Movie Junction

There are so many heartbreaking moments in “A Separation” (2012) that it would be difficult to write about all of them in this review. But one scene that specifically stayed with me came in the film’s climax. There, the three main characters--a couple, Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moaadi), and their eleven-year daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi)--appear before a judge who is handling Simin and Nader’s divorce case. The judge asks Termeh with which parent she wants to stay. Termeh has a slight sad smile, and then her face turns quickly red after hearing the question. Tears start to roll down her face and the judge again ask her if she has made up her mind. Termeh requests that her parents leave the room, and the camera then focuses on Simin and Nader, who are seen waiting outside the judge’s room, separated by a glass door. Termeh’s final response is immaterial, and the final segment is a confirmation of a dichotomy that continues to exist between Simin and Nader. Clearly,...

“God Bless America” (2011) starts with a pulsating opening sequence. In these scenes, the main protagonist, Frank (Joel Murray), enters a house with a shotgun and goes on a shooting spree, killing a family.  The segment is played in slow motion, with a trigger-happy Frank playing as though an actor in an opera. What looks like a grisly scene is, in fact, Frank’s dream. Frank wakes from this disturbing dream and is soon seen flipping channels on a TV that is bombarded with reality TV shows and fear-mongering news channels. Through Frank’s eyes in the opening moments, we surely get a glimpse of American pop culture manufactured by network media in the U.S. Frank’s character represents the deeper problems of America’s middle class: broken families, loneliness, depression, and job insecurity. Frank is divorced, and his wife has the custody of their only daughter; he never gets to see his daughter, though.  Meanwhile, to worsen the situation, Frank is fired from his job ...

“Meatballs” (1979) occupies a special place in the comedy genre for a couple of reason. First and foremost, the film launched the big-screen careers of director Ivan Reitman (“Stripes” and “Ghostbusters”) and actor Bill Murray. Produced on a small budget, “Meatballs” over the years has developed into a cult hit, mainly through word of mouth. Another cult hit, “Animal House” (1978), preceded “Meatballs,” and it helped the later film to cement its position in the genre, as both films deal with the themes of partying using different age groups. Sure enough, just like “Animal House,” “Meatballs” is pure Americana, representing the America’s younger generation at the time.  “Meatballs” will always be remembered for Bill Murray’s debut performance. Before this film, Murray’s status as a comedian gained prominence in 1976 in the second season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”  Murray’s success in the show landed him his first acting gig and started his long film career. In “Me...

Based on the novel,"The Hunter" by Julia Leigh, writer-director Daniel Nettheim presents “The Hunter” (2011) as one man’s journey in the Australian landscape. While the film’s title might suggest some sort of a hunter-hunted relationship, the film is a rather somber affair, lacking the action elements of a traditional survival movie. This aspect is obvious in the opening act, wherein the plot moves slowly and the narrative is dominated by a lead character’s point of view. The film’s story attempts to depict an interaction of a loner with nature and how it changes his heart. Willem Dafoe plays the lead character, a mercenary named Martin David, who is sent by a biotech company, Red Alert, to find the last living Tasmanian tiger. David travels to Tasmania in search of the tiger, under the pretense that he is working as a university professor. In town, he has run-ins with the local loggers who think of David as an environmentalist. Unable to find a place to live, Davi...

Stories of underdogs in the sports genre are nothing new for Hollywood. Since sports movies date back to the silent era, the list of sport movies is growing every year, making the stories more familiar and predictable with each new offering. But, in spite of the predictability factor attached to the genre, sports films have always been about personal and team triumphs. Of course, most of the time we know the end result. An underdog team might claw back to win against the favorite team, or an individual delivering a knockout performance in spite of odds stacked against him are examples of the results that we might see right from the start. For instance, “Hoosiers” (1984) and “Dodgeball” (2004) are stories about coming-from-behind team victories. However, some genre classics are not about the end result, but more about emphasizing game play, overcoming mediocre game skills, and building team bonding--the panacea for all team-based sports. A recent ice-hockey film, “Goon” (20...

The premise of “Albert Nobbs” (2011) tells a touching tale of a woman, who has disguised herself as a man Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) for the last thirty years.   Albert works as a hotel waiter in Dublin, Ireland and the film’s story is set in the 19 th century. Albert is saving money so that he can buy a shop. Meanwhile, Albert’s secret is revealed after a painter named Hubert Page (Janet McTeer) visits the hotel for minor paint work. Page tells Albert that his secret will not be disclosed to anyone and, during his visit, Page also shares his secret with Albert. In the same hotel where Albert works, a maid Helen Dawes (Mia Wasikowska) falls for a young man, Joe Mackins (Aaron Johnson). Things get complicated when Albert thinks that Helen would be the ideal wife to run a shop with and starts courting her. “Albert Nobbs” mainly highlights the struggles of the working-class people of Ireland. While we see many characters, the film devotes the majority of time to coverin...

The opening shot of “Haywire” (2012) introduces us to the main protagonist, Mallory Kane (Gina Carano), in a laid-back manner. The camera stays firmly focused on Mallory as she tries to closely inspect her surroundings at a diner. She moves her eyes rapidly, looking for anything suspicious and swirling her tongue while waiting.   She is not bored and is expecting something unusual. Moments later, Mallory presents an exasperated look on her face, imbuing it with a “not again” moment. Soon after, the tone of the entire setup changes and the camerawork gets zappy, trying to capture the action happening at the diner. These opening minutes are critical in developing an action-oriented portrait of Mallory. We know Mallory is smart, receptive, sexy, aggressive, physically fit, and above all, doesn’t take anything for guaranteed. As the opening moments end, we are taken to Mallory’s world as a special agent caught in a web of deceit and double crossing. After es...

The team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who directed flicks such as “Crank” (2006) and “Crank 2: High Voltage” (2009), are back again, in a rip-roaring, mindless action flick, “Gamer” (2009). All three movies have a common attribute in their storytelling in that the main protagonist is fighting to stay alive through a series of macabre, violent events. Nothing has changed since their last effort, “Crank 2,” and this time it is bigger and more badass than ever before. In one possible alternate future, Ken Castle (Michael C Hall) has a spawned a world of real-life gamers where a team of condemned criminals called “Slayers” are trying to survive thirty deadly levels, at the end of which only one player will survive. Any player surviving the thirty rounds will receive a full pardon for his crimes. One such super-soldier, Kable (Gerard Butler), has survived twenty-seven rounds and is almost at the last leg to his freedom. However, he decides to go against the system. Meanwhile, in ...