Norma en Arthur Lewis, een jong stel dat in de buitenwijken woont, krijgen een simpel houten doosje cadeau. Een vreemdeling komt langs met het bericht dat de eigenaar van het doosje $1.000.000 zal krijgen als die op een knop drukt. Maar de druk op de knop zorgt er ook voor dat ergens anders op de wereld iemand sterft, iemand die ze niet kennen. Met de doos maar 24 uur in hun bezit, zitten Norma en Arthur met een dilemma.

De film is van de hand van Richard Kelly, regisseur van het fantastische ‘Donnie Darko’. Zijn vorige film ‘Southland tales’ flopte nochtans grandioos en haalde ondanks zijn selectie voor het Cannes Film Festival 2006 vrijwel nergens de bioscopen in ons land. In ’The Box’ acteren o.a. James Marsden, Cameron Diaz en Frank Langella. Een trailer van de film kan je hier vinden.

De trailer geeft helaas een verkeerd beeld van de film. Er wordt geïnsinueerd dat de film is opgebouwd rond de keuze die het koppel uiteindelijk moet maken, terwijl veeleer de gevolgen van hun beslissing in beeld worden gebracht. Dan nog is deze prent geen makkie voor mensen die van hapklare dingen houden. De film haalt nergens het niveau van ‘Donnie Darko’, daar is dit verhaal (dat losjes is gebaseerd op een aflevering van The Twilight Zone), écht wel te mager voor. Nochtans zitten er best aardige momenten in de film (de bibliotheekscène bijvoorbeeld), maar de regisseur tracht te vaak David Lynch te plagiëren en zoals iedereen ondertussen weet is het origineel meestal stukken beter dan de kopie. Zo dacht ik een paar keer bekende Twin Peaks koppen te herkennen, de meest frappante was toch wel een agent die op het einde tijdens de inval te zien is, die leek als twee druppels water op Deputy Andy Brennan. Heeft de regisseur het erom gedaan? Geen idee.

Mijns inziens houdt de acteerprestatie van Frank Langella de film uiteindelijk nog recht. De uitwerking van het scenario had volgens mij beter gekund. Met ‘Donnie Darko’ maakte Kelly reeds een meesterwerk, met ‘The Box’ zal hij dat kunstje wellicht niet kunnen herhalen. Het is allemaal té middelmatig, te gewoontjes. Hoogstens voor een gezellig bioscoopavondje, helaas is het geen klassieker geworden!

by Andrew Bowcock

Richard Kelly is partially responsible for my obsession with film, as his 2001 cult phenomenon, Donnie Darko, altered my expectations of what films can do.  Ever since I first saw Darko in 2002 I’ve had a difficult time watching films the same way, as I’ve almost always been under the impression that there’s more going on than we simply see on the screen or have told by the characters.  It seemed like a long dry spell before Kelly came out with his follow up film, Southland Tales, an ambitious film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and was met with almost universally poor reception.  Since I was such a big Darko fan, I had a hard time believing the same guy could release something else that wasn’t anything less than brilliant and crafted with incredible precision…but even I initially didn’t know what to make of Southland Tales. After now seeing it several times and having read the preceding graphic novel that Kelly created to accompany the film’s plot, I’ve grown in fondness for the whacked-out, absurd, colorful and entertaining satirical version of the Book of Revelation (though it still has nothing on his first effort).

When I heard that Richard Kelly was going to adapt a short story by the mighty Richard Matheson, I was very intrigued.  When I heard that Cameron Diaz was one of the stars, I was a bit less excited…but figured it still might be not be a disaster when considering that somehow Kelly made the ridiculously bizarre, spotty cast of Southland Tales work to fit its own eccentric mood.

The tale of The Box (based on Matheson’s Button, Button) is about a young married couple in the 1970’s struggling to make ends meet during some personal and financial struggles.  The husband, Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) is a scientist that works for NASA, one who has aspirations to be an astronaut but somehow fails the psychological exam, while his wife, Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz) is a schoolteacher who has been informed that she’ll soon be laid off.  One fateful day a mysterious box arrives on their porch – its contents are simply a small black box with a big red button.  The next day a well-dressed man with formidable and prominent facial scars, Mr. Steward (Frank Langella) appears at their front door explaining the box’s purpose – if the red button is pressed, the couple will receive one million dollars…but the catch is a killer (literally): the pressing of the button will also result in the death of some person somewhere in the world whom they do not know.  They have one day to decide before the box will be picked up by this “Mr. Steward,” reprogrammed, and sent to somebody else who they do not know.

After squabbling over whether or not this whole thing could be real and thinning the list of options, the couple decides to push the button…if anything, out of curiosity.  Mr. Steward returns as he promised, reinforcing what he said before and giving them the money.  However from this point forward Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are met with some bizarre challenges as they try to uncover the truth about Mr. Steward and the purpose of his provisions.  Also, each decision they make seems to be accompanied with counterproductive results, making the pushing of the red button easily one of the worst decisions they’ve ever made.

Just like Kelly’s Southland Tales, The Box has been receiving mixed to poor reviews from critics and it’s understandable why.  Though this film has a somewhat intriguing premise, it feels a bit undercooked by the end.  The mood is a bit reminiscent of Donnie Darko as it has elements of atmospheric horror threaded in with the film’s philosophical quips and sci-fi flavored suspense, but unfortunately the true struggle in The Box doesn’t lie in the choice of whether or not Mr. and Mrs. Lewis will push the button, but whether or not Richard Kelly is actually making a generic film.  The first 20 minutes or so of this film feel pretty lazy…just like they were directed to appeal to as general of a public as you can get.  However, once the film’s plot starts to move, it feels a bit messy…kind of like the rest of the film wanted to stay put whereas the director is trying to pull it in a direction it doesn’t want to go.

There are some minor twists as the film progresses and there are a couple of sequences that I might even deem as “great,” but by the end it almost feels like a good deal of fuss for very little.  However, before I try to beat this film with a criticism stick like most reviewers seem to be doing, I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say that I actually enjoyed this movie…flaws and all.  Maybe it’s partially because I’m a Richard Kelly enthusiast, but I prefer to weigh it in context, so let’s do that:

For me, Donnie Darko was pretty close to being a perfectly constructed film.  It truly just works in just about every aspect whether or not you have a full grasp of what’s going on, so I would call Kelly a great director based just on that one film.  When doing Southland Tales he took on the ambitious feat of creating a film that tried to do everything Darko did but on a much larger scale…and thus (many would argue) he got into trouble trying to make broad strokes while retaining a multi-faceted plot.  With The Box it feels like Kelly’s trying to pull back the reigns a bit, but unfortunately his ambitions for constructing a complex mystery seem a bit misplaced when plugged into this little story.  Though I like some of the things he did with this film visually and conceptually (a key scene set in a library near the last third of the film, in my opinion, was especially amazing, and one sequence near the end stabbed my emotions rather effectively). I feel like his style and imagination are just more fitting when they work by themselves and not in accordance with another story.  When watching The Box it kind of felt like two films – one was Matheson’s story bleeding through while the other was Richard Kelly trying to tell his version of what was going on.  If you appreciate Kelly enough as an artist and philosopher, you might find it enjoyable…if not, it will most likely prod or annoy you.

Is it one of the best films of the year?  Is it Kelly’s best work?  A big no on both accounts, but there is enough for a viewer to enjoy if they’re looking for a simple science-fiction-mystery that’s attempting to be something more, whether or not it succeeds on all cylinders.  I’ll tell you one thing, it’s much more enjoyable than the horribly conceived version The Twilight Zone did of Matheson’s story in the 1980’s.

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photo sources:

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/
http://alexhluch.files.wordpress.com/
http://justpressplay.today.com/

other resources:

http://www.imdb.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://metacritic.com/

When Werner Herzog’s remake/sequel of Abel Ferrera’s Bad Lieutenant was announced, it gave Internet cynics fodder for an endless stream of articles chuckling over how absurd the whole project was. Was this ridicule triggered by the potential folly of recreating a project as uncompromising as Ferrera’s original? Was it the standard cineaste’s resistance to recycling older movies, or the thought of recycling something made so recently? Or was it that Herzog had cast Nicolas Cage? Without a frame being shot it was already being heralded as a disaster, as if Herzog’s legendary take-no-prisoners attitude had suddenly metamorphosed into some kind of dementia. When the trailer arrived the derisory laughter increased. Cage’s reputation as the bad movie actor du jour has become so entrenched in popular thinking that the obviously intentional humour of the trailer was treated as evidence that Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans was another Wicker-Man-style disaster waiting to happen. The reality is that Herzog’s crime drama will more than likely disappoint those who were hoping for a failure, but thrill everyone else.

Cage portrays Terrence McDonagh, a police detective who inherits the mantle of Bad Lieutenant after injuring himself during a post-Katrina rescue. After this quick origin story we see McDonagh in the grip of an addiction to painkillers and coke, deep in debt and stealing drugs from criminals. The only thing that separates him from the perps he chases is his dedication to the job, especially his determination to bring to justice the drug kingpin Big Fate (Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner) who he suspects is responsible for the murder of an immigrant family. So far, so Keitel. McDonagh, however, is lucky enough to have a girlfriend (Frankie, played by Cage’s Ghost Rider co-star Eva Mendes) who just so happens to be a prostitute on a downward spiral of her own. Though neither of them are particularly admirable people, they seem to care for each other. As they become more absorbed into a depraved world, this connection seems to be the one thing that might save them.

The similarity to Ferrera’s original is obvious, but whereas that movie was harrowing and dark, Herzog brings an unexpected sense of possibility and even joy to this tale. Avoiding the tortured and oppressive air of Catholic guilt that made the original so distinctive, Herzog gives McDonagh a chance at redemption that doesn’t revolve around appeasing an indifferent God, and thus generates a sense of unexpected uplift. Additionally, while Ferrera set his movie in a decaying New York, Herzog takes metaphorical advantage of New Orleans’ recent history and the attempts of the citizens to rebuild their city, efforts that echo McDonagh’s own. Even at its darkest Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is filmed in almost constant brightness, and it helps that Herzog has filled the supporting cast with amusing eccentrics played by terrific character actors like Vondie Curtis Hall, Jennifer Coolidge, Fairuza Balk, Michael Shannon, and Brad Dourif. Also included is a subdued and underused Val Kilmer as a cop lacking even McDonagh’s vanishing moral core.

All act as amusing foils for Cage, but special mention must be made of Shea Whigham as abusive mob goon Justin who appears midway through the film to abuse Frankie. His dopey attitude and woozily delivered threats are sure-fire crowd-pleasers. Perhaps that’s the most surprising thing about Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Even though the trailer featured a number of amusing moments, the refreshingly breezy tone of the movie is a surprise, even though it features murder, sexual abuse, drug-taking, and old-lady-menacing. While Ferrera was determined to send the viewer to hell with Keitel, Herzog takes a cue from William Finkelstein’s script and makes a movie that does all it can to send the audience home with a smile on its face. The lackadaisical approach does come at the cost of narrative momentum: several scenes in the movie meander without purpose, which is something you wouldn’t expect from a seasoned TV writer who has worked on L.A. Law, NYPD Blue and Murder One, though the demented elements of the movie seem to tally with his work on lost TV classic Cop Rock:

It’s possible Finkelstein was partly responsible for the unconventional plotting, but even so, Herzog has little interest in the usual rhythms of crime dramas, happily chasing diversions or playing genre conventions for absurd laughs. He’s smart enough to keep an eye on the needs of the plot — especially the question of how out of control McDonagh actually is, which leads to some satisfying surprises in the final act — and to make sure we see the depressed human behind the outrageous bad behaviour of our protagonist, but he also has a need to drop in random instances of The Weird, often involving animals. A crocodile gets a memorable cameo, but it’s the iguanas that will stay with you when you leave the cinema. Nothing can prepare you for the already legendary Iguana-Cam. Herzog will be pleased to know that this scene brought the house down at the London Film Festival screening we attended. It is a completely deranged moment, a perfectly timed comedic aside, and impossible to forget. (If you wish to experience this scene in its proper context, avoid this clip until you’ve seen the movie.)

Herzog’s unpredictable take on the genre would not work without a strong performance at the core of it, and he is lucky to have Cage on his side. Herzog has found an actor of almost Kinski-esque intensity to guide his movie, someone who understands exactly what he wants and can collaborate as an equal, if this interview is to be believed. It often feels as if each of these imaginative artists has goaded the other on to greater weirdness. Nevertheless, even when the movie threatens to disappear into a cloud of peculiarity, their intelligence brings us back from the brink. Even the most formally or narratively daring moments in the film feel right, as if the movie couldn’t have been made any other way; eccentricity without the desperate quirkiness of a lesser filmmaker like, say, Richard Kelly. Without Herzog the movie would probably have stayed on a familiar genre path, and without Cage Herzog would have been forced to work with someone lacking in the ability to fuse madness with sincerity. Their collaboration is truly fortuitous.

Much has been made of Cage’s manic scenes, which range in tone from darkly funny to troubling, and sometimes both simultaneously. (Again, skip this if you wish to remain unspoiled.)

Less has been said about the humanity of Cage’s performance. While never having a scene as memorable and cathartic as Keitel’s astonishing breakdown in church from the original movie, Cage litters the movie with panicky moments where we get a glimpse of a man who knows he has gone astray. While Harvey Keitel’s lieutenant seems barely aware of his soul’s need for salvation until he collapses in church, McDonagh seems to know things have gone wrong and tries to correct this. Fans of Ferrera’s movie might complain that the remake loses focus by showing a man consciously scrambling to get back to a state of virtue, but what would Herzog gain from replicating Keitel’s downward trajectory? McDonagh’s desire for absolution generates a tension between his goals and his actions that powers what would otherwise be a fragmented and unsatisfying movie.

Cage brilliantly portrays McDonagh’s regression into a state of adolescent impulsiveness. His colleagues and acquaintances seem baffled or annoyed by his delinquent behaviour — both his unintentional outbursts and the rare moments when he harnesses his weird energy to do good –and only Frankie seems to want to help him. Casting Eva Mendes — a naturally charming actress capable of more than she is usually given to do — is another of Herzog’s masterstrokes. Her chemistry with Cage was one of the few truly great things to come out of Mark Steven Johnson’s terrible Ghost Rider.

This is easily the most layered and entertaining work Cage has done since Adaptation — not to mention his most likeable performance — and is enough to trigger hope of a new great Age of Cage. Even some of his more eccentric choices — such as suddenly imitating Ed Sullivan for about twenty minutes and then stopping with no explanation — make a weird kind of sense by the end of the film. His work here runs the risk of being little more than a series of gimmicky outbursts, but it often transcends mere flash to become something more profound, both comedic and tragic. McDonagh has become possessed by something alien and primal — something so destructive it’s almost a form of demonic possession — and it is thrilling to see him battle against it to reclaim his soul. The final, unexpected image will warm even the hardest heart.

But hey, if that’s not enough to convince you to see the movie, just go for the iguanas. You’ll thank me.

The Box is a movie based on the 1970’s short story button button by Richard Matheson adapted for film by Writer – Director Richard Kelly. Richard Kelly is known for complex, multi-faceted and cryptic movies, example: Donnie Darko. The Box is definitely no exception, there are so many twists and turns throughout, as well as small details that, if missed, could affect how someone interprets the film.

The Box stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as Arthur and Norma Lewis, a married couple living in Virginia. They are living a little beyond their means as illustrated by the big house they live in and their fancy car. Just as their fi nancial life begins to crumble they are approached by Arlington Steward, a disfi gured, yet oddly charming man with an interesting and fateful proposition.

He presents them with a box, which has a button. If the button is pushed they will received one million dollars, but someone in the world whom they don’t know will die. They are given 24 hours to make their decision. Obviously they push the button, and consequences follow. Like I said earlier, Richard Kelly is known for complex movies, so if you’re looking for a morality love story quickie, then this movie isn’t for you. It’s a complicated storyline with morality, love story, science-fi ction and a murder mystery all woven together held together in a non linear storyline surrounding this box.

The movie really raises more questions than it answers, even after it’s all over. I’d call it a rental, not because it isn’t good enough to see in theatres, but because you might want to watch it again the next day to try and make better sense of it.

-Dylan Leard (Broadcast Journalism)

Monk has his head (thankfully not his frontal lobe) done in by the latest Richard Kelly film “The Box”. Luckily, his friend La Petite Sirah is there to keep him company.

"The Box" Movie Poster

Oh, my. I wanted to like “The Box” so much. I am, you see, a huge Richard Kelly fan. Notice I didn’t say a “Donnie Darko” fan, even though I absolutely love that flick and feel it’s one of the few “cult sensations” truly worthy of its devoted fan base. No, I’m a Richard Kelly fan, because not only do I seriously dig Donnie D., but I think his much-maligned follow-up feature, “Southland Tales,” is even better.  Yes, it’s messy, unfocused, scattershot, overly ambitious, self-indulgent and, in many ways,  even juvenile.  But to my mind it’s also ambitious to a fault, multi-layered, challenging, funny, thought-provoking, ambitious, and even downright groundbreaking. Kelly’s “sins” with “Southland” can all be categorized under the “trying to do too much” category, as opposed to, say, Lars von Trier (I really should learn to leave him alone, I suppose),  whose chief failing with “Antichrist” is doing very little while employing obvious and insulting sleight-of-hand in broad daylight for the purpose of trying to hoodwink the audience into thinking he’s doing a lot.

After “Southland” tanked at the box office in spectacular fashion, Kelly apparently decided — or was forced — to pare down his ambitions considerably, and to concentrate his efforts on a tight little story that would play to his strengths while refusing to indulge his purported weaknesses. Would the result be an effectively creatively neutered Kelly or a sharpened, focused one?

Actually, neither. “The Box” is just a bland, lifeless time-waster.

Based on Richard Matheson’s short story “Button, Button,” the first third or so of “The Box” plays out well enough, and definitely has a “Twilight Zone” feel to it, with two efficiently-established and well-played characters,  schoolteacher Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz), and her NASA scientist-husband, Arthur (James Marsden) staring into a financial black hole largely of their own making in the mid-1970s. Then, a mysterious stranger with a fucked-up, partially decimated face named (and you gotta love this handle for a Rod Serling-type mystery man) Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) shows up at their door with a box and an offer : push the button on top of the said box within 24 hours and you’ll get a million dollars in cash. There’s just one catch : somebody, somewhere in the world (who, he assures Norma, neither she or her husband knows) will die.

It seems like a horrible joke, in a way — the box is empty, therefore it can’t possibly do anything, so pushing the button must be meaningless, right? Hell, the money is probably even counterfeit.

Except Arthur tests the hundred-dollar bill that Steward left with his wife in the lab at work and guess what? It’s real. But the box itself — it can’t have any actual power, can it?

The trepidation  builds as Norma and Arthur weigh the decision to push or not to push in their minds, and this dramatic tension is really the highlight of the film. Unfortunately, once they do, in fact, make up their minds, the whole movie goes to pot.

Without giving away the choice they make, let’s just say it has consequences and leads to a completely uninvolving mystery that eventually comes full circle. We learn everything there is to know about Steward and his freaky little contraption, every question we have is answered (and even some we don’t), and the ending completes our little 360-degree loop in much the same way that Lynch’s superb ending for “Lost Highway” did. Unfortunately, there is none of the expertly-crafted ambiguity nor any of the multiple levels of meaning and interpretation along the way that make “Lost Highway” an effective and absorbing surrealistic mini-masterpiece. Kelly’s film ends up feeling more like a map of the unknown than a journey within it. All is linear, defined, and hopelessly constricting. Our guy Richard doesn’t trust the audience enough to make up our own minds as individuals as “Donnie Darko” and, to an even greater extent, “Southland Tales” did. In fact, the lesson Kelly seems to have learned from “Southland” is that we just aren’t smart enough to draw our own conclusions.

This doesn’t mean I think that he has emasculated himself creatively, for the ideas at play here are, in fact, suitably offbeat and unexpected. But they’re all laid out so directly and succinctly that they fail to capitalize on their potential to keep us guessing. It’s as if Kelly feels he has to answer each new question that arises in the order that they appear, preferably  within a ten minute (or so) time frame,  before moving on to the next one because our attention spans can’t handle leaving more than one thread unresolved  at a time.

We’re smarter than Kelly gives us credit for with “The Box.” And so is he.

There has been a lot of lists running around the web about the best movies from 2000-2009. The sad fact of the matter is that none of the lists have been truly correct. I am a movie aficionado, so making this list will not only be a walk in the park for me, but it will also provide you with the movies that actually were the best from this period. It gives me great honor to present to you the top 30 best movies from 2000-2009…

1. Mar adentro (2004) Director: Alejandro Amenábar
2. Sideways (2004) Director: Alexander Payne
3. Match Point (2005) Director: Woody Allen
4. The Pianist (2002) Director: Roman Polanski
5. There Will Be Blood (2007) Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
6. Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001) Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
7. American Psycho (2000) Director: Mary Harron
8. A Beautiful Mind (2001) Director: Ron Howard
9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Director: Peter Weir
10. Adaptation (2002) Director: Spike Jonze
11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Director: Ang Lee
12. Donnie Darko (2001) Director: Richard Kelly
13. Lost in Translation (2003) Director: Sofia Coppola
14. Juno (2007) Director: Jason Reitman
15. Y Tu Mamá También (2001) Director: Alfonso Cuarón
16. Casino Royale (2006) Director: Martin Campbell
17. The Departed (2006) Director: Martin Scorsese
18. El laberinto del fauno (2006) Director: Guillermo del Toro
19. A History of Violence (2005) Director: David Cronenberg
20. Superbad (2007) Director: Greg Mottola
21. Babel (2006) Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
22. Dogville (2003) Director: Lars von Trier
23. In Good Company (2004) Director: Paul Weitz
24. Wedding Crashers (2005) Director: David Dobkin
25. Grizzly Man (2005) Director: Werner Herzog
26. The Aviator (2004) Director: Martin Scorsese
27. Old School (2003) Director: Todd Philips
28. The Dark Knight (2008) Director: Christopher Nolan
29. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Director: David Fincher
30. Up (2009) Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

THE TRAILERS FOR THE TOP 3 BEST MOVIES OF 2000-2009

If you can be sure of anything in life, it’s that opinions vary. Most people will say that there is definitely a God, and that he has a plan for all of this crazy mess, while other people, namely me, will tell you that it’s a beautifully designed universe, but a universe designed by chance. Most people will say that celebrities are divinely gorgeous and genetically superior, while I find them to be dull and lusterless in the face of real women. I also think that Bjork is bad ass, but I’m pretty much alone on that in the US. Today, I think I stand alone again, specifically in the movie critiquing arena, as I just saw The Box, and while I thought it was pretty good, and feel like it’s a return to form for Richard “I’m Going To Blow My Career’s Brains Out” Kelly, I think most people will consider this strike 2 for him, effectively putting him on thin ice. What gets him is that he’s a broadly commercial director now who has a very peculiar way of progressing the story, and this agitates the sensibilities of most, giving most people the impression of artistic desperation. I don’t feel that this is a movie is a movie made by a desperate man; perhaps an unbalanced man, but certainly not at the level he was while making Southland Tales…

So, this is based off of a Richard Matheson short story, and it asks a simple moral question that has far-reaching ramifications. A middle-class family in Virginia around the mid 70s is given a choice by a strange man with a horribly disfigured face. He stops by early one morning and drops a box off at their doorstep with a note that says he’ll return at 5 o’clock that day. Inside the box is another box, a black one with a big red button on it, concealed by a locked glass dome. When the man does return at 5, the wife, named Norma, answers the door to find the disfigured man, who offers her what he calls a “financial opportunity”; he hands her the key to the box, and tells her that two things will happen if she presses it; one, she will get $1 million in cash, and two, that someone, whom she doesn’t know, will die. He leaves, telling her that she has 24 hours, and that he will return tomorrow to pick it up whether she has pressed it or not. She tells her husband when he gets home, and the two deliberate all night as to whether or not they should do it. After a long night and day deciding on it, and factoring in their dire financial situation and the fact that upon examining the box they find no wires or electronics inside, they press it. At 5, the man comes to retrieve the box, and that’s where the film really begins, because the ramifications for pressing that button are more drastic and far-reaching than either of them could ever imagine. As soon as they receive the money they’re embroiled in a web that stretches into the farthest reaches of the imagination.

This is a little more complex than you’re led to believe in any of the trailers. I was honestly underwhelmed when I first heard about the idea, but after hearing more about it, it started growing on me. I wanted to know what the deal was with this button, and what I got was beyond my wildest imaginings. It’s unusually dense for a Richard Kelly movie, filled with haunting music, esoteric imagery, and a lot of references to Jean-Paul Sartre that is a bit literate for most, but I found it refreshing. In a way, it’s really his most obscure work yet, even more obscure than the dumb, loud Southland Tales. For something he’s touted as his commercial movie, I have the feeling that he might never have actually seen a commercial movie before, because this movie is quite weird, and more than a little off-putting for the old lady who was looking for The Transporter 4 starring a disfigured Frank Langella.

I can’t say that it’s all good. There are a few things I could have done without. Firstly, Norma, played by Cameron Diaz, has a ridiculous-looking disfigured foot, a handicap that neither looks real nor plays any huge factor in the film. It’s simply an oddity for the sake of being an oddity, and while one scene uses it for leverage (HA!), and other scenes make the slightest attempt at referencing it, it seems like a big thing for no payoff. Also, there are a few characters that deserved a little more screen time while others are given a full fucking set of scenes! I could have done without knowing too much about Arthur’s NASA boss who never really contributed much, but good luck trying to get an elusive character like Lucas Carnes on screen for more than a minute. I suppose it’s a preference thing, but I would have preferred to become immersed in the intricate story rather than see Norma’s sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner and reception. And every now and then you get this weird feeling that Richard Kelly, who also wrote this, doesn’t really interact with people, and doesn’t have an idea of how things sound. Some of his dialog is quite unwieldy, and it’s only amplified by the hushed tone of his conspiracy-theorizing style of conclusion-jumping.

The cast is where things get kind of hazy. James Marsden is good as Arthur, the devoted dad who works at NASA but could use a few extra bucks to help out with the bills and his child’s college education. He has a lot of nuances that help the character breathe; even though Marsden is chiseled from limestone, it appears, I still buy that he could have worked at NASA in the 70s. Cameron Diaz, however, is a problem here as Norma. The main problem being I can’t stand it when people use unnatural accents, and her being Southern is kind of a stretch for her Cali girl pallet. I think she could have lost it and not appeared to be a total outcast; not everyone in the South sounds like Sookie Stackhouse, you know. Frank Langella shines as the mysterious man known only as Arlington Steward, who delivers the box to them for unknown and perhaps unknowable purposes. He is a terrifying presence that exerts a particular will in the film that really shows his growth as an actor from an inferior incarnation of Dracula in the beginning of his career to a real power player. All of my favorite scenes feature him in them.

I like The Box. I might be the only one, but if you can put on your Senior Critic Helmets for a second when you watch it, ask yourself this simple question; why not? Why not let yourself get taken in by the massive web of story that has a philosophical weight behind it? Why not get behind the poor Lewis’s, who only wanted some money for their son’s college tuition? And why not enjoy a movie that has a fair cast, a good director, an excellent score, and an exceedingly good, if not slightly confusing story? If you have some answers to those questions that are valid enough to write down and don’t involve the words “Balls” and “Sucked”, let me know, because I have no reasons why not. So I’ll be the one with the oddball opinion and give The Box 8 noticeably bad Southern accents out of 10!

Tomorrow we get a little Amadeus action going on! Until then!

Hello! It’s Sunday. And Sundays, well, Sundays are boring, right? Right.

Went and saw 2012 yesterday, as promised. It was, well… Hmm.

My first reaction to it: Ehhhh. Not horrible, but not great. It’s exactly what’s advertised on the tin, I’ll put it this way. You’ve got a lot of real actors doing some cartoon shit while the world goes to hell all around them. The cast, when you think about it, is actually quite impressive. Also, Woody Harrelson’s in the mix too.

My second reaction to it: Why the fuck didn’t this come out in the middle of the summer?

Third reaction: Comedy of the year, hands down.

Especially in a year when, if you think about it, the big comedy was… what? The Hangover? Right? Get serious. I never saw the movie, I won’t lie, but for a lot of reasons. Primarily, things like the trailer. Did you see it? It looks like it was made for retarded boys. But, you know what’s even worse than the trailer? Listening to people who actually liked the movie. They sound like retarded boys, don’t they? Anyway.

But I really feel like 2012 deserves a good proper Counterforce review. It really does. It’s really our kind of movie, and I mean that in the best and worst possible ways. I don’t know that I’m the man for that job. Benjamin Light, I’m looking at you. Are you the man for that job?

Anyway, I went and saw the film yesterday with Conrad Noir and walking out of the theater, still buzzing from all that ridiculousness, we saw this:

And we thought, “Dear God, who gave that man wings.” Much less Wings Of Desire and much more Red Bull: The Movie.

But then we got into a little conversation, talking about this and that and action heroes of the 80s, mostly cause we’ve been watching a lot of that horrendous/wonderful action movie fare from that decade, and we were talking about how action stars back then were so… foreign seeming. And maybe that contributed a lot to their allure. Maybe it also made some of the ridiculousness easier to stand, too?

For example there, Benjamin Light and were discussing a week or so ago what a remake of The Terminator would look like – since the franchise is up for sale, and should be sold to Joss Whedon, of course, cause why not? – And I brought up the question, “Does the killer robot from the future have to be Austrian?” Commander Light emphatically assured he that it indeed had to be. I’m taking his word for it.

Anyway, so Conrad and I, discussing action stars today, talking about guys like Dwayne Johnson, and how, in our minds, he’s not really latched on with America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the idea of a “non-conventional” action star quite a bit, i.e. a non white guy running around screaming at people, doing high kicks, and blowing copious amounts of shit up. So why hasn’t “The Rock” caught on with us? I posit two possibilities:

1. In a grab for “credibility” or attempting to “not being as big a joke as he is,” he ditched his silly little wrestling moniker, “The Rock,” and went with his real name: Dwayne Johnson. Except, we can’t root for a guy named Dwayne.

2. Not foreign enough? Perhaps? I suggest investigating this has merit. Especially since it seems American action-loving fans get a bigger hard on from a ponce like Jason Statham than Dwayne Johnson.

Then, walking out of the theater, Conrad and I were looking at the various posters on display, the coming soons and the current releases. Part of me still wants to see This Is It. I’m a Michael Jackson fan, I won’t hide it.  But I’m also a huge Richard Matheson fan, and while I have serious reservations about the movie, I also kind of want to see The Box.

But I don’t know that I trust Richard Kelly anymore. Donnie Darko was okay when it first came out, before you put it through any real tests of serious thought or logic and saw through it’s masturbatory philophosizing. It’s a glorified remake of Last Temptation Of Christ that doesn’t fully pan out. But Kelly also went on to make – speaking of Dwayne Johnson – the gloriously bad Southland Tales.

Look, I’m not going to talk about the Philip K. Dick pastiche that was Southland Tales here. I’m just… not. I’m not going to do it. All I’ll say is I went into that movie wanting to like it. And I sit here now feeling like I’m a veteran of that war. It’s like Richard Kelly is George W. Bush and I was some dumb kid who supported the Iraq war until I went into the fucker and got my bits and pieces all cut off. Now I’m shell shocked.

But, yeah, there’s The Box, directed by Richard Kelly, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, based on the Richard Matheson story, “Button, Button,” and was previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. We’ll see if I ever see it.

And again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Tomorrow’s the start of the “work week.” I’d love to Weeks In Review here at Counterforce, but lately it’s just me rambling and I’d feel bad directing the two and a half readers of this site back to more of me rambling. Poor fuckers. Oh yeah, the season finale of Mad Men was last Sunday. And we had a Friday the 13th happen this past week as well. There you go. Oh, and: Young women having sex with sea creatures. Now there you really go.

But again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see… Oh! Tonight was the airing of the latest Doctor Who special over in the UK, “The Waters Of Mars,” the start of the end of David Tennant’s run as #10. You can catch it online if you’re good, if you’re very good, and it’s dark. And a bit sad. And leaves you kind of sweaty and breathless too.

Also tonight is AMC’s remake of the classic 60s show, The Prisoner. I’d watch it, but I’m not sure I want to see my childhood get raped so thoroughly and with such production values. Ian McKellen is a good choice for just about anything, but Jim Caviezel? I think I hate you for that, AMC. Honestly, Jim Caviezel makes Keanu Reeves look like Marlon Brando to me.

Oh well, here we are. The weekend’s almost over. I went to the movies to watch the end of the world as we know it and…

“The Box,” starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella, was a quasi-effective look at morality in modern society.  This film does try to explore some ethical issues and succeeds, but to a limited extent.  Diaz’s character is one the audience can sympathize with, but also one the audience questions the judgement of.  Marsden’s character is a little more interesting and dynamic, but still suffers much of the same characterization pitfalls as Diaz’s character (both question pressing the button instead of flat-out rejecting to press it). This then brings us to Langella’s character, a mysterious deformed salesman who seems a little too unattached to the people he “sells” the box to.

The movie starts out with a view of typical suburban life for the Lewis family, particularly during Christmas time.  Then Norma Lewis (Diaz) recieves a strange package on her doorstep.  Soon after the exposition, the film takes off and morphs into a drama/thriller/sci-fi movie, complete with slightly confusing storyline and surprising plot twists.  The audience soon learns that Langella’s character is working for “those who control the lightening” and thus is taking part in conducting an experiment in ethics involving the human race.  If the humans are selfish and press the button that grant them one million dollars AND kill someone whom they don’t know, then the human race is to be exterminated.  Fortunately, the movie is left at a sort of “cliff-hanger” which allows viewers to decide for themselves whether or not mankind can redeem itself.  The promise of redemption is a thought that plague’s Norma in the film after she presses the button and finds out the consequences of doing so, and both her and her husband wish for everything to go back to normal, which in turn inspires Langella’s character to have respect and admiration for them.

The moral “lessons” of the story seems to be that a human life has no price.  This “lesson” is taken well above and beyond during the film until it is a tiresome necessity of the story’s plot line.  Interestingly enough, it’s always the wife who presses the button, so there are subtle hints of the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve doomed mankind by eating the forbidden fruit.  Thankfully, Diaz’s character learns that she made a huge mistake and is willing to end her life to save her son (the only selfless thing she has done the whole movie).  Unfortunately, this leaves Marsden’s character in a bind, considering he has to shoot his wife in order to restore his son’s hearing and vision, and in so doing, has to go to jail.

The strange parts of this movie occur when Diaz’s character is teaching and is humiliated by a student, and when both Diaz and Marsden are in a records building/library and Marsden is transported back home in a tall column of liquid.  The obvious science fiction elements don’t lend much to the story besides heightening the superfluity of having them in there in the first place.  If all the sci-fi elements were taken out, as well as the action sequences, then this movie could lend itself well to a stage play.  The most compelling parts of the storyline are the family issues and the question of ethics, which could be taken more in-depth and converted to a dramatic adaptation for stage.

Overall, I would give this movie 3/5 stars since the plot line was a bit confusing to follow, what with all the random details added in (seemingly on a whim), and because the acting is so-so.  I would still encourage you all to see this film because of the general message it tries to convey.  But don’t take my word for it!  Go see it for yourself!

Rattling through my head is William Shatner’s voice saying “What’s in the box?! Come on! What’s in the box?!”  Well, I’ll tell you what’s in store for you if you go see The Box….. bad acting and terrible execution of a storyline that showed tiny flares of life (mainly at the end) but overall fizzles.

When I realized I was the only one on this site reviewing this, I was ready to write a Lonely Devil review, but I can’t muster enough good things about this film to even try.  Therefore i’m just sticking to a straight-on Lil Devil review.

The movie is based on a short story called Button, Button written by Richard Matheson.  Matheson wrote more than a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone.  Personally, I feel like this would’ve made a much better episode for that show than it did for a full length feature film.  Director Richard Kelly, writer/director of such films as Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, took the helm here making Matheson’s short story a 1 hour 55 minute incoherent borefest.

The overall storyline is basic.  A cash strapped married couple are given a box with a button, with the proposition of pushing the button and receiving one million dollars, tax-free, but with a catch.  The moment the button is pushed, someone they don’t know dies.  There lies the moral dilemma, self-preservation but at the expense of a stranger’s life.

Ultimately, Norma (played with a poor excuse of a southern accent, Cameron Diaz) decides to go through with it with her husband Arthur (James Marsden in a wooden role) at her side.  From that point on the movie spirals down so hard that by the end when Frank Langella’s mystery man Arlington Steward passes the box to the next couple, you can care less.

An intertwine plot twist revealed in the end that I found a little interesting was the only thing that compelled me to even rate this film with a half pitchfork.  Stay clear of this film and don’t waste 2 hours of your life-like I did.

I just saw The Box and I don’t know what to do I don’t know what to do.

Okay, look.  It veers off into the ridiculous for a bit, perhaps…but perhaps not.  I don’t know.  I’m going to have to see it twelve more times before I can make that call.

You probably know I’m pretty obsessed with Donnie Darko.  In case you don’t know, Richard Kelly wrote both that and this.  I want to talk to him.  No, I don’t.

I just want to talk to someone.  This movie got me.  It was kind of slow-moving, as movies go, but to my mind, it was perfectly-paced.  It was nerve-wracking.  There were several of the elements of Darko, which lent an eerie familiarity (in one scene, when the main characters are scouring the library for some mysterious call numbers, I was dying for one of the numbers to be for Grandma Death’s book; that might have been a little over the top, though).

Beyond that, though, there was a major Twilight Zone feel; what I was not expecting, though, was the overpowering X Files feel.  And I mean the old-school, first-three-seasons-before-it-got-so-conspiracied-out, CREEPY X Files era.  (Ask me—or anyone I was friends with in high school—about my David Duchovny fixation.  But that’s a story for another time.)

So basically, the Twilight Zone and the X Files had a baby that grew up watching Alfred Hitchcock movies and then made out with David Lynch a couple of times during a youthful dalliance.  And then was granted entrance through a watery portal into the Darkosphere.  That baby grew up to be this movie.

You may hate it, and I don’t care.  I haven’t been riveted by a thriller like this in a long time.  And there’s no—or at least very little—cursing or sex.  Go figure.

]]> http://flickeringscreen.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/just-dont-press-the-freakin-button-the-box/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:17:40 +0000 GunMonkey http://flickeringscreen.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/just-dont-press-the-freakin-button-the-box/

It’s not often that you come across a movie that has a scene which, for all intents and purposes, says “begin tripping now,” but Richard Kelly’s The Box has just a scene. So, gentle reader, be advised that when James Marsden stands in what appears to be the Induction Room at the Richmond Public Library (apparently it has such a thing), and must choose which floating column of water to step into—it’s time to have your ecstacy tabs handy. Who would have thought we’d arrive at this place in a movie based on a Richard Matheson short story. Well, anyone who’s seen a Richard Kelly movie I guess.

The Box is indeed based on the Richard Matheson short story “Button, Button” which was also adapted into one of the better episodes of the 1985 re-launched Twilight Zone. It’s a devilishly simple little thing: a man approaches a young couple and offers them a wooden box with a red button set into the top of it. The man tells them that if they press the button two things will happen. They will receive a million dollars, and someone—someone they don’t know—will die. The couple debates the decision, argues, bickers, and ultimately presses it. The next day, the strange man returns with the money. He takes the box, but as he leaves he assured the couple that the box will be given to someone else. Someone, they don’t know.

In the film, the couple is played by James Marsden and Cameron Diaz as Arthur and Norma Lewis. He’s a NASA optics technician and she’s a literature teacher at a nearby private school where their son also attends.  The movie’s  time frame is established as 1976 in a series of borderline-fetishistic era-details (pretty much every bad ‘70s sitcom, commercial, and ugly fashion trend is thrown up on screen). Arthur and Norma are decent folk—much more sympathetic than the suburban monsters in the Twilight Zone ep—but have hit some money problems.  Arthur’s “astronaut application” was turned down (really? Becoming an astronaut entails filling out an application, like working at a mall food-court Arbys?), and Norma’s school informs her they will no longer be extending tuition waivers to the children of faculty.

So when a disfigured Frank Langella (playing a character with the irresistible moniker Arlington Steward) appears on their doorstep with the box, they’re a little more inclined to let him in and hear his sales pitch. I mean, I can only assume that’s the reason, since he shows up in a black suit and is missing most of the flesh around the left side of his jawline. And he’s Frank Langella! He could seem sinister sipping a banana daiquiri and played Bejeweled on his iPhone. I wouldn’t invite the dudue into my home with an intact face, let alone one which looks like he and Harvey Dent got shaves at the same barber.

So they do it. Then the movie delves into their post-box life, as Arthur and Norma immediately regret their decision and strive to undo it. This portion of the film manages a little suspense, as they learn that the box and Steward are part of something much larger than just a million bucks. The movie introduces a lot of narrative strands that—surprise, surprise—actually do come together into something like a coherent explanation. It’s just not a very good one. And here I’m going to spoil the movie, so you may want to skip past the second picture (but if you want to read, I’m using Inviso-Text so just click and drag).

It’s aliens. They reanimated the corpse of Steward after he was hit by lightning, and have been using him to test humanity’s altruism. The NSA, NASA, and probably the CIA are all in on it, but are pawns to Steward, who operates out of the kind of underground lair Howard Hughes would have had if he were a Connery-era James Bond villain.  And he can control people and make them do his bidding, and he sends out to different destinations through the pool at a cheap motel off of I-495. So not making that up.

Kelly had a great movie that he never understood with Donnie Darko, and followed it up with the sprawling mess that was Southland Tales. The Box avoids many of Tales’s missteps—i.e. trying to do satire; letting his canvas escape him—but it has none of Darko’s charm. Where DD seems to tell a surreal, yet tragic story (the one Kelly thought he was making was actually quite a bit different), The Box wants to tell a paranoid morality tale, and Kelly just doesn’t know how to create that mood. He touches on it a few times, but never really cranks up the suspense or mystery. Even the consequences of pressing the button never quite come across as tragic. The Damocletian Sword that Matheson’s story posits as hanging over our heads seems more like the end of a Rube Goldberg device than the consequence of our own disconnectedness.

The other big problem is that Kelly once again indulges in his habit of making the mystical a real, tangible phenomena. In DD it was time travel and tangent universes, and here it is the afterlife, Heaven, and damnation. Kelly does his best to sell this twaddle, but by the time Marsden appears floating above Diaz’s bed in a giant, levitating box of water, I’d pretty much checked out of Chateau de Crazypants.  And when Marsden explains the afterlife as a place “where despair has no hold on the human heart,” I gave back the towels I stole.

Oh, and I didn’t even get into the telekinetically-controlled humans, the spate of domestic murders, the Mars Viking project, and the fact that Diaz’s Norma only has six toes. But they’re in there.

It’s tempting to say that any explanation of the mystery surrounding Langella’s Steward, his test, and the box, would be a disappointment. That sentiment, however, seems lazy and too much like a convenient alibi for a dearth of creativity. I have to think that a truly trippy explanation could have been  dreamed up by someone. Or at least an explanation that wasn’t copped from a dozen Star Trek episodes.

Avis croisés sur “The Box” de Richard Kelly & “The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” de Terry Gilliam

Richard Kelly & Terry Gilliam se retrouvent presque simultanément à l’affiche cette semaine avec leurs nouveaux films respectifs. Ils n’ont à priori rien à voir l’un & l’autre, et pourtant…

Richard Kelly revient avec “The Box”. Après un excellent 1er film, “Donnie Darko”, rapidement devenu culte & un 2ème sauvagement mis à mort par la critique (“Southland Tales”, juste sorti en catimini en DVD), Kelly raconte l’histoire d’un couple face à un enjeu moral de taille: empocher 1 million de dollars en appuyant sur le bouton de la “box” déposée mystérieusement devant chez eux mais en conséquence, provoquer la mort d’un inconnu.

La suite est pour le moins… inattendue. La décision du couple est rapidement balayée pour faire basculer le film dans un labyrinthique complot paranoïaque, teinté d’invasion extraterrestre, le tout saupoudré de philosophie new-age. Ah, et ça se passe au beau milieu des années 70… (Non, ceci n’est pas une blague)

Après le décès de son acteur principal, Heath Ledger, Terry Gilliam a failli abandonner “The Imaginarium…”. Mais comme son film parle surtout de magie & de rêve, il a vite contourné ce problème en re-distribuant le rôle entre Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farell. Le mythe de Faust est vaguement revu à travers le Dr Parnassus qui doit céder sa fille au Diable (excellent Tom Waits) suite à un pacte fait il y a des années (siècles?) de cela. S’ensuit un récit alambiqué, mais creux, à travers un miroir magique et illustré somptueusement de manière très “Gilliamesque”.

Les 2 films souffrent malheureusement du même problème: le trop, le surplus, l’excès.

Dans “The Box”, Kelly craignant peut-être de filmer une histoire trop simple, l’enrobe d’un trop plein d’idées et de détails, qui, au mieux servent l’esthétique du film (certains plans hypnotiques ne sont pas sans rappeler un certain David Lynch) et au pire tuent la cohérence de son sujet: Le débat philosophique sur le libre-arbitre devient facilement risible lorsqu’il est lancé par un zombie moralisateur, d’origine extraterrestre et qui parle de Jean-Paul Sartre avec Cameron Diaz (euh….??). Gilliam lui, ne cherche même pas à cacher la minceur anorexique de son intrigue. Ce qui l’intéresse, c’est la construction onirique d’univers loufoques & délirants, quitte à ce que son film finisse par ressembler à un interminable album d’images. Perspectives déformées, architectures grandioses, costumes & décors flamboyants & florilège d’effets visuels, rien n’est assez suffisant pour mettre en image cet “imaginarium”.  Cette esthétique très “troubadour” et “saltimbanque” manque cruellement de créativité tellement elle a été mieux exploitée par Gilliam lui-même dans ses films précédents.

On a tous envie d’originalité dans un paysage cinématographique de plus en plus consensuel & convenu. Et l’on ne reprochera jamais à ces 2 cinéastes d’essayer d’en faire… mais franchement, parfois: Less IS More!

“Cualquier tecnología suficientemente avanzada es indistinguible de la magia”

Arthur C. Clarke.

Estamos de enhorabuena porque por fin se ha estrenado el nuevo trabajo del siempre inquietante realizador norteamericano Richard Kelly, conocido en nuestro país sobre todo por habar realizado “Donnie Darko”, considerada a estas alturas una obra de culto. En Estados Unidos también es famoso por haber realizado “Southland tales”, a la que en Videodromo ya le dedicamos un extenso monográfico. Para este fenomenal retorno ha optado por adaptar un curioso relato llamado “Botón, botón” escrito por ese genio de la ciencia ficción que es Richard Matheson, y del que creo que no precisa presentaciones, pero para los más despistados os diré que es el autor de “Soy leyenda”.

Este pequeña historia fue llevada en 1986 por Peter Medak a la pequeña pantalla en uno de los capítulos de la revisión de Spielberg de la mítica serie “Twillight zone”, traducida al castellano como “En los límites de la realidad”. El guión de Kelly nos traslada al año 1976. Norma Lewis es profesora en un instituto privado y su marido, Arthur es ingeniero de la NASA. Son la típica pareja norteamericana con éxito. Tienen un buen coche, una gran casa, y llevan una vida acomodada y normal en las afueras de la ciudad con su hijo joven.

Esto será así hasta que reciban la visita de Arlington Steward. Este les ofrece un trato muy especial y sólo tienen 24 horas para decidirse. Les entrega una caja, que en su interior hay un dispositivo. Si aprietan el botón recibirán un millón de dólares a cambio, pero la consecuencia es inmediata, una persona a la que no conocen morirá. Norma y Arthur son despedidos de sus respectivos trabajos y así llegarán a la tesitura de cuestionarse si lo hacen o no.

Estamos ante un nuevo thriller de misterio y ciencia ficción creado por uno de los directores malditos de la industria de Hollywood. El largometraje posee todas las constantes de su particular universo. En primer lugar, hace una vez más una dura crítica a la sociedad norteamericana. Para ello se sirve esta vez de esta pereja a la que les pone ante un juego, un dilema moral, que realmente esconde el dilema del prisionero, no hay escapatoria. La razón destapar esas ansias de buscar el éxito de forma rápida y sencilla, porque lo único que desean es tener una posición cómoda en la sociedad. Así Kelly emparenta esta historia con la primera referencia literaria, el relato existencialista de Jean Paul Sartre, “No exit”.

Publicado con el nombre de “Huis Clos”, que se podría traducir como “en la cámara” o “a puerta cerrada”, fue estrenado en el Vieux-Colombier mayo 1944, justo antes de la liberación de París durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Además, es la fuente de la cita más famosa del autor francés “El infierno son los otros”. Así esta pareja pasa de vivir en un mundo sin complicaciones a estar en el verdadero infierno, al que entran por culpa de la tentación de Norma, así este personaje no deja de ser una suerte de la bíblica Eva, segunda referencia implícita del relato. Entrando en un juego sin fin y que posee una caducidad, veinticuatro horas. Y que por supuesto, salir de él es una tarea ardua.

Así liga la trama con la tercera referencia “la divina comedia” o el infierno visto por Dante. Hace que uno analice por qué cada personaje ha llegado hasta allí. Otra característica es que si hurgas un poco en esa típica familia norteamericana te encuentras unas relaciones ciertamente malsanas y patológicas. Unos padres que ignoran por completo al hijo, que además es el único que posee en cierta manera parte de la clave. Así la cita de Sartre puede modificarse a “el infierno no son los demás, es la familia”. Además, rodeando al matrimonio tenemos toda una galería de frikis, tan característicos de las películas de David Lynch, y que además poseen todos un físico un tanto atípico, como por ejemplo la bibliotecaria, el vecino, etc.

Eso por no hablar de la verdadera marca de la casa: la tecnología, el agua y las puertas dimensionales. A todo ello hay que sumar que el director consigue crear unas atmósferas malsanas con colores cálidos y una estética de los años setenta, y por supuesto muy inquietantes como la increíble escena de la biblioteca o la de la piscina del motel, que me recordó mucho a “Vinieron de dentro de…” del realizador canadiense David Cronenberg o a “la invasión de los ultracuerpos” de Philip Kauffman.

A pesar de todo creo que estamos ante la película más digestiva y digerida de Kelly, más cercana en forma y espíritu a “Terciopelo azul” de Lynch. Por primera vez me siento identificado con Enrique Dueñas cuando decía aquello de me siento tan sólo, en este caso un servidor apoyando a este formidable director. Como se ha estrenado a la vez a ambos lados del Atlántico, me ha dado tiempo a leer algunas críticas y disiento totalmente. Los motivos son principalmente porque la labor desempeñada por el montador habitual de Kelly, Sam Bauer en este caso es muy lineal, no presenta ninguna innovación, ni provoca ninguna confusión en el relato que avanza con suavidad.

Lo que es realmente “The Box” queda claramente explicado, es un experimento llevado a cabo por terceros, que no quiero desvelar quienes son. El señor Arlintong trabaja para ellos desde su infortunado accidente y es su representante. Cada vez tengo más claro que para entender a este realizador hay que haber vivido en su tierra, y conocer verdaderamente su sociedad y sus costumbres, así como su dinámica. Así la feroz crítica surge como un estilete y es en ese preciso instante cuando uno lo degusta por completo, y comprende a dónde quiere ir a parar. Porque fui a la sesión de madrugada, que si no me hubiera metido de nuevo a verla.

Para concluir, quiero destacar la gran labor de todo el reparto, y aquí especial mención a una maravillosa Cameron Diaz, que da vida a Norma, sobre todo porque consigue crear química con James Marsden, que interpreta a su marido Arthur. Crea momentos muy conmovedores y auténticos. Evidentemente no podemos finalizar sin hacer mención de uno de los mejores personajes, el inquietante señor Steward, magníficamente interpretado por Frank Langella, que dirige este relato de suspense muy clásico, de aromas hitchcocknianos, en fondo y forma, de estructura circular, y cuya grandeza reside una vez más en las múltiples capas y lecturas que esconde.

by The Great White Gypsy

The Box – Written and Directed by Richard Kelly
The premise of this film sounds like a bad teenage horror story. A strange man gives a box to a couple having money problems. They will get money every time they push the button, but every time, someone they don’t know will die. Though it’s riding on Cameron Diaz’s acting skills (um…), if anyone can make it cool, writer/director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) will have no problem.
Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn
November 6

Endgame – Directed by Pete Travis, Written by Paula Milne
Another slow, patient South African political film? Meh. I mean, I really like Hurt and Ejiofor, but Pete Travis directed Vantage Point, which sucked asshole. I really, really want it to be good, I’m just scared it’s going to be really, really bad.
William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Johnny Lee Miller, Mark Strong, Derek Jacobi
November 6

The Men Who Stare at Goats – Directed by Grant Heslov, Written by Peter Straughan
Actor Grant Heslov hasn’t done much directing. Same goes for Peter Straughan and writing. But if you look at this cast, you really can’t go wrong in a story about Telekenisis/Psychic programs in the army. Hell yes.
George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Robert Patrick, Stephen Root
November 6

Precious – Directed by Lee Daniels, Written by Geoffrey Fletcher
I hate the fact that the full title of this film is “Precious: Based on a novel by Sapphire”. I also hate the fact that Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey are “presenting” this one. However, cliché and cheesy as it most likely is, I seriously almost cried watching the preview. This has the potential for two hours of raw emotion that leaves you speechless. Or two hours of horrible acting and bullshit storyline. I’ll wait for cable.
Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz
November 6

The Fantastic Mr. Fox – Written and Directed by Wes Anderson
I hate, I hate, I hate Wes Anderson. However, there are always a couple elements of his films that impress me, and his attempts at stop motion animation intrigue me. Will I like it? Probably not. Will I see it? Of course.
George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Michael Gambon
November 13

Pirate Radio – Written and Directed by Richard Curtis
When I saw the preview for this, I thought, “Hey, that looks exactly like that movie advertised last year called “The Boat that Rocked”. Wait… I have no idea why this film took so long to release, or why they changed the title, but after waiting so long, I’ve built it up to possible “Almost Famous” level in my head. I really hope I’m not disappointed.  About a boatful of radio DJ’s who broadcast banned music over British airwaves in the ‘60’s. Curtis directed Love Actually.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Nick Frost
November 13

The Messenger – Written and Directed by Oren Moverman
Foster and Harrelson play a very overlooked part of the military in this new drama about the officers who deliver the horrible news to KIA soldiers’ families. Foster starts to care too much…you see where this is going. Moverman’s first film, looks good.
Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone
November 13

2012 – Directed by Roland Emmerich, Written by Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser
When I want to see an action packed explosion film with weak story, I’ll catch the new Michael Bay flick. When I want to see a really entertaining film with great special effects that will leave me dumber for having watched it, I’ll go see a Roland Emmerich film (Independence Day, Stargate, Godzilla, 10,000 BC). If you don’t know what this film is about, you should probably look into it, cause we’re kinda running out of time, dude…
John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt
November 13

That Evening Sun – Written and Directed by Scot Teems
I think Clint Eastwood had a scheduling conflict playing a grumpy old man in Gran Turino, so Holbrook stepped in. This is a perfect example of a cookie-cutter Midwest drama starring a senior citizen afraid of change that might not be very good, but will definitely get nominated for at least 2 Oscars. Don’t get me wrong, Hal is great, but the story has the potential to be full of holes.
Hal Holbrook, Ray McKinnon, Mia Wasikowska, Carrie Preston
November 13

Uncertainty – Written and Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel
At the risk of sounding like a douchebag, I am very uncertain about this movie. Part romantic comedy, part drama, part action thriller? So confused. McGehee and Siegel have written and directed three other films together, and I’ve never heard of any of them. But Gordon-Levitt hasn’t let me down so far, and Thirlby and Collins are sexy. I’ll flip a coin.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins, Olivia Thirlby
November 13

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – Directed by Werner Herzog, Written by William M. Finkelstein
Controverial old-school director Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Grizzly Man) is remaking the 1992 drama (starring Harvey Keitel) about a gambling/drug addict cop, and he’s setting it in post-Katrina New Orleans. They say it’s Cage’s best performance since Leaving Las Vegas (not really hard), and Kilmer’s presence is reassuring. Looking forward to it.
Nicholas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes, Michael Shannon, Fairuza Balk, Xzibit, Shawn Hatosy
November 20

Chi Bi (Red Cliff) – Directed by John Woo, Written by John Woo and Khan Chan
This is an epic film in the style of Hero and House of Flying Daggers. John Woo started out with some good films (A Better Tomorrow, Killer, Hard Boiled), he even had some good American movies (Hard Target, Face/Off), though there were bullshit ones too (Windtalkers, Paycheck). However, his dramas, like Last Hurrah for Chivalry, have gone largerly unnoticed by American audiences. And, of course, it’s been out in China for two years, and we’re just getting it now. Tarantino needs to step his game up.
Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wei Zhao
November 20

Fix – Directed by Tao Ruspoli, Written by Charles Castaldi and Paul Duran
Documentary filmmaker Ruspoli blends styles in this fictional documentary about a convicted drug dealer and his friends, who are attempting to raise enough money to put him in rehab before 8pm so he can avoid jail time. I can already tell that Andrews’ over-the-top personality is going to steal the show, and Wilde is kinda cute. When’s it coming to Netflix?
Olivia Wilde, Tao Ruspoli, Dedee Pfeiffer, Shawn Andrews
November 20

The Missing Person – Written and Directed by Noah Buschel
Modern noir about a private detective (Shannon in a lead role…nice) searching for a missing person after 9/11. Elements of drama and comedy make it appear a little disjointed, but Shannon and Ryan are solid. Kinda surprised it didn’t go straight to DVD, but whatever.
Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Frank Wood
November 20

Me and Orson Welles – Directed by Richard Linklater, Written by Holly Gent Palmo
I can’t see Efron’s name on anything without thinking Highschool Musical, which makes me want to punch everyone under the age of 17 in the eye. However, this film is a little more dramatic, a lot less musical, and Christian McKay looks like the best Orson Welles since D’onofrio in Ed Wood. And if that still doesn’t convince you to see this period film about Welles directing stage plays, I have three words for you: Richard motherfucking Linklater (Scanner Darkly, Waking Life, Dazed and Confused). There you go.
Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay, Ben Chaplin
November 25

Ninja Assassin – Directed by James McTeigue, Written by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski
The directors of The Matrix are producing this balls-to-the-wall violence-fest about…are you ready? A Ninja Assassin. Crazy right? Just think blades, bullets, blood, and nonstop special effects. I can’t freaking wait.
Sung Kang
November 25

The Road – Directed by John Hillcoat, Written by Joe Penhall
I must admit, I didn’t care for Cormac McCarthy’s award winning novel. The fact that writer and director are inexperienced worries me. Whether the acting, cinematography and effects can save it or not, the story makes me think no one will like this no matter what.
Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Garret Dillahunt
November 25

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN

Metropia – Directed by Tarik Saleh, Written by Fredrik Edin
Anything with Vincent Gallo attatched generally gets my attention (Buffalo 66 was fucking weird). In this animated social commentary, Gallo’s character goes nuts when he starts hearing voices in the expansive underground tunnels Europe was forced to build after gas prices went too high. The animation looks pretty damn cool, so we’ll see.
Vincent Gallo, Udo Kier, Juliette Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard, Alexander Skarsgard
November 6 (Sweden)

Harry Brown – Directed by Daniel Barber, Written by Gary Young
Michael Caine hasn’t really been a badass since Get Carter, but this one may change that. Granted, it’s another cranky old man pissed off at street hooligans, but they did kill his friend…and he is ex-military. Comes out in the UK this month, possible limited releases in US.
Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Iain Glen
November 11 (UK)

Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces) – Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar
Almodovar is huge in Spain, and the last time he teamed with Cruz was Volver, which was damn good. This film is about a writer/director telling a young man the story of why he changed his name after an accident took the life of his true love 14 years prior. Limited release this month, but expect it to be everywhere in time for the Oscars.
Penelope Cruz, Lluis Homar
November 20 (Limited)

Mammoth – Written and Directed by Lukas Moodysson
Husband and wife with a “perfect” life are put to the test when he takes a business trip to Thailand and decides to let loose a little. It looks very similar to parts of Babel, but more focused. Bernal and Williams have grown on me the last couple years, and Moodysson has done good work in Sweden.
Michelle Williams, Gael Garcia Bernal
November 20 (Limited)

Honestly could this title get any more catchier??!!

A disfigured NASA employee named Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) informs Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur (James Mardsen) Lewis that they have 24 hours to decide if they want to push a button inside a box that will give them a cool million — but a complete stranger will die at the same time.

When I first found out that this movie was directed by Richard Kelly, who directed one of my favorites Donnie Darko, I was actually a little excited to see it. Basically Donnie Darko’s whole story is basically making fun of the horror film genre but putting more goofier stuff into it, but making it a better film all together. This film not so much.

To first start off the plot is really simple. You push the button, and someone dies right? Well yes, that happens but then out of nowhere it gets out of control with weird staring people, and secret alien organizations. The film gets a little too out of control, and gets really crazy.

Mostly I just found myself laughing at it sometimes. There are just some scenes that look and sound hilarious. The way events happen in this film are very strange, and will really make you laugh.

Another thing that made Donnie Darko so good that it wasn’t afraid to push a little bit of buttons with it’s fact of being raunchy, and a very controversial script. This film doesn’t do that at all. Yeah there are some scenes that could’ve given it an R-rating but it doesn’t go too far and in the end I feel like it was too afraid to go anywhere. It’s script is also very cliched, with a lot of the same lines already used in a lot of recent horror films, that I could’ve sworn I’ve heard already.

I really liked how the story was actually original and was interesting, but also imaginative, which kept me glued to the seat. Though at some points I was wondering what was going on, I couldn’t help but still watch and find out what happens in the end.

The cast does a pretty good job in this film as well. Mardsen and Diaz are very believable as a couple although they rarely show love, but the one who really stands out is Frank Langella. Langella does a very good job at being an actually creepy villian that isn’t very new, but also one that your terrified at overall.

Consensus: The Box is imaginative and interesting, but becomes too unintentionally funny and gets too out-of-hand with no basic message like Donnie Darko.

3/10=SomeOleBullShiitt!!!!

I didn’t think The Box looked that great from the trailers. The premise was brilliant but, well, Cameron Diaz was the star…

Alas, The Box is actually quite entertaining and surprisingly thought provoking. It has a great spiritual/philsophical/sci-fi craziness vibe to it (similar to Knowing, which I suggest you rent soon if you haven’t seen it). If you liked Richard Kelly’s earlier films (Donnie Darko and Southland Tales) you will like this one too. Plus Win Butler of The Arcade Fire composed the score! And it’s great.

Here is an excerpt from my CT review of the film. Click here to read the whole thing.

The Box has one of the most intriguing, if deceptively simple, loglines of any movie this year: A normal family in 1976 suburban Virginia minds its own business at home until a strange box appears at the doorstep, along with a strange proposition by a mystery man. The mystery man, Arlington Steward (Frank Langella, fresh off his Oscar-nominated turn as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon), wears tailored suits, has a horrifying face (half of it is missing), and changes the lives of Arthur and Norma Lewis (James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) forever.

You see, the box at the doorstep has within it a button. According to Steward, if the Lewis family presses the button, two things will happen: 1) someone in the world who they don’t know will die, and 2) the Lewises will receive $1 million in cash. Arthur and Norma have 24 hours to make the decision. Thus begins a compelling sci-fi melodrama—based upon Richard Matheson’s short story (and 1986 Twilight Zone episode) “Button, Button”—that is full of moral dilemma, high concept philosophizing, pop culture pastiche, and oodles of Sartre references.

Nothing much can be said of the rest of the plot, save that it has something to do with NASA’s Viking Mission to Mars and includes Kelly’s usual cadre of quirky scientists, brooding youngsters, self-reflexive Americana (evinced in framed wall photos of President Ford, bicentennial footage of the World Trade Center towers, etc.), and obscure/outlandish sci-fi theories such as Arthur C. Clarke’s “Third Law”: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Suffice it to say, The Box is out there and full of “like nothing you’ve seen before” imagination. If that sort of messy, unpredictable movie excites you as much as it does me, you’re in for a treat. For those who prefer order and narrative cohesion, The Box will be a bit of a chore to sit through. The film overreaches, to be sure, taking us in enough multifarious directions to make even the most daring postmodern get a touch of vertigo. But if this sort of “all in” commitment to anarchy is the film’s biggest fault, it’s also its biggest asset.