The Silence (2019)

Four months after the release of Bird Box, the disappointing horror starring Sandra Bullock, comes another horror from Netflix where the characters can no longer do something. That film is The Silence and stars another big name, Stanley Tucci, the reason I decided to check this out.

The story follows Ally (Kiernan Shipka), a 16-year-old who has lost her hearing at the age of 13, and her family as they try to survive after a team of explorers accidentally released an unknown, primaeval species who start killing everything and everyone in their paths as long as they make noise.

Although it's based on Tim Lebbon's 2015 horror novel of the same name, and therefore it's just a coincidence, the plot is basically that of A Quiet Place, as they both have creatures hunting sounds and a deaf daughter, only The Silence is set as the apocalypse happens rather than in the aftermath, it's all super-weird, has many inconsistencies and plot holes —cities have collapsed and yet the internet works; the way the characters interact with Ally change every time; and how have the Veps (that's how they call the monsters) survived all those years in the cave?— and also involves an utterly pointless subplot with human antagonists, some sort of religious cult, who want to capture Ally so that they can exploit her heightened senses. What's worse though is that the story is pretty straightforward, it lacks real twists and suspense, and it's dull.

Another issue with The Silence is its inability to decently develop both its human characters and its creatures. As a result, the humans fail to be likeable and evoke sympathy, and the creatures fail to be menacing. The human characters behave in a quite logical manner though, I'll give the film that.

Fortunately, the cast does a decent job and makes the film a bit more tolerable. While I was not a fan of Kiernan Shipka as she looks like she is on the verge of crying right from the beginning, even before the apocalypse happened, Stanley Tucci and Miranda Otto do a good job as Ally's parents, despite the fact that the script doesn't give them much to work with.

Netflix

As for the visual aspect, The Silence is quite a mess. The effects are dull, the editing is terrible, and the monsters, while are very prehistoric-looking, which fits the story very well, lack creativity as they look like a bat and Alien had a baby or a baby of the A Quiet Place monsters. The biggest disappointment, however, comes from the horror. Just like Bird Box, The Silence lacks horror elements. It's just not scary and has no tension whatsoever.

A Private War (2018)

I completely forgot about A Private War but then an old lady I know said it was worth seeing and since we apparently have similar tastes —I suggested her Cold War and she loved it— I checked it out. 

The story follows Marie Colvin (Rosamunde Pike), an American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for the British newspaper The Sunday Times from 1985 to 2012, the year of her death. Alternating between brief moments of Colvin in war zones to cover a story and equally brief moments of Colvin celebrating her journalistic accomplishments with her bosses, the film shows how Colvin was personally affected by the horrors of war.

The main issue with A Private War is the utter mess the film has instead of a plot. While narrating the life story of Colvin, the film tries to capture the psychological and emotional trauma of being a war journalist, seeing horrible things so that someone else doesn't have to —as Colvin says at some point— but the filmmaker's approach to the story —it keeps jumping back and forth between past and present— is quite confusing and the story is never as compelling as it should have been.

The same goes for the main character, that of Marie Colvin, as she is a bit underdeveloped because of the continuous, rather confusing storyline jumps. It's difficult to care about her or to truly understand, or feel what Marie Colvin is going through. There's another character, freelance photographer Paul Conroy, that isn't nearly as developed as he should have been. The other characters aren't even worth mentioning as they are quite flat.

The acting, on the other hand, is quite outstanding, specifically from Rosamunde Pike who gives a stunning performance as Marie Colvin. She delves deep into the psyche of the journalist, she captures Colvin's fearless and rebellious spirit as well as her voice and conveys her emotional damage. It's not Gone Girl good, but it comes pretty close to it. As for the supporting cast, Tom Hollander provides good support in the role of Sean Ryan, The Sunday Times' editor, and Jamie Dornan is not terrible in the role of the photographer.

Aviron Pictures

As for the direction, Matthew Heineman probably wasn't right for the job. In his feature debut —he has only directed documentaries before—, Heineman's direction is uneven and kind of boring, unable to build up momentum for the most powerful scenes in the film which end up being flat. Ultimately, A Private War isn't a complete disaster of a movie but, given Heineman's background as a documentarian, I was expecting it to have a much bigger emotional impact on me.

The Terminal (2004)

Many years ago, when the blog wasn't even a remote idea, I was on a Tom Hanks watching spree. I don't know why, but I wanted to watch all of his movies. The Terminal I kept avoiding because I thought it was about someone terminally ill —no, I didn't read plots back then either. Today, after seeing it was from Spielberg, I decided to check it out. And quite frankly, I'm shocked Spielberg made such a film as it is so different. In a good way. 

The film is about Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), a man from the fictional Eastern European nation of Krakozhia who becomes stuck in the terminal of New York's JFK Airport as his country has been taken over in a coup, the US does not recognise the new nation and the borders of Krakozhia are closed. Forced to stay in the International Transit section until the war cools down, Viktor makes the airport his home and develops friendships with the people who work there.

As you can tell, the plot to The Terminal is far from being believable and realistic —it is indeed so far-fetched it could be classified as science fiction. It doesn't make a lot of sense either as it's often illogical, and there's a romantic subplot —actually, there's two of them— that makes the film quite confusing as it's hard to understand whether the story is supposed to be about immigration or just a love story. Despite this, despite the level of corny and cheesy it reaches, the thin and lighthearted story is an engaging, heartwarming one with a lot of cut and funny moments, one of those stories that make you laugh and cry and feel good.

And that happens because The Terminal cares more about its characters than the story it tells. Well-written characters with a nice characterization and development you won't find in here as pretty much all of them are stereotypes with no depth or realism whatsoever. However, there's something charming about them that makes you care about them and feel sympathy for them.

Especially toward Viktor who is beautifully portrayed by Tom Hanks. While it's not an Oscar-worthy performance, Hanks is totally believable as the naive, extremely trusting and always full of hopes man who finds himself in a limbo, accent, mannerism and all. He doesn't have a very good chemistry with Catherine Zeta-Jones, which is why the romance between their characters doesn't work, but he comes across as such a nice guy you feel hurt when he feels hurt.

DreamWorks Pictures

As for the rest of the cast, they are okay. Stanley Tucci, however, deserves a mention. He plays Dixon, the asshole/temporary customs director who tries his best to prevent Viktor from leaving the airport. Essentially, he is the villain. And he would be just a villain if it wasn't for the layers added to the character by Tucci's performance.

Burlesque (2010)

I'm not a Christina Aguilera fan, nor Cher's, but they both have phenomenal voices and I like many of their songs, and I'm also fascinated by burlesque, so I thought I'd give this musical a chance. 

The film follows Ali (Christina Aguilera), a young waitress from Iowa who leaves her small town to pursue her dreams in Los Angeles. Once in L.A., she tries and fails every audition she does; then, one night, she finds herself in a burlesque club and falls in love with this art. When Tess (Cher), the club owner, refuses to audition her, Ali begins serving customers at the club as a waitress until she finds a place for herself in the show. Meanwhile, Tess must find a way to save her club from bankruptcy.

Too bad the execution leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, the plot to Burlesque is a mess. It's cheesy, filled with clichés, predictable and quite absurd, and the subplots --the backstabbing, the romances, the financial problems-- aren't very compelling. 

The characters aren't that sharp either. Ali is your typical ingénue turned star demanding attention. Also, the transition from small-town, innocent girl to queen of burlesque happens to fast. At least she is likeable. The other characters are paper-thin stereotypes --the bitchy rival, the sassy gay backstage manager, the club owner with a heart of gold, the super rich guy who wants to buy the club, the handsome bartender. Not to mention the many male characters that have no reason whatsoever to be in here.

Despite the lacklustre screenplay, Burlesque still manages to engage and entertain, and most of the credits go to the cast. Christina Aguilera, despite her non-existent acting skills, carries the film on her shoulders. She brilliantly displays her acting skills and shows off her powerful voice; when she does not sing, she has the charm to keep us interested and glued to the screen between songs. Cher's acting is terrible too, mainly because she is so botoxed it's a miracle she still can move her lips, but, just like Aguilera, her vocals are so on point you forget about everything else. Stanley Tucci, on the other hand, gives a good performance as, you guessed it, the gay manager. He is funny, and probably the only person in Burlesque who is familiar with acting, as the rest of the cast either show off their voices --Aguilera and Cher-- or serve as eye-candy --the other dancers and Cam Gigandet.

Screen Gems

The musical aspect of Burlesque is a bit disappointing though. While the songs are nice and catchy, and wonderfully performed, the dance numbers are good but ruined by the editing. Also, they lack originality as it often feels like watching scenes from Bob Fosse's Cabaret, Rob Marshall's Chicago and Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!.

Must Watch: New Trailer For Bryan Singer's JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

Bryan Singer's JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (Formerly JACK THE GIANT KILLER) is looking like a great time at the theater! I hoping to see the CGI cleaned up and little bit by release, but you can count on this: Picture perfect 3D as our friends at 3ality Digital are behind the rigs being used on the production.

Ewan McGregor is looking very good in his role, adding a needed touch of believability to the story based on a fairy tale.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
Jack the Giant Slayer tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend—and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER opens on March 1, 2013.


Hit the jump to watch the trailer...