Review: Two Lovers

Two Lovers (2008)
110 minutes
Rated – R
Directed by James Gray
Starring:  Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw

Grade:  A-

–

Two Lovers is an example for why I absolutely love well-made dramas.  It’s a wonder why studios don’t push for these more since they’re inexpensive to make and contain layers of power, but I guess I can understand the limited audience who actually enjoy these type of films.

The movie evolves around Leonard (Phoenix), a troubled and sensitive middle-aged man looking for something in his life to change for the better.  His tragic past resulted in suicidal tendencies that he supposedly passed.  But it’s clear that he’s far from being happy.

Enter Sandra (Shaw), a pretty and loving woman who has expressed her interest in Leonard.  She shows a concern to his evident depression and wants to help him get better.  She is exactly the kind of girl that Leonard needs.  On top of that, the idea of the two of them getting together is making both of their Jewish families overwhelmed with joy.  But even though this seems like a good thing, Leonard still doesn’t smile.

Until he meets Michelle (Paltrow).  Leonard is immediately fascinated by her beauty and adventurous personality.  His first encounter with her was inviting her inside his apartment, saving her from one of her father’s fits.  As one of his neighbors, she is easily accessible, which also affects Leonard as well.  But one thing is clear, even before he got to know Michelle well, you knew he wanted everything to do with her.

This desire results in a lot of pain and trouble for Leonard.  Her flirty and friendly personality misleads Leonard on until she spills the beans that she’s currently in a relationship with a married man.  But as the good friend who is hoping for more, he is always there for Michelle no matter how inconvenient the situation.  He’s there for her to talk to, to give advice to, to drive her to the hospital, stay by her side until she sleeps, and more.  There’s something poetic about these two damaged individuals that makes you think they could heal each others’ wounds if they were just given a chance.

Towards the conclusion of the film there are some very touching moments between Leonard and his mother (Isabella Rossellini).  The love Leonard has for his parents just shows how much love he has inside of him, begging to be released on someone he truly cares about.  In this case, this woman is Michelle.  And even with a better life with benefits staring right in his eyes with Sandra, he throws all his chips in and opts for the windy, unknown road.

Writer/director James Gray takes such a delicate love-triangle and allows the well-casted actors to shine in this film.  There isn’t a moment that drags since you’re completely invested in the characters and the continuing plot.  Joaquin Phoenix gives one of his purest performances of his career.  And the two girls are such opposites that it makes for such a compelling argument.  Paltrow’s Michelle is extremely needy and reckless, while Shaw’s Sandra notably soothes Leonard’s pain.

Two Lovers dives into and develops the theme of familiarity versus risk.  Should one be content with the safe choice?  Should one be willing to risk the comfortable choice for a possible better life… with a possible consequence of something worse?  That’s really where the phrase “all or nothing” comes into play.

The plot isn’t thick at all and the pace could be tiring for some, but within every frame is an observation on how the characters act and react to each other.  What they want is simple, but to achieve it is where the road is long.

(SPOILER ALERT!)
I think the ending of the film will give everyone a different feeling.  For me, it was a bittersweet conclusion.  The way Leonard is willing to throw away everything to create a new and fresh life with the woman he loves displays the passion he has for Michelle.  But inevitably, her chaotic lifestyle leaves him in the dust.  I want to believe that Leonard and Michelle would’ve crashed and burned in the end, just to give a positive reinforcement that everything happens for a reason.  The reason here is that Sandra is really the girl who was meant to save Leonard.

FOX cancels ‘Dollhouse’

According to Entertainment Weekly, multiple inside sources claim that Fox informed ‘Dollhouse’ creator Joss Whedon that they won’t be continuing the sci-fi drama.  The good news (if there is any good news in this situation), it will still air the rest of the second season during December.

This is just a bummer.  I was really enjoying the second season as it became darker and more horror-like.  And I was looking forward to where many of the story-lines were headed.  Now we might never know… unless Whedon has something up his sleeve.  Spin-off movie anyone?

Box Office Results: ‘Christmas’ in November scores big

Studio Estimates for Nov. 6-8:

1.  A Christmas Carol – $31 million
2.  This Is It – $14 million
3.  The Men Who Stare at Goats – $13.3 million
4.  The Fourth Kind – $12.5 million
5.  Paranormal Activity – $8.6 million

6.  The Box – $7.9 million

–

The first weekend of November wasn’t exactly up to the hype that everyone expected, but the numbers that rolled in were still solid enough.  The Christmas Carol topped the box office with a slightly underwhelming $31 million.  According to Disney, 74 percent of its gross came from 2,045 3-D presentations, also including $4.5 million at 181 IMAX sites.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It was the runner-up film this weekend with $14 million, bringing its total gross to $57.9 million in 12 days.  Meanwhile, other new releases like The Men Who Stare at Goats ($13.3 million) and The Fourth Kind ($12.5 million) landed in the Top 5.  And the phenomenon that is Paranormal Activity is still collecting on its hype with $8.6 million, good enough for the fifth spot.

The Box just missed the Top 5 with $7.9 million.  The biggest news of the weekend was the limited release of Precious: Based on teh Novel “Push” by Sapphire.  In just 18 sites, the drama grossed $1.8 million.  That’s a $100,000 per screen average, which may have set a box office record.  Look for this powerful film to be in the early Oscar talks.

–

As for our predictions, this was a tough weekend for the Predictions Panel to guess.  Only Phil and I predicted A Christmas Carol to top the box office correctly.  Meanwhile, all of us (except for Sheehan) expected The Fourth Kind to do a lot better than it actually did.  Dan adn I were the only two who predicted all of the Top 5 movies correctly, but not in the right order.  As for our gross estimates, Phil edged barely edged me out but Phil’s prediction that The Box would make the Top 5 wound up causing him the title for this week.  The points ended up being:  Me (44), Phil (35), Dan (32), Sheehan (26).

Check back on Friday for our new predictions.  There’s only one major release:  the action/thriller 2012 starring John Cusack and a lot of CGI.  Also, Pirate Radio staring Philip Seymour Hoffman will hit under 1,000 theaters.

Box Office Predictions (Nov. 6-8)

The first November weekend is full of new releases for all sorts of movie-goers.  Don’t believe me?  Come see for yourself.

First off, Robert Zemeckis is back again with his third straight animation film.  This time it’s Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey.  You can find this movie in 2D or 3D, in IMAX or digital screens.  Needless to say, this movie is going to be everywhere.  Expect this classic story retold to make a big splash in this weekend’s box office.

Next, the R-rated semi-war film The Men Who Stare At Goats starring a powerful collection of actors in George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey.  With mixed reviews, the movie will be relying on the acting power alone to sell to the public because let’s face it, we’re all tired of war films by now.

Hoping to capitalize (or confuse) on the success of Paranormal Activity comes The Fourth Kind starring Milla Jovovich.  This PG-13 horror film has a feel of Paranormal Activity with its use of seemingly real footage of people who have been abducted by aliens.  Poor reviews have been pouring in for this film, but that never stops the crowd from seeing a horror movie.

And finally, the thriller based on a Twilight Zone episode, The Box, stars Cameron Diaz with James Marsden and Frank Langella.  Again, this is another movie that has been receiving mixed reviews, which might hamper its box office success.  Let’s see if Diaz can pull her star power to reach the Top 5.

Here are our predictions…

My Predictions:

1.  A Christmas Carol – $40 million
2.  The Fourth Kind – $15 million
3.  This Is It – $12 million
4.  The Men Who Stares At Goats – $10 million
5.  Paranormal Activity – $9 million

Dan’s Predictions:

1.  The Fourth Kind – $18 million
2.  The Men Who Stares At Goats – $13 million
3.  A Christmas Carol – $12 million
4.  This Is It – $11 million
5.  Paranormal Activity – $8 million

Phil’s Predictions:

1.  A Christmas Carol – $30 million
2.  The Fourth Kind – $23 million
3.  This Is It – $15 million
4.  The Men Who Stares At Goats – $10 million
5.  The Box – $8 million

Sheehan’s Predictions:

1.  This Is It – $20 million
2.  A Christmas Carol – $19 million
3.  The Box – $18 million
4.  The Fourth Kind – $15 million
5.  Paranormal Activity – $13 million

A Serious Man FYC Ad

I can’t wait to watch this movie.

The Get Up Kids @ Irving Plaza (10/31/09)

Let me attempt to paint you a picture.  Name your favorite band of all-time.  This doesn’t have to necessarily be the band you think has the most talent, nor does it have to be the most popular band or the coolest band.  Just your FAVORITE band… the one that will always remain in your heart and soul and the one you can recall countless memories of what you were doing while listening to their songs.  Okay, got it?

Now name your favorite album of all-time.  The one album that has all killer and no filler.  The one album you can recite every single word of every single track.  The album that holds more meaning to you than any other collection of songs.

In my case, The Get Up Kids is my favorite band, and “Something to Write Home About” is my favorite album.  So try to understand the ecstasy I was in when they performed the entire album of “Something to Write Home About” from start to finish with minimum breaks.  I was in heaven.  There’s no other way to describe the state of bliss I experienced.

Anyway, the concert was held on Halloween, so everyone was dressed up in costume including the bands.  When The Get Up Kids came out they rocked the whole Wizard of Oz theme.  Lead singer Matt Pryor was the Scarecrow, Jim Suptic was the Tin Man, Rob Pope was Dorothy, James Dewees was the Lion, and I’m not actually sure what Ryan Pope was.

I had a pretty funny interaction with my friends at the show, because prior to leaving we looked at the setlist The Get Up Kids have been playing on their reunion tour and we were totally stoked at all the amazing songs they were playing.  But when they took the stage and played the first three songs off of “Something to Write Home About” we turned to each other and wondered if they were actually playing the album in its entirety.  And then Matt Pryor said something on the lines of “There’s nothing like playing a whole album on Halloween.”  Our eyes widened and our jaws dropped to the ground.  And the rest was history.

The best part about The Get Up Kids playing the entire album was hearing them perform certain songs on the album that I’ve never seen they play before.  One notable song (and arguably my favorite off of the album) was “Long Goodnight.”  Pryor actually admitted that they probably only played this song live about 5 times in their entire career.  But also hearing gems they usually don’t play like “The Company Dime”, “My Apology”, and “Close to Home” was amazing as well.

After completing the album, The Kids left the stage briefly and returned with as Pryor put it, “Part Two” of the set.  With “Something to Write Home About” finished, they went on to play hits off the rest of their albums.  Half of these songs included old tracks such as “Don’t Hate Me”, “Coming Clean”, and “Mass Pike.”  They even played a new song titled “Keith Case.”  Their finale was the incredibly powerful “Walking on a Wire.”

To recap, my favorite band performed my favorite album in its entirety.  Needless to say, this was and always will be my favorite concert performance.  I sure hope The Get Up Kids stay together, record more albums, and tour a lot more.

–

The Set List:

Something to Write Home About:

Holiday
Action and Action
Valentine
Red Letter Day
Out of Reach
Ten Minutes
The Company Dime
My Apology
I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel
Long Goodnight
Close to Home
I’ll Catch You

(intermission)

Man of Conviction
The One You Want
Coming Clean
Off the Wagon
No Love
Campfire Kansas
Keith Case
Mass Pike
Don’t Hate Me
Walking on a Wire

Box Office Results: Michael Jackson thrills during Halloween

Studio Estimates for Oct. 30 – Nov. 1:

1.  This Is It – $21.3 million
2.  Paranormal Activity – $16.5 million
3.  Law Abiding Citizen – $7.3 million
4.  Couples Retreat – $6.1 million
5.  Saw VI – $5.6 million

–

To no surprise, the only wide release this Halloween weekend nabbed the top spot at the box office.  Michael Jackson’s This Is It grossed $21.3 million domestically and totaled about $101 million worldwide.  Because of its success, Sony Pictures has extended the two-week limited release.

Meanwhile, Paranormal Activity is still rolling strong.  It grossed $16.5 million, which was good enough for the runner-up spot.  That takes the total gross for this micro-budget film to over $84 million.  Yowzaas.

Surprisingly, Law Abiding Citizen ($7.3 million) and Couples Retreat ($6.1 million) were able to topple over the Halloween targeted Saw VI ($5.6 million).  And another note-worthy box office result was Where the Wild Things Are exclusion from the Top 5.  It only made $5.1 million and landed the sixth spot.

–

As for our predictions, the results came down to the wire between me and Dan.  Based on the very simple formula deciding the winner, even though Dan’s gross estimates were more accurate than mine, because he only predicted three of the Top 5 movies, I was able to edge him out.  Meanwhile, Sheehan had a rough outing over-predicting This Is It’s gross.

Check back on Friday for our new predictions with four new releases:  The Box, A Christmas Carol, The Fourth Kind, and The Men Who Stares at Goats.

Box Office Predictions (Oct. 30 – Nov. 1)



Welcome back to The Entertainment Blur’s weekly box office predictions.  It is Halloween weekend!  I’m not a fan of Halloween at all, but still I’m pretty excited this year.  As for new releases this holiday, there’s only one:  This Is It, the Michael Jackson documentary/concert movie.  The film officially came out on Wednesday, but let’s see how well it can do through the weekend.

Will there be anyone besides Michael Jackson fans who will make the trip to the theater this weekend instead of dressing up as their favorite superhero or villain and either beg for candy or attend a party?  That is yet to be seen but I have a feeling This Is It could have a strong weekend.  Not having any competition certainly helps, plus Michael Jackson’s death is still timely.  And the critics are eating this movie up with an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Or will the horror movies make one last push this weekend?  Paranormal Activity topped last weekend’s box office, and this is Saw VI’s second weekend.

Here are our predictions…

My Predictions:

1.  This Is It – $35 million
2.  Paranormal Activity – $16 million
3.  Saw VI – $14 million
4.  Where the Wild Things Are – $8 million
5.  Couples Retreat - $6 million

Sheehan’s Predictions:

1.  This Is It – $40 million
2.  Paranormal Activity – $18 million
3.  Saw VI – $15 million
4.  Where the Wild Things Are – $14 million
5.  Law Abiding Citizen – $12 million

Dan’s Predictions:

1.  This Is It – $24 million
2.  Paranormal Activity – $20 million
3.  Saw VI – $12 million
4.  Where the Wild Things Are – $8 million
5.  Astro Boy – $7 million

TOP 5 HORROR MOVIE MONSTERS

5. THE ALIEN – Alien

From the moment this Alien is conceived by means of an alien face-plant and after its chest popping birth in Ripley Scott’s Sci-fi horror masterpiece, The Alien in the movie Alien, has become one of the most recognizable horror monsters of all time. From its stealth movements, long curving head and saliva pouring mouth, this monster has made movie-goers cringe for decades.

I place The Alien at number 5 because no other sci-fi horror monster comes close to magnitude and terror they have caused. The film sequels were highly successful and launched this unhuman being into classic status within the horror and sci-fi genres of film.

–

4. FREDDY KREUGER – Nightmare on Elm St.

Since, both Michael Myers and Leatherface are both human, you won’t see them on this list. But out of the two highly successful slasher-film monsters, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Kreuger, I had to choose the one that still makes me shutter with fear at his very sight.

Nightmare on Elm St. gave us one of horrors most iconic figures in Freddy Kreuger. Born out of the mind of Wes Craven, who claims he was inspired to create Kreuger from an experience as a boy looking out his window and seeing a man in a stripped sweater and fedora peering through his garbage that gave him nightmares, Kreuger has given plenty of nightmares to movie-goers for years now. Which, when you think about it, having a nightmare about Kreuger (seeing that he kills people in their dreams) is a terrifying experience. Despite the more comedic turn he took over the years, no one can disregard this burnt, knife wheeling monster his iconic status.

–

3. ZOMBIES (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, etc.)

Scene from Romero’s 1978 Dawn of the Dead Since Romero introduced us to these flesh eating beings, Zombies became part of the horror genre. Constantly, movies about these trance walking duds with infinite appetites for human flesh are being made on film.

Recently the success of 28 Days Later and horror-comedies Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, have put zombies back on the map. Personally, I don’t find zombies very frightening, but their cult-like status in the genre most be rewarded. The original zombie films by Romero will continue to be the scariest, but new filmmakers are finding more and more ways to revive this cult icon.

–

2. FRANKESTEIN’S MONSTER (KARLOFF)/DRACULA (LUGOSI)

We can argue that all the Universal Monsters from the 1930’s and 1940’s should be on this list, but Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein’s Monster and Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, are two of the most recognizable movie monsters of all time. Both of these monsters terrified audiences in 1931, giving birth to the main stream era of horror films. Lugosi’s powerful stare and Karloff’s incredible make-up made them instant symbols of horror movies. Their success gave birth to Universal Studios’ other monsters, like Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man and Karloff’s return to screen as the Mummy. An adaptation of H.G. Well’s “The Invisible Man” continued Universal’s rise. But both Karloff and Lugosi will forever remain the symbols of these iconic literary figures. The success of The Bride of Frankenstein only made Karloff and the Universal Monsters even more successful.

Today neither of these monsters seem all that scary. But taken in the context of the times they were released, these two monsters were at the top of the world – scaring audiences everywhere. They may not be accurate adaptations of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” but they have now become our first image of these fabled creatures.

–

1 BRUCE THE SHARK – JAWS

No other monster has continued to terrify us more than Bruce (bet you didn’t know that is what he was called on set). Spielberg’s Jaws, an adaptation of Peter Benchley’s novel of the same title, became a world-wide phenomenon in the summer of 1975. Although the movie is anything but the traditional dark, ominous horror films that are a staple of the genre, this bright, sunny classic made more people scream than ever before.

Till this day, people who see this film are afraid of going into the ocean. Admit it, that even today when you are wading through the murky shores of the Jersey shore or Martha’s Vineyard or wherever you may be, that you think about Bruce pulling you under and tearing you limb from limb. Let’s face it, shark attacks are real, despite the fact that something the size of Bruce with the mindset of solely eating humans probably doesn’t exist, a shark bite can still happen – and still do.

No matter what genre you put Jaws in, it is still one of my all-time favorite films. Spielberg’s ability to create a peachy, warm and sunny beach town with a horrifying monster lurking in it is a pure cinematic masterpiece. Over 30 years later no other shark movie has had the impact that Jaws has had. The other monsters on our list may scare us and may be unforgettable, but none of them can continue to scare movie-goers like the 25-foot great white shark named Bruce.

–

Honorable Mentions: Pinhead, The Candyman, Chucky, and Pennywise the Clown.

If you object to any of my picks please let me know. I love getting feedback as everyone will have a different interpretation of the best horror monsters. If you have your own lists of the 5 Greatest Horror Monsters please feel free to post them in your comment.

Check out everything horror-related at The Horror Lot.

Box Office Results: ‘Paranormal’ thrills its way past ‘Saw’

Studio Estimates for Oct. 23-25:

1.  Paranormal Activity – $22 million
2.  Saw VI – $14.8 million
3.  Where the Wild Things Are – $14.4 million
4.  Law Abiding Citizen – $12.7 million
5.  Couples Retreat – $11.1 million

6.  Astro Boy – $7 million
8.  Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant – $6.3 million
11. Amelia – $4 million

–

In a surprising event over the weekend, the expanded release of Paranormal Activity toppled over the opening weekend of Saw VI.  Expanding to a little less than 2,000 theaters, Paranormal Activity grossed $22 million this weekend, bringing its total to $62.5 million in 31 days.  Meanwhile, Saw VI received its lowest opening weekend of the entire franchise with $14.8 million. 

Where the Wild Things Are saw a huge drop from last weekend, but still was able to secure the #3 spot in the box office with $14.4 million.  Rounding off the Top 5 was Law Abiding Citizen with $12.7 million and Couples Retreat with $11.1 million.

As for our predictions, the Predictions Panel had a rough outing this weekend.  None of us predicted all of the Top 5 correctly, and we were all way off with Saw VI’s gross.  My blunder was giving Astro Boy the fifth spot; Sheehan’s biggest error was predicting Where the Wild Things Are would gross $29 million; and Dan’s mistake was failing to predict Paranormal Activity in his Top 5.  We’ll try to do better next weekend.

There’s only one new release on Halloween weekend.  Michael Jackson’s This Is It comes out on Wednesday to a wide release.  Meanwhile, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is being released in less than 100 theaters.  Did you know this movie was coming out already?  Neither did I.