East of Eden (1955)

Genre

Drama

Director

Elia Kazan

Country

USA

Cast

James Dean, Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, Richard Davalos, Burl Ives, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Dekker, Lois Smith, Timothy Carey, Harold Gordon, Nick Dennis, Barbara Baxley, Richard Garrick, Lonny Chapman

Storyline

In and around WWI, Cal Trask (James Dean) compete against his brother (Richard Davalos) for the love of their father (Raymond Massey). In the meantime, he tries to reconnect with his estranged mother (Jo Van Fleet) and falls in love with his brother's girlfriend (Julie Harris).

Opinion

When I think about James Dean, my mind immediately goes to Rebel Without a Cause for two reasons: first, it is one of my favourite movies of all times; second, it was the only film with James Dean I saw until watching East of Eden days ago. And this is definitely the film that's going to come to my mind now because both Dean's debut and Elia Kazan's film are impressive.

As everybody knows this film is based on John Steinbeck's novel. I haven't read it so I won't be able to tell whether it is an accurate transposition or not, I sure can say that it's one of the most beautiful, emotional coming of age story I've seen and one of the greatest sibling rivalry stories ever. I know that it's basically a modern-day version of the Bible's Cain and Abel, but I've read the Bible (I'd like to point out that I'm not a religious person, I just read it to see how much nonsense there was in it. And FIY it's a lot) so believe me when I tell you Cal and Aaron's rivalry is way more interesting.

However, the best feature of East of Eden is easily the characters. Although they could have done with a little bit more development and their motivations could have been explored a little better given the two hours running time, the characters are very complex and intricate and you will easily find yourself reflecting about them long after you see the film.

The characters wouldn't be as great as they are if it wasn't for the cast. Most of the actors are so natural it doesn't even feel like they are actors, but the most impressive is James Dean. His performance is so intense and dramatic and at times it almost feels like he was aware of his upcoming tragic death. There's something in his eyes, a veil of sadness and bitterness, that captures the drama of Cal beautifully.

At last but not least there's the masterful job Elia Kazan did. The use he makes of subtle camera movements and Dutch angles enhance the drama to perfection.

Thursday Movie Picks: Rescues

Welcome to another Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves that consists of picking three films to fit the week's theme. 

This week's theme is movies about rescues aka a lot of movies to choose from so I don't really know why I'm going with two of the most obvious. Oh, I know, because they are great.

Argo (2012)

In order to rescue six American in Tehran in 1980, a CIA agent acts under the cover of a Hollywood producer looking for a location to shot a science fiction film. I still can't believe this is a true story. Anyway, I loved it. I haven't seen it in a while but I remember it being pretty suspenseful, and I was really impressed with Ben Affleck. 

Finding Nemo (2003)

When his son Nemo is taken away by a diver, Marlin sets off on a journey to rescue him. Although it isn't the best from Disney Pixar, it is a pretty fun flick both for kids and adults (I'm the living proof. I loved it as a kid, I still love it now). It also has a nice message and Ellen DeGeneres is hilarious as Dory.

The Monuments Men (2014)

It's WWII and an American professor recruits 6 men who rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves. There's nothing I can say about this film that could convince you to watch it. It's a pretty empty film, insulting even. So why did I pick it? Because it's based on a compelling true story.

Dogtooth (2009)

Original Title

Κυνόδοντας Kynodontas

Genre

Drama

Director

Yorgos Lanthimos

Country

Greece

Cast

Christos Sterfiouglou, Michelle Valley, Angeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Christos Passalis, Anna Kalaitzidou

Storyline

The father (Christos Sterfiouglou), the mother (Michelle Valley) and their three kids (Angeliki Papulia, Mary Tsoni and Christos Passalis) live isolated in a country estate. And they are happy. But then the father decides to pay his colleague Christina (Anna Kalaitzidou) to appease the sexual urges of his son and the happiness and tranquillity of the family are put at stake. 

Opinion

Being one of those who absolutely loved The Lobster (it's one of my favourite movies ever to be honest, and I find myself thinking about it very often), and waiting for Lanthimos's new film once again starring Colin Farrell, I decided to give his debut a try. And, although I didn't love it as much as I loved The Lobster, Dogtooth is another quite brilliant film from the Greek filmmaker.

But it's also another film you either love or hate and it's all because of Lanthimos' writing. There isn't more to the plot than the simple storyline you can read above. Also, it manages to be both incredibly absurd and believable at the same time. And it doesn't really kick in until about halfway through the movie. And it's pretty uncomfortable and unpleasant as well.

But that's not all. The dialogue is pretty mundane, very random and incredibly slow. And then there are the characters. They are some of the most wooden and underdeveloped characters I've seen on screen. They are quite dull and unrelatable. They are extremely bizarre and even disgusting at times and yet they are incredibly interesting to watch because of their emotional blandness and weird actions. And for the first time in my life, I'm praising wooden acting because it's just what the film needs to be more effective.

So it's definitely not a film for everybody, but I'd still recommend to watch it because after all is a great but still disturbing political satire that tackled dictatorship while making a social commentary on the extremes of isolation, on manipulation and corruption. It's basically another twisted dystopian film that I'm sadly not very sure it's far from reality.

American Heist (2014)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

Sarik Andreasyan

Country

USA

Cast

Hayden Christensen, Adrien Brody, Jordana Brewster, Akon, Tory Kittles, Rachel Bilson

Storyline

James (Hayden Christensen) owes his life to his brother Frankie (Adrien Brody) after taking the rap for a crime they committed together. When Frankie asks him for help to rob a bank, he has no choice but help him. 

Opinion

As the ending credits were rolling, I was trying to figure out why on Earth they would name this film American Heist. It just didn't make any sense. It's only now, a few days later, that it's finally making sense. This is the typical Hollywood bullshit, so I guess the fact that they tricked me and many others to watch it qualifies as an American heist.

The storyline isn't particularly appealing so it didn't come as a surprise that the final result wasn't appealing either. The plot barely has something resembling development, it's incredibly boring, it doesn't have any interesting twist and it has nothing to do with a heist (unless you consider a bank robbery gone bad a heist. That's not a heist if you ask me).

Anyway, if anything, it is a melodramatic soap opera about the troubled but never dramatic relationship between two brothers, James and Frankie, 'enhanced' by one of those pathetic and pointless romantic sub-plots Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to live without and whose only purpose is to have a gorgeous woman in the film.

The characters, however, are even worse than the story. Christensen's is one of the most uninteresting characters I've seen recently and there's nothing he can do to help. He's not like the best actor ever, after all. On the other hand, there's Adrien Brody, playing Christensen's brother. He really puts some efforts into the role and that results in a fine performance from him. Unfortunately, his character is barely developed and all of his efforts to deliver an emotional and heartbreaking scene are completely vain.

The direction also leaves a lot to be desired, from the almost inexistent action that obviously fails to deliver tension, to the terrible soundtrack that makes American Heist just a little bit more ridiculous if you consider some of the tracks are from one of the members of the cast, Akon.