The Way Way Back & The To Do List

This past Sunday, I did something I had never done before - I went to see three movies in one day. There were two reasons for this. The first is that it rained pretty much all day anyway. And the second is that I live in the middle of nowhere. If I want to see non-blockbuster movies, I have to drive 40 minutes away, first of all, and then sometimes these movies are only in theaters for a week. I already missed out on Before Midnight earlier this summer because it was only in theaters for ONE WEEK!?!?!! So, the first movie was Fruitvale Station which I already raved about. The next two movies have more in common than I initially thought. They are both funny, coming of age stories, although one is quite a bit raunchier than the other.

The Way Way Back is this sort of charming little gem of a movie. It's from writer / directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, who took home an Oscar a few years ago for writing The Descendants. And while I liked The Descendants quite a bit, I sort of almost think this is a better movie. It stars Liam James as Duncan, a shy boy who goes to a beach house for the summer with his mom (Toni Collette) and her new-ish boyfriend (Steve Carrel, who is delightfully mean!). During the summer, he hates on the boyfriend, hides from his crazy, drunk neighbors (among them a hilarious Allison Janney), crushes on the older girl next door (Annasophia Robb) and begins a friendship with the local water park owner (Sam Rockwell). He grows up and comes out of his shell and gets a father figure in Rockwell's Owen.

The movie has a lot of cliched moments; it's almost generic with a sort of paint by numbers quality. Still, it also feels real. It's heartwarming and hilarious, but it could have been an even better movie had the entire thing felt as fearless as Rockwell's performance. All of the performances here are gems, from Duncan's quirky eventual co-workers at the water park to the super bratty daughter of Carrel's character, but Rockwell is best in show by a mile. He is a fast talking charmer who tells jokes by the minute. He is lovable and hilarious. And while he might get on the nerves of Maya Rudolph's character, he never gets on the audiences nerves and you are left wanting so much more of him. His character may be sort of a mess up, but in the end, he's the closest thing to a father and a friend that young Duncan has. His relationship with Duncan is the heart and soul of this movie and takes it from being just another cliched coming of age story to the sort of movie you tell your friends to go see.

While The Way Way Back is all sweet-natured, hilarious charm, The To Do List is a raunch fest in the vein of American Pie. Aubrey Plaza stars as Brandy, a high school valedictorian who graduates knowing so many facts and acing all the tests, but being completely clueless about anything and everything to do with sex and boys. So, she does what she does best. She makes a to do list of every sexual encounter she has heard about and sets out to do them all before the end of the summer. With help from her friends including Alia Shawkat, her parents (Connie Britton, Clark Gregg), and her older sister (a scene stealing Rachel Bilson), she sets out to woo every man from Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Johnny Simmons to Andy Samberg and Scott Porter.

It's refreshing and a nice change of pace to see this sort of movie have a female star. And Plaza is definitely up to the challenge of all the gross and awkward moments. She plays Brandy as an over achiever who plans to lose her virginity in much the same way she would study for a(n AP) Biology test. And this is a very, genuinely funny movie. It's also very raunchy. Like, very, very raunchy. And it's also a little on the gross side, especially a specific part in the public pool where Brandy works for the summer. I won't get into it, but it's pretty awful. For all the funniness of this movie, however, it just lacks something that American Pie had in spades: heart. Brandy is kind of a bitch. I found myself wondering why someone like Alia Shawkat's too cool for school character would even give Brandy the time of day, let alone be her friend. It's sort of hard to root for someone who makes it so hard to like them. Just when I would start to give up on this movie, however, Rachel Bilson would come on screen and say or do something hilarious, reminding me why I've loved her so from her days as Summer on The O.C. She might not be the best actress, but with the right material, she's sort of hilarious. She should be a bigger star and maybe post-The To Do List, more people will take notice.

The Way Way Back - B
The To Do List - B-

End of Summer Mini Updates!

Quick updates on movies I've seen lately...

The Beaver - Listen, I don't like Mel Gibson - as a person, as an actor, whatever. So, his involvement may have tarnished this movie a bit for me. It's kind of a weirdly clever idea: a man gets kicked out by his wife, tries to kill himself, finds a beaver hand puppet and decides to speak through the puppet only in an attempt to make good with his family. Too bad, it just falls short. I could care less about Gibson. Foster, as his wife, is perfectly fine, if not slightly boring. Instead, it's too young stars who steal the show: Anton Yelchin as Gibson and Foster's angsty son and Jennifer Lawrence as his troubled love interest are delightful. They have fantastic chemistry and energy. If you must watch it, watch it for Yelchin and Lawrence.
Grade: C

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - I was excited to see this movie because it was supposedly rated R for being so damn scary. There was no nudity, no gore, no bad language, none of the stuff that warrants a typical R rating. It was just supposed to be too scary for kids. I disagree. That's not to say the story isn't interesting. It's a great haunted house tale that mixes intensity and folk lore into a decent little film. However, still not scary. Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce are just fine as the couple living in an old gorgeous house with his young daughter. Then monsters begin to terrorize the daughter. And not just any monsters, tiny little monsters that are maybe a foot high and are more annoying than scary. Decent flick, but doesn't succeed at what it sets out to do.
Grade: C-

Skateland - Skateland was a welcome relief after watching two such mediocre movies. Shiloh Fernandez stars as a man in his early 20s who is living in Texas and working at the local skating rink in the early 80s. He enjoys flirting with his best friends sister (Ashley Green) and getting drunk with his friends (Taylor Handley). Then, his world begins to fall apart - Skateland decides to close, his parents get a divorce. Skateland is a great coming of age movie about coming to terms with your mortality and making huge changes in your life even if you are terrified of doing so. Everyone can relate because everyone has had that moment. Plus, Skateland has a hot, young cast and a great soundtrack. Definitely worth checking out!
Grade: B

I Am Number Four - Okay. I know. This is typical of me, sure. I sure do love movies aimed at 14 year old girls. But, look, I Am Number Four was just fine! I was expecting it to be TERRIBLE but it was actually pretty compelling, if not stupid. Alex Pettyfer (who is really too pretty to be a real person) stars as an alien on the run from a bunch of other creepier, and uglier, aliens. He and his guardian (Timothy Olyphant) move to Ohio where he is supposed to blend in so he can hide, but he instead falls for the ex girlfriend (Glee's Dianna Agron) of the troublemaker quarterback of the football team. Needless to say, his scary alien foes find him. As does Number Six, a totally bad ass Theresa Palmer. Really, I promise. It's not as bad as you think!
Grade: C

The Help - Emma Stone stars as Skeeter, a woman who just graduated from Ole Miss in the 1960s and returns home aching to be a novelist. She decides to write a book about The Help, the maids who raise white children but are eventually treated like crap by the very children they raised when they become adults. It's a great story, riveting, heartwarming and interesting. Plus, the actors are simply phenomenal. From lead performances by the ever-charming Stone and the incendiary Viola Davis to all the amazing supporting actresses: the bubbly and adorable Jessica Chastain, the cruel and vicious Bryce Dallas Howard, the quiet scene stealer Allison Janney, and the sassy lightning rod Octavia Spencer. All around, a great movie that shouldn't be missed!
Grade: B+

Juno, Atonement

Juno - The first 15 minutes or so of Juno are actually quite atrocious. I was almost ready to walk out of the theater, to be honest. Rainn Wilson, in a small cameo role, gives the most ridiculous performance saying the most ridiculous words. Olivia Thirbly as Juno's cheerleader best friend (I'm sorry but why would Juno be best friends with a cheerleader?) is quite possibly the most annoying character ever written in the history of movies. (No, no. There's that annoying guy in a wheelchair in Texas Chainsaw Massacre...). But, she's still uber annoying. Honest to blog. (Shoot me now!). Then there is the ultra hipster language. Screenwriter Diablo Cody has not seemingly written a cool movie. She is trying her absolute hardest to be perceived as cool. And the dialogue is a bit much at first. After 15 minutes, I thought I might be the only person on the planet who disliked Juno. Everyone seems to love it. But it was beginning to look like maybe I was on a different plain than everyone else. Maybe it was like a secret that only I understood. I was the only person in the planet smart enough to not fall under Juno's little spell. But guess what? All the kinks in the movie work themselves out and the other hour and fifteen minutes are hilarious, sweet and just plain great. (Although, I still could have done without the creepy Jason Bateman story line... but whatever). Juno is hilarious. Ellen Page is just perfect. The reason the movie suceeds is mostly because she works magic with the sometimes insane dialogue she is forced to say. But Page makes it work. She should be nominated for an Oscar, hands down. (Right now she is my runner up to win as well... after Julie Christie, of course). Michael Cera makes the world go round. He's responsible for all that is good and pure in the world. I just adore him. He is the teen king of the awkward pause. The best and funniest comic actor of his generation, bar none. Jason Bateman is hilarious as well although, again, he's too bogged down in a weird story line. Still, I love Jason Bateman and so I don't blame him. (I blame Diablo Cody who's script I most certainly did NOT love... although the great actors make it work). Jennifer Garner gives a shockingly beautiful performance. It wouldn't be upset if she somehow slipped into the Best Supporting Actress race (although I doubt it). She's seriously great in this movie. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney should officially be in every movie. That's how pleasurable it is to watch them. The ending is just perfect as well. It's sweet but not cheesy or corny in the least. So, in the end, Juno is every bit as funny and loveable as everyone says it it. It's definitely worth checking out.

Grade: B+

Atonement - There is a scene in Atonement in which the movie goes from being solid and good to becoming a beautiful masterpiece. It is a single shot - no cuts, no edits - that lasts about 5 minutes and follows solider Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) and his two cohorts across a beach full of soldiers and ships and horses and amusement rides. It entertwines between the three and shows the desperation and hopefulness of the scene. More importantly, it shows that this movie is just simply wonderful. It is a love story of the most epic variety. It starts at a very rich house where a young Briony (Saoirse Ronan) reads a letter and sees something between her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie that she doesn't quite understand. She think she does, but she doesn't. She soon tells a lie that completely devastates the lives of all around her. Robbie gets sent to jail and eventually war. Cecilia spends her time as a sort of frozen version of herself, sad and angry. Four years later, Briony (now played by Romola Garai) is busy nursing wounded soldiers instead of serving her time at Oxford to be the writer she was always meant to be. It's her way of repentence. (There is a particularly telling scene with a dying French soldier who is so delirious, he insists that he knows her and she lies again. This time to comfort him.) Years and years later, Briony grows up to be a successful writer (this time Vanessa Redgrave steps in to do fill the role) and who still regrets the lies she tells. I'm not sure the ending is cohesive with the feel of the rest of the movie (I don't want to ruin anything but I will say that it probably works better on the page than the screen). But, except for the odd-feeling ending, Atonement is a masterpiece of filmmaking. It has exceptionally beautiful shots (like the one mentioned before, James McAvoy trekking through a field of red flowers, McAvoy stopping suddenly as the camera pulls back to reveal rows and rows of dead bodies). The images are like artwork, unforgettable and beautiful in its sadness. Is the movie depressing? Absolutely and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've only read about a third of the book so far (ha!) but as far as I can tell the adaptation is just excellent. Then there is the acting. It's just amazing. Knightley is an odd actress. She comes across wooden and frigid in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean. She proved she can really act in Pride and Prejudice and here she even bests that performance. The Briony's are all superb. It's almost difficult to pick a best Briony. The character is vital and so well written and so central to the story. Ronan is a young actress who delivers a performance that is chilling and brilliant. Redgrave is superb even if she only has about 5 minutes of screentime. My personal favorite Briony performance came from Garai. I found it interesting to see the characters transformation from lively, lying young woman to regretful, silent teenager. It may not be as memorable as Ronan's performance (her performance is crucial to the plot development) but I personally find it more effective. Then there is the single stand out of the film. James McAvoy is just excellent. I'm not just saying that because I love him and because his sadly overlooked performance in The Last King of Scotland still sticks firmly in my mind. His performance here is breathtaking. His performance on the beach in Dunkirk is riveting - and he doesn't even have any lines! His character is restrained yet passionate. The scene at Cecilia's flat between Robbie and Briony (Garai) is simply Oscar worthy. McAvoy succeeds in his making his character unambiguously heroic. He conveys his character's basic decency, achieving the difficult task of making him good without making him dull. It's the perfect blend and a simply wonderful performance. Overall, Atonement is just plain wonderful - the script, the storyline, the direction, the cinematography, the score (pianos mixed with the sound of a typewriter) and especially all of those performances.

Grade: A

Coming This Week - Best and Worst Performances, Moments, and Movies!