Plot-wise a group of mostly strangers take refuge in the fallout shelter of an apartment building after a nuclear blast. The bunker was built by the secretive superintendent of the building who takes it on himself to ration out the food and the rest of the survivors soon stop trusting him. Trouble is, none of these people are worth caring about. Everyone in this movie is a cocky asshole, pathetically weak, or a blank shell that maybe we’re supposed to identify with as a vessel for the audience, but you know, it doesn’t really work like that. Then there’s also the token African American with literally no character whatsoever who exists to state obvious things and help out the white characters. To the movie’s credit, he’s the second person to be killed off, not the first.

At first the movie gives us the classic “even-though-these-people-survived-a-nuclear-explosion-and-have-been-living-off-beans-for-days-their-makeup-is-still-perfect” look while said survivors behave in ways that are tightly dictated by the one or two traits that solely define them. And it sucks. But then the plot keeps moving and things get worse and worse and I’ve got to say I was impressed. This movie goes to an extremely dark place and just gets darker. Bad things happen, worse things happen, the boring people become bad and the bad people prosper until the whole thing finally ends on easily the bleakest note I’ve seen all year. But eh, not in a really good way. This isn’t a devastating dark ending, or even a cerebral dark ending. It’s the logical conclusion of a movie that viewed human beings as things that CGI could happen to.

The Divide open in select theaters January 13, 2012. 

The movie opens with a scene of Jimmy on the phone, receiving word that he has not been hired to go on the road with heavy metal band Blue Oyster Cult as he had done for the last 20+ years. Angry and upset, he then soon realizes that he does not have a place to call “home,” so he returns to Forest Hills, Queens to see his elderly mother (Lois Smith). As the film unfolds over the course of several days, we meet two of Jimmy’s high school friends, Nikki and Bobby (Jill Hennessey and Bobby Cannavale), who are now married to each other. As Jimmy runs into people from his neighborhood that he knows, his explanation of what he’s been up to for the past 20 years is stretched further and further. He first tells people that he was a roadie, then tells people that he was the band’s manager, and then finally says he wrote and produced songs for the band, which we come to find is not true. Watching Jimmy find himself and his new identity, post-Blue Oyster Cult, is particularly fascinating.

What is so engrossing about this film though, aside from the rich character development, is the chemistry that exists between Jimmy and Nikki. Although Nikki is married to Bobby, who quickly proves to be an unlikable, immature loser (frequently referring to Jimmy as “Testicles” instead of “Testagross” among many other things), there is such romantic tension between Jimmy and Nikki that you can’t help but hope the two of them will run off together. Additionally, the relationship that exists between Jimmy and his mother and the way that it changes throughout the course of the movie is also quite compelling. Overall, this is an extremely well-crafted, well-acted film that is absolutely worth checking out.

War Horse follows the journey of Joey, a thoroughbred who is purchased by a stubborn, alcoholic farmer, brilliantly played by Peter Mullan. who owes money to his nefarious landlord (David Thewlis). Albert (newcomer Jeremy Irvine), the farmer’s son, vows to train this unsuitable horse to plow a rocky field. Circumstances, however, lead to Joey being sold to the British army for use in World War I. From here, the horse finds himself in the hands of the English, the German, and the French.

The beauty of War Horse is in how the story unfolds. In the farm scenes, the audience is drawn into the family’s struggle to make ends meet. During the war, we’re led to either feel sympathy for those affected by the conflict (soldiers, civilians, overworked horses) or resentment for those who relish in the violence (officers on the German side, mainly). These chapters are far-ranging, almost retaining the sense of acts in a play, but Joey’s presence is enough of a bond to draw it all together and to make the animal that much more extraordinary. Each owner cannot help but develop a strong bond with the animal, and as we watch, so do we. Most of the film shuns digital effects in favor of real horses, which makes the suffering onscreen that much greater. So too does it make the relief of Joey’s survival that much greater.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve never cried as openly during a movie as I have during War Horse. It has the emotional resonance of watching Black Beauty, Babe, and Old Yeller all at once. Each actor delivers a nuanced, convincing performance, and for as much pain as there is in the film, there are also glimmers of wonderful humor, such as the goose that terrorizes anyone on the Narracott farm. John Williams’ wonderful score is also worth mentioning for being memorable, evocative, and nearly a character in itself. War Horse may be a bit dark for young children, but its message of love and friendship certainly taps into the inner child and stirs it back to the surface.

War Horse opens Christmas Day.

The cast all give stunning performances in their roles. Knightley plays Sabina as vulnerable but determined, shifting from madness to recovery while still retaining a glimmer of that pain that pushed her over the edge in the first place. Fassbender’s Jung is hungry for knowledge and the flesh, leading him to destroy all he loves. Mortensen’s Freud is inflexible, stifling, stubborn, and set on always having the upper hand. The film’s one shortcoming is that because it covers such a long time period, some development is lacking. There’s very little chemistry between Sabina and Jung before they have their affair, and Vincent Cassel’s delightful turn as hedonistic psychiatrist/patient Otto Gross is cut regretfully short, leaving him as little more than a vocalization of Jung’s primal urges.

Still, to judge the film for what it is rather than what it isn’t, A Dangerous Method is a fascinating look into the lives of people whose ideas have affected the way we all think about our mental health. It’s certainly not the most action-packed movie of the year, but if you enjoy character development and period pieces, then this is the pick for you.

A Dangerous Method opens November 23.

The documentary is informative beyond even the racial question as it outlines that path that is taken from getting the concept of a product down the path to pitching the demo to investors and even Anthony Frasier, CEO of the video game app Playd, and an entrepreneur featured in the film told me “it’s really just about putting out a great product.”  Nevertheless, like anything else, who you know is key and the incubator fast tracks the group toward pitches at Google headquarters and in front of numerous potential investors with interesting and mixed results.

The racial questions that the film stirs up are interesting and the idea that Silicon Valley is a land of “white college dropouts and Asians” is put to the test, but identifying the reality of what it takes to make it in the industry is certainly interesting to watch.

Steve Stoute Speaks On CNN Black In America 4 from ICED MEDIA on Vimeo.

Soledad O’Brien Speaks On The Importance Of CNN BIA4 from ICED MEDIA on Vimeo.

Soledad O’Brien Speaks On The Importance Of CNN BIA4 from ICED MEDIA on Vimeo.

The Brit Flick was released in the U.K. last November. It follows a familiar gangster film format: Gangster gets punished for crime; gangster tries to quit the life; bigger, badder gangster makes it impossible for original gangster to have a fresh start; gangster war ensues.

Mitchel (Farrell) is a bit too unemotional to be the bravado-fueled gangster protagonist most of these films glorify. He does get to drive nice cars, sleep with beautiful women and wear nice suits, though. Knowing where the film is headed from the start, the slow setup feels unnecessary. The ending of the film gets a bit more exciting as the bigger, badder gangster, Gant (Ray Winstone), earns the audience’s scorn.

The film is the directorial debut of William Monahan, who was a screenwriter for The Departed. It’s unapologetically brutal and filled with coarse language. So, with lookers like Knightley and Farrell, why be so stingy on the nudity?

London Boulevard is available on IFC Films on Demand and will be released in limited theaters on November 11.

With Puglia basically at the helm with writing/directing/editing and acting the lead, I won’t give away too much about the plot of the film other than say even in its slow moments (a little too many for my tastes, but that’s really a small criticism), Subdued does move along nicely and manages a nice surprise at the end.

Though the film is peppered with a goodly amount of extras, there really are only two speaking parts here, Puglia and Peter Riot, who plays an ending creeping moment very well with his fantastic voice and lanky intense physicality.

Coming as they do now from all sources, we can as much enjoy something short and well-made online as we can in the theaters.
Check-out subdued at http://www.warlockfilms.net/.

The film has a weight to it that is palpable and Sam Shepard is perfect as the grizzled, contemplative Butch Cassidy in the final chapter of his life.  The storyline picks up well after the shootout that is thought to have killed Cassidy and fills in holes with flashbacks as he precedes to attempt to leave his love Yana, played by Magaly Solier and return to America before he is sidelined by another robber of sorts played wonderfully by Gil regular Eduardo Noriega.  The real strength of the film is in Shepard’s ability to balance out the old grizzled cowboy and the smart, loving man with a heart as he walks a thin line between hero and villain in the film.  If you liked True Grit this is a must see and it’s certainly a strong English language premiere for Gil with a role which should once again make Shepard a commodity in Hollywood.

Blackthorn opens in theathers tomorrow October 7.

Premiering on HBO On October 5^th and 6^th, Living In The Material World should not be missed by Beatles and Harrison fans and just about anybody who can appreciate one man’s search between the spiritual world and one of material trappings the likes of which most of us never see.

I won’t say too much about that anxiety as I don’t want to ruin one laconic moment of the erosion and liquid-y brilliance that is, at times, some truly unnerving yet subtle special effects by  hy*drau”lx and an equally stunning acting. Suffice it to say the supporting players here, Jessica Chastain as Shannon’s wife and Shea Whigham as his best bud/co-worker, Dewart, are spectacular, but this is Shannon’s movie. And while there are a few plot points here I felt were over-worked, it’s a pleasure seeing a guy as good as Shannon get his due. From his stiff and sturdy lawman on Boardwalk Empire, to playing the wacky Kim Fowley in The Runaways (a sadly overlooked film) to his Curtis LaForche here, if Mr. Shannon isn’t one of our best actors working presently I don’t know who is.