challenge I’ve noticed character studies like Beauty Day have is they’re never quite sure how deep to go into the story of the character. Sometimes the director tries to dive in deeper and is rejected (see Bill Cunningham, New York), other times the director gets the access to go deeper but fails at painting a complete picture (e.g. Buck) of the subject’s life. Beauty Day succeeds at giving a much fuller picture of Zavadil’s life story while still maintaining a connection to the show that gave him minor celebrity status.
There is a richness to the narrative. We learn about a man who survived cancer as a child and then went on to produce a one-man stunt show which almost led to his death. We see the parallels of a former girlfriend’s experience on the motorcycle racing circuit with that of Zavadil’s life, the revelation of a daughter he didn’t realize he had until later on in life, and witness an attempt to create a 20th anniversary Cap’n Video.
Beauty Day is refreshingly honest. There is a nervous energy about Ralph Zavadil that is hard to not get wrapped up in. At the same time, Ralph is human and the film never tries to hide that. It would be easy to portray him as a misunderstood genius of self-destructive stunts or a troubled soul we should feel sorry for, but instead we get a look at the good, the bad and the stuff that falls somewhere in-between. And all of this is done with a sense of humor and unique style that adds up to a fine film.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | 2 Comments »
Way late review: The Smurfs
Thursday, February 23, 2012
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | 2 Comments »
Way late review: Contagion
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
There is no time to waste. The first victims of the disease are shown traveling as they begin to show signs of not feeling well. Every item touched by one of these characters in these scenes is front and center. In case we weren’t already aware, it doesn’t take much effort to transfer many forms of sickness to one another, Soderbergh hammers home that point.
Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), one of the first victims of the disease, arrives home after a business trip in Hong Kong and dies shortly after her arrival. Things unravel from there with multiple angles of the story examined, much like Soderbergh’s Traffic. There are stories within the larger narrative but none of the stories overtake that narrative. Unlike Traffic, there isn’t a heightened sense of drama or emotion. The reality of the disease spreading, the fight to find the cause and cure, those trying to find the truth behind what is going on is handled in a matter of fact way, not unlike a documentary. The only time there feels like a message is being preached (ala Traffic’s (one cringe worthy) scene between Topher Grace and Michael Douglas) is when Jude Law’s blogger/independent journalist Alan Krumwiede is played for the straight up huckster and tin hat wearing crowd his character is meant to represent. It’s forgivable, if only because Law’s character brings so much energy to the screen.
Never completely satisfying as a drama or thriller, Contagion finds its sweet spot somewhere in between genres. And though it never connects on a deep emotional level, the end result is a well done film that tells a believable story about a scenario none of us wishes to experience.
This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.
Topics: Entertainment, Movie Reviews | No Comments »