What To Watch? Oct 2nd -Oct 8th: In Theaters and Blu-ray/DVD

This past week was filled with exciting new films in theaters and a couple good choices to watch at home. In the multiplex arena the Science Fiction/Time Travel original film "Looper" opened as well as a less complex spooky animated film involving Dracula and his daughter in "Hotel Transylvania". In select theaters and expanding "The Master" keeps shining as one of the best films of the year, brutally honest and gloriously acted. To watch at home only 2 films were worth mentioning. The minimalist but effective futuristic tale "The Sound Of My Voice" , and an overstylized obscure  comedy "Dark Shadows" from the stellar Tim Burton (who also directed  "Frankenweenie" out  today). Many choices for those who haven't caught this films yet, in general a pretty stellar bunch in a very crowded week, as the big releases for award season approach and the AFI festival here in LA seems less distant, to bring this years Oscar contenders. As usual they appear ordered by the grade they received, this time separated between the ones out in theaters or to watch at home.

In Theaters

1. "The Master"
Just one of those films tat seem to polarize people, but the craft and talent are just over the top here. Joaquin Phoenix delivers a performance which such crazy rawness only comparable to perhaps Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Philips Seymour Hoffman is a deviant prophet who is arrogant enough to claim to have the road to perfection. Shot with elegance, and style and rising questions about the role of mankind in the world, this is just an impeccable film. From director Paul Thomas Anderson, a must-see. Grade A+

Read The Full Review Here
http://selective-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-master-fake-knowledge-taming-raw.html

2. "Looper"
In the year 2044 we are encounter with the existence of time travel invented 30 years after. Both dimensions have overlapped due to a group of hired assassins called "looper" who must eliminated unwanted criminals from the future. We meet Joe who must killed his older self in order to keep things in order, but the story gets trickier when "Older Joe" has other plans. A very clever and original time travel action-packed movie, a crow and critic-pleaser alike. With a big name cast such as Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this mind-rape of a film will sure pick your brain. Grade A

Read The Full Review Here
http://selective-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/looper-cyclical-memories-of-death.html

3. "Hotel Transylvania"
The latest in a trend of monster-filled, funny-spooky, weird but adorable animated films that seems to  have become a sub-genre of its own. Here Dracula is more concerned about keeping his 118th year-old daughter away from the outside world than about blood sucking. With a parade of classic monster, clever gags and an enjoyable Adam Sandler in the voice of the original vampire, this haunted residence is entertaining. At times to concerned with fitting in with the cool kids, but still a fun watch with some human-vampire romance and plenty of musical numbers. Grade B.

Read The Full Review Here
http://selective-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/hotel-transylvania-judgement-free.html

On Blu-ray/ DVD

1. "The Sound Of My Voice"
A very interesting film that will keep you wondering what is truth or not. We follow a couple that summits themselves to an underground cult-like group that has as leader a woman named Maggie. She claims that she comes from the future and that she can save a selected view. There is as many clues to make us belief she is lying, as there is to make you a believer in what she preaches.  With no huge special effects or CGI, the whole mystery and sci-fi vibe is created by context, and circumstantial evidence that never yields a right answer.  A grea piece of indie filmmaking, proving that a good script can rely on an empty room and a limited cast. Grade A.

Read The Full Review Here
http://selective-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-sound-of-my-voice-cult-hypnosis.html

2. "Dark Shadows"
A dark satire about an 18th century vampire who has returned from the dark to rescue his family's fortune, take revenge on  the witch that curse him, and fins love again. Directer by director Tim Burton this clearly seems as part of his catalog. At time it struggles a bit too much between the comedic side, the romance and its horror undertones. Johnny Depp is flamboyant with old school gentleman jargon to his advantage. Dealing with 70's psychedelia, hippies and even Alice Cooper while trying to find throats to feed on can be hard for an archaic creature. Rich visually, and with some good moments cant be call a bad film at all. Grade B.

Read The Full Review Here
http://selective-vision.blogspot.com/2012/10/dark-shadows-bloody-family-ancestry.html

"Looper" : Cyclical Memories of Death

Mistakes, break-ups, good times, regrets; all parts of our ever-accumulating past. None of them erasable. What is done is done, maybe this is part of the beauty of human existence, the damaging prevalence of our actions, every second unrepeatable and for that matter extraordinarily unique. If everything is so permanent and fatalistic, then we should all live our lives with this cautious cloud over our heads, but we don’t. The fact that life is in essence unpredictable provides us humans with some sort of hope that things can change, and that we might be indeed rulers of our own tiny destiny. What happens when you know exactly how and when you will die? Not only that but that it is basically a suicide, as you are forced to “kill yourself” in the future to save yourself now? Mindboggling questions proposed in the new science fiction film “Looper”. In a world in which crime becomes metaphysically complex, those that find themselves in the edge of both universes are the target for a present day killing spree that will alter the future’s reality. Focusing on one these “inbetweeners” or “loopers” the story stays away from debating the exact notions and rules of time travel, but instead maximizes the emotional drama in which the characters are placed by such extraordinary situations. Smart and wonderfully acted the film is entertaining but insightful in the nature of memory and how our past affects our path in life. A sort of  “butterfly effect” plot mixed in with great action sequences, and neo-noir sci-fi touches that create a surprisingly original film that people will talk about for a while. 

The story begins in 2044, which already seems like a far enough future for us, but this is the present in the film, which actions resonate 30 years in the future, when time travel is invented and outlawed. Criminal organizations have upgraded their methods of silencing those who become a problem, sending them back 30 years to be killed and erased from the future. Those hired as gunmen are not exempt from becoming a target, when a certain “looper” need to go, his “loop” is closed”. This is a euphemism to say they are force to kill their future selves, and enjoy, if that is possible, the 30 years between the event and its repetition in the future. Sound complex, but the film counts with didactical voiceovers that will guide the audience through this concepts.  Our hero Joe, played in his younger version by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, delivers such bits of information. Mutated by audacious make-up and prosthetics, Gordon-Levitt is made into a young Bruce Willis, who in turn plays “Older Joe”.  When Younger Joe finds out his loop has been closed and he must “kill himself”, e knows there is no other choice, but the wiser version of him goes on the run trying to alter his destiny by eliminating the source of this madness.  In the quest to kill the future leader of the “underworld”, who is a kid in present day, Older Joe must faced the conflicting desires and expectations of his younger self, making this more about a mirror confrontations between what he could have been and what he came to be. A dissertation on how our ideals, morals, and self-perception changes with the years, what doesn’t chance is the baggage. “Looper” is a constant struggle between what’s immovable and what is cyclical. 

This duality reaches its peak in a scene in which both Joes sit face to face at “their” favorite Dinner. The dialogue is just out-of-this-world clever, like a dad and his son talking about youth and the wisdom of older age. Their likes and dislikes, the reason to learn French then Chinese, and most importantly their arrogance and selfishness and how love can cure them. The same person in two bodies, from different times, yet they seem as if they had nothing in common. This is conflicting views on the world in one single mind is what everyone experiences as we grow old. The evolution that takes a lifetime seen reflected in this man divided 30 years.  It is indeed a wonderfully written script, the sci-fi veil is there to give a tangible explanation to this existential question, but the real story is completely grounded on the present. Why do we become what we are? Are we predetermined to be good or bad? Or can our lives be changed by a single altering event? Deeply powerful stuff. Having ranted about these philosophical aspects of the film, it never lacks thrills; chases and telekinetic explosions that make you think slow motion was invented for this. I must mention that the cinematography is excellent, a futuristic movie taking place in vast fields and rural settings, becoming a visual clash between past and future. Adding just one more layer to the artisan approach writer/director Rian Johnson took to make this film.  His casting being another good decision, all three major performances, including Emily Blunt as “Sara”, the mother of the child who will become a vicious killer, are all excellent. Diving into this abstract universe, but really exploring raw humanity. 

Like a great thriller “Looper” will lead you in dome direction and then burst that bubble and blow your mind, right till the last second. These cycles in the lives of the characters are timeless repetitions of their choices and missteps, but as most, they are trying to change and rise above their destined sufferings. Joe will have to see himself as the source of his own misfortune and confront that sometimes the only way to change the end of the story is to scratch off the beginning. Highly, highly recommended. What would you do if your worse threat were yourself? This new time travel flick is now in theaters. Grade A.