Lawless- Grade: A

Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Guy Pearce (Memento), Jason Clarke (Public Enemies), Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Directed By: John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road)
Release Date: August 29, 2012
Opening Weekend: $9,700,000
Rating: R
Run Time: 1Hr 55Min
Synopsis: Resilient and loyal group of Bondurant brothers make a profit selling illegal Moonshine during the Prohibition Era. When corrupt new deputy rolls into town and threatens their business, the brothers must decide how to fight back.

The Bondurant Brothers.

So How Was It?: Violent, suspenseful and slow burning; Lawless is a powerful film about family, power and how far you're willing to go to protect them. With a strong cast and screenplay, it becomes one of those rare films that you wish was just a few scenes longer.

The film works so well because it takes its time setting up the Bondurant Brothers. We see their moments of weakness and stupidity, resilience and strength and most passionately, their love and their loyalty. We can see ourselves in them and the choices they make, no matter how dumb or stubborn they seem. The Bondurant brothers differ from your average "good guys" because they're allowed to be human and consequently more accessible. Without this, Lawless would run the risk of being just another easily forgettable big guy vs. the little guy story.

Snow White and the Huntsman- Grade: B

Starring: Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Charlize Theron (Monster, The Italian Job), Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
Directed By: Rupert Sanders 
Release Date: June 1, 2012
Opening Weekend: $56,217,700
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 2Hr 7Min
Synopsis: Beloved king is deceived and killed by his new mysterious bride. Kingdom of Tabor is plunged into darkness under new Queen's rule. Young, beautiful daughter of King is only person with the power to stop new Queen. Young princess befriends troubled huntsman to help rally up army to take back their kingdom. 

So How Was It?: Director Rupert Sanders takes the more sinister aspects of this classic Brothers Grimm fairytale and expands on them; greed, murder, jealousy, mental illness, betrayal and heartache. Although there is still some love, happiness and goodness, this Snow White is nothing like the beloved animated Disney tale we all know and love. This Snow White is much darker.

Initially, the film is quite intriguing. It's scary. It's unpredictable. Your heart breaks for the people of Tabor. You're on their side. Charlize Theron's Queen Ravenna is absolutely terrifying. She is so evil and ruthless that you find yourself cheering on her impending demise. When it finally does start to happen though, its a bit underwhelming.The buildup of her character is too strong and the payoff of her downfall is too weak.

Somewhere around the 3/4 mark the story really looses its steam. It gets weighed down by its own fanciful nature. What started off as mysterious and interesting details (a dark magic army, a supernatural forest) soon become a bit ridiculous (tiny alien like fairies, magic stags turning into butterflies). They become a distraction and take away from the severity of the film.

The main issue with the film is its main character, Snow White. The audience never really has that moment of connection with her. There's more of an emotional connection with the huntsman and the prince than there is with Snow White. She falls a bit flat, more of a metaphor for the idea of purity than an actual physical representation of it. Maybe its because Queen Ravenna is just too much of an overpowering presence that there's no way someone like Snow White could compete with her (literally). The film's ending, hopeful as it is, feels a bit underwhelming.

The Fall- Grade A

Starring: Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies), Catinca Untaru
Directed By: Tarsem Singh (The Cell)
Release Date: May 30, 2008
Opening Weekend: $79,611
Rating: R
Run Time: 1Hr 57 Min
Synopsis: Young Romanian girl and paralyzed stuntman meet while both are patients at hospital in Los Angeles circa 1920. Young girl and stuntman form unusual friendship. Stuntman begins telling young girl fantastical story of 5 characters on journey for revenge. Young girl brings story to life with her wild imagination. Fact and fiction begin to blur as stunt man's ulterior motives for telling the story slowly emerge.



So How Was It?: Set in an era where movies were still silent and color film was just a dream, The Fall plays like a declaration of love to a medium of storytelling very dear to director Tarsem's heart. Tarsem is less concerned with the details of a well thought out story than he is with the magic behind telling a story. Nearly every plot hole, unnecessary scene or underdeveloped character can be disputed by the argument that it's all being invented by a depressed, paralyzed drug addict and interpreted by a 6 year old immigrant with a limited understanding of English. Quite frankly, things don't have to make sense for the two creators of the story. What they're looking for is an escape from the grim reality of their lives.

The visuals Tarsem is able to create in this film are so strikingly beautiful that the viewer will have a hard time remembering any of the film's faults by the time the credits start rolling.

Jane Eyre - Grade: A

Starring:Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), Judi Dench (Casino Royale, everything else), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott)
Directed By:Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre)
Release Date: March 11, 2011
Opening Weekend:(Limited Release) $182,885
Rating:PG-13
Run Time: 2 Hours
Synopsis: (Based on Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre) Girl is orphaned, has horrible loveless childhood. Grows up to be free spirited, independent and mature person, challenging the standard for women of her time. Girl gets job as governess at mysterious old manor. Manor's owner is moody, volatile and bored with women around him. Girl and owner form a strange friendship. Owner and girl start to fall in love. Girl thinks her life is finally going to change for the better but soon discovers dark sinister secret about her fairytale romance.




DISCLAIMER: It's been a good 8 years since I read Jane Eyre back in freshman year of high school and my memory of the storyline was pretty vague going into watching this film. I saw it twice in the theaters.



So How Was It?: Apparently less is more, a lot more. In an era of film obsessed with pushing the envelope and showing skin, its refreshing to watch a movie that builds a powerful underlying sexual passion without showing more than a glimpse of a bare knees and a handful of short kisses. Call it old fashioned, but Bronte's classic tale of 19th century love is more alive than ever.

A novel the length of Jane Eyre is almost impossible to ever fully and faithfully adapt because of one simple thing: books tell and movies show. The two mediums are so different that things will inevitably get lost in translation. Are the film's flashbacks of Jane's cruel childhood a bit over dramatic and underdeveloped? Yes. Do her and Rochester's deeply passionate love happen way too quickly? Yes. Is it possible to squeeze all the details of a 480 page 19th century novel into a 2 hour film that can withstand the infamously short attention span of the modern day audience member? No. Does Fukunaga create a painfully beautiful and touching film about the importance of love and staying true to yourself? A hundred times yes.