Goodnight Mommy

**Spoiler Alert**

Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz/Starring: Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz and Elias Schwarz

Goodnight Mommy, or as it is known by its proper Austrian name, Ich Seh, Ich Seh: (I See, I See), is creepy before it becomes disturbing at which point the audience may find itself recoiling from the horrors depicted onscreen. The film may be difficult to watch but it also wields power and the means to get deep under one's skin. Submitted to the Oscar committee as Austria's entry for Best Foreign Film, directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz's story resists our attempts to anticipate its narrative turns, then unveils a twist unexpected and unforeseen.

Susanne Wuest plays a mother who has returned home after having had cosmetic, facial surgery. Her twin sons, Lukas (Lukas Schwarz) and Elias (Elias Schwarz) begin to see her as an impostor; someone not their mother. Their conviction is strengthened by the mother's odd behavior, which includes ignoring Lukas and subjecting the boys to unnerving glances and stares, as well as her cold demeanor and strange walks in the forest. The Mother's sinister-looking bandages also do little to convince them otherwise.

Up until this point in the film, the audience may share the boy's suspicions. We sympathize with them as the story becomes stranger and stranger. Questions about the characters are deliberately unanswered, such as why the Mother ignores Lukas but the latter half of the film clarifies whatever riddles it poses in the first. The second half is also characterized by a significant shift in our sympathies. Convinced the woman living with them isn't their mother, the twins manage to tie her down to a bed, which precedes a brutal, prolonged interrogation process. Hoping to elicit a confession, the boys visit all manner of disturbing tortures on her; many of which will no doubt cause film-goers to squirm.

If one is looking for a happy resolution and a surcease from the hellish images Goodnight Mommy furnishes in surplus, one will be sorely disappointed. It is a film that rewards our revulsion with a visceral, unsentimental and unforgettable story.

In the final act, we discover why the Mother would ignore Lukas; a twist that sheds light on the psychological darkness gripping the family.

Of course what is technically a chamber piece could only be made riveting by a cast willing to sojourn in darkness. Real-life twins Lukas and Elias Schwarz redefine the term enfant terrible with their chilling performances as twins whose fear transmogrifies into sadism. I can't imagine what psychic and physical endurance Susanne Wuest had to summon to portray the Mother but it must have been a grueling ordeal.

Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht (Revanche, Amour Fou) turns the family's home into a cold, Stygian nightmare with grays and whites; only the creepy masks the boys don and the blood that inevitably spills from Mother offer any chromatic contrast.

I saw this film back to back with The Witch (see my recent posting), which made for a fairly intense pairing in a movie-house, Halloween marathon. Whether such a terrific film earns a nomination from the Oscar committee is immaterial but if it does, I pity the competition. It is yet another film I've seen in the month of October that belongs in the year's most distinguished cinema. Though its horror label seems limiting, it is nevertheless appropriate. If the American title suggests something benign, the movie itself ensures we know the difference between a nightmare and a lullaby.

Room

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Lenny Abrahamson/Starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Sean Bridgers and Tom McCamus

The film Room is dramatized beautifully and with great power but its most fascinating character may be a little boy, who, never having seen the world in his first five years, is suddenly thrust into it with little or no preparation. What does the world look like to him; his understanding of it being solely derived from television and what his mother has told him? Director Lenny Abrahamson and Emma Donoghue, who adapted the screenplay from her own novel of the same name, attempt to answer that question and in doing so, leave us with a gripping and unforgettable story.

Without tracing the steps leading to the young woman and her son's imprisonment, we meet the mother; Joy "Ma" Newsome (Brie Larson, in an amazing, breakthrough role) and her son Jack (an equally impressive Jacob Tremblay). Confined to what we gather is a shed, no space in their tight living arrangement is wasted. As it becomes clear Ma and Jack are denied egress from their uncomfortably cramped space, we also learn how they survive when someone they refer to as Old Nick arrives periodically with food and supplies.

When the story begins, Jack rouses his mother from the bed they share to announce his birthday. In the course of the day, Ma manages to make him a cake but is unable to provide the candles Jack eagerly requests. How did Ma come to be here and who might her captor or captors be? Both questions are answered forthwith.

Sometime later we see Old Nick (Sean Bridgers)from Jack's perspective; through the closet door slats. Joy forbids her captor any visual or physical contact with her son (though it could only be his). Unable to see Nick's face, he watches as the man makes small talk with Ma while removing his clothes. That Old Nick imprisoned Ma is made fairly clear. How it happened is revealed later in a conversation between Ma and Jack.

We learn Ma has been held captive seven years, which means Jack was born in a sort of captivity. How Ma explains the world to Jack and how he makes sense of it becomes the narrative focal point. What Jack knows, including what he sees on television and who Old Nick might be, and what, if anything, lies beyond their walls, is filtered by his mother. The only view of the outside world is the skylight, which Jack stares out of with all the curiosity and wonder of a child.

As Jack's curiosity blossoms further and their health becomes more of an issue, Ma begins to see that an escape is an imperative, especially after Old Nick's violent outbursts become more frequent. But before she can hatch a plan, she explains to Jack who Old Nick really is and why they must leave Room (as Jack refers to it). Ma's explanation that there is a world outside the walls is met with disbelief and anger, as Jack rejects her descriptions as absurd fabrications. It is hard not to think about Plato's Allegory of the Cave as Ma attempts to make the concept of outside comprehensible. When Jack questions her about what is real and imaginary on television, we can see how someone ignorant of the world might not know the difference.

Their escape (no spoiler here; the trailer gives it away) is harrowing and thrilling; a cunning feat Ma devises but doesn't go entirely to plan. That the scheme involves Jack leaving Room for the first time is part of the excitement.

The rest of the film deals with the aftermath of their long incarceration as their liberation becomes a media circus and Ma is reunited with her mother Nancy (Joan Allen) and father Robert (William H. Macy). How Ma; now Joy, and Jack cope with freedom becomes the new focus. And with freedom comes an array of problems with which Joy must contend. One is her father, who is emotionally ill-equipped to deal with his daughter and grandchild and another is her mother, who she assigns some blame for her abduction. We also see the acute psychological fall-out from her ordeal. But again, it is Jack's introduction to the world that we await with bated breath. Abrahamson makes us see how strange and frightening it would be to find oneself suddenly thrust into the world and for Jack to live in an unconfined space with people other than his mother. We also feel Jack's reluctance to love and trust others. We also get a sense of what it would be like for a little boy to see a dog for the first time. Joy's most fervent desire--for Jack to be connected to the world, is an issue the film doesn't leave dangling.

I left the theater, unable to think of little else but Abrahamson's film. It is a story that stimulates many emotions; fear, dread, anger, love, elation, wonder and at the risk of sounding mawkish; hope. Though the story is Joy and Jack's; it is really in a sense his story and because Abrahamson and Donoghue make it so, the film is the richer for it.

Brie Larson has quickly become one of America's most versatile actresses. Her performance alone is reason enough to see Room but her co-star nearly steals the show. No doubt Jacob Tremblay will figure prominently in year-end award considerations.

If the film is a breakthrough opportunity for Larson, it is no less so for Abrahamson. Room is a radical departure from his amusing, oddball film Frank. Abrahamson shepherds the story through the emotional crests and troughs with such sensitivity and power; never forgetting the center of this affecting story: a five year-old boy.

Room opens near the end of a month in which a surge of excellent films made their mark. It earns its designation as being among the best of the year. It derives its power from something so seemingly elemental as the relationship of a mother and her son. I'm still thinking about it days later.

The Witch: A New England Folktale

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Robert Eggers/Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson and Ellie Grainger

I recently attended a Halloween Horror Movie Marathon at my favorite movie house where the program was a bracing mix of various sub-genres. But one film that I considered to be the gem of the marathon and one of the best films of the year is a stunner called The Witch: A New England Folktale; director Robert Eggers' first feature length film. And what a debut! The story of a family trying to eke out a meager existence in the untamed and unforgiving wilds of 17th century New England is made more harrowing by a witch, who terrorizes the family in frightening, diabolical ways. Eggers' film reaches for authenticity, with period-appropriate dialogue and natural lighting. The film also has the gritty feel of hardship and deprivation. The story is convincing, which is due in part to said authenticity. Of course its success has much to do with its other conspicuous qualities.

Early on, the family is seen being expelled from a colonial town after facing a town tribunal. Unwilling to bow to the town's oppressive religious authority, William (Ralph Ineson) and his family exit the town as the large, wooden gates close behind them with a grim finality. Left to their own devices, William builds a home in the wilderness near the forest edge.

Amid the struggles to survive in an inhospitable environment, William and his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie) also have a brood they must provide for. The eldest is their daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy); a girl at the threshold of womanhood, while their eldest son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), is pubescent who is lasciviously aware of the womanly aspects of his older sister. There is also Jonas (Lucas Dawson) and Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and their infant sibling.

One day, as Thomasin is watching over the baby; playing a harmless game of peek-a-boo, she uncovers her eyes to find the baby has vanished. Horrified, she looks to the forest, the most likely path of abduction. A frantic, fruitless search is undertaken. The scene cuts to a dark interior, where an old woman stands naked; her wrinkled, old frame contrasts sharply with the baby's smooth skin. As the witch hovers over the baby with a knife in hand, the scene cuts mercifully away, though we learn of the baby's grisly fate later as the old woman lubricates her body and what looks like a broom with a red substance whose nature we can easily surmise.

As a grief-stricken Katherine prays passionately for her child, other dramas and developments unfold. We see Caleb begin to notice his sister's bosom; his emerging sex drive very apparent. A more serious incident arises when Thomasin, angry with Jonas and Mercy, tells them she is a witch; frightening them with details about her fictitious, infernal arts. As we see later, her seemingly harmless scare-tactic has serious repercussions.

Thomasin's womanhood becomes a cause for her parent's concern. Thomasin overhears her parents discussing plans to marry her off, which causes her great distress.

The witch begins to further torment the family when Caleb, wandering alone in the forest, comes upon her lair. She emerges from her sinister-looking hovel as a beautiful, full-figured woman and a dangerous lure for a boy just discovering his sexuality. The encounter proves to be frightening, as the seductress becomes something other than what Caleb sees. The loss of their baby still fresh in their minds, William and Katherine search for Caleb, which again proves fruitless. The children accuse Thomasin, citing her admission earlier as proof. Katherine also begins to suspect her daughter, which threatens to fracture familial unity.

Later, Caleb staggers in the front yard naked and weak; his face bearing trauma from his encounter with the witch. Hovering between life and death in feverish delirium, he succumbs to the witch's evil.

The witch's designs on the family continues, with both catastrophic and unusual results; subjecting the family to misfortunes more terrible than the ravages of hunger and deprivation can exact.

Given how little we see the witch in the film, it's amazing how well Eggers maintains a heightened level of fear and dread. It is also interesting that Eggers' marries factual, colonial history with horror. The hardscrabble lives of the colonists were partly characterized by their staunch adherence to scripture and a real fear of witches and demons; convictions that would one day lead to the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Eggers knows we know the history, which abets his excellent storytelling. But he goes one step further by giving credence to the colonialist fears of witches. Excellent idea, which proves to be an effective premise for a horror film.

The story also takes on Biblical symbolism. The family's exile from the town mirrors Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise. This figurative expulsion leaves the family prey to the good and evil of the world; mostly evil. Later, during Caleb's death throes, he expels something from his mouth, which turns out to be an apple. The symbolism is unmistakable. For Caleb, the forbidden knowledge the apple represents is his sexual awakening, which is consummated when he encounters the witch. It is interesting to note that after the apple is disgorged from his mouth, we see a bite has been taken out of it. For Thomasin, expulsion from paradise means self-determination rather than acceding to her parent's plans to marry her off against her will. We can see how the witch, specifically the devil-- who we see later incarnated as the family's scary-looking black goat--would be an attractive alternative to church and God. A witch's coven's seductive charms present the means for her liberation from an unhappy fate as someone's husband and freedom from Christianity's rigid strictures. The final scene presents compelling corroboration. For Katherine, Eden isn't the town from which they came but England, which she yearns for when the family's troubles continue to mount. Like Thomasin and Katherine, a woman's volition counted for nothing at the time; a fact that doesn't escape Eggers' notice.

Animals serve as frightening agents of evil in the story. A rabbit; one of the witch's incarnations, glares at William and Caleb as a hunting rifle is leveled to take its life. He escapes when the gun backfires into William's face. The rabbit makes another appearance later. The black goat is the more frightening presence. William, Katherine and Thomasin learn he is more than just a barnyard animal when Jonas and Mercy claim they have been speaking to him.

If there is a quibble I have with the film, I would say it is the dialogue. Though wonderfully authentic-sounding, it is often difficult to understand. The character's thick British Isles accents present a problem. It might be wise for the filmmakers to include subtitles when the film is released.

I heard a very audible gasp from the audience after the screening. It seemed to make a considerable impression on all who watched it. Eggers' film left me feeling exhilarated. The Witch preceded a screening of the recently released Goodnight Mommy, another disturbing and affective film. It was quite a night for horror.

The film won't be on screens until February '16. It's a long wait, considering I want to see it again. That doesn't happen often to me. Like Caleb walking in a trance toward the witch, so will I to a screening of the film in February. I, like you, will be happily bewitched.

Victoria

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Sebastian Schipper/Starring: Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski and Burak Yigit

One of the features of the German film Victoria is its done-in-one-take process. Though a technical accomplishment, the exciting narrative approach seems more like a gimmick the further we are led into the story. Shot-in-real-time with a hand-held camera, the 140 minute film is weakened by implausibly stupid characters and a protracted running time made unnecessarily so by superfluous scenes and a story that refuses to materialize until the half-way mark. Director Sebastian Schipper's film is hardly bad; it just lacks a story and characters to compliment its technical ambitions.

The film opens with the pulsating rhythms of night club music as Victoria (Laia Costa); a young Spanish woman living in Berlin, moves her body rapturously. Shortly thereafter, she leaves the club, only to encounter a group of young Berliners who offer her a ride in a vehicle one claims is his. Intrigued by one of the young men's flirtations, Victoria listens as Sonne (Frederick Lau) tries to coax her into the vehicle. Skeptical about his claims of ownership, she discovers the men have actually broken into the car; a development she finds amusing and maybe exciting. When the real owner calls angrily to them, Victoria runs off with the guys. And as they bop around town, drinking and killing time, an attraction between Victoria and Sonne becomes readily apparent. As the evening morphs into very early morning, Sonne follows Victoria to her job at a local cafe, where the two spend time together. As Sonne looks around the cafe, he notices a piano in the corner. Victoria plays a beautiful piece for him and after she tells Sonne that she once studied piano in school but was told she wasn't good enough. While the two consider sadly what Victoria has divulged, Sonne's friends return, desperate for him to join them. They leave but return a short time later to ask Victoria to come along on a mission to replace one of the group who is intoxicated. Sonne explains to her that Boxer (Franz Rogowski), one of the group of friends, has been summoned to meet a local underworld associate for the purpose of repaying a debt. Intrigued by the danger, Victoria joins them; unsure of what awaits her.

The story takes awhile to arrive where something resembling conflict actually happens. It is apparent that Schipper has taken his time with the characters in their nightly wanderings and revels in an attempt to allow the audience to warm to them.

The meeting with Boxer's criminal associate takes place in an underground garage, with a scary-looking coterie of thugs in attendance. The leader; Andi (Andre Hennicke), explains to Boxer that the protection he enjoyed in prison comes with a price-tag. He tells Boxer he must rob a bank at a certain time for a specific amount of money; offering him precise instructions. After Boxer balks, Andi's henchmen threaten to take Victoria away, which prompts Sonne and his friend's compliance.

There is a bit of suspense during the robbery when Victoria is unable to start the stolen, hot-wired, getaway vehicle. The scene seems a little contrived but so be it. What follows after the robbery is a string of insanely senseless and stupid acts Sonne, Victoria and the group commit, which can't be solely attributed to overlooked details. Among them is taking a couple's baby to escape police detection. Another is getting into a fire-fight with the police. I'm still wondering why the group didn't merely drive back to the garage where Andi and his group were waiting; which would mean concealment from the police and honoring Boxer's debt. But the group must do silly things to prod the story in a certain direction; even if it means behaving illogically. I'm not normally a stickler for realism but a film that employs cinema verite' and tells a story in real time with a nod toward the gritty shouldn't have a lapse when it comes to people who seem reasonably intelligent.

And on the story goes toward a mostly tragic conclusion, where members of the group die from police gunfire or wounds sustained from such.

And what happens to the film's title character; the one-time piano student who works in a cafe; who suddenly finds herself mixed up with hellions? I won't say and I must say, I didn't care. Schipper's film fails to connect us emotionally to the characters, so their misfortunes didn't affect me.

I can't find fault with the look of the film or the performances. Some scenes dawdle, such as the moment after the robbery when Blinker (Burak Yigit) has a panic attack. The vehicle is stopped while the friends tend to him. What should have been a pulse-quickening sequence instead felt like extraneous time-filler.

But Schipper earns points for his ambition; for telling a story in one take. As I always say, I'd rather see an ambitious failure than a prosaic, uninspired, box-office success. But for me, his film fails. Not miserably, mind you, but in places where the story and characters might have been better conceived. His idea had much promise. A story about an every-person who finds herself in an extraordinarily dangerous situation is a juicy concept.

I won't categorically dismiss Schipper's film because it deserves an audience. Victoria is a miss but not a disaster.

Steve Jobs

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Danny Boyle/Starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterston

Director Danny Boyle's new film; Steve Jobs, has sustained criticism in the media for its inaccuracies and its distorted portrait of its subject. Though most biopics can be said to take liberties with their subjects, apparently Boyle's film has gone further; almost re-imagining the man; thus marginalizing his essence. But after having seen documentary film-maker Alex Gibney's recent documentary on Steve Jobs; Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, one might conclude otherwise. If Boyle's film has taken a more hyperbolic course, it has also held firm to basic facts about his life and relationships; specifically his fall-outs with colleagues and his troubled history with his daughter Lisa; who Jobs initially failed to acknowledge as his own.

But if we can accept Boyle's film as an imaginative biopic, then we can settle into what is an extraordinary film. When collaborators as ferociously talented as Danny Boyle, Michael Fassbender and dialogue master Aaron Sorkin join forces, you get something as electrifying as Steve Jobs; a lacerating and unforgiving look at a man whose obsessive push to innovate earned him the enmity of colleagues but the love of an industry and consumers.

Boyle's film isn't structured as a cradle to grave biopic but instead focuses on three salient moments in Jobs' life: the unveiling of the Macintosh home computer, the presentation of his Next Computer after his dismissal from Apple; and finally the announcement of the iMac. Each chapter in the narrative takes place in auditoriums, where industry personnel, the media and techies swarm like rock concert attendees to see and hear their guru present his latest products. But the stages are almost beside the point; dramatically speaking. The real stories in the film take place backstage, where Jobs' bickering with his staff mingles with intense exchanges with his ex-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan (Katherine Waterston) over his duties to his daughter, for whom he refuses to acknowledge his paternity. Another figure who makes intermittent appearances in said scenes is John Sculley (Jeff Daniels); former CEO of Apple and one-time colleague of Jobs, who looms large in the story. And of course Jobs' tempestuous relationship with Apple co-creator Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) figures prominently.

As backstage dramas unfold, I felt the story reaching for Shakespearean heights, with Jobs as a kind of king driven to paranoia and megalomania. We also see how Jobs charisma attracts followers, while his intolerance for anything he deems obstructive repels those around him. And like a Shakespearean play, the three key moments serve as acts to dramatize the king's rise and fall; success before a tragic end.

In the first scene, we see some of Jobs' obsessive pursuit of success as Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlberg); one of Apple's key designers, informs his boss that the Macintosh won't be able to greet the audience as expected. Jobs reacts to the news with angry impatience while also issuing Hertzfeld threats and a command to correct the problem in a mere twenty-minutes. If the real Jobs' anger was anything like Fassbender's version, it must have been quite fearsome and intimidating. While Hertzfeld anxiously attempts to address Jobs' angry directive, another drama simmers elsewhere. Jobs finds Chrisann in his dressing room; daughter in tow. Chrisann wastes little time in asking how Jobs can leave his girlfriend and daughter at the mercy of welfare when his Apple stock is worth $400 million. Jobs forcefully rejects her claims about being Lisa's father while Chrisann quotes an article from one of his recent interviews where he coldly stated that twenty-eight percent of the men in America could be Lisa's father. The opening Macintosh sequence is effective in capturing the pressing issues in Jobs' professional and private life. In spite of his protestations, Jobs shows interest in his daughter when Lisa begins to tinker with a Macintosh prototype resting on a table. He guides her as she draws him a picture using the draw and paint feature then shows her how to save it.

We also see Jobs and Steve Wozniak lock horns over an issue involving giving credit to the Apple 2 team for their work; a gesture Jobs feels unnecessary and Wozniak an imperative. Though Wozniak cites the Apple 2 as a top-earner in Apple's product line, Jobs sees it as something old and of the past. Wozniak's tireless efforts to have the Apple 2 team recognized becomes a bone of contention that runs through the narrative.

In time we meet John Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi. who Jobs lures to Apple. The appropriation of Sculley becomes tragically ironic as Jobs is later fired by the same man he wooed to be its CEO. The story gives us the backstory on how the two men met, which leads to the pivotal meeting in which the board--and Sculley--vote to oust Jobs from Apple.

So the film's principal figures are established early, while the rest of the film shows us how the various relationships evolve. We also see, in time, how Jobs comes to accept his role as father in Lisa's life and how he bounces back from his fall to regain control of Apple.

After so many narrative and documentaries on Jobs' life, details and facts have become common knowledge. There is little point in offering the audience a comprehensive account of his life. Instead, Boyle and Sorkin pinpoint major events in his life that define his visionary brilliance, but also his capacity to be cruel, callous and oblivious to others feelings and needs. This is partly accomplished by Fassbender's intensity and his ability to interpret Sorkin's intoxicating dialogue. Complimenting Fassbender is Kate Winslet, who is no less amazing as Joanna Hoffman; Jobs' head of marketing. Watching Hoffman follow Jobs around, we see her not only as a colleague but an indispensable ally who often acts as his conscience and as a kind of consigliere. Like Jobs, Hoffman is a salad of contradictions. She is often dismayed by Jobs behavior and lack of regard for others but is nevertheless steadfast in her loyalty.

The film also captures Jobs' populist bent. It makes sense that a man who envisioned computers being in the hands of the average Joe would hire a former CEO of Pepsi; a product consumed by the masses. Jobs' appropriation of Bob Dylan's image is consistent with his every-man perspective. As Dylan's folk music addressed the common man's condition, Jobs always considers how the average person will use his machines.

As aforementioned, auditoriums always serve as settings, which means many tracking shots through corridors and hallways, as well as backrooms. Very little of the film actually takes place onstage, which is very interesting.

Boyle leaves any assessment of Jobs and his legacy for audience value judgements. Was Jobs a genius or just a canny trendsetter? Was he a Napoleonic monster or just ferociously driven, or both? Does he deserve credit for Apple's success or did he just exploit its talent for personal aggrandizement? At one moment in the film, Jobs likens what he does to a conductor leading an orchestra. Though the conductor plays no instrument, he says, he plays the orchestra. Later, when Wozniak confronts Jobs in an auditorium, with many onlookers, he asks him what his particular contribution to the company is if he doesn't design or build the actual computers. Jobs earlier comment about playing the orchestra comes to the fore. That might also serve as the film's perspective on Jobs' essential contribution to Apple.

Steve Jobs is a hypnotic film; one that leaves you in wonder and flabbergasted at how good it is. It is hyper-smart and never dull for a moment. It is cerebral but bloody in a figurative sense. I can't speak for its accuracy but its excellence might lead one to overlook its lapses in biographical integrity.

After seeing several films on Steve Jobs the past few years, I hope Boyle's film will signal the beginning of a moratorium on the subject. Maybe it will even be considered the definitive film; discouraging future versions. Let's hope; I'd hate to see one more film on the Apple co-creator; one starring Dwayne Johnson.

Brooklyn

**Spoiler Alert**
Director: John Crowley/Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Nora-Jane Noone and Julie Walters

Brooklyn tells a story so seemingly uncomplicated, one might overlook its steady narrative, its sense of time and place and its touching simplicity. One might also overlook the understated yet compelling performance of its star; Saoirse Ronan, whose luminous, expressive eyes are a character unto themselves. Based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Toibin and adapted by Nick Hornby, Director John Crowley's film tells a very American story, which is to say it also tells an immigrant's story.

Saoirse Ronan plays Ellis Lacey, a young Irish woman in mid-20th century Ireland who reluctantly leaves her home for the land of opportunity. Leaving behind her heartbroken mother and her sister Rose (Fiona Glasscott), the unseasoned Ellis boards a ship bound for New York. On board, a savvy woman helps Ellis with her seasickness and serves as as sympathetic guide for the duration of the voyage.

In Brooklyn, Ellis is further aided by an Irish priest named Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), who is able to secure her lodgings at a boarding house for women (mostly Irish immigrants, like herself) and a job at an upscale department store.

As Ellis copes with homesickness, she also contends with more immediate problems, like fighting listlessness at her job; a condition which can be partly attributed to a longing for home. She is also troubled by her fellow boarders; whose busybody, gossipy behavior is difficult for Ellis to avoid and overcome. Ellis finds the boarding house madame, Mrs. Kehoe (a terrific Julie Walters) and fellow-boarder Sheila (Nora-Jane Noone, from The Magadalene Sisters) to be a sympathetic allies against the cattiness that prevails. Ellis also finds Mrs. Kenoe to be a supportive, motherly figure in her life.

A turning point for Ellis comes by way of a young, Italian-American man named Tony, whose genial, gentlemanly manner disarms her. As Tony courts Ellis, she receives dating tips from her fellow boarders and Mrs. Kehoe, who are titillated by her burgeoning romance.

Ellis also takes steps to improve her wage-earning power when Father Flood enrolls her in a bookkeeping class.

And as Ellis settles into her new life, gaining confidence and falling in love, her life takes a tragic turn when she learns of the death of her sister. Aware her mother will be alone and bereft of her sister's company, Ellis tells Tony she must return home for a short while. The development makes him anxious; knowing she might not return. Fearing for their relationship, Tony convinces Ellis to marry him before she returns to Ireland; a secret they both vow to keep.

Back in Ireland, Ellis finds her mother heartbroken and lonely while her best friend Nancy (Eileen O'Higgins), who is unaware of her friend's marital status, sets her up on a double date with an old acquaintance named Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson). Seeing her mother's diminished, emotional state and called upon to fill in as a bookkeeper at her sister's old job, Ellis begins to warm to the idea of being home. In a heartbreaking scene, we see her place one of Tony's unread letters in a drawer where other unopened correspondence rests. And though she resists Jim at first, she begins to fall for him, which places herself not only in a perilous position with her family and friends but with a community where gossip holds ruinous potential.

Ellis finds herself in an impossible situation, where she must decide between returning to her husband and her life in Brooklyn and remaining in Ireland with her mother and Jim, who slowly charms her with his warmth, kindness and solid social position.

A meeting with her former boss, who learns of Ellis' marriage; forces her hand, which leads to a definitive, life-shaping decision.

What is astonishing about Brooklyn is its straightforward story, which manages to be both involving and poignant. Eschewing sensational and gimmicky plotting, the film relies on stellar performances and real situations to tell its story. The story could almost be categorized as high-concept if not for Hornby's sensitive adaptation and Crowley's light touch with the material, which lay the groundwork for Ronan's exceptional performance.

The parallels between Ellis's life in Brooklyn and Ireland are numerous, as are the contrasts. Mrs. Kehoe serves as her mother figure in New York while her best friend Nancy's New York counterpart is Sheila. While she works toward a bookkeeping career in America, she occupies her sister's bookkeeping job in Ireland. The gossip at the boardinghouse table is mirrored by the much more corrosive gossip in her hometown. The crucial difference between the two worlds is America and what it means for Ellis and many like her. Self-determination, life in a multi-cultural community and upward mobility are the American hallmarks, while the old world appears more static, with its more parochial view of life.

A scene I found particularly powerful takes place in a Brooklyn community center where Ellis volunteers to serve Thanksgiving meals to elderly Irish men. Father Flood explains to her that the men who sit at the tables are the same men who helped build America's tunnels, buildings and railroads. During the meal, one man rises to sing a beautiful song in Gaelic to the rapt gathering. It is sad and moving and Flood's words reminds us of the Irish immigrant's contribution to America, which has largely been forgotten.

Crowley's film is well-rounded and has an unassuming charm. It might appear frail in this season of more conspicuous fare, like The Martian, Steve Jobs and Bridge of Spies but it also serves as quieter ballast to those emotionally-charged films.

Whether Brooklyn gets lost in the Fall shuffle remains to be seen. It isn't high achievement but it is engaging and well worth the time.

Freeheld

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Peter Sollett/Starring: Ellen Page, Julianne Moore, Michael Shannon and Steve Carell

Films that deal with contemporary issues are emotionally charged and often timely but they also tend to not be very cinematic. They also would seem to be more suitable for television.
Freeheld; a new film about the late Laurel Hester; the police officer who fought the Ocean County Freeholders in New Jersey to allow her partner to receive her pension, is the latest "issue" flick to make its way to screens nationwide. Don't get me wrong; her struggle for equality is an important subject but its artistic ambitions are stubbornly modest. The film elicits tears but it feels so much like a small screen production one might instinctively reach for a remote.

We see Hester (Julianne Moore) and her partner Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) making an undercover drug bust in the opening scenes. In the rough and tumble process, Hester is knocked to the ground. The scene effectively captures her courage and willingness to risk her life for her job; a fact that later becomes paramount.

Later, we see Hester at a women's volleyball game, where her lack of adroitness hardly escapes the notice of a young player on the opposing team; Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). Sparing Hester further humiliation, Stacie gently serves the ball to her, which earns her thanks from her opponent afterward. Standing in the parking lot after the game, Stacie asks Hester for her number, which progresses to a relationship from a series of dates.

We see a little of the sexism and homophobia the two woman face in their jobs and in public as the story unfolds. In one scene, three toughs take exception to the couple's public display of affection, then aggressively demand their money, only to be driven off when Hester pulls her gun. The act takes Stacie by surprise, as Hester is forced to reveal her occupation; much to her partner's dismay.

As the two become closer, they decide to buy a house. Wells himself becomes aware of his partner's orientation one day while delivering a house-warming gift. After meeting Stacie, he becomes angry with Hester for not trusting him enough to share her personal life with him.

As the two women settle into their domestic partnership, Stacie becomes aware of a chronic pain that Hester mentions one day while the two dance in their living room. Stacie urges her to see a doctor and in a heartbreaking scene that follows, the women learn of Hester's terminal lung cancer. Undaunted by the grim news, Stacie is unfailingly optimistic until they learn Hester's condition is incurable.

Certain of the hopeless situation, the couple realize that without Hester's income, Stacie will be unable to keep the house. Recognizing her partner's need for extra income, Hester initiates the process which will allow Stacie to receive her pension. Aware that local and state laws ensure Hester can pass on her pension to a domestic partner, the women learn the Ocean City Freeholders have decided otherwise. Several bigoted members reject her formal request. Weakened by her therapy and illness, Hester makes a formal plea to the Freeholders during a public meeting, only to be rejected again.
A reporter present at the meeting writes an article on the story and as it attracts local and regional attention, a gay activist named Steven Goldstein (Steve Carell) decides to take up her cause; organizing demonstrations and flooding the Freeholder meetings with protesters.

Stacie and Hester's struggle and Goldstein's efforts are widely known and public record, so it's hard to actually spoil the ending, though I will still refrain from mentioning it here.

One would have to be heartless or Republican not to be moved by Hester and Stacie's story. It is astonishing to consider how much has changed since the story made national headlines. The fact that the Supreme Court only recently ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right makes the film's arrival very timely. But though the Supreme Court's decision is a legal victory, the film shows how virulent opposition has been and is. Of course it would be difficult to not think of recent headlines while watching the movie and the controversial case of Kim Davis, which makes Hester's story all the more relevant.

But as much as the subject matter moves me, I never felt I was watching a movie. I was emotionally involved in the story but I could see little reason for the movie to be projected on a large screen when a Samsung flat-screen would serve as well.
I have no quibbles with the performances, which one would expect to be top-notch. Both Ellen Page and Julianne Moore were quite terrific as was Michael Shannon though Steve Carell seemed to belong in another movie. The scene I found to be the most powerful is Wells' appeal to his colleagues to lend their support to Hester at a crucial Freeholder meeting. To see Shannon, who concurrently plays as a stone-hearted real estate speculator in 99 Homes portray someone more sensitive is startling and refreshing.

Freeheld is so heavily character-driven, the look and direction seem to be an afterthought. Director Peter Sollett has made better movies; one of which comes to mind is Raising Victory Vargas. But it is difficult to make movies about true stories that carry a social message and make them not seem like true stories that carry a social message. Try as he might, Sollett can't elevate screenwriter Ron Nyswaner's script to something cinematically poignant, as Jonathan Demme did with his script for Philadelphia.

Despite the film's sense of urgency, it can't shake its tee-vee-ness. It will play better on DVD, which should better accommodate its low-scale, visual ambitions. If nothing else, Laurel Hester's courageous story is never trivialized or made quaint. Her struggle for equality is still gripping a decade later.

The Walk

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Robert Zemeckis/Starring: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Ben Kingsley and Charlotte Le Bon

There once were a handful of people in the world who could claim they scaled Everest but now the feat no longer seems extraordinary (though it is) since the mountain became a tourist destination. Setting foot on another planet may also become commonplace one day. But there is a spectacular feat only one member of the human race ever attempted and succeeded at: crossing a high wire between the former World Trade Center buildings. The militant rabble who later brought the towers to the ground didn't see the buildings as a stage for artistic expression as the wire-walker Philippe Petit did, but as something to violently erase from the New York City skyline. These same lower-life forms have seen fit to destroy some precious works of art and architecture in the Middle East. I guess those who create will always be heavily outnumbered by the empty-headed who destroy. But that's another topic not entirely germane here. What is relevant is director Robert Zemeckis' new film; The Walk; an otherworldly beautiful, exhilarating and often whimsical film that insists we feel wonder and awe, which it convincingly expresses.
Based on high-wire walker Philippe Petit's book; To Reach the Clouds, The Walk tells the story of his historic walk on a wire suspended between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. Providing narration is the wonderfully talented Joseph Gordon-Leavitt as Petit, who affects a reliable French accent. It is entirely appropriate that Petit stands (by way of CGI) on top of the Statue of Liberty as he tells his story; the twin towers standing proudly in the background.

As we learn something of Petit's life in France before the climb, the film's playful, jaunty tone takes hold. We see him in his early years at a circus, standing mesmerized before the high-wire performers. The story moves forward, as an older Petit sneaks into a circus tent. As he scales a ladder to mount the wire, he is stopped by a man named Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley). Petit learns Papa Rudy is the high-wire expert, whose sons have all performed as he has. In a short time, Papa Rudy becomes Petit's mentor.

But Petit's audience isn't circus patrons but those in the city streets, as he rigs his wire between lamp posts. His public performances begin to clash with another street performer; a busker named Annie (the stunning Charlotte Le Bon), who doesn't take kindly to his creative intrusions. Petit and Annie soon become an item and collaborators as she plays her guitar during his high-wire performances. After a disastrous performance at a fair, where Petit's high-wire comes undone, Papa Rudy offers the young wire-walker crucial advice about rigging, which proves to be invaluable later.

Petit becomes more ambitious and daring as he rigs a wire between the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral, an act he successfully performs. Gaining fame and acclaim, he looks for a bigger challenge. Seeing an article about the newly built World Trade Center buildings in New York, Petit decides the towers will be his next performance. The preparations begin in earnest as Petit gathers vital statistics about the building and its dimensions.

Petit recruits two Frenchmen to accompany he and Annie to New York; one of whom suffers from acrophobia, which he finds hardly disqualifies him. An amusing scene takes place in customs at Kennedy Airport, as a puzzled agent questions Petit about his cables and equipment. Rather than prevaricating, Petit tells the agent the truth about the equipment, which elicits only a shrug.

In New York, Petit's resolve weakens slightly when he and Annie stand before one of the towers, which are more imposing in real life. After finding a way to the top of one tower, he is able to look across the yawning chasm between the buildings and even steps out on the edge of a girder to survey the distance, which also provides inspiration.
The preparation for his climb becomes the narrative focus; the logistical details are not only fascinating bits of minutiae but generate suspense as well. Petit finds it necessary to recruit Americans to help him carry out his performance; one of whom is a WTC employee while another is a stoner who fears being busted by the cops. It is very entertaining to watch Petit and his team encounter numerous obstacles en route to the climb; including a nail-biting incident at the uppermost floor of one tower, where Petit and a team member hide from a security guard under a tent, only to find themselves suspended over a shaft that leads to the bottom of the building. The preparations begin to feel like a bank heist as the team dodges WTC workers, security guards and even cops.

The problem of sending the cable from one building to the other is cleverly accomplished with a bow and arrow, which is first worked out in a park with the precise distance measured out.

As the day and time are chosen for the walk, the thrills and tension mount. But the team discovers Petit is difficult to work with. Annie finds it necessary to reproach him for not showing gratitude to the team, which he promptly rectifies with an unusual gesture of thanks.

I must say that the actual act is one of the most exhilarating and terrifying moments I've ever experienced as a filmgoer. I also noticed something that has never happened to me before while watching a film; my palms were actually sweating.

Watching Petit take the first steps is breathtaking. It is also disconcerting and surreal to see fog engulf the upper reaches of the building before it miraculously clears to reveal the first beams of morning light. Listening to Petit's narration of his experience is quite touching as his fear and worry give way to a feeling of confidence and finally a feeling of euphoria. It is a magical sequence made possible by extraordinary CGI. One would swear the towers were still intact and Leavitt-Gordon is actually suspended above the New York City streets.

One may squirm when Petit chooses to make not one but several crossings; all in the presence of the N.Y.P.D., who gather on both roofs to apprehend him. In a climactic, harrowing moment during a penultimate crossing, Petit stops midway to lie on the wire when a seagull comes to rest briefly on his chest. Down below, Annie draws the attention of a vast crowd, who breathlessly watch Petit high above. I felt only relief when he finally stepped off the wire and into the arms of the police officers, who quickly handcuff him.

The aftermath is triumphant, as Petit is applauded by the police, WTC workers and the city of New York.

The film and Petit's high-wire act are nothing short of poetry. I must say I've had problems with Zemeckis' films in the past--one in particular I absolutely detest, but he also has his share of winners; Romancing the Stone, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Back to the Future. I think The Walk is another achievement in his career. Having seen the excellent 2008 documentary on Petit's walk; Man on Wire, I felt a narrative film was superfluous and very unnecessary... until I watched Zemeckis' take.

Gordon-Leavitt is a hypnotic presence and an actor that never ceases to surprise or amaze but he is helped along by CGI, which made an astonishing re-creation possible.

I expected something perfunctory when I sat down to watch the film but instead I came away feeling ecstatic and more importantly; a feeling of wonder. October films have already compensated movie-goers handsomely for the dull Summer fare. The Martian and The Walk have restored my flagging enthusiasm and with the Steve Jobs biopic on the horizon, things can only get better for cinephiles.

I'm glad Zemeckis told Petit's story. An extraordinary feat is made thrilling by a spellbinding film.

The Green Inferno

His Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General of the United Nations
United Nations Headquarters New York, NY

Dear Honorable Secretary General,

I wanted to bring to your attention a grave matter that demands your immediate attention. It seems a group of students from Columbia University staged an elaborate protest against a multinational corporation whose operations have encroached on an indigenous tribe in the Amazon. This group is led by an activist named Alejandro (real name: Ariel Levy) but a key member of the group is Justine (real name: Lorenza Izzo); a Columbia freshman whose commitment to social causes is tempered by her skeptical regard for Alejandro's group. Alejandro's group are notorious for their ineffectual protests, like hunger strikes and gathering on the campus grounds, where one member always strums a guitar. Justine is drawn to Alejandro's innate charisma (or what passes for such) though his girlfriend and fellow activist Kara (real name: Ignacia Allamand), jealously guards against female competition.

Secretary-General, you might be surprised to learn this uninspiring gaggle of clods are actually enrolled in an Ivy League school and you'll forgive me for saying this but such a group makes you wonder if Columbia has eased its admission standards. But never mind that, let me proceed with my account. The group hopes to thwart a company in its deforestation agenda, which threatens an aboriginal community.

The group manages to secure funding and the means to travel to the Amazon to confront their corporate foe. Upon arrival they quickly don uniform facsimiles of the offending corporation and make their way through their camp, mostly unnoticed. They quickly chain themselves to trees and bulldozers, though Justine is unable to lock herself in, which allows an armed company thug to pull her from the tree and point a gun to her head. Frightened, her fellow protesters film the incident on their cellphones, which saves her life. Having broadcast their video online, which achieves viral status, the group celebrates on their home-bound plane afterward. The lone contrarian is Justine, who realizes Alejandro deliberately jeopardized her life to ensure the sensationalized video had ample, emotional impact.

As the group swills beer in self-congratulatory revels, the plane's engine ignites, imperiling everyone on-board. As the plane plunges then crashes, the pilots and select members of the protest group meet gruesome ends, including impalement by tree branch.

Shock gives way to fear as the crew is descended upon by dart-blowing aborigines. They're led to a village, where hundreds more of the hooting and chanting red-skinned natives paw at the activists. Terrified, the group is herded into a cage, where they await uncertain but grim fates. Secretary-General, I think we both know what happens next. One of the group; a beefy chap named Jonah (real name: Aaron Burns) is pulled from the cage and laid upon what looks like a stone altar; where the village elder, with her one weird eye and painted face, suddenly digs into the poor slob's eye sockets. She proceeds to pull them out and eat them, which makes the villagers howl with delight and the protesters scream in revulsion. Shortly thereafter, Jonah's limbs are hacked off, along with his head. More shouts of glee are heard as the various body parts are fed into ovens. Moments later, the villagers enjoy a tasty treat known in the Amazon as Baked Jonah.

I know what you're thinking; dear Secretary-General, this is too lurid to relate in a letter but keep in mind the tribal elders provided life-sustaining protein to the village.

Fearful of what might happen next, the surviving group members try to escape from the cage, only to encounter a vigilant tribesman with a blow-dart tube.

While waiting in dread for the next grisly development, group members begin acting strangely. One, for no discernible reason, finds it necessary to empty her bowels, which elicits laughter from the villagers. Later, Alejandro begins masturbating and when his bewildered friends gasp in astonishment, he explains he is relieving stress to help focus his mind (Dear Secretary-General, I wish I were making this up). I don't know about you, your honor, but auto-stimulation might be the last thing on my mind if I were facing cannibalization.

Another absurd development is the attempt to get the villagers stoned by placing a bag of weed inside the mouth of a dead activist. After ingesting her cooked remains, the villagers begin to laugh and cavort in a pot stupor. It's hard to keep a straight face when the villagers experience what is essentially a case of the "munchies" when they begin snacking on an activist's body.

Subsequently, the women in the group suffer indignities involving their private parts by the village Elder, for reasons known only to her.
Another escape is attempted and finally, with the help of a boy sympathetic to her plight, Justine and another activist manage to take flight, where they promptly return to the site of the plane wreckage (rather than following the river; the smarter course), only to be captured again.
All this silliness boils down to a battle between company gunmen and the aborigines, which Justine is caught in the middle of.

Your Honor, you might not be surprised to learn that this "tragedy," if it can be categorized as such, is supposed to be a political statement. It is also the mother-of-all-knee-slappers when you hear Justine lie to a gathering of men in suits back home about the aborigines' blamelessness in her friends' ordeal. The story hardly makes a cogent statement about the abrogation of aboriginal sovereignty. If anything, one might find oneself cheering on the bulldozers after watching the cannibals munch the activist bodies like buckets of KFC. If Justine's story is meant to elicit sympathy for the aborigine's plight, it accomplishes the opposite. The choice between the demise of a tribal culture that enjoys eyeballs harvested from optical cavities and the noxious spread of civilization isn't necessarily an obvious one; at least in this instance. Also, the characterization of the aborigines as merely blood-thirsty cannibals who do little but wait around to eat human flesh hardly helps their cause.

So you see Secretary-General Ki-Moon, the story and its cast of characters are silly, ludicrous and ultimately laughable. Even the gory fates many of the activists are subject to invite more mirth than concern. So you may ask, why am I troubling you with this account? I don't know; I guess I just thought it might demand your intervention. What you do with this information is now your concern.
Thank you your Honor, for taking the time to read my letter. Though most people consider you and your organization to be ineffectual do-nothings, I like to think you mean well when your outrage fails to effect any meaningful change.

Thank you for time and attention.

Sincerely,

Al, of Al's Omniflick

*****************

Al
Al's Omniflick
24 Frames a Second
Cinema Lane
Somewhere, USA

Dear Al,
Thank you for your kind words and your stirring account of the ordeal in the Amazon. Though I regret that so many died to further the aborigine's cause, I must say their appalling stupidity leaves me and the venerable U.N. unable to act or comment in any meaningful way. I think you'll agree with me when I say some earnest, half-witted clowns deserve to be on a cannibal's menu. I think the faculty of Columbia University will agree, yes?

But Al, fear not, trust in our commitment to doing nothing. The sooner their account fades from public memory, the better; wouldn't you say?

Thank you once again for your thoughtful letter. I must keep this missive brief, for I must address Russia's intervention in Syria. I think a strong-worded note to Putin should make him feel ashamed, don't you?

Sincerely,

The Honorable Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon

Director: Eli Roth/Starring: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns, and Daryl Sabara

99 Homes

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Ramin Bahrani/Starring: Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern, Clancy Brown and Tim Guinee

The real estate scandal that helped usher in the economic crisis in America from which we are still emerging has its culprits; all of whom will never be brought to trial or prosecuted. But the victims of said crisis are more numerous. Director Ramin Bahrani's new film; 99 Homes tells the story from the perspective of one such victim; Dennis Nash (an exceptional Andrew Garfield), who, with his mother Lynn (Laura Dern) and son Connor (Noah Lomax) find police at their door; demanding they vacate the premises. Accompanying the police is a real estate speculator named Rick Carver (a frightening Michael Shannon), who demands that Dennis and his family remove their belongings and remove themselves from the property. Carver and the police remain unmoved by the family's rage and outrage and turn a deaf ear to Dennis' pleas for more time to address the problem. Carver's callous disregard for the Nash family's problem tell us ejecting homeowners is merely business, nothing more. In an ironic development, Dennis finds himself making a deal with the devil after the Nash family is forced to take up lodgings in a motel. Unable to find work in construction, Dennis finds himself accepting Carver's offer for work after a crew refuses to clean up a house where former occupants contaminated the premises with human waste.

Dennis' position quickly evolves into the more unpalatable task of evicting homeowners. Noting Dennis' reluctance, Carver coldly lectures him about how "only winners are bailed out," and there are "only a few spaces on the ark," and offers advice about "not getting emotional about real estate."

Driven by an obsession to reclaim his family home and his desire to free his family from the unpleasant realities of motel life, Dennis involvement in Carver's real estate business grows. He quickly discovers how unsavory and unscrupulous the work can be. Carver has Dennis remove air-conditioning units and appliances from homes to decrease their value before purchasing them for a lower price. It is particularly painful to watch Dennis evict homeowners from their homes, where the tragic irony is hardly lost on him. Unlike Carver, Dennis finds his conscience and job duties clash as he sees people not unlike himself hopelessly defending their right to remain in their homes.

Shannon, who is almost peerless at playing morally-dubious sociopaths, establishes his character early on. Listening to Carver (aptly chosen name) wax cynical about his work and his cruelly dispassionate regard for those he ejects from homes, one can't help acknowledge that much of what he says also carries the stain of truth.

Though the Nash family's situation is greatly improved, Dennis refuses to tell his mother of his unholy union with his new boss.

As Carver hands Dennis ever bigger checks for his work, the sinister snares of success begin to erode his ethical reservations. He is enchanted by Carver's lush, spacious home and his boss' parties, where women and booze are bountiful.

When Lynn discovers Dennis has been working for Carver and has chosen to sacrifice their home for an upscale abode, she leaves town in disgust, with his son in tow

In time, Dennis becomes a bigger player in Carver's schemes until a major deal involving the local government becomes not only a seductively lucrative prospect but a means to more unethical and illicit behavior. The deal directly affects a homeowner of Dennis' acquaintance; who chooses to defend his home against the police and Carver after they arrive to evict him. Seeking to quell a violent situation, Dennis' conscience overcomes his greedy impulses; prompting him to divulge his deceptive role in the scheme.

The film has much to say about the greed at the core of the economic downturn and the opportunists who exploited the crisis for personal gain. Shannon's Carver reminded me of Jeremy Irons' John Tuld in 2011's Margin Call; another opportunist who sees only financial conquest in the country's economic free-fall. Where Tuld is slippery, charming and serpentine, Carver is blunt, brutal and merciless.

I think the film's singular attribute are its stars. Shannon is mesmerizing while Garfield, when free of the Spiderman costume, shows his excellent turn in The Social Network was no fluke. For what little time Laura Dern is onscreen, she proves to be quite affecting and real.

Though it seems unlikely Dennis would become Carver's henchman, it is easy to see how desperation might compromise one's ethics; transforming the oppressed into the oppressor.

Bahrani's film reminds us how government deregulation and unscrupulous lending practices by Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac left our economy in shambles. It is sobering to consider how accurate is Carver's assessment of the American capitalist system. Sometimes the devil is the greatest purveyor of truth. The stirring depiction of Carver's rapacious depredations makes 99 Homes a powerful and disquieting film.

The Martian

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Ridley Scott/Starring: Matt Damon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Wiig, Benedict Wong and Donald Glover

At last; after suffering through so many mediocre Ridley Scott movies, the director finally scores big with his latest film: The Martian. Scott, always one to confuse dazzling special effects for gripping storytelling, finds a happy medium here; making his new film his most complete cinematic effort this century. Science fiction films have experienced a resurgence in recent years with renewed storytelling vigor. Films like Interstellar and Gravity are more recent examples. Scott's film continues that trend with a smart, spellbinding drama that is both powerful and visually captivating.

Based on the novel by the same name, The Martian tells the story of an astronaut named Mark Watney (Matt Damon); a botanist who is part of an expedition exploring the surface of Mars. The NASA team, led by military-affiliated Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain; as wonderful as always), finds itself caught in a violent sandstorm that threatens to not only topple their capsule, but to endanger their lives as well. In the struggle to return to the capsule, Watney is blown backward when a satellite dish strikes him; leaving his whereabouts unknown in the howling tempest. Unable to perform a rescue, the team is forced to leave Watney behind as they narrowly escape in their capsule, which transports them to the safe environs of their mother ship, the Hermes.

Back at NASA, Director Teddy Sanders (a terrific Jeff Daniels), Mission Director Vincent Kapoor (an excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Director of PR Annie Montrose (an exceptional Kristen Wiig) break the news of Watney's passing to the world, which causes a global outpouring of grief. Meanwhile, the Hermes crew heads for Earth with heavy hearts.

But the next Martian day, as camera tracks slowly over the red, deserty landscape, we see Watney partially buried in sand; his suit life supports systems still functional. When he awakes, he finds a small, metal rod; formerly part of the antenna, sticking out of his side. In pain and running low on oxygen, he makes his way back to the habitat. Safely inside, he immediately tends to his injury, which involves procedures that are mildly graphic.

Shortly thereafter, Watney begins a videolog of his efforts to stay alive, which also serve as a kind of narration for the movie and a way to make the science and technical aspects accessible to the audience.

What follows after demonstrates Watney's heroic resolve as he makes a vow to stay alive. We see him take stock of the finite food supply, which he determines will keep him alive for a little over 365 sols; the unit of time by which the mission measures days. Realizing NASA has a follow-up, manned mission in four years, Watney formulates a long-term survival plan which involves finding a way to grow food in unsuitable Martian soil and a water source in which to feed it. How he manages to accomplish both is a testament to Watney's mind-boggling ingenuity.

Back on Earth, NASA mission personnel discover that Watney may in fact be alive after watching time-lapse satellite photos of the habitat, which shows the rover Watney has been driving parked in different locations. The possibility that Watney might be alive sets off a firestorm within NASA, which presents Sanders, Kapoor and Montrose with the problem as how to present such a development to the world. When satellite photos also record Watney's peripatetic wanderings in the rover, they begin devising a way to communicate with him, which is mainly abetted by another clever move on Watney's part, which involves a serendipitous moment in the film I won't reveal here.

How Watney communicates with Earth--NASA specifically, is another inspired sequence, which involves the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who designed most of the mission hardware. The JPL leader, Bruce Ng (Benedict Wong), becomes a key character in the film and an indispensable part of the effort to help Watney.

Aware of Watney's limited supply of food and life support, Sanders, Kapoor and Ng devise a way to resupply him before the next scheduled manned mission. Pushing ahead with a launch that circumvents testing procedures, the rocket fails but help arrives from an unlikely collaborator: the Chinese. Recognizing Watney's dire situation, the Chinese offer NASA a rocket of their own.

Not long after, the Hermes crew is finally apprised of the Watney's situation, which Sanders and Kapoor hoped to avoid. When the Hermes crew suggests a rescue, Sanders rejects the idea; citing the problem of adding an extra 580 sols to their mission. But the Hermes crew decides to forge ahead anyway, aware that their actions will be considered mutinous.

The rescue attempt in the gripping third act entails formidable maneuvering by both Watney and the Hermes crew, as well as the interplay between NASA and the JPL.

Like Interstellar, The Martian offers us a story both visionary and intelligent. Of course it helps to have an imaginative book and a brilliant adaptation from which to draw inspiration. Screenwriter Drew Goddard, who penned Cabin in the Woods and adapted World War Z, is the perfect choice to interpret Andy Weir's book. His dialogue scintillates and he sustains a refreshing level of intelligence; never dumbing the story down for a minute.

So many performances, particularly Matt Damon's, make the story seem so real and heartfelt. I especially enjoyed watching and listening to Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig's verbal sparring.

I had mixed feelings about the disco soundtrack and the use of David Bowie's Starman but both give the film more human color and manage not to be too intrusive.

Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski gives us a very realistic-looking Martian landscape; both mysterious and beautiful. I'm guessing the Jordan desert stood in for Mars; the rocky crags can also be seen in Lawrence of Arabia .

NASA may want to thank Ridley Scott for the film. It may single-handedly rekindle interest in a Mars mission.

Aside from the great story, the stunning visuals and the superlative acting, one of the film's major strengths is its ability to stimulate one's interest in science. Botany, physics, astronomy, biology, as well as mathematics and engineering, are made exciting and sexy.

In spite of Watney's troubles, the idea of setting foot on Mars is irresistible. When he sits in the desert, contemplating the alien surroundings, it's hard not to think about how this will become reality in a decade or two.

Scott's film is some kind of marvel and easily one of the year's best. It is an exhilarating adventure and a paean to human tenacity and ingenuity. It is also one of the few films I've seen this year I would consider seeing a second time in a theater. I just may do that.

The Intern

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Nancy Meyers/Starring: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Linda Lavin and Celia Weston

I'm wondering if The Intern can actually be called a movie because what it resembles more is a dull pilot for a sitcom that has little hope of being picked up by a network. It is so innocuous and free of actual conflict it could be mistaken for a soft-focus T.V. commercial peddling Alzheimer's medication. Of course one doesn't pay to see any Nancy Meyer movie expecting a psychologically dark, Bergmanesque drama; one expects the cloying taste of a caramel apple dipped in chocolate with a powdered sugar coating. How producers hornswoggled Warner Brothers into laying down $35 million for this swill might make for a diverting movie of its own. After seeing the film, one wonders where the money went. I suppose a third of the budget could have been apportioned to the salaries of its two stars; Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway because the film doesn't look like it was made for half that price.

De Niro plays Ben, a retired widower who answers an ad for senior intern program at a fashion company run by Jules (Anne Hathaway); a young entrepreneur whose start-up has achieved considerable success. Accepted into the program, Ben arrives at the company headquarters dressed in a suit, which contrasts dramatically with the casual, twenty-something office attire. Every male on the staff seems to wear identical clothes, which is a uniform in itself: open, button-up shirt with a t-shirt underneath and jeans. I hardly saw one exception to this fashion trend the movie entire. I guess guys under 30 wear nothing else--at least in Meyers' eyes.

Sitting between two young men; one of whom is also an intern, Ben quickly makes friends and becomes acquainted with their problems.

Ben is soon assigned to assist Jules, which at first rankles her assistant Becky (Christina Scherer), whose frazzled state is the result of being under-confident and unorganized. After coolly greeting Ben, she offers him advice as to how to make a first impression with Jules. She tells him to blink; being that her boss finds people who don't creepy (how many people don't blink?). This leads to an unfunny sight gag where Ben blinks rapidly in Jules' presence. No further mention is made of the blinking in the movie, which is probably fortunate for the audience.

The initial awkwardness between the two stems from conspicuous differences of age and a dearth of tasks to assign Ben. Ben finds he has little to do as Jules assistant but he stays late to ensure she has help when she needs it. Though Jules is slightly perplexed by Ben at first, she slowly warms to his presence after a brief episode where she requests he be reassigned. As their time together grows, Jules learns a few things about Ben; like his substantial business acumen. His 40 years of experience as a company VP is supposed to make him an invaluable resource to Jules.

Showing initiative, Ben begins to assume more responsibilities, such as taking on the duty of her chauffeur when he discovers the regular driver drinking on the job. As he motors Jules to various appointments, he in turn learns much about her life and becomes acquainted with her daughter and her stay-at-home husband. In becoming more closely connected to Jules, Ben sees the clash between Jules' professional and home lives, which leave her little time in which to devote to her family.

In order for Jules to focus on and implement her ideas at work, the unpleasant prospect of having a CEO run her company becomes a concern. Knowing a CEO could assume more control than Jules wants to yield, the search becomes fruitless. Meanwhile, Ben proves to be both an indispensable assistant and wise counsel and as one might expect; a trusted friend.

As the demands of work and home become impossible for Jules to reconcile, a new crisis emerges when Ben sees her husband kissing a woman. Faced with the harrowing prospect of telling Jules, Ben finds she has known about it all along.

One doesn't need the Oracle of Delphi to know where the story will go. It is also readily apparent how Ben and Jules' relationship will develop.

In sitting through Meyers film, it is necessary to overlook implausibilities, such as Ben becoming the beloved of all on Jules' staff. In this age; where everyone over fifty in the job place faces permanent irrelevance, it's impossible to imagine a start-up company troubling itself with senior interns. I've never heard of it but if such company initiatives do exist, then I stand corrected. I also find it unlikely that the young people would have much patience for someone of Ben's years working in their midst. In real life, Ben would most likely suffer asphyxiating condescension.
It seems inevitable--and improbable--that the young men in the office would begin to mimic Ben's dress or go as far as to buy a vintage briefcase just like his. Is it also inevitable that Ben will offer sage advice to a young, male colleague about how to win a female co-worker's hand? Of course; a 70 year-old intern has the answers to everyone's problems.

If the film can be said to have a virtue, its Meyers' willingness to address the career/kids dilemma many women face and the marital problems that are its fallout.

De Niro's character is limited to one facial expression, which he seems to wear often; a tight-lipped, goofy grin, which imparts a dull, benign, avuncular manner that leaves him with few interpretive options. The character isn't much of a character; just a clutch of cliches borne of wishful thinking. Hathaway's Jules is more of challenge though hardly much more. It is her magnetic presence and arresting beauty that disguise the script's shortcomings. The fact that she is eminently watchable steers the film away from the abyss of slogdom (if Kate Hudson had been cast in this role, the film would have been torturous). Poor Rene Russo looked like she was photobombing the film; her role was a few crumbs attached by sewing thread.

Meyer's film arrives at an inauspicious time. With Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs and Ramin Bahrani's grim 99 Homes poised for wide release, one can see Nancy Meyers' film as a hopeless and frail misfit in the fall schedule. It might have kept better company with the summer blockbusters. As it is, The Intern just takes up space and sits there...kind of like an elderly intern.