Mom Makes "Room" Home (no spoiler review)

Room – the only home that five-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay) has ever known. We see it from Jack’s eyes as he introduces us to everything in the 10X10 box: bed, chair 1, chair 2, toilet, bath…wardrobe. Room and mom (Brie Larson) are this little dude’s whole world.

As a mother myself, I see more. I see a mother who is doing her best to give her boy a happy, healthy life.  She encourages his creativity with songs, drawings, and homemade toys. She gives him her undivided attention. Their daily ritual includes brushing their teeth (she counts to make sure it is long enough), exercising (she makes a game of “running track” across the little room), cooking, and cleaning together.  

Though there doesn’t appear to be anyone they have to account to, mom has set down certain rules: rules on how much TV is allowed (she explains that she was turning into a TV watching zombie before Jack came to rescue her), and rules for bed time.  Important rules.  We soon find that the bedtime rules are vital for Jack’s protection. Jack must be quietly asleep in wardrobe when mom’s unwelcome visitor arrives. Through the crack in the door, we get glimpses of that visitor through Jack’s curious eyes.  Some nights Jack falls asleep counting the squeaks in the bed. His breathing in the wardrobe seems thunderous. The tension is palpable.

But as Jack grows more curious and protective of his mother, it becomes clear that they are in peril. Mom concocts a dangerous plan to get them out of room. (I have excluded the usual link to the trailer to retain the suspense – though I felt considerable tension even on my second viewing.)

What really struck me is how real it feels. The room seems lived in. We get an intimate look at their lives. Jack isn’t the usual precocious Disney child.  Writer Emma Donoghue is obviously someone who understands kids and mothers. The boy goes from rambunctious play to a defiant tantrum.  He has meltdowns like a real kid. We see the effect of the night visits on his mother as she withdraws into herself and snaps at the boy when he gets on her last nerve. But she forces herself out of her depression when her child needs her to be attentive.

The acting is outstanding, heart-wrenchingly genuine. In an interview, the award winning actress Brie Larson spoke about her process. After in-depth research with abduction survival therapists, she isolated herself from any human communication and subsisted on a meager diet for six months. She shared how she became depressed, but then had a breakthrough moment when she recalled a childhood memory of living in a one room studio with her mom and sister. The girls only had two toys each, but it was the best time of her life because their creative mom made everything a game and gave them undivided attention. She brought that experience to the role.  Watching “Room” brought back my own memories of my mom encouraging my creativity with arts and crafts when I was four. It didn't matter how little money we had, we were always encouraged to follow our creative pursuits. That love of creativity got me through some hard, lonely years. Needless to say, I cried. Grateful to my mom for being present. Sad for all the families today that don't have the time or money to build that kind of foundation.

One of the reasons Abrahamson chose Brie Larson was because of her warmth. He knew that she could bond with 7 year old Jacob.  The authenticity of their connection makes the suspense all the more devastating.

 Emma Donoghue

“Room” is a highly moving, thrilling adaptation of the novel by Emma Donoghue. Director Lenny Abrahamson stayed true to the source (as promised) by working closely with Donoghue on the script. What is truly admirable (and what makes it a must-see Reel Inspiration film) is how Donoghue and Abrahamson succeed in making the victims heroes, while not glorifying their captor. “Room” was a collaborative effort with the director, writer, cast, and crew all working for a common vision – to make a life affirming story showing the importance and resilience of the mother-son bond.  

Movie blessings!

Jana Segal 

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com


Oscar news: "Room" was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director Lenny Abrahamson, Best Adaptation Emma Donoghue, and Best Actress Brie Larson.

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night"

To be honest, I left the theater feeling a bit confused. “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” was billed as an Iranian Vampire Western. But the style was more like black and white French new wave – from the smoking cigarettes, the “Rebel Without a Cause” outfit of the protagonist (Arash Marandi), his 57 Ford T-Bird, even the striped shirt the aloof vampire girl (Sheia Vand) wears under her abaya. 

Shot in the California desert, it seemed to be more about an Iranian in the West, than a Western. Aside from the avenging outsider, there were none of the fixers of a Western - no shootouts, no barroom brawls.

All I could recognize as Iranian was the Farsi language and how the young vampire wears an abaya. In Iran, women must cover their bodies to keep men from sinning. Perhaps the film is commenting on how when, “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” she is seen as a temptation. But in this dark fairy-tale, the girl is actually empowered by the abaya. She sports the abaya like a superhero cape, giving her the power to walk the streets unseen as she plays avenging angel, preying on predatory men.

Perhaps it is a commentary on modern Iran. The setting is Bad City – which is certainly how Iran sees America. The streets are full of “American vices”: prostitutes and pimps, a free-spirited transgender person, drugs, and violence. Sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll. I suppose this could be a cautionary tale on the dangers of becoming too Americanized. 

Director Ana Lily Amirpour 

In an interview by Roger Corman, writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour spoke about how the movie was really about her and the loneliness she feels. It is about her Iran as seen by an Iranian expat in America. The setting is a lonely postindustrial living ghost town with a crumbling infrastructure, surrounded by stark desert with ominous oil pumps drawing black liquid from the earth. While great wealth is being made just outside its boundaries, the town doesn't benefit from it. Billboards taunt the citizens with products that few can afford. It seems that all the good has been sucked out of the town. The inhabitants are like ghosts of their former selves – before they became desperate drug addicts and street walkers preyed on by the bottom-feeder pimp/drug dealer. The loneliness is palatable as the characters are isolated by the secrets they keep. The vampire seems to feed on that loneliness.

The story takes a  bittersweet turn when this sad avenging angel vampire searches for some hint of hope for mankind as she follows a street urchin and warns him not to be bad like the other men in the town (or he might be her next feast). She makes a fleeting connection (over a shared love of rock music) with a young man who is trying to hold onto his last vestige of humanity as everything around him tries to suck it out of him. The film shares a similar theme with the, "The Babadook." This unlikely couple finds comfort in the shared connection of accepting their dark side.

Movie blessings! 

Jana Segal

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com 

You Can’t Get Rid of the Babadook

In the opening scenes, “The Babadook,” appears to be another child possession thriller with the primary question being whether the child is troubled (a bad seed) or whether supernatural forces are at work. Writer/Director Jennifer Kent masterfully creates a chillingly claustrophobic home atmosphere capable of attracting the family's greatest fear, The Babadook.

While grieving the death of her husband, Amelia (Essie Davis in an Oscar worthy performance) struggles to raise a son with behavioral issues. Since the tragedy, her son Samuel’s (Noah Wiseman) childhood fears have intensified. Checking for monsters under the bed and in the closet has become a nightly ritual. The situation gets worse when a children’s Gothic picture book called, “Mister Babadook,” pops up. Assuming that it is a story about coping with the childhood fear of monsters under the bed, Amelia begins reading it to Samuel. The director takes this familiar domestic scene and infuses it with a sense of dread. It soon becomes evident that there is no happy ending in this bed-time tale. The storybook child doesn't make friends with the monster, but understands that it is here to stay. “If it’s in a word or it's in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook.”

The book unleashes an evil being that only Samuel can see. “I’ll kill the monster when it comes,” he tells his mom, “I’ll smash its head in.” He constructs a crude trebuchet to protect them. As his behavior becomes more erratic and violent, mother and son become isolated from family, friends or any kind of support system. Tired to the bones, Amelia grows seriously depressed, trapped in this impossible situation with a strange child she doesn't understand. The movie breaks an industry taboo by showing the darker side of motherhood – the idea of a mother resenting or disliking her child.

This is particularly unsettling for the mothers in the audience who have been deprived of sleep by a sick or colicky baby. As mothers, we are suppose to put on a brave face for our children. But when you are depressed, you are not thinking rationally. You are barely able to hold it all together. There are times when you are so utterly exhausted that you don’t feel anything, much less love for your screaming, demanding infant. You feel shame because mothers are always supposed to be strong for their children, lovingly sacrificing their own needs to protect them. What makes this horror story groundbreaking is that we get a rare glimpse into the mind of the female protagonist as she is caught in this downward spiral of grief and depression. The tension builds as Amelia, trapped by motherly duty, is pushed beyond her limits, becomes angry and completely loses it. The realization that it can happen to us, makes it all the more harrowing. 

Writer/Director Jennifer Kent

Writer/Director Jennifer Kent shared her objective in making a horror film. “I think where horror excels is when it becomes emotional and visceral. It was never about, ‘Oh I wanna scare people.’ Not at all. I wanted to talk about the need to face the darkness in ourselves and in our lives. That was the core idea for me, to take a woman who’d really run away from a terrible situation for many years and have to face it. The horror is really just a byproduct.”

I was blown away by this film. I left the movie theater still trying to process it. I asked a horror fan in the lobby what he thought of it. He said it wasn't really his kind of horror. I wondered why. Certainly, there weren't the blood and guts of a slasher flick, but there were plenty of jumps and starts. And I felt a lingering sense of dread throughout. He said he preferred things more black and white. Good vs. evil. That was one of the things I liked about it – that it wasn't that simple. It required reflection on the part of the audience. Even the monster’s origin wasn't painted out for us. The horror comes from the tragic situation – how their grief unhinged the little family as they became increasingly isolated.

Kent forgoes shocking violence in lieu of artistry and delving deeper into authentic emotions. She pushes boundaries by showing us the inner world of a female protagonist and cracking open a societal taboo by shining a flashlight on the dark side of motherhood.  She explores the themes of loneliness and isolation and shares how to cope with that isolation by facing our dark side together.

Movie blessings!

Jana Segal 

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com 

Look out for my review: "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night," by Ana Lily Amirpour.

"Nightcrawler" Thrilling Fable of the American Dream.

In my zeal to see the Oscar nominated films, I wasn’t in a hurry to watch, “Nightcrawler." From the trailer it appeared to be just another slick Hollywood thriller.  But since thrillers are more fun on the big screen, I figured I’d better catch it before it was pulled from the theater, replaced by the recent Best Picture nominees.

“Nightcrawler,” is more than a thriller, it’s a fable about the American Dream.

Unable to find a job in this economy, Lou Bloom (award-winner Jake Gyllenhaal) is desperate to make a living. He is a wily night scavenger – stealing scrap metal or doing whatever he can to make money until he can find a way to get in the game. He tells a perspective employer that he works hard to get ahead, but he has to be in the game in order to win it. Like the American public, he has been sold the American Dream and will do anything to get it.  He happens onto a profitable way to make a living, videotaping gruesome crime scenes for the local news. He learns from another news videographer, (nightcrawler) that “if it bleeds, it leads.”  

An integral part of selling the American Dream are the images presented in the media. The viewers are the consumers buying the American Dream. Local news stations employ fear mongering to increase their ratings so they can sell more advertising, so corporations can sell more products to the consumer.

In, “Nightcrawler,” affluent people are the consumers that make the whole system work.  The media manipulates their fears to get them to watch the programs. The best-selling images show urban crime creeping into the suburbs. The local news station buys and sells images of bloody carjackings and home invasions perpetrated by minorities.

But writer/director Dan Gilroy pushes the envelope even farther by presenting the moral quandary:  How far would you go to get that money shot? When you get to the crime scene before the cops, do you get the graphic footage or do you help the victim? This is a metaphor for an important theme in politics today: capitalism vs. humanity.

The movie becomes even more frightening as we discover that Bloom will do absolutely anything to get the money shot.  His homeless “intern” Rick, (Riz Ahmed) isn’t a person to him at all, but a means to make more money. He doesn't take care of his one employee, but puts him in the line of fire. Through Rick’s eyes we see and feel the danger as their red Challenger speeds to the next crime scene.  Seen from his perspective inside the car, these are the most thrilling “chase scenes” I have ever experienced. My heart was in my throat through most of the movie. But what makes it scarier is that the female news editor (Rene Russo) has bought into this myth that we should do whatever it takes to make money. In this day and age, we reward sociopaths and accept them as players in our capitalistic society.  Only it’s happening in broad daylight.

If there is any justice in Hollywood, Dan Gilroy will win a Best Screenplay nod for his brilliant script. Why wasn't, "Nightcrawler,"- one of the most well-reviewed, entertaining movies of the year - nominated for best picture? I’ll leave that to you to figure out. Writer/director Dan Gilroy put together a great team that believed in his vision. Together they created the movie they wanted to make without interference from financial backers.  I call that inspiring.

Movie blessings!

Jana Segal

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com

"Inception"

Guest reviewer: Josh Valentine

This is the abridged version. Read complete review.

The modern American blockbuster is made up of event films - movies only meant to earn money by offering big budget effects and supposed escapism. With the release of Christopher Nolan's “Inception” a void has been filled. The film has a wonderful case of classic cinematic ambiguity - something that has been thrown away by even the most artful users of its design (Martin Scorsese, we all saw “Shutter Island” - you can do better).

Oscar alert: Wally Pfister won Best Achievement in Cinematography . 

The film has a very intricate plot, involving a dream thief or “extractor” named Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio, in a role characteristically similar to his in “Shutter Island” but acceptably so because the character is much more deeply written and performed less extravagantly than in Scorsese's flick) who, with a team of highly trained individuals including his partner-in-crime Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), will remove a simple thought or idea from someone by kidnapping them and then tapping into their dream. Cobb is hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe) to perform inception - the seemingly impossible act of planting an idea in one's head unconsciously (so that the receiver of said idea is unaware they are the victim of inception). Cobb hires a new team including Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) to research their target, Robert Fisher Jr. (Cillian Murphy), whom Saito wants to dismantle his dying father's company. The team enters Fisher's dream, but Cobb's daunting past and inability to control his malicious dead wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) from entering the dream turns the mission upside down.

The film is the third in a series of modern films about the dream. The first was the groundbreaking 1999 film “The Matrix” directed by the Wachowskis and the second was Michel Gondry's mind-erasing low budget feature “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The Matrix was a cunning film, using the sleeping human mind as a metaphor for the many different ways we are unconsciously controlled by the world sociologically both by government and the media. The characters' stasis resulted in their ability to control their environment based on their understanding of its rules and of their “programming.” In “Eternal Sunshine,” Gondry portrayed the effects of memory erasure and through both his directing style, Ellen Kuras' underrated cinematography, Charlie Kaufman's script, Jon Brion's score and the performances of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, he was able to show the unconscious psychological effects of dreaming and by its process that we make life decisions.

Nolan's film feels like a lurid dream after a marathon of those two films. In “Inception,” Nolan uses the ambiguity of his surprise ending to create the mood and metaphors of his film. The ending, alone with a lot of the other questions asked in the film create an overall sense of ambiguity. It is in this sense that Nolan is being compared to Kubrick in the way that “2001: A Space Odyssey” is able to break the barrier from questioning the film to questioning one's own existence. Nolan performs inception through the act of making this film - by placing a simple thought into his audience's mind, therefore changing the way we think about the possibilities of how we decode cinema. Last year, James Cameron successfully duped audiences all over the world into thinking he had created the new “2001: A Space Odyssey” with his unnervingly boring and useless “Avatar” (he even told Charlie Rose this was his intention), but little did he know that Nolan would beat him artistically by a long shot. “Inception” will last, “Avatar” will not.

The characters of the film are the most essential, and the performances of the actors only rectify their necessity to the concept. Dicaprio is in top form - Cobb is probably his best role to date - not too understated, but still mysterious. Leo's a master of the conflicted in that he never overacts. Dicaprio portrays Cobb on two main levels - one that is absolutely in control and the other that shows a distance, which may suggest that he in fact is not in control. Cobb is a very distressed man, who holds all of his secrets within. When Ariadne lets them out, all hell breaks loose. Page also creates a distance to her character - like someone thought up in a dream but that may also be more aware than the film initially suggests. Ariadne is hired as the “architect” of Fisher's dream but soon becomes more interested in finding out what Cobb's been hiding. It almost seems as if she has an alternate motive, in that she could be the one trying to attempt inception on him. That and her mysterious connection to Caine's character are also conjecture toward Nolan's big cinematic questions.

“Inception” is a rare film for our times. It's a high concept, Kubrick-style film disguised as a major Hollywood action thriller. This could be a major step forward in terms of left-brained film making in modern American cinema - a symptom that things could be looking brighter for a brand new era of young directors. Directors like Marc Webb (“(500) Days of Summer”) and Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”) proved that there's still artistic talent that is eager to step up to the plate. However, Nolan goes a step further - into territory no one expected. He might be the best thing we'll get to our Kubrick - if he doesn't go crazy.

For more Reel Inspiration reviews, visit: www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com

"Cyrus" and "Winter's Bone" The Ties that Bind

"Winter's Bone" and "Cyrus" are two very different films about the bonds of family.

Director Debra Granik 

In "Winter's Bone,"17 year-old Ree Dolly (Oscar nominated Jennifer Lawrence) is bound by family responsibility. When her daddy goes missing, Ree must take care of her siblings and her mentally ill mother. She has an innate gift for parenting. She teaches the youngins' how to survive in a way they can understand and they show her due respect. But she soon finds that she is way over her head when the sheriff comes by to inform them that they are about to lose their house and farm because Pa put it up for his bail bond, then disappeared. Danger mounts as she is forced to defy her deadly clan's code of silence to find her Pa and bring him home. In authentic "slice of life" style, the filmmaker (Debra Granik) gives us a rare glimpse of the gritty mountain people, customs, and code of conduct of the Ozarks. You can just feel the sticks cracking under Ree's feet as she traverses the backwoods country and tastes the squirrel meat. "Winter's Bone" is about family ties that bind and gag; and finding the strength to survive in the hardest times.

"Cyrus," explores the bond between a mother and son and how much bonding is healthy. John's ex-wife (Catherine Keener) tells him she's getting married then proceeds to invite him to a party to meet other women. John (John Reilly) gets totally sloshed at the party, yet miraculously manages to pick up the most understanding woman, Molly, (the vivacious Marisa Tomei) with his clumsy attempt at honesty. John can't help but be drawn to Molly's kind heart. The relationship gets off to a great start. Then John meets Molly's 21 year-old, home-schooled, new age musician son, Cyrus (Jonas Hill). Suffice it to say that it is a very close family. Single mom Molly is so protective of her boy that she can't see the battle he is waging with John over her affections. "Cryus," has a different tone than most comedies. It is quirky and original, yet it somehow feels real. "Cyrus," is about the ties that blind, eh, bind between mother and son; and whether a mere man should get between them. Can love win out in the end?

It is more than the theme that binds this thriller and comedy. They also share truly original, honest writing and great performances. These are two of the best films I've seen for a while.

Movie blessings!
Jana Segal
www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com

"Michael Clayton"

I thought I'd give you one more inspiring film to catch before the Oscars Sunday night: best picture nominee "Michael Clayton."

There are always those films that miss my radar when they first come out. The trailer made "Michael Clayton" out to be just another downbeat legal thriller. Luckily, a fellow movie lover recommended it as the best movie of the year so I saw it Monday and again yesterday. I enjoyed this well written adult drama even better the second time around. I apologize for not reviewing this extraordinary film sooner. But you can still catch it at the second run theaters.
George Clooney gives an Oscar caliber performance as the world weary "fixer" in a law firm that is defending their biggest client U/North against a multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit regarding their toxic weed killer. Michael's personal ethics are tested when his friend, the brilliant but guilt-ridden lead attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) snaps, and Michael is called to clean up his mess.

We've seen this obvious (and tired) theme of corporate corruption before. But this movie has more to say. It brings up the question of who is really crazy: the bi-polar attorney who believes he has been called on a quest of redemption to stop the evil corporation or the U/North corporation who is willing to literally kill people in order put the firm and it's stockholders in the "most financially advantageous position." As a society, have we become so jaded that we see someone who doesn't have a financial motivation to help others as crazy? Don't miss this inspiring story of moral responsibility and redemption.

Tom Wilkinson, who also gave an Oscar nominated performance in "In the Bedroom" gives a strong, Oscar worthy performance here. Though Javier Bardem is considered the favorite to win best supporting actor for his work in “No Country for Old Men, ” in my opinion Tom Wilkinson gives a much more dynamic performance. Tilda Swinton, who plays the cold, controlled U/North litigator, is also nominated for best supporting actress. But I prefer Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" or Rudy Dee in "American Gangster" (for her life's work) or young Saoirse Rona in "Atonement."

OSCAR UPDATE:
So of course, Tilda Swinton won the only statue for Michael Clayton. And thank Heavens she did. She gave an entertaining speech, teasing fellow nominee George Clooney and appropriately giving credit to writer/director Tony Gilroy.

So this gives you one more "Reel Inspiration film" to root for during the Oscars Sunday. For a complete list of nominees, scroll down to 2007 Academy Award Nominees.

Movie Blessings!
Jana Segal
www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com