REVOLUTIONARY ROAD(2008)

This movie is the bomb. Ever wonder what would happen if Jack from “Titanic” survived the freezing waters of the Atlantic and got married to Rose, settled down and had kids? What would their lives have been like? Would they have the perfect family and fairytale romance? Or would they become disillusioned with each other once the monotony of reality set in constantly argue with each other and make themselves miserable? Watch “Revolutionary Road” and you can find out what might have happened to them…

If you want to watch a movie with hard hitting acting, a good story, and a hefty dose of Stepfordian socio-domestic drama look no further. Both DiCaprio and Winslet deliver amazing performances of great emotional depth and insight. They deftly portray a young couple’s desperate struggle to break free from the drab confines of a 1950’s Connecticut suburbia known as Revolutionary Estates.

What I liked about “Revolutionary Road” was that it really humanizes the domestic struggles faced by middle-class suburban American couples of the 1950’s.
We see a young couple, Frank and April Wheeler, starting off with dreams, aspirations, and the belief in their own unique superiority as a happily married couple with a great future ahead of them. Over the course of the movie, we see the couple gradually compromise their ideals, dreams, and beliefs, eventually succumbing to the suburban reality that traps and confines them.

There are so many amazing moments of acting in “Revolutionary Road”. Leonardo DiCaprio brings it like a champ as Frank Wheeler, a salesman for Knox Business Machines who desperately wants to become a man worthy of his family all the while denying his own underlying need to discover his own personal passions and desires.

Meanwhile, Kate Winslet is both poignant and human in her role as a failed actress turned housewife whose deep seated need to be special causes her to devote her life to her husband and family at the expense of her self integrity and self-will.

There are also other amazing actors in this film. The most notable is Michael Shannon who steals scenes like a bandit in his role as John Givens, the formerly institutionalized son of the couple’s real estate agent. Shannon gives a strikingly brilliant performance as the one person who is able to see through the falseness of the couple’s lives and calls it how it is.

I would strongly recommend this movie to people who want to watch really good acting combined with good writing. Revolutionary Road takes the story of a seemingly idyllic, and in some sense typical, family unit from the 1950’s and shows what goes on underneath on the human level when people sacrifice their true dreams and ideals for the sake of appearances. The Wheelers are “that family”. The couple that started off with so much promise only to wind up in the end just another casualty of the 1950’s middle class suburban American dream.






If you liked this movie some other movies I'd recommend are:

The Departed, Titanic, American Beauty

A Streetcar Named Desire

director: Elia Kazan
Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden
Writer: Tenessee Williams


“STELLLAAAAA!!!!!!”

Originally a play by the playwrite Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire has been parodied in popular culture on countless TV sitcoms, radio shows, improv skits and movies. Many a macho American male, seeking to demonstrate his masculine sensitivity and theatrical prowess, has belted this cry at one time or another. Usually to the mild perturbation of the opposite sex. But why? The answer is simple…

Marlon Brando.

Prior to seeing this film, the American public had no inkling of Modern Acting. While Brando had stared in another film The Men a year earlier, A Streetcar Named Desire is the film that put the young actor on the map. It was also a film that forever changed the landscape of American film acting grounded in dramatic realism.

Summary:

Blanche Dubois – a fragile, manipulative southern belle with a healthy streak of alcoholism, and a propensity for grandiose self-delusion– pops into the lives of her sister Stella and her sister’s husband Stanley Kowalski. She arrives on the pretense of taking a vacation from her job as a school teacher. It turns out that the real reason she is there is cause she was fired from her job after seducing a 17-year-old student. Underlying all her troubles is the emotional scar of the suicide of her girlhood fiancé. In short Blanche is a crazy crazy-maker who seeks to live in a world of fairytale southern hospitality.

When she arrives at her sister’s house, Blanche is immediately dismayed to see her sister in a co-dependant marriage with the brutal, earthy, emotionally and physically abusive Stanley Kowalski. She openly disapproves of Stanley’s treatment of her sister Stella. Stanley, who cannot stand the pretentiousness of Blanche’s manipulative ways, sees her as a threat to the couple’s marriage. He seeks to divest her of her delusions and this culminates in his raping Blanche who in turn suffers a total mental breakdown.

Why this movie is flipping awesome:

Ok. I still remember seeing this movie at 19 years old in my college film library and being thoroughly impressed. After seeing Brando’s performance I had a solid understanding of what good acting truly was. This was the movie that set the bar for modern American film acting and his name was Marlon Brando. It is important when watching this movie to keep in mind the fact that prior to this film, acting grounded in dramatic realism was not really seen much on films in the United States.

That said, Marlon Brando’s acting is simply genius. Brando’s acting is charged with raw emotional energy and firmly grounded in the reality of the moment. If there is a textbook performance for good acting, this is it.

Vivian Leigh is also annoyingly good as Blanche Dubois. Watching her act against Brando is like watching a caterpillar get mauled by a gang of army ants. She is nowhere as phenomenal as Brando, but does justice to her part and fits the role to a tee.

Kim Hunter is good as Stella. It’s a shame she was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era, as it seems to have tempered her career during that time. She is very nurturing as Stella and it is no wonder that she also played the benevolent ape, Zira, in the original planet of the Apes.

Karl Malden is pretty good as Stanley's friend who tries to get romantic with the Crazy Southern Belle Ms. Dubois.

Summation:

This movie is a must see for all actors and anyone who is interested in learning about acting. Great performances. Brando is a textbook for good acting.

Other movies I would recommend if you liked this one are:

Young Lions, On the Waterfront, The Wild One, Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The Harp of Burma(1956)

director: Kon Ichikawa
Starring: Rentaro Mikuni, Shoji Yasui,


The Harp of Burma aka The Burmese Harp is a Japanese anti-war film originally produced in 1956. It is about a Japanese soldier who travels across Burma disguised as a monk during the aftermath of the Japanese surrender. Based on a children’s novel by the author Takeyama Michio, it won many awards and accolades at the time of it’s release including an honorable mention in the Venice Film Festival and the first ever San Giorgio Prize after tying with the winner. The movie itself is kinda a tearjerker so if you like sad movies about departures you will like this one.


Summary:

The setting is Burma 1945. A platoon of Japanese soldiers is patrolling the jungles of Burma. Led by a Captain Inouye that used to be a music teacher, they are a rather strange bunch who enjoy singing English ballads in four part harmonies during their breaks. One of them, a corporal named Mizushima, accompanies them on the Burmese harp.

While camping out in a Burmese village, the soldiers learn that the war is over when their camp is peacefully overtaken by Allied forces. Most of the group is shipped back to a prison camp to be processed and sent home.
Before leaving Captain Inouye sends Mizushima on a volunteer mission to help negotiate the surrender of Japanese forces further north.

Mizushima goes on the mission, but when he arrives the soldiers refuse to surrender and, except for the private, they are all killed in the ensuing battle. The private flees the battlefield, traveling across Burma disguised as a monk. One day he spots his old platoon on the road returning to the prison camp from a work detail but he does not acknowledge them.

Back at camp, Captain Inouye is convinced that the monk they saw is Mizushima. He and his men organize an elaborate way to communicate with Mizushima asking him to return home with them using a parrot and song.


What I liked about this movie:

Acting-wise, there are some real gems. Shôji Yasui gives a very sensitive performance as private Mizushima, a man who is torn between his desire to return home and the fact that he is forever changed by the experience of war. Rentaro Mikuni is very likeable as Captain Inouye. He gives a moving speech at the end of the film while reading a letter from his fellow soldier and friend. There are many other performances that are quite interesting including the other soldiers in Mizushima's platoon and an old Burmese lady who helps the soldiers in the prison camp.


Summation:

The movie is really poetic in it’s storytelling in a way that is quite endearing and almost surreal at times.. The idea of a group of soldiers who sing in chorus while on break from patrol might seem pretty preposterous considering that they would be ambushed and killed in a second. However, if one is open to the fact that the movie is more of an allegorical piece than a realistic one a whole experience opens up. Early on in the movie there is a spectacular scene where the soldiers are serenading

Ichikawa is a very good storyteller and his visuals are very beautiful and ghostly. The movie is in black and white and I would love to see the color version that was produced in 1985.


Other movies I would recommend if you liked this one are:

In the Mood For Love, The Burmese Harp(1985), The Thin Red Line, The Deer Hunter.

The Dark Knight(Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Ekhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Garry Oldman, Morgan Freeman)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Ekhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Garry Oldman, Morgan Freeman

This movie is a dark action movie. It is also the best Batman film I have seen so far. It is a non-stop rollercoaster complimented with a heavy dose of good acting. While The Dark Knight is a long movie, the action scenes keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and the characters are all well acted. And on top of everything the story is quite good encompassing various themes-- mainly people's capacity for evil and heroism and the fine line that distinguishes the two. I myself am not much a fan for the superhero genre of movies that are popular these days, but I have to say this movie kicks ass

Summary:

So "The Batman" is a vigilante who is kicking all the criminals' asses in Gotham City. He is secretly the millionaire playboy business mogul Bruce Wayne. In their desperation, the criminals of Gotham hire a freakazoid mastermind named The Joker to assasinate "The Batman" so that they can roam the streets of Gotham once again. As the Joker's plot to eliminate "The Batman unfolds", so does the action!

What makes this movie so Bat-Great?!

One word...

HEATH LEDGER.

I say "one" word because this performance of the late Mr. Ledger is one that will no doubt secure his place in hollywood as a screen legend and icon. His characterization of The Joker is absolutely amazing. Dangerous, cunning, and definitely crazy, Heath Ledger's Joker is a very scary but at the same time likeable in a tragic and charismatic outcast freak sort of way. Ledger's performance hijacks the film like a viral infection and I after his first appearance in the film I found myself waiting and wondering what the Joker was going to do next. What impressed me most about this performance was the emotional intensity of his role. Ledger looks like he is really going crazy!

Not that the other acting is bad either. All the other actors are very good in their own right. Christian Bale is a good batman. His dark stoicism is a perfect foil for the Joker.

Michael Caine is a scene stealer as usual in the role of Alfred, Batman's butler. Gary Oldman is good and father figurey as the Police Commisioner Gordon. And Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freemanish, in his role of Lucius Fox, the chief inventor and #2 of Wayne Enterprises.

Aaron Eckhart is very Geraldo Riveraesque in his role of Harvey Dent/Two Face and Maggie Gyllenhall is very expert at playing Batman's ex-girlfriend Rachel Dawes aka "that self-righteous arrogant hipster chick who thinks she's hot shit and broke your heart."

In Summation:

The Dark Knight is an awesome movie. The action and suspense is very gripping and entertaining and garaunteed to keep your heart pumping throughout the whole 2
hour and 32 minute length of it. This movie is filled with good acting and a great premise, but the main attraction is Heath Ledger as The Joker. Damn fine acting in a brilliant, action-packed
movie!!!

Other Movies You Might Like If you Liked This One:

Batman(1989), Batman Begins, Candy

Last Tango In Paris(Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider

Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a middleaged american expat as he goes through a midlife crisis? Then watch Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris and prepare to be blown away with awe and disgust. Not for the faint of heart, this movie delves into some of the darkest places of the post 50's American male psyche. Marlon Brando is simply so amazing in this movie in terms of his viscerality and unabashed emotional frankness.

Summary:

Paul(Marlon Brando), an aging american expat who lives in France is trying to figure out what to do with his life after his French wife has commited suicide. He is left stuck with the burden of living in their apartment building surrounded by everything that reminds him of his life with her. So monsieur Paul decides to rent out a flat across the street where he can get away. The only problem is that the flat is also rented out by a young french student actress named Jeanne(Maria Schneider) who is looking for a flat to share with her young filmmaker/fiance. Both Paul and Jeanne recognize the desire in eachother for human connection and an escape from life's realities and become lovers. The only condition is that, at Paul's insistance, they never reveal eachother's names.

In their cloistered world, the two are able to explore and reveal themselves to each other in a way that is simply impossible to do in the outside world. They let it all hang out... the good, the bad, and the ugly. The question of this movie is whether or not this relationship will survive in the outside world. What will happen?

Why is this movie Flippin' awesome?:

OK. This movie is not for everyone. It is pretty slow, and rather dark. The overall tone of the story is sad, brooding and somewhat lethargic. Then there is that infamous "butter scene". The story is about people bearing their deepest, darkest souls to each other and these people are not exactly happy well-adjusted people.

BUT...

This movie has some of the most visceral, relaxed acting ever to be seen on film since the invention of the film camera. There is a monologue that Marlon Brando delivers to his dead wife where he just goes to pieces. It is quite rare to see such raw footage on film. I would have to say that it is the most emotionally raw speech I have ever seen delivered on film.

Maria Schneider is good too playing across Marlon Brando. She captures the spirit of a disillusioned precocious young girl who gets in over her head. Years later, she would say in interviews that she regretted doing the film, especially the "butter scene"(which was a last minute improvisation added to the film). She also said that, to her frustration, her professional acting career would never outlive her performance in that role.

In fact Marlon Brando, too, would look on the filming of that movie with ambivalence saying that it was the most painful experience he had to endure in his acting career and from which he learned to guard against investing too personally in a role. He too felt rather hoodwinked by the director, Bertolucci, saying that he felt raped and manipulated on set.

As awful as it sounds for the actors, this translates into really amazing performances for audiences to watch. Both Brando and Schneider give gritty performances that are more exposed and raw than you have ever seen in your life!

In Summation:

Last Tango in Paris is an ugly film. But it is a sorta ugliness mixed with beauty. The kind that you can see when you watch someone picking their nose unawares. The film is a milestone for cinema in the intimacy that is captured on screen. A must see for fans of film and acting alike!

Other films you might like if you liked this film:

Apocalypse Now, Streetcar Named Desire, The Libertine, 2046

Tom Hanks is an awesome actor..

Here is an amazing scene with Tom Hanks from Philadelphia. The man is a genius. He lets the music do the acting for him! Denzel's cool too...

like what you see? Never seen this one before? Then, go watch the movie!

The Man Who Cried(Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, John Turtturo, Johnny Depp)

Director: Sally Potter

Starring: Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchette, John Turturro, Johnny Depp

This movie is about outcasts and drifters. People on the fringes of society who are trying to find the place where they belong. If you like movies with Vagabond Gypsies, Jewish Refugees, Russian Ex-pat dancers and Italian Opera singers who are all trying to deal with the Nazi invasion, you will like this movie.

Summary:

Susie(Christina Ricci) is a Jewish refugee from Russia who wants to go to America to search for her missing father. She finds herself working as a chorus girl in France just in time for the Nazi invasion of Europe. Her only friends are a dancer named Lola(Cate Blanchette) and a Gypsy horseman named Cesar(Johnny Depp).

Why This Movie is Flipping Awesome:

There are some awesome performances with this movie. All the actors are superb in their roles.

Christina Ricci and Cate Blanchett both give great performances in this movie. Both are equally awesome but in different ways. Ricci is plays a very quiet Russian Jewish girl who is forced to assimilate into English culture but yearns to reunite with her long lost father. She is very beautiful in a mysterious way and her performance is quite subtle. Blanchett is a seductive dancing diva who befriends Ricci while also adopting the role of a sexual madonna to enrapture the Italian tenor Dante Dominio(John Turturro).

Turturro himself is quite the arrogant bastard as usual in most of his films. Ultimately he is a man who seeks station in life through his musical talents. So much so that he would do anything for it. Even at the expense of his moral integrity.

Johnny Depp has the least lines in the movie, but his performance is incredible. He alone is a reason to watch this movie from an actor's standpoint. What he conveys with a mere gesture or look speaks volumes.

Summation:

This movie is rather subtle, but it is quite good. Acting wise the cast is excellent. The story is good if you like romantic stories about people searching for lost loved ones. Another really strong feature of the movie is the soundtrack. The use of music in the film is masterfully done and heightens the sense of emotion and lyrical beauty in each scene.

Movies you might like if you liked this one:

Edward Scissorhands, The Libertine, Black Snake Moan, The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou, Chocolat