Jack and Jill (Dennis Dugan, 2011)

Director Paul Thomas Anderson claims to be a fan of Adam Sandler, he says his movies make him feel happy on a rainy day. I am pretty sure Anderson will withdraw this comment after seeing the disturbingly bad Jack and Jill.

Sandler is not a bad actor if written and directed properly. Anderson showed the world how good an actor Adam Sandler can be with his Punch Drunk Love. Unfortunately the movies Sandler writes and produces himself are going downhill over the years, I presume he reached the bottom with his latest disaster because it couldn’t get any worse in my opinion.

Jack (Adam Sandler) is pretty successful in his work (commercials) and private life. He has a nice wife (Katie Holmes, perhaps Tom Cruise is Sandler fan as well….) and two kids. Jack is one of twins, his sister Jill (Adam Sandler, yes, Adam Sandler as well!!!) is coming over to celebrate their birthday together at his place. Their mom died recently and Jill is lonely. Jack is pretty far from happy about her visit and wishes her to leave as fast as possible. Until Al Pacino (you are reading this correctly, Al Pacino is playing himself in this movie) makes him realize how his sister feels and that he should love her.

Like you probably guessed already, this movie is absolute horror. Not only is it not funny at all (maybe I smiled once or twice tops) its story is total crap, this is not uncommon for Sandler, but if what he presents us is at least a bit funny (which it was, especially at the start of his career, I still like The Waterboy or Happy Gilmore, even though they are bad movies as well) its forgivable to have a completely trivial or even ridiculous plot. Now he just bores you to death. The main problem is that two Sandler characters are simply too much, some of his recent movies were tolerable because he casts funny actors (Steve Buscemi, John Turturro) but this movie could have simply been named  ‘Too much Sandler’.

The only time I smiled probably was when two big names, Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, were introduced in the movie. Depp, wearing a Justin Bieber shirt (made me smile), disappears soon, Pacino sticks but can’t save a ship that never floated in the first place. I like how Pacino doesn’t take himself serious at all (there is a nice joke about his Oscar, here I smiled for the second and last time) but again, his contribution doesn’t make this movie worth watching for even a minute.

I hope Sandler, who already stated that he doesn’t care about all the criticism (he is nominated for 11 Razzies!), chooses to make a couple movies that are written and directed by capable and creative people (how much better was he already in for instance Funny People). According to the imdb there is a movie coming up that is not from his Happy Madison production company, so there might be hope…..what he is doing at the moment is disturbing and should not be associated with cinema in any way.

1/10  

Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

Predicting the future, that’s what makes the science fiction genre so fascinating. In 1968 Stanley Kubrick already predicted that computers might take control over us humans. The most interesting decade for this genre is probably the eighties. Pictures like Blade Runner,Videodrome and Robocop all have a certain prospect for the future and their message is undoubtedly a warning. The same holds for Terry Gilliam’s Brazil from 1985, which might be considered ‘Orwellian’ in its message.

We are somewhere in the 20^th century, society is strictly dominated by rules and regulations. If you are behind with a payment or if you are otherwise disobedient you will be taken by force and receive treatment to become a perfect citizen. When the usually flawless system fails by swapping identities of a felon named ‘Tuttle’ and an innocent guy named ‘Buttle’ the latter dies because of heart failure during the electrical ‘treatment’.

Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a small part of the huge bureaucratic system. His ambition is minimal, even though his mother keeps pushing him to make a big career, she even organizes a promotion for him. Lowry refuses at first but changes his mind when he meets the girl of his dreams, who was a witness in the Buttle case. In his current position he doesn’t have the authority to get the address details of the girl, who was not only a witness in the messed up case but is also considered a possible terrorist. When Lowry decides to take the job in the ‘information retrieval’ department and traces the girl he keeps seeing in his dreams, he is not only jeopardizing his job, but even his life.

The message Terry Gilliam gives us is pretty obvious, but he wraps it beautifully and with a stroke of Monty-Python-like humour. There is a scene where Lowry moves into his new office where he is more or less sharing the amount of desk space with his colleague who is on the other side of the wall. This is one of the many small joys that are present (sometimes very subtle, recall a dog with two band aids on his behind, to prevent him from ‘littering’). Another noteworthy joy are some local kids playing in the neighbourhood. As you and I were probably playing a soldier, cowboy or movie-hero, they are playing ‘government’, interrogating each other and referring to the excessive use of forms, regulations and their respective numbers and codes. Gilliam presents a world that in its essence is not very different from ours which makes it quite frightening and effective.

As mentioned earlier, this movie is predicting some interesting points for the future. Not only is Gilliam criticizing the bureaucratic system, he also shortly pays attention to cosmetic surgery (remember this movie is from 1985!). I also noticed some flat computer screens, funny enough the rest of the pc equipment was the same as in the 80’s. Last but not least the director’s view on the American approach on how to handle terrorism suspects is more present-day than ever.

The style of the film is both impressive and chaotic. Gilliam seems to have put all his fantasy and imagination in the stunning sets and art direction. With linear distortion and grim use of colours he makes the surroundings seem both distant and claustrophobic. Unfortunately he doesn’t manage to keep his story perfectly balanced and as a viewer it takes a bit of concentration to follow the story entirely. Some of the battles that Lowry is having in his dreams are funny and imaginative but at the same time somewhat overdone. Especially towards the end Gilliam gives his viewer a lot of action and visuals that don’t really seem to help understand the story. The final act is both as confusing as stunning.

Brazil for sure is an interesting movie that clearly refers to Orwell’s 1984 but is not copying it. Gilliam shapes his own creative, confusing and entertaining world that doesn’t always serves its narrative in a strong way but surely entertains and leaves a big impression. An instant science fiction classic.

“This is your receipt for your husband... and this is my receipt for your receipt.”

8.5/10

Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)

Next week we will have the Academy Awards ceremony where the best movies of the year are competing for the most prestigious film prices in Hollywood. Every year at least a part of the nominees can be politically or sentimentally justified. If your movie was on Oprah, handles a delicate American subject like 9/11 or portrays a well-known historical figure or event your film is likely to be nominated or even win. Portraying a man who suffers from a sex addiction resulting in an intense movie with explicit sexual content and which is outstanding in both directing and performances might be ignored.

Shame shows us the life of Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who is a successful and good-looking man living in New York who seems careless and distant from the world around him. In the opening sequence of the movie we see how Brandon starts the day masturbating in the shower, from the next scene we will learn how Brandon seemingly needs more satisfaction as he gets aroused by a girl he flirts with on the subway. His need for sexual arousal and satisfaction seems to have a compulsive nature as he watches porn the minute he comes home from work. Brandon is a sex addict.

One day he gets a visit from his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) who he unexpectedly finds in his bathroom and who wants to crash at his place having nowhere else to go. Brandon is everything but excited to have a visitor who is a burden on him in his disturbing private routines. Soon Sissy turns out to be a somewhat unstable and emotionally dependant girl who is looking for her brother’s warmth and company which he cannot give her, in fact it infuriates him. We are looking at a brother and sister who are both trying to cope with a difficult past in their own way. Even though their personalities and lifestyles seem to be opposite, both their lives are dictated by whatever happened in their past (luckily the movie doesn’t explain).

Director Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the legendary actor) is confronting his viewer with the emptiness and superficiality our protagonist is living in. His directing is very stylish with beautiful long takes and effective compositions. The scenes where Brandon is jogging down the Manhattan sidewalks and appears to be alone in one of the biggest cities in the world are perfect.

At first it felt like I was looking at the real American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman but when Sissy is introduced in Brandon’s life he shows true emotion and as a viewer you start to realize that he might have deeper motivations. It is in the (beautiful) scene where Sissy is singing Sinatra’s New York, New York when we see a first glance of emotion from a guy who never showed us any before. Later, Brandon is trying to feel for a girl he met at work and had a date with but doesn’t manage to cope with emotional involvement. He needs sex to cover the pain he feels for whatever happened in his past. It doesn’t matter if the sexual stimulation comes from a prostitute, random stranger from a bar or even a man. He needs physical stimulation to feel anything and he prefers to have it with an unknown. McQueen captures this perfectly when Brandon orgasms while in a threesome, his face in close-up showing nothing but pain, and not even the slightest bit of joy.

With Shame, Carey Mulligan but especially Michael Fassbender is giving a daring and outstanding performance. His acting is both subtle (the singing scene) and brutal in some of the bar or bed scenes. Director Steve McQueen gives us a movie that is tense, confronting, depressing but at the same time beautiful and sometimes even funny. Next week this movie will not be mentioned, which in itself is a ……

9/10