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variety’s daydream nation review

yuzu — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:17:25 +0000

Charged with alternating currents of teen angst, sardonic wit, nervous dread and impudent sensuality, “Daydream Nation” suggests “Juno” as reimagined by David Lynch, or a funnier, sunnier “Donnie Darko.” Canadian writer-director Mike Goldbach is arrestingly inventive as he interchanges tones and upends expectations throughout an offbeat narrative about a sarcastic, sexually precocious 17-year-old, played with striking self-assurance by Kat Dennings, who barely maintains her bearings after moving to a small town only slightly less weirdsville than Twin Peaks. Although far too eccentric for mainstream auds, pic could perform well in select sophisticated markets.

Whip-smart and wickedly droll, Caroline Wexler (Dennings) is appalled when her widowed father (Ted Whittall) moves them to a backwater burg where the sky is perpetually overcast because of a nearby, long-burning industrial fire, and students at the local high school spend most of their time finding ways to get high.

Thoroughly bored yet still brazenly cheeky, Caroline sets her sights on seducing Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas), a handsome teacher who tries, and fails, to maintain his cool in the face of her single-entendre come-ons. (Assigned to write an essay about the historical figure she most admires, she turns in an ode to Monica Lewinski.) Shortly after they launch their age-inappropriate affair, however, Caroline realizes her lover is heavily weighed down with emotional baggage. All things considered, she may be better off having casual sex with Thurston (Reece Thompson), a lovestruck stoner classmate.

Trouble is, Thurston complicates matters by getting serious, and Anderson makes matters worse by getting furious. Meanwhile, lurking in the background is a serial killer who periodically preys on young people.

Taking his cue from a title borrowed from a Sonic Youth album, Goldbach manages — with the aid of Jon Joffin’s moodily evocative lensing — to give this, his debut effort as a feature helmer, the look and feel of a dream that is nonetheless focused and specific. It’s a first-person fantasia, narrated with equal measures of acerbity and anxiety by Caroline, who periodically pauses to offer an anecdote (such as one describing the serial killer’s first killing) tinged with magical realism.

Dennings effortlessly affects the air of a wise-beyond-her-years cynic — specifically, a Canadian cynic — whenever she lets loose with a snarky observation (“There’s more incest in this town than in an Atom Egoyan film!”). But she’s every bit as deft at conveying the emotional vulnerability and fretful confusion just below Caroline’s saucy, prickly surface.

Lucas strikes the right balance of neediness and creepiness, and gets a surprisingly big laugh during a throwaway scene that pays a backhanded homage to, of all things, “Taxi Driver.” Thompson is aptly engaging, as is Andie MacDowell as his understandably concerned mom. Whittall makes the most of a thinly written role, dryly cracking wise in a manner that indicates Caroline is very much her father’s daughter.

Shot mainly on location in Fort Langley, British Columbia, “Daydream Nation” benefits from superior production values. Of particular note is a soundtrack of smartly chosen pop and alt-rock tunes, including Emily Haines’ achingly wistful cover of Neil Young’s “Expecting to Fly.” Pic’s final image is nothing short of wrenchingly beautiful.

Source.

wff 09: review of defendor

yuzu — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:17:26 +0000

Year: 2009
Director: Peter Stebbings
Writer: Peter Stebbings
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Marina Antunes
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Superhero movies are a dime a dozen. Movies about regular people playing at superhero are not quite as prominent but they’re also around but few (if any) have been as successful at unveiling what makes a regular person a “superhero” as well as Peter Stebbings’ directorial debut Defendor.

On the surface, Stebbings’ film could be seen as a sort of low budget Batman. Defendor is a regular guy who feels compelled to rid the world of evil by any means necessary including putting himself in the way of danger, using home made gadgets and even having a sidekick but where Defendor surpasses the Hollywood template is in its humanity. Bruce Wayne never feels like a real person, he’s too perfect and even when he makes mistakes, they seem too contrived and though Gotham is supposed to be a stand-in for Every City, it never feels quite real. Defendor however, feels like the real thing. We recognize Defendor’s world as our own and though the details (drugs, sex trade) may not be known to us first hand, they’re still more real than anything we’ve seen on screen to date.

Inspiration struck with the casting of Woody Harrelson as Arthur Poppington and his alter ego of Defendor. Though written as a guy a little on the slow side of the ball, Stebbings writes the character of Arthur as a sort of man child, an innocent in search of good. At the hands of a lesser actor the performance could have been flat and one dimensional (think kid playing at superhero) but Harrelson moves the performance beyond the mediocre with his slight changes and balance of the naïve simpleton and a human being with good intentions. Stebbings gets at the heart of what makes an individual a super hero but Harrelson never lets that message get sappy or saccharine, even when it’s laid out in plain view.

Along with Harrelson, the film trucks along with a spectacular cast of supporting characters. The fabulous Sandra Oh makes an appearance as a court appointed psychiatrist, Michael Kelly pops in and out of the story as Arthur’s friend, Kat Dennings does a great job as the love interest/sidekick with issues of her own but it’s Elias Koteas, again cast as a bad guy, who shines as the villain. Though he’s not the man Arthur is on the hunt for, he’s the embodiment of evil (a corrupt cop) and Koteas is, as per usual, electrifying.

Leading up to the climax, the film does take a few missteps with a side plot which veers the story slightly off track and though it does quickly return to form, it’s a misstep that a more polished director would have avoided. But it’s a minor complaint and one that doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of Defendor, a film which works on multiple levels. It’s a hugely entertaining comedy but it also manages to be a tightly woven drama about inspiration and doing the right thing at all costs. In some way, all superhero films attempt to get at this central message but the combination of Stebbings’ script, direction and the performances all come together to make for an un-missable combination.

Source.

Not a lot about Kat, but some good things about Defendor. :) Still waiting for that release date.

liars (a to e) review and script

yuzu — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:24:30 +0000

Since Liars (A-E) was scrapped by Miramax downsizing, a reviewer emailed fishing for the script and actually got it sent to her so she could read and review it.

The review and a Sendspace link to the actual script are located here for anyone interested! Considering the script might be taken down pending official request, better go snag it now.