Suffering

I had a double feature earlier today, celebrating my two done exams (actually two more to go). First is Denis Vileneuve-directed Prisoners and Kevin MacDonald's Brit-YA How I Live Now. Both films include lots of suffering and I am currently suffering because I have to study for final exams so I guess it's just fitting that the title for this post be Suffering.

Prisoners
This star-studded indie-feeling yet studio-funded film initially didn't catch my attention from the trailer. I dismissed it as generic, but of course there's more to that because look at the star power in this film. It turns out to be right, the film got a lot of awards buzz, and my brother was raving about this back in Indonesia. The story is about two families who lost their daughters and one father who's willing to cross the line to get her daughter back, and one detective who's assigned to this dismal case. The film's exciting and engaging story made you stressed out and emotional. The twists and turns are unexpected. The film's bleak color palette is gorgeous, and the quiet, atmospherical score is also fitting. However, the film's weakest point is Jake Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki's character who seemed to be incompetent on working the case. I bet you could work out the case before this Detective. However, Gyllenhaal was great in the role and it's a shame that this character didn't get the chance to be fleshed out. We already saw his weird eye-blinking, his Freemasons ring and strange tattoos on his fingers, but I guess that's up for our interpretation. Great performances by Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano and the near unrecognizable Melissa Leo. The film plays on the issue of religion and karma, mostly from the viewpoint of Jackman's Keller Dover. The film's overlong duration was necessary because in the end, we just want the film to continue. Prisoners: rated 4/4.

How I Live Now
Saoirse Ronan stars yet again in a young adult novel adaptation after her failed outing in Stephenie Meyer's The Host just earlier this year. But this film is based on a Brit YA, and of course it's so different. The story is set in the near future where World War III was breaking out, and Daisy (Ronan) was sent from the US to England to seek refuge to her family, things started to move when a nuclear bomb was dropped in London. The film kept it small scale but it could make us care for the character on-screen. Apart from the film's love story sub-plot, the story works. However, the things the characters do on-screen are sometimes downright stupid. For example a young boy lost his will to live after the terrorist group killed his dog, what the fuck right? Or, how Daisy, after one sex, decides to stay in England, a place she loathed, when she already got a ticket back to the States. Those are the ridiculous parts, but the rest of the film were doing okay. It has strong sequences accompanied with killer soundtracks, great sceneries, intense electronic score, and apparently it's rated R! I didn't even realize it. Did I mention that this film also stars the brilliant Tom Holland, who plays the kid in The Impossible? The little kid who plays Piper is another gem in the film. Unlike other YA which needs a big name actor who could carry the film, this one doesn't at all. In conclusion, the film is waaay better than Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, The Host, or most young-adult adaptations. But still this film is out of The Hunger Games's league. How I Live Now: rated 3/4

No Temperature

The Counselor is one of the rare example of how I managed to watch a film earlier than my home country Indonesia. To be honest, this only the second one, the first one being Les Miserables earlier this year. The Counselor is Ridley Scott's follow-up to his excellent yet polarizing sci-fi Prometheus. Scripted by Cormac McCarthy of No Country for Old Men and starring an ensemble cast that can't be refused, The Counselor definitely has everything on the table. The cast includes Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt. And you'll be surprised by the film's 'cameo' extravaganza later in the film. This is an interesting trivia for the film: in Japan The Counselor is titled more vaguely 悪の法則 / Law of Evil. Strange because Japan tends to simplify movie titles (the latest I learned is that the Japanese title of Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is just Life!).

The story follows a counselor simply known as The Counselor as he made a seemingly great deal involving drugs from Mexico with his friends Reiner (Bardem) and Westrey (Pitt) to start a family with his lover Laura (Cruz). But there's a mole in the group with her own's scheme, Malkina (Diaz).

For me, that's the whole plot of the film. Since this film is extremely dialogue-driven and script-heavy, I may missed something due to heavy accent deliveries by Bardem or just I was still amazed by the greatness of the previous sentence. The film itself is too convoluted on the story for me it was quite confusing. It's almost like an appetizer to Cloud Atlas. There are bigger stakes than the life of the titular counselor but it was not conveyed clearly. The film was too long during the first half, but not until the story moved in the middle, the film started to get exciting. No doubt, I need to watch it again for clarity. But what McCarthy lacked on storytelling, he made it up in his excellent characters such as The Counselor himself, the bad-haired Reiner, or the possible-psychopath Malkina. The actors playing them are amazing. I mean this might be the first film I saw with a great Cameron Diaz performance in it. Fassbender is superb, Bardem is as always, Pitt also looked comfortable in the role although he's just Brad Pitt, it's a pity that Penelope Cruz's role isn't big enough.The second half of the film has a great number of cameos, from ASAC Schrader Dean Norris, John Leguizamo, Edgar Ramirez in a near-pointless scene, or hottie Natalie Dormer (sadly playing an American here). Cormac McCarthy's script is very great. It was full of killer one-liners or just thoughtful, undeniably great long speeches. However, McCarthy's script might be off-putting for some, Ridley Scott did a great job keeping the interest going on. The set-pieces in this film are also amazing, I counted two outstanding scenes, first of course, Cameron Diaz having sex with a Ferrari and second is Brad Pitt got Bolito-ed. The car sex scene was jaw-dropping and the Bolito was pulse-pounding accompanied with an eargasmic score by Daniel Pemberton. The Counselor is definitely the true definiton of 'that so cool' and 'wtf is happening!' combined.  Maybe the film was ahead of its time. The potential is there but not reaped entirely. Maybe it's going to be worshipped in the years to come. Maybe not. The Counselor: rated 3/4


I didn't review Carrie as promised, but I will review Captain Phillips in the next two weeks!