Film Review: "Method"

Method (2004)

Director:  Duncan Roy

Producers: Guy J. Louthan, Pierre Spengler
Writters: Duncan Roy, Katie L. Fetting

Stars: Elizabeth Hurley, Jeremy Sisto, Oliver Tobias

Music by: Barry Taylor
Release date: June 24, 2004

Running time: 93 min

Country: UK, USA, Switzerland, Romania

Synopsis: A well-known actress, a movie star Rebecca Fairbanks (Elizabeth Hurley), given the role of a 19th century serial killer Belle Gunness in a feature film based on real historical events, arrives to the filming location somewhere in Romania. Trying to assume this role and to understand the character, she starts living the life of Mrs. Gunness, but soon seems to have gone too far, for people around her die, and that was the beginning of her going insane.

Review:

To start with, I’d like to say that, while the film under study is a pure thriller and I don’t have anything against this genre, there’re much better examples that seemed much more intriguing and attractive to me. I like movies mostly based on psychological tension and mystery, employing some ancient legends and phantoms even, but without much blood. Here one can see a history of a maniac, first a 19^th-century one and then of our contemporary – a woman who learnt too much about different kinds of murders and who went too far in search of a clue to a serial killer’s motives and actions. Blood, luckily not real one, was literally gushing from the screen in the second part of the film, what created the sense of strong disgust.

The whole atmosphere of the film was really oppressive and gloomy, so that I could feel a kind of despair. At some moments this film reminded “Black Swan” to me, starring Nataly Portman, probably because the main heroine there also became a victim of her attempt to get deeper into the role she was just unable to keep up – perhaps because it wasn’t intended for it. Frankly speaking, I didn’t watch that film to the end, as I couldn’t bear it, and wanted to do the same with this one – only curiosity about how it all would end kept me from turning off the computer. But there also was an educational aspect in this film I can’t but mention: directly after watching the film I searched the Internet to find any information about Belle Gunness to see whether it was really possible that a woman could kill nearly 40 people, including her own children, and nobody finally found and arrested her. And I was badly astonished to learn that it was true. I can’t for the life of me see what motives such a monster could have; so it’s no wonder that Rebecca Fairbanks didn’t manage to.

My verdict will be the following: if you enjoy thrillers of this sort, having much to do with horror films, then the movie is for you; if you’re nervous and impressionable, then you should better choose something more peaceful.

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The article we’re going to discuss is taken from The Telegraph and is entitled “21 and Over, review.”  It was contributed on 2 May 2013 by Tim Robey and analyzes the new comedy from Hangover writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.

From the very beginning of the review it becomes evident that the author takes a critical view of the movie. First of all, it’s necessary to mention that it mainly consists of men for, as the author says ironically, a list of the roles for women would not leave this movie covered in glory and includes only of a few rather fierce sorority girls? And that’s obviously not an advantage.

Next, Tim Robey provides the reader with some information about the plot, so that the audience could see why he is so skeptical about this movie. So, the plot is about two high-school buddies, who kidnap their pal Jeff Chang on his 21st birthday, even though it’s the night before his big interview for medical school, and, in the author’s words, there’s a terrifyingly stereotypical Asian dad waiting in the wings to tan their hides. As a result of all this, the teeny Jeff Chang (it’s interesting to note that they always call him “Jeff Chang” in full, which is funnier than it sounds) gets utterly wrecked. According to the plot, Chon is comatose, or near it, for so much of the movie’s running time that it starts to resemble Weekend at Bernie’s with a stressed, unconscious Chinese medical student instead of a corpse.

Tim Robey in fact concludes by saying that this exuberant frat comedy succeeds primarily because of its likeable cast. In resolute terms he expresses the view that one of the actors, Miles Teller, is terrific, puckish and endearingly intense, and the promising Skylar Astin matches him every step of the way, so that this company can get just about any party started. Frankly speaking, I cannot quite understand this conclusion, as I don’t believe a good cast can save a badly written film, no matter how hard they might try, and there’re really some examples that I know.

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The article I’d like to analyze is taken from The Guardian and is entitled “Pedro Almodóvar backs wave of Spanish protests over family evictions.” It was published by Giles Tremlett on 27 April 2013 and quotes some extracts from the interview with the celebrated Spanish film-maker.

Generally, the present-day situation in Spain is largely discussed here. Thus, according to the author of the article, Almodóvar has warned of an increasingly violent mood in his recession-hit country, as he throws his weight behind a popular movement determined to stop banks evicting vulnerable people who can no longer pay their mortgages. It should be mentioned that the film director himself is of the opinion that everyone should react, but in the most peaceful way possible.  Like many other Spaniards, Almodóvar is also frustrated with a double-dip recession that started four years ago: it’s necessary to note that the crisis has hit young people hard, with unemployment for those aged under 25 running at 57%. In this connection, Almodóvar speaks for new laws badly needed to protect the vulnerable, while any delay is fraught with serious consequences. One more fact commented in the article is, for instance, that 80 Spanish families a day are having their homes repossessed in a country where four out of five people live in homes owned by their family, while campaigners complain that a new law going through parliament only permits that in rare cases. In the director’ opinion, the country is socially conservative, and this worries him a lot, for he cannot stay indifferent.

There is no mention about Giles Tremlett’s own point of view, but it’s made quite clear, for he evidently shares the one of Almodóvar and criticizes the government’s passiveness and unwillingness to solve acute social problems. I have never been to Spain and haven’t seen if local people are really suffering, but I’m quite sure such troubles are almost the same in different parts of the world. Besides, I wonder if Pedro Almodóvar has ever been to Russia, for I believe living conditions the Spaniards consider unbearable are regarded as very favourable in our country.

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The article under study is taken from The New York Times and is published under the title “Ja, That Manly Raft Trip, Blond Manes a-Whipping.” it was contributed by Manohla Dargis on April 25, 2013, and contains the review of the new film ‘Kon-Tiki,’ directed by Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg.

As the film is based on real historical events, first of all it’s necessary to provide some facts and to mention that in 1947, a Norwegian zoologist and adventurer, Thor Heyerdahl (Pal Sverre Hagen), set sail for Polynesia from Peru in a balsa-wood raft that he called Kon-Tiki, after a sun god. Through his studies had developed some unorthodox ideas about early migrations to the islands. Unlike other researchers, who embraced the theory that Polynesia had been populated by way of Asia, Heyerdahl argued that the islanders originated in South America. To prove his theory, the scientist built the kind of raft that he believed early South American seafarers might have constructed, and set sail with five other men. After 101 days they landed on the Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago.

The film under discussion, “Kon-Tiki,” is, according to the author, instead a stolidly old-fashioned and manly hair-in-the-wind entertainment of the sort that could have filled out the bottom of a studio double bill. To say specifically, the men are handsome, the sea is pretty and if the sharks look rubbery, at least they add some drama to what otherwise proves a dull affair. In addition, Manohla Dargis adds skeptically that it’s also a distracting affair because, in a misguided move, the filmmakers have the men speak in English; there’s also a Norwegian-language version.

The author concludes by saying that if this movie is to be believed, brave Thor Heyerdahl’s voyage was largely bereft of tension and interesting conversation; besides, Dargis compares this movie quite unfavourably to Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi,” which, however flawed, lyrically conveyed the beauty and madness of a long journey into both the world and the soul. As for me, I’ve by no means heard about the famous Norwegian scientist and seafarer, and it’s a pity there hasn’t been shot any good film about his adventures yet and all we have now are only pitiful attempts to show the significance of his discoveries.

Pleasure Reading: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Summary 2

1. The three friends tried to get into the Radley house, but the sight of somebody in a hat approaching them scared the children. 2. When climbing the fence, Jem’s pants caught on a nail and were left here; however, when the boy returned for them, the clothes were hanging on the same place mended accurately, and that was one more mystery. 3. One more strange case happened later, after Scout was woken up at night to leave the house, as Miss Maudie’s one next to them was on fire. 4. The brother and sister stood aside, looking at the grown-ups putting the fire down and feeling cold, and didn’t notice when a woolen blanket was wrapped round them. 5. Yet, there was another problem for the children to handle, as their father was criticized by the majority for the defence of Tim Robinson, an Afro-American falsely charged with the rape of a white girl. 6. Jem and Scout found it difficult to be proud of their parent, who in addition didn’t possess the qualities of a good sportsman or hunter, so highly appreciated in their neighbourhood. 7. Nevertheless, when a mad dog dropped in their town, it was Atticus who shot it dead. 8. It appeared that the man had earlier been the best rifleman in Maycomb County and only concealed this fact from his children now.

Pleasure Reading "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Summary 1

1. A small girl Scout Finch, on whose behalf the narration is carried, lives together with her father Atticus, elder brothe Jem and their family cook Calpurnia in Maycomb, Southern United States. 2. The town is not very big, and its dwellers are rather conservative and superstitious: thus, there're bad rumours about the so-called Radley Place, whose host once confined his only insane son in the cellar, so that the young man became a kind of ghost. 3. Everybody avoids this house, but it's also not allowed to make fun of the Radleys, for it may have serious consequences. 4. Scout and Jem believe in this story and so are very afraid to visit this house. 5. It's only their new friend Dill who makes them walk near and even play in front of the building; but sometimes the girl hears some strange sounds coming from inside. 6. Yet, it's high time for her to go into the first grade, and here at school she faces new problems, for instance, in the person of her teacher Miss Caroline, who is not pleased by Scout's ability to read and write, as some special program for her will be needed. 7. However, the young educator is just a newcomer here and also has problems with her new pupils and their morals and manners.

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The article I’m going to analyze is taken from The Guardian and is entitled "Oblivion – review.” It was published by Peter Bradshaw on 10 April 2013 and takes a critical view of the new film “Oblivion” starring Tom Cruise.

According to the movie’s plot, here the famous actor plays Jack Harper, a tough and self-reliant soldier in the late 21st century, tasked to monitor what remains of Earth prior to humanity's final emigration, and to supervise a fleet of pilotless drone craft which hunt down hostile "scavs", or scavengers, hiding out on the surface. In the author’s words, Cruise’s role-model appears to be Wall-E, or the diminutive cartoon automaton left behind on a wrecked planet Earth to clean up. Sadly enough, there's none of Wall-E's spark in this bafflingly solemn, lugubrious and fantastically derivative sci-fi which serves up great big undigested lumps of Total Recall, AI, Planet of the Apes – with little snippets of Top Gun.

Speaking of the movie on the whole, it’s necessary to note that it has some beautiful images of planetary ruin and huge tracts of desert and forest with the bits of famous buildings poking up. There are futurist aircraft whooshing through the mist, or being accepted into the bosoms of colossally large mother-ships out in space, like the photorealist cover-designs of a classic SF novel. But, Bradshaw says, the story itself feels numbed, directionless and dull; Morgan Freeman is entirely wasted in a sketchily conceived supporting role and Tom Cruise is allowed to play to his weaknesses. Then, the author compares this film with “The Mission Impossible,” and this comparison is not in “Oblivion’s favour, as there is little of humour and fun. Besides, Tom Cruise is a bit cardboard: sometimes he will do his relaxed face, periodically he will do his uxorious-romantic smile.

In resolute outspoken terms the author expresses the view that “Oblivion” looks like a very expensive movie project that has been written and rewritten many times over, and it is a shame: Cruise, Riseborough and Kurylenko as the last love triangle left on Planet Earth should have been quite interesting. As for me, I don’t watch films like this, primarily because of the genre, not the cast. I can’t understand what makes talented, already popular actors agree to roles in all these commonplace blockbusters; still it’s their choice