First Reformed (2017)

I’ve been wanting to see First Reformed since it premiered last year in Venice but, no matter how much I love Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried, Hawke plays a priest, I can’t stand priests, and I’ve been putting this off since its release. I read some positive reviews recently so I finally decided to give it a shot.

The story follows Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke), the 46-year-old lonely and depressed pastor of a small historical church —the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York— who decides to keep a diary for a year, after which he intends to destroy it. One day, a young woman, Mary (Amanda Seyfried), asks him to counsel her husband, Michael (Philip Ettinger), who is dealing with anger and environmental activist issues. Toller agrees to help him but Michael soon takes his own life.

As expected, the story is a spiritual one as it deals with a priest who questions his own faith and morality. Surprisingly, it is also a political one as it addresses the dangers of political radicalism, extremism and terroristic violence. The problem? As the story unfolds, the political/environmental agenda completely takes over, and the (spiritual) story goes from being very interesting and compelling to quite dull and boring, and its dramatic ending feels disconnected as if the storytelling went off the rails.

The characters, on the other hand, especially Hawke’s, are so complex, you almost forget about the flawed story. Ernst Toller is a man tormented by his tragic and troubled past and who struggles with his present. He is haunted by his past and because of it fails to find joy in any aspect of life. He is a man experiencing a deep existential, spiritual crisis, a man who has lost faith in humanity and struggles to find a purpose for his remaining time on Earth. Ethan Hawke gives an outstanding performance here as the conflicted pastor. He never slips out of character, and he is completely believable in the role as he delivers the despair and fury of the holy man to perfection.

A24

Amanda Seyfried’s Mary, although she isn’t as developed as Toller, also makes for an interesting character as she represents the only remnant of hope in Toller’s life, and Seyfried’s performance is fantastic, easily her best performance since Les Miserable. At last, Cedric the Entertainer gives a strong performance as Reverend Jeffers, the head of the church who clashes with Toller.

Paul Schrader’s direction is pretty solid too. The camera work is quite stunning —most of the film plays out with the camera not moving at all and lingering on the actors’ faces—, the muted, austere colour palette fits the film’s mood very well, and the almost complete absence of a score is a winner —there’s some dark and chilling music by Lustmord and it’s wonderful.

That being said, despite it being a good character study, having great acting and an impressive direction, First Reformed didn’t fully convince me. Overall, it was dull and tedious, and the dream-like/magical/mystical sequence is bizarre and out of place. 

Gone (2012)

I have a crush on Amanda Seyfried since the original Mamma Mia! came out eight years ago, but it was only years later than I became obsessed with watching all of her movies. At some point though, I got tired of watching crap so I stopped, and Gone got stuck in my endless watchlist only to pop out now as I decided to give priority to movies that have been on that list forever. 

The film follows Jill (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman who was kidnapped and abandoned in a hole in the middle of a forest a couple of years prior. When her sister (Emily Wickersham) disappears, Jill is convinced that her kidnapper has returned and took her. She goes to the police for help but they dismiss her as crazy so she sets out to find her sister and face once again her kidnapper.

The story is very promising as it gets off to a very good start. Unfortunately, the execution is terrible and the result is a very simple plot, way too simple for a thriller, that doesn't always make sense —actually, it doesn't make any sense most of the time— and whose twists and turns aren't nearly as effective as they should be —for the whole time, you are led to believe one of the characters is the kidnapper which is the only thing that kept my interest as I wanted to know whether I was right or wrong. So when the non-twist came, it was a letdown. Also, there are many subplots with potential that aren't explored at all.

The poor writing extends to the character too. While she has a backstory, although very sparse, the main character has no development whatsoever, makes the most irrational decisions possible, and often comes off an too paranoid and annoying. However, Amanda Seyfried does a good job as she conveys both a genuine sense of fear and determination and makes the character likeable and sympathetic. Her performance is very natural and believable and compelling enough to keep you watching.

The same cannot be said for the rest of the characters and cast. The characters are all wooden, with no characterization nor depth; most of them have very little if absolutely no impact on the story and are therefore forgettable. Of course, the actors can't do anything with such poor material.

Summit Entertainment

The direction is just as bad as the script as there's a complete lack of tension —although a little depressing which fits the story well, the atmosphere and tone of the film are very flat—, an underwhelming climax with no action whatsoever.

Seyfried's performance may be good and you may question whether she is just delusional or it's all real, but ultimately, Gone is a disappointment.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Though I haven't seen it in ages, Mamma Mia! is still my favourite musical. Maybe it's because it's the first adult film, and by adult I mean non-animated film, I saw on the big screen with my mother, or maybe because it actually is a pretty good film, but I love it. Since there's still plenty of time since the sequel hits theatres (September in my shitty country and yes, I'm going with my mom this time too) I rewatched this and I took advantage of it to review it. 

Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried), a 20-year-old who lives on a beautiful Greek island with her mother Donna (Meryl Streep) and is about to get married, has only one dream, that her father walks her down the aisle. The problem is that she has no idea who her father is. So when she finds her mother's old diary and learns her mother had three relationships before she was born, she invites the three men on the island, absolutely positive that she would recognize her father as soon as she sees it. Of course she doesn't, and things get way more complicated as Donna finds out the three men are on the island.

Based on the famous musical of the same day (which I haven't seen but I'm planning to), the plot is pretty easy and cheesy, it's quite predictable and it's plenty of holes and inconsistencies, and it kinda feels like an excuse to sing ABBA songs, but it's engaging and fun, and I find myself invested in it every single time I watch the movie.

And the main reason is the songs. They are the soul, the driving force of Mamma Mia!. They fit the plot perfectly --which is pretty normal considering the film/musical was based on the Swedish band's songs-- and they really help in keeping your hooked. There are so much energy and joy in the musical scenes that it makes you want to sing and dance along. At least, that's what this movie does for me. As I said above, they are relevant to the story --not all of them, though--, they help the plot move forward and they convey the feelings of the characters very well.

Universal Pictures

The characters aren't very strong --they lack development and don't have a lot of substance-- but they are fun to watch and you eventually care for them. And the credits go to the cast. Amanda Seyfried carries the film very well playing Sophie, the energetic young woman who is determined to find her father, and does a pretty good job singing-wise. Meryl Streep, I'm not sure she was the right cast to play Donna, but she handles the role quite well. Christine Baranski though will always be my favourite. She adds the comedy the film needs as Tanya, one of Donna's old friends. She even gets her solo act and she kills it. Julie Walters, who plays Rosie, Donna's other friend, is good too.

As for Donna's three old flames, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård, it looks like they are having so much fun in this. They don't have great singing voices -Brosnan's is pretty awful to be honest-- but that only adds to the movie. It makes it even funnier. And Dominic Cooper brings charisma to the film as Sky, Sophie's boyfriend.

At last, there's the visual aspect of Mamma Mia!. I was very impressed with it when I was younger, and I gotta say the Greek scenery still amazes me and looks beautiful, but it doesn't look real. The backgrounds often look like photoshops. I guess most of the film was filmed in a studio and then poor green screen skills happened.

New Poster For Blue Sky's 3D Animation EPIC

I'm sure you've heard of the hilarious animations ICE AGE and RIO right? Well supposedly here's more of the same from Blue Sky.

EPIC stars the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Pitbull, Beyonce Knowles, Judah Freidlander and Steven Tyler.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
EPIC is a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive and the forces of evil who wish to destroy it. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world… and ours.

EPIC is slated for a May 24 release.

First Trailer For Fox's 3D Animation EPIC

Check out the first trailer for Fox's 3D animation EPIC! To me the first 30 secs or so really reminds me of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES - and I guess some FERN GULLY thrown in. Not a bad combination but not entirely original to me.

Still the imagery looks impressive and Fox has come a long way with their animations

Director: Chris Wedge
Cast: Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz, Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Pitbull, Steven Tyler, Aziz Ansari, Beyoncé Knowles, Blake Anderson and Judah Friedlander
Studio: Fox

Here's the storyline for the movie:
EPIC is a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive and the forces of evil who wish to destroy it. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world... and ours.

EPIC flies into theaters on May 24, 2013.