Category: Movies

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” is a touching gem of a movie in this year’s batch of Oscar-worthy films. The main character is, of course, King George VI (Colin Firth), but for much of the movie he is only the innocuous Bertie, an ex-naval officer and the Duke of York.

Bertie, the second son of King George V, has spent his entire life in the shadow of his more dynamic older brother, David (Guy Pearce), the Prince of Wales, and has subsequently developed a crippling stutter. After many embarrassing public speaking incidents and years of seeking help from innumerable specialists, all to no avail, Bertie gives up and asks his supportive wife (Helena Bonham Carter) to stop her search for a truly helpful speech therapist.

Despite Bertie’s lack of confidence, the Duchess believes she may have found the right match for her husband’s problem in the enthusiastic and unorthodox ex-actor turned elocution specialist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Bertie struggles to open up to Lionel’s unusual and somewhat invasive therapy, but over time, the pair begin to build a veritable friendship, overcoming differences in class and situation, and undeniably strengthening Bertie’s self-confidence.

After the death of their father, the rather wild David is crowned King Edward VIII, but much to the chagrin of his very proper brother and sister-in-law, continues dallying with an American divorcée named Wallis Simpson. The law prohibits that England’s sovereign and head of its church marry a divorced woman, but David protests he cannot give Wallis up. After a year on the throne, David is forced to abdicate his reign in order to avoid government uproar, thrusting the mantle of king onto the unwilling and terrified Bertie.

Convinced that he is unfit to be king, but obligated by honor and family duty, Bertie assumes his role as King George VI, the job made more difficult by approaching war with Germany. His speech impediment remains a problem–remains the focus of the film, in fact–and Logue continues to coach the new king up until the climactic moment of his first-ever wartime speech.

Though the film itself is definitely one of the best of 2010, some moviegoers claim the film did not command the attention of its audience with the tenacity of its competitors.

“Although audience opinions regarding the film’s ‘excitement’ factor range from dull to riveting, when asked to rate the film’s conviction, results would probably be unanimously high. While I felt that the subject matter of ‘The King’s Speech’ was rather bland, its level of execution and ability to transport me to that time period was extraordinary,” Monica Burney ’14 said.

“The King’s Speech” is definitely a moving film, if not a gripping one. The cast is superb, and Oscar nominations to Firth for Best Actor and Bonham Carter and Rush for Best Supporting Actress and Actor are undoubtedly well-merited. The film garnered 12 nods in total, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Director nominations. Specifically, Colin Firth’s commitment to his role as the stuttering, unconfident Bertie is terrific, successfully breaking out of his typecast as Mr. Darcy, in which many have assumed him to be stuck since the BBC’s 1995 “Pride and Prejudice.”

“’The King’s Speech’ is splendidly performed and guaranteed to entertain all audiences. I left the movie speechless,” Ava Giuliano ’14 said.

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“The Fighter” is undoubtedly one of the best films of the year. David O. Russell’s Lowell-based film about brother boxers Dicky Eklund and Micky Ward hits home and is well-acted and well-realized. But what really sets “The Fighter” apart from the dime-a-dozen genre of underdog sports stories is its heart. “The Fighter” has heart in spades.

The story belongs to Micky Ward, a road-worker moonlighting as a boxer, played by Boston native Mark Wahlberg. HBO has descended on Lowell to film a documentary about Micky’s older brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a retired fighter best known for knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard. Called “The Pride of Lowell,” Dicky has deluded himself and his family into the belief that he’s about to make a comeback in the boxing world, when in reality he is slipping deeper and deeper into his crack addiction.

Overshadowed by his mother, his seven sisters and the brother he has always idolized, Micky has become a “stepping stone,” a boxer who is used to boost the other fighters higher. At 31, Micky’s career seems about over, and after a slump of rough losses, he ashamedly considers quitting the sport for good. But, his strong-willed new flame, bartender Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams), calls on him not to give up his life dream so easily. Their new relationship acts as a catalyst, pushing Micky to make a last go of his career.

The family, and most notably the matriarch, Alice (Melissa Leo), balk at Micky’s decision to break away from the pack with Charlene, whom they meet with unmitigated dislike. The seven sisters, though comical on the surface, are a picture of stagnation, and Alice, though painfully stuck in the past where Dicky is fighting and still on the straight and narrow, eventually redeems herself, proving herself more aware of the family’s issues than she seems.

As Micky attempts to reclaim his career, he simultaneously begins to develop greater self-confidence and to strengthen his relationship with the bold and compassionate Charlene. Dicky also begins to pull himself together, albeit from the inside of a jail cell. Micky, ever the peacemaker in his family, acts to pull all of his separate supporters together. As Micky moves toward a real shot at a title, his motley group of loved ones, disparate though they may be, rally together to support the new “Pride of Lowell.”

Predictably, “The Fighter” made a splash at the box offices and was received well by critics. It’s a lovable film and a story that’s easy to relate toy.

“’The Fighter’ was an amazing movie that consisted of a truly phenomenal cast who was brilliant throughout the entire film,” Lauren Bernard ’14 said.

The actors were certainly well cast. Mark Wahlberg delivers a solid lead despite being overlooked for the Oscar. The supporting cast received three nominations, though, and the film has also garnered the prime nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for Russell. Christian Bale’s stringy, squirrelly Dicky is endearing and heartbreaking, a good counterpart to Melissa Leo’s bawdy, awful mother Alice Ward. And Amy Adams’s departure from her normal sweetness and innocence (remember “Enchanted”?) is spectacular as well.

“The Fighter” deals with a lot of difficult themes, and the dead-end lives of Micky and his siblings are saddening.

“I thought it had a tragic, but fascinating commentary on the family dynamic and was well acted and filmed. I thought it was excellent,” Kate Wilsterman ’14 said.

The portrayal of Lowell, Massachusetts is unflattering, which serves to help the audience further comprehend the triumph of Micky Ward over younger, better ranked fighters. “The Fighter” is an uplifting, feel-good sort of movie, and it has plenty of heart.

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“Black Swan” is a breath of fresh air, and a strong follow-up to Darren Aronofsky’s last film, “The Wrestler.” The film is tense but still compelling and enjoyable, and the plot deals thrillingly with elements of the bizarre without going too far.

The movie revolves around Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a delicate china doll of a ballerina dedicated to her role as a member of the New York City Ballet. Although in her twenties, Nina still lives with her mother (Barbara Hershey), a bitter ex-ballerina who was forced to leave the company after becoming pregnant with Nina. Out of guilt or disinterest, Nina allows herself to be dressed and petted by her mother, whose repetition of her favorite endearment for Nina, “sweet girl,” becomes frightening by the end of the film.

Vincent Cassel is well-cast as Thomas, the dance company’s demanding, licentious director. The plot is set in motion when he announces that the company will be putting on the classic “Swan Lake,” but the new version will be a “visceral” adaptation to differentiate itself from the now stilted original.

Nina, soft-spoken and exactingly fastidious in regards to her own dancing, longs to be cast as the Swan Queen, but the dancer who takes on the overwhelming role must be able to embody both the virginal White Swan and her antithesis, the provocatively sensual Black Swan.

Her casting as the lead comes as a surprise, but the challenge of the role begins to wear on Nina’s fragile psyche. In order to become the Black Swan, Nina is forced to contradict herself personally, and the internal struggle is both horrifying and extremely compelling to watch. Haunted by visions, hallucinations, and an unexplained rash on her back, Nina begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, her understudy Lily (Mila Kunis) flaunts the rules Nina so stringently adheres to, yet seems to be born to play the Black Swan: a fact that torments the fraying Nina. Nina’s compulsion to be technically perfect combined with the pressure from her mother, director and competitor culminates in the climactic opening night of the ballet, on which everyone’s expectations hinge.

“Black Swan” is a psychological thriller. There are several highly-charged, flinch-inducing scenes. A notable example is when Nina tears her cuticle, with stomach-turning results. The graphic and surprising shocks throughout the film are enough to frighten most moviegoers.

The movie’s weakest point is its dialogue. Both Portman and Kunis deliver irreproachable and, in the case of Portman, Oscar-worthy performances. Most of the scenes have little or no dialogue; some of the conversations between characters appear forced and break up the otherwise wonderfully tense atmosphere of the film. Nevertheless, the beautiful Rodarte costumes and an excellent score distract from the movie’s minor script flaws.

By Ashley Miller

Writer

“Love and Other Drugs” is a romantic comedy with a bit of a twist. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, who played the imperfect couple in “Brokeback Mountain,” create serious on-screen chemistry.

In a role unlike any she has played before, Hathaway plays Maggie Murdock, a lusty, free-spirited artist with her own ideas about love and relationships. Gyllenhaal is Jamie Randall, a notoriously charming heart-breaker and the black-sheep member of a medical, professional family.

When Viagra is released in 1996, Jamie decides to join the cut-throat world of pharmaceutical sales. He moves to the Ohio River Valley as a Sales Rep for Pfizer, where he makes his way to Chicago. This goal can’t be achieved without a little brown-nosing of doctors, sex with receptionists and other questionable methods. Desperate to prove himself and make some money, Jamie will do anything to get ahead, even shadow a doctor. In this way, Jamie meets Maggie, who is a stage one Parkinson’s victim.

Originally, Maggie seems to be one of the only women ever uninterested in Jamie. Eventually, Jamie’s charm wears her down and she agrees to a date. Neither of them is looking for anything serious, so when they get together, it seems a match made in heaven.

But as the two sex buddies start to spend more time together, primarily in the bedroom, they realize things are a more serious than either of them originally thought. The question arises: can they overcome their fears and actually commit to something?

This movie includes the conventions of romantic comedies, namely the sweet, mushy romance and the subtle underlying humor, but combines them with cruder aspects. You may remember the controversy over Hathaway and Gyllenhaal posing naked for the cover of “Entertainment Weekly.” If you thought that was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. Maggie and Jamie have sex for probably half of the movie. You can look forward to plenty of nudity; bet you never expected to see the “Princess Diaries” star topless (quite a few times). Since this is a film based around the drug Viagra, you can guess what kind of jokes are featured.

Crudity aside, the message of this unconventional love story is a good one. This against-all-odds couple learns to trust each other and themselves. Expect to laugh and cry as Jamie and Maggie attempt to combat a degenerating disease while they fall in love for the first time. Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are pretty hilarious and definitely make Maggie and Jamie a cute couple. If you can get past the crudeness, this story will warm your heart.

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“The Social Network” tells a version of the unexpected beginnings of Facebook. The movie is based on the 2009 nonfiction book by Ben Mezrich called “The Accidental Billionaires.” Since no members of the Facebook team were involved in the project, many of the film’s characters are portrayed in an unflattering light.

The story begins in 2003, when Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, a sophomore at Harvard, is in the middle of a date that is going quite badly. Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is a prototypical, if somewhat bitter, nerd, and as he beleaguers his date with the importance of being accepted into a Harvard final club, she bluntly ends their relationship.

Angry about rejection and somewhat drunk, Zuckerberg and several of his friends create FaceMash, a website where people can compare the “hotness” of most of the female undergraduate community, while simultaneously blogging about his anger with his former girlfriend. The site gets so many hits that it crashes Harvard’s network, landing Zuckerberg on academic suspension and in trouble with most of the female student body.

His notoriety brings Zuckerberg to the attention of several upperclassmen looking to create an exclusive social networking site for Harvard students, and while he is supposedly working on this project, Zuckerberg and his business partner, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), launch their own social networking website, www.thefacebook.com, the predecessor to today’s Facebook.

Much of the movie is told in a series of flashbacks as Zuckerberg sits trial, having been sued both by the upperclassmen, who believe he stole their idea for a Harvard dating website, and Saverin, Zuckerberg’s former CFO and ex-best friend.

Moviegoers will find “The Social Network” has more depth than its depiction in trailers. The overall tone is heavy, with only a few absolute moments of comedy. The film leaves no doubt that it is a serious drama. The acting is very believable, particularly Andrew Garfield as the wounded Saverin. Justin Timberlake also does a superb job filling the role of bad influence on the impressionable young Zuckerberg in his part as Napster co-founder Sean Parker.

University students at the Campus Theatre left the movie pleased.

“I thought that a movie about the creation of Facebook wouldn’t be very interesting, but it was compelling and well-acted, with complex characters,” Rachel Pearson’14 said.

“I thought it was a well-done movie. It was really emotionally engaging and intense. I really enjoyed it,” Kate Wilsterman ’14 said.

“Emotionally engaging” is a good choice of words. For the majority of “The Social Network,” the filmmakers do a commendable job creating tension and involving their audience on the emotional level; however, when the credits roll, viewers are left with a sense of hope and optimism for the innovative website’s future.

By William Bonfigilo

Writer

It wouldn’t be Halloween season without terrible movies, often so campy and clichéd, horribly written and poorly acted that they are more titillating than terrifying. Once in a while, a movie will veer from beautiful teenagers being stalked by insane/misunderstood/evil forces and introduce a truly novel premise. Think “Saw” in 2004, before the torture porn genre became as outdated as last year’s jack-o-lanterns.

In 2008, film director Darren Lynn Bousman brought an original premise to the big screen. It’s a shame that the movie itself, “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” was so abominable.

“Repo! The Genetic Opera” was first conceived by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich as a stage play in 1996, but it developed a strong underground following, in no small part thanks to its creative take on repossessions.

The film’s introduction presents a bizarre futuristic world. The year is 2056, nearly three decades after an epidemic of mass organ failures devastated the world’s population. To combat the outbreak, a biotechnology company called GeneCo begins harvesting unaffected organs from the recently deceased, and leasing those organs to infected individuals. If patients are unable to pay their medical bill, GeneCo sends the Repo Man to reacquire the organ through any means necessary. Scenes of improvised surgery clog the movie, and, despite the American appetite for violence, the film drags.

“Repo!” embodies the very notion of campiness. Featuring a collection of performers who are either washed up (Sarah Brightman, Paul Sorvino) or lacking talent altogether (Alexa Vega, Paris Hilton), Bousman tries to make do with a style that is both grandiose and gross; organs are literally picked up and passed to the characters as if they were hot potatoes. Attempts at witticisms are crude and ineffective, characters are aggravating and whiny, and musical numbers are irritating, childish and poorly conceived, with too few strong moments for such a musically inclined cast (Brightman, Sorvino and Vega).

Such pretension shows a resemblance to the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” another campy Halloween film that developed an underground cult following. The difference between the two films seems to be charm. While actor Tim Curry could make transvestitism delightful in “Rocky Horror,” Anthony Head, who plays the Repo Man, lacks the swagger to convey any emotion besides contempt effectively. His character grows tiresome quickly.

While the premise was strong enough to inspire an action-packed blockbuster (“Repo Men,” 2010), “Repo! The Genetic Opera” failed as a film, and while its style was certainly memorable, it was also really painful to sit through.

By Jessica Rafalko

Writer

A common litmus test for something’s relevance to our culture is whether or not it has been parodied on “The Simpsons.” So, as a Simpsons nerd of epic proportions, I have received a decent education about what movies matter.

“The Shining” is one of these movies. I had already seen the “Simpsons” spoof (Homer’s psychotic outburst in a snowcapped hotel), so I was not entirely unprepared when I went to the Campus Theatre to see this film. “The Shining” was playing as part of the theater’s “Horror Month”—the goal of which, I assume, is to frighten an audience of adults so badly that they’re crying for their mommies when the end credits roll.

“The Shining,” Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s 1977 novel, stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a teacher-turned-writer who volunteers to be the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. He brings his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), with him. The family intends to spend several months watching over the hotel, located atop a precipitous mountain whose snow-covered roads become impassable in the winter. The Torrance trio is alone in the enormous hotel, as the staff and visitors leave at the start of each winter.

The Overlook Hotel, as Jack learns from its manager at the start of the movie, has been tainted by tragedy. We are told that a previous caretaker, mad with cabin fever, killed his wife and daughters before committing suicide. In some instances, Kubrick foreshadows too much. This drains the movie of some of its suspense—giving us a notion of how the Torrances’ story might end—but also sets an appropriately chilling tone for the rest of the film.

The set-up seems to be half the battle for Kubrick, anyway. He devotes much of the film’s first half to exposition. We are given a tour of the hotel—the kitchen, the lounge, the cramped apartment and bathroom the Torrances must share. The almost languorous pace of the film contributes to its eeriness, but also makes it easy for us to zone out during the more monotonous moments.

We also learn Danny has “the shining”: the ability to see into the past, the future and the minds of others. Danny’s visions (most strikingly a cascade of crimson blood that rushes from a hotel elevator and floods a hallway) are a precursor to the unexplainable, frightening and downright bizarre images Kubrick accosts us with in the second half of the film.

As visually compelling (and twisted) as the film is, the true scares come from Jack’s eventual psychosis. Kubrick does not frighten us with spectacular gore; Nicholson scared viewers with a perfectly unhinged performance. As Jack pursues Wendy up a flight of stairs, pleading with her to drop the baseball bat she’s brought in self-defense, assuring her that he simply wants to “bash [her] brains in”—we squirm in our seats. This is a man we would never want to encounter, a man whose behavior is all the more disturbing because he is a father and a husband.

Watching what happens to the Torrances, their domestic strife times a thousand, is absolutely terrifying. And to think, this seemed so funny when I saw Homer Simpson doing it.

By Sara Dobosh

Arts & Life Editor

“The Town” has the typical boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-in-love-with-girl plot–except unlike most films, the boy meets the girl by robbing the bank where she works and taking her hostage.

The movie takes place in Charlestown, Mass., a blue-collar town with a high crime rate. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and his three childhood friends make a living byrobbing banks. Dressed in costume, they rob the bank’s armored trucks as the banks open in the morning. When an unplanned challenge emerges, the group takes bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage. To prevent Claire from telling the FBI all she remembers about the men, MacRay dates Claire so he can slyly retrieve information about the case’s progress.

Claire is ignorant of MacRay‘s alibi, so she shares with him the trauma she experienced during the incident.

“The Town” is more than the average action-packed film. The criminal story is solely the outside layer while romance, growing up and past family relations compose the depth of the film. Affleck and Hall have believable chemistry throughout, and it is truly heartbreaking when the FBI informs Claire of MacRay’s true identity.

MacRay struggles to understand why his mother abandoned him when he was six years old and vies to avoid following in his father’s footsteps with a life in prison.

MacRay aims to desert his criminal life by finally leaving Charlestown. He tries to terminate his criminal activities, but is constantly pulled back into the web of criminals. MacRay and Claire plan to leave Charlestown and begin a new life together, yet the plan is averted when she discovers MacRay’s true identity and when MacRay and his group are forced to perform one more robbery. Their last robbery is the riskiest: the team must rob the Boston Red Sox’ Fenway Park.

“The Town” was quite enjoyable, with action-packed car chases, romance between Claire and MacRay that I found myself rooting for and, most importantly, Affleck’s incredible and realistic performance.