Cinematic Excursions: Film Releases For April 9, 2010

After. Life

Studio: Anchor Bay Films 
Director: Agnieszka Vosloo 
Screenwriter: Agnieszka Vosloo 
Starring: Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long, Josh Charles, Chandler Canterbury 
Genre: Psychological Thriller 
MPAA Rating: R (for nudity, disturbing images, language and brief sexuality) 
Official Website: AfterLifethefilm.com 

Plot Summary: After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite the funeral director's reassurances that she is merely in transition to the afterlife. Eliot convinces her he has the ability to communicate with the dead and is the only one who can help her. Trapped inside the funeral home, with nobody to turn to except Eliot, Anna is forced to face her deepest fears and accept her own death. But Anna's grief—stricken boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) still can't shake the nagging suspicion that Eliot isn't what he appears to be. As the funeral nears, Paul gets closer to unlocking the disturbing truth, but it could be too late; Anna may have already begun to cross over the other side. With an unrelenting edge of menace, "After.Life" is a stylish psychological thriller which provocatively questions the line between life and death. 

Date Night

Studio: 20th Century Fox 
Director: Shawn Levy 
Screenwriter: Josh Klausner 
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Leighton Meester, Common, Taraji Henson, Kristen Wiig, Ray Liotta, Mila Kunis, Mark Ruffalo, William Fichtner, Olivia Munn 
Genre: Comedy 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference) 
Official Website: DateNightthemovie.com 

Plot Summary: Action-comedy maestro Shawn Levy, the director of the blockbuster "Night at the Museum" franchise, teams up with two of the comedy world's biggest talents, Steve Carell ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "The Office") and Tina Fey ("Baby Mama," "30 Rock," "SNL") for an adventure that turns a run-of-the-mill married couple's date upside down - way upside down, in "Date Night." 

Everyone Else

Studio: The Cinema Guild 
Director: Maren Ade 
Screenwriter: Maren Ade 
Starring: Lars Eidinger, Birgit Minichmayr 
Genre: Drama, Romance 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 

Plot Summary: On the surface, Chris (Lars Eidinger) and Gitti (Birgit Minichmayr/"The White Ribbon," "Cherry Blossoms," "Downfall") are a young German couple enjoying the sun and relaxation of a Mediterranean holiday. But as they spend more time alone with each other, their playful teasing and silly habits begin to reveal some fundamental differences between them. And when they accidentally run into another, clearly happier and more successful couple, the tensions between them erupt.

"Everyone Else" is about a new relationship that hasn't yet endured much," notes writer-director Maren Ade. "The ground rules haven't been set and both partners are still afraid to completely expose themselves. I was intrigued by this newly created, intricate and unique entity that two people form when they become a couple-a chaotic meshwork of desires, secrets, demands, power structures and rituals." 

Letters To God

Studio: Screen Media Ventures 
Director: Peter Bratt 
Screenwriter: Peter Bratt 
Starring: Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Jesse Borrego, Talisa Soto Bratt 
Genre: Drama 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: LaMissionthemovie.com 

Plot Summary: "La Mission" is the story of Che Rivera (Benjamin Bratt), a San Francisco bus driver respected in his Mission district barrio for building beautiful low rider cars, yet feared for his tough and machismo ways.

A reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic, Che's path to redemption is tested when he discovers that his pride and joy--his only child, Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez)--is gay. In a homophobic rage, Che violently beats his son, disowning him. Out of pride, Che loses his son – the "best friend he's got" – and once again loses himself. Emotionally broken and vulnerable, Che is left isolated and alone.

In a cathartic moment on the mean streets of the Mission, Che realizes that his patriarchal pride is meaningless to him, and that in order to maintain it, he has sacrificed the one thing that he cherishes most – love. 

When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors

Studio: Abramorama 

Director: Tom DiCillo 
Screenwriter: Tom DiCillo 
Starring: Not Available 
Genre: Documentary 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: WhenYoureStrangemovie.com 

Plot Summary: "When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors" uncovers historic and previously unseen footage of the illustrious rock quartet and provides new insight into the revolutionary impact of its music and legacy. Directed by award-winning writer/director Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, the film is a riveting account of the band's history and the first feature documentary about them.

The film reveals a intimate perspective on the creative chemistry between drummer John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer Jim Morrison -- four brilliant artists, who made The Doors one of America's most iconic and influential rock bands. Using footage shot between the band's 1965 formation and Morrison's 1971 death, "When You're Strange" follows the band from the corridors of UCLA's film school, where Manzarek and Morrison met, to the stages of sold-out arenas.

"When You're Strange" captures the zeitgeist and fraction of an era while providing insight into who The Doors were, what they became and what they meant to our culture. The Doors sold more than 80 million albums and continue to sell more than one million albums a year to this day. 

Women Without Men

Studio: IndiePix Films 
Director: Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari 
Screenwriter: Shirin Neshat 
Starring: Navíd Akhavan, Mina Azarian, Bijan Daneshmand, Rahi Daneshmand,Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Tahmoures Tehrani, Shabnam Toloui, Orsolya Tóth, Essa Zahir 
Genre: Drama 
MPAA Rating: Not Available 
Official Website: WomenWithoutMenfilm.com 

Plot Summary: "Women Without Men," an adaptation of Shahrnush Parsipur's magic realist novel, is Iranian artist Shirin Neshat's first feature length film. The story chronicles the intertwining lives of four Iranian women during the summer of 1953; a cataclysmic moment in Iranian history when an American led, British backed coup d'état brought down the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, and reinstalled the Shah to power. 

Movie Review: Alice In Wonderland

Directed by Tim Burton

Screenplay by Linda Wolverton

Duration 1hour, 50 minutes

My Wonderfully Majestic Opinion

When it comes to Tim Burton, I find myself constantly asking the same question, are Johnny Depp and Tim Burton in love?  With this 7^th film the dynamic duo has done together, I wonder if the two need to start seeing other people.  It doesn’t stop with Mr. Depp, as Burton’s wife, the wonderfully twisted Helena Bonham Carter, has been seen in no less than three of his films.  With that said, however, Alice in Wonderland is a surprisingly refreshing and adventurous film experience.

The story starts off as Alice attempts an escape from a party that “secretly” was a surprise engagement party helmed by the mother of a very bulbous, over the top, proper Englishman.  Chasing after a very familiar white rabbit, Alice stumbles into a very strange and very deep hole next to a twisted and demonic tree…the sign of a true Tim Burton film.  (Note: you know you are watching a Burton film if you see a twisted, leafless tree, or a Jack-O-Lantern.)  After landing head first into a small room, for those familiar with the story, we are shown a very familiar scene in which Alice grows and shrinks in a non stopping pattern, and transitioning into the normal introductions to the famous Wonderland inhabitants.  Having not read the book or seen the Disney film in such a long time, I had forgotten much of the context of the original story.  So I sat there for the first half hour of the film thinking I was watching Tim Burton’s interpretation of the famous Lewis Carroll novel, I soon discovered this was not the case.

As it turns out the film was not based on the original story at all.  Rather it was loosely based on Alice and her return to Wonderland as a 19 year old girl who had forgotten her previous adventure in Wonderland.  Alice has returned as this “chosen one” type of character who is destined to slay the Jabberwocky and over throw the Red Queen.  This unexpected twist for me was a very pleasing aspect which helped to dictate my attitude towards the film as a whole.  And as time flew by I discovered myself enjoying the film more than expected.

What I was impressed with the most was with the creative approach at the world of Wonderland.  Almost solely CG, the world and it’s inhabitants were exaggerations or had exaggerated features to help show a distinct difference from our world and theirs, keeping the separation of reality and fantasy quite clear.  I quite enjoyed seeing Depp with large, twisted eyeballs and Bonham Carter with an abnormally large head that was in no way proportional to her body.  Along with this, the animated aspect of the film very closely resembled the Disney approach, where many of the animal characters were quite quirky and obviously overdone, but still maintained a realistic undertone that helped keep a balanced look on screen.  It brought me back to the days of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where cartoons and the real world mesh together as an acceptable and perfectly normal aspect of life.

The film of course was not without its flaws.  Being a Disney film, one will never escape the cheesy lines that has become a branded trademark of big, movie making corporations,

“This is Impossible” - Alice

“Only if you believe it to be.” - Hatter

And of course the horrendously predictable plot devices, such as the dog reuniting with his family, Alice earning the trust of the gigantic beast, the slaying of the Jabberwocky, made me want to take a huge and satisfying dump on the screen.  But to be honest, there was nothing terribly distracting about the film that resembled the experience I had seeing Avatar.

My Awe-Struck Conclusion

Tim Burton delivered a film of creative and good taste.  Yes it was very Tim Burtony, but it was a step forward rather than a step into a large, gaping mud hole festering with bacteria and dead animals.  No, Burton delivered a quality film that was enjoyable and fun to see. 

In The Moment Rating: 7 out of 10 stars