Ben Foster

2013 Sundance Diary, Day 3: Let’s Run Away From it All

BrianTT — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 21:56:09 -0500

PARK CITY, Utah – Film festivals naturally encourage those who write about them to look for themes. A few years ago it was the end of the world. This year, it seems to be the coming-of-age story (“Kill Your Darlings,” “The Spectacular Now,” “Mud,” “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes,” “The Way, Way Back”) on the surface and the journey from home a little deeper. I’ve seen four films that I can write about since my last diary and three featured characters trying to get away from it all while the fourth would just make the squeamish flee in fear.

Let’s start with the movie of this quartet that I expect to be the most divisive, David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” an atmospheric, lyrical piece starring Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, and Ben Foster that has warranted comparison to Terence Malick in its approach to telling a story with obvious tones of “Badlands.” The story is remarkably simple. A trio of robbers (the exact crimes they have committed is unclear) is being chased by the police. They hole up in a house and a shootout ensues. Ruth Guthrie (Mara) shoots a cop named Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster) and her boyfriend Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) takes the rap. He goes to prison and his daughter is born as Ruth seems to consider moving on with her life. Patrick, the cop she shot, even becomes a potential protector for her. Then Bob’s 6th attempt at escape works. He’s coming home. Will Ruth run with him? Will he be caught? Who are the mysterious men chasing him? Keith Carradine co-stars.

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Photo credit: Sundance

“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” is a smokey glass of whiskey, a film that you need to savor and allow its effects to kick in after the glass is empty. Consequently, it’s a rough film to consider in the middle of a film fest as you’re running to catch a shuttle or do an interview. I need to dissect it, analyze it, dream about it. And I need to see it again. My first thoughts are simple — there are so many great elements, especially Ben Foster’s stunning supporting performance (his second great turn after “Kill Your Darlings”) and Bradford Young’s incredible cinematography, that it has to be recommended. I’m not sure it has the weight it needs and think some of it is too precious but I need time and film festivals give none of that precious commodity.

S-VHS
Photo credit: Sundance

My feelings about “S-VHS” are more coherent. It’s pretty damn good. It’s definitely a superior work to last year’s Sundance hit “V/H/S” as its two central segments are so cleverly conceived and well-directed that they make any flaws of segments one and four easier to overlook. Utilizing a much higher budget, this is the more hi-fi answer to the original (a fact that will easily divide viewers into camps as to which one is their fave). Let’s get to it. Simon Barrett helms the wraparound segment as a private dick and his assistant break into a house looking for one of the kids from the first film and find a bank of static-filled TVs and a series of tapes. The assistant starts watching. The first standalone segment was directed by and stars Adam Wingard as a guy who gets a camera implanted on his eye. Said camera allows him to see things he shouldn’t see. (As most of these segments work best the less you know, I’m going to be purposefully vague on plot. I’m not just being lazy.)

The second segment, directed by Eduardo Sanchez (“The Blair Witch Project”) and Gregg Hale is such a smart, clever piece of work that it’s likely to be most people’s favorite of the film. It’s pretty much straight-up comedy as a biker with a camera attached to his head is bitten at the start of the zombie apocalypse. Imagine all the activity of an undead rambler from his perspective. It’s even more awesome than you zombie fans can imagine. The third segment was helmed by Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Evans (“The Raid: Redemption”) and actually plays as a horror companion piece to “The Raid.” Just as that film featured a very bad journey into one very awful building, this segment centers on a poor group of people who decide to visit a commune on the day the Satanists make contact with the great beyond. Remember how well Evans staged his action in “The Raid”. Imagine with batshit crazy horror. Yeah, it’s that good. I’m not fully sold on Jason Eisener’s final segment but the wraparound, Evans & Tjahjanto, and Sanchez & Hale stretches (with parts of the Wingard) make this twisted tape work.

Breathe In
Photo credit: Sundance

Another dark journey is undertaken in Ben Wheatley’s “Sightseers,” a jet black comedy about two lovers — Chris (Steve Oram) & Tina (Alice Lowe) — who head on a road trip after Tina accidentally kills the family dog, Poppy. After a trip to the tram museum, Chris gets into an altercation with a litterer and then runs him over with his caravan. Was it an accident? Why is he smiling? It’s just the first. Arguments with other sightseers lead to murder. Chris & Tina want to see the countryside but they don’t want to deal with anyone along the way. Wheatley’s comedy is very smart and very funny, especially in the way he handles Tina’s moves to impress a man who is clearly a homicidal maniac. Lowe & Oram have excellent comic timing and Wheatley proves yet again that’s an interesting filmmaker to watch.

Finally, there’s Drake Doremus’ “Breathe In,” the director’s follow-up to his Sundance smash “Like Crazy.” Once again, Felicity Jones serves as the director’s muse, this time playing a foreign exchange student named Olivia who will be spending a semester with the Reynolds family — daughter Lauren (Mackenzie Davis), mother Megan (Amy Ryan), and father Keith (Guy Pearce), who also happens to be Olivia’s music teacher. Of course, Jones is drop dead gorgeous and Keith notices immediately. It also seems like Olivia likes older guys. The inevitable ensues in a movie that never once rings true. It’s contrived, cliched, and dramatically inert, lacking all of the realism that attracted people to “Like Crazy” in the first place. It’s long, boring, and my least favorite film at this year’s fest. On to better films tomorrow. Trust me.

Read all of Brian Tallerico’s coverage from Sundance 2013!

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-ray Review: Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster in Generic ‘Contraband’

BrianTT — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:01:18 -0400

CHICAGO – “Contraband” has some action movie elements that work but too much of it is overly familiar, especially the parts played by leads Mark Wahlberg and supporting actors J.K. Simmons, Ben Foster & Giovanni Ribisi, strong actors who resort to their basic tricks here and just don’t deliver. I like all four guys but this is lazy work in a relatively lazy film overall. All in all, “Contraband” is a mediocre movie that moves quickly enough to barely fit the bill on a rainy Saturday night but isn’t the best work by anyone involved.

Blu-ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

The odd structure of “Contraband” requires it to be one of those films in which something is constantly going wrong. It stays convoluted in order to try and entertain. There’s no movie if there isn’t a series of bad decisions and unlucky encounters. It’s almost comical how many things go wrong in this journey of a man sucked back into the world of smuggling to save his dopey brother-in-law after one of HIS jobs goes wrong. The life of a smuggler ain’t easy. But this movie is. We’ve seen Wahlberg play reformed bad guy. We’ve seen Ribisi play wide-eyed wacko. And Foster is too interesting an actor for this material. (Although one of the film’s biggest problems is that it separates Mark from Ben & Giovanni for most of its running time). It’s reasonably well-made and darker than you might expect but also immensely forgettable and the kind of flick that only reminds you of better ones.

Contraband was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 24, 2012
Photo credit: Universal

Synopsis:
Mark Wahlberg stars as legendary smuggler Chris Farraday, who has left his criminal past behind to be with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and sons. When a ruthless drug kingpin (Giovanni Ribisi) threatens his family, Farraday must summon his old skills and contacts for one last run. Contraband takes you to the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling, and on a thrilling adventure that critics are calling “dynamic, intense and gritty!” Mark S. Allen, CBS/CW-TV (Sacramento).

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Under The Radar: The Making Of Contraband
o Reality Factor: The Stunts And Action Of Contraband
o Feature Commentary With Director/Producer Baltasar Kormakur and Producer Evan Hayes
o D-Box Motion Enabled

“Contraband” stars Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, and Kate Beckinsale. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 24, 2012 and is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 5 ‘Contraband’ Blu-rays With Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:12:59 -0400

CHICAGO – In our latest action/crime edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Contraband” starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale! Universal Pictures is bringing “Contraband” to Blu-ray and DVD on April 24, 2012.

“Contraband” also stars Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, Diego Luna, Robert Wahlberg, Lukas Haas, Jaqueline Fleming, Caleb Landry Jones, William Lucking, Monica Acosta, Michael Beasley, James Rawlings and Connor Hill from director Baltasar Kormákur and writers Aaron Guzikowski and Arnaldur Indriðason.

To win your free “Contraband” Blu-ray courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question in this Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this Hookup and win are below.

“Contraband” with Mark Wahlberg comes to Blu-ray and DVD on April 24, 2012.
Image credit: Universal Pictures

Here is the synopsis for “Contraband”:

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of “Contraband”: a white-knuckled action/thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling. It’s full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high stakes and big payoffs. Loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime. After his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best – running contraband – to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart, and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.

The Blu-ray trailer for “Contraband” can be watched below.

To win a “Contraband” Blu-ray, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a free Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win.

Next, simply answer our question. You must submit your answer using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Comments have been disabled on this page.

You must include your first and last name, e-mail and physical mailing address in your submission. Your personal information will not be sold or shared, will be kept strictly confidential and is only for awarding winning entries. You must own a Blu-ray player. Please answer our question below.

What’s something that’s illegal you think should be legalized?
Note: Comments have been disabled on this page.

This Hookup is simple: 5 lucky readers will be randomly selected as the winners of our free “Contraband” Blu-ray Hookup! The winners will be mailed their Blu-rays at our expense. Good luck!

Disclaimer
HollywoodChicago.com LLC is a promotional partner with the studio
and its partners and doesn’t assume any liability for this giveaway.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Contraband’ Steals Half Justice From Icelandic Conquest

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:46:19 -0500

CHICAGO – One way to craft an unforgettable, undeniably adept film is to make a new one. Hollywood views that as financially risky, though, and it often doesn’t happen without being based on a book with a built-in audience or a film that’s already an international box-office success.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Just like the Swedish smash hit “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” was recently remade for U.S. audiences by David Fincher of “The Social Network” fame, producer and star Mark Wahlberg found financial worth – and he’d sell you on artistic, too – in the international remake route. He’s hoping he’d earn U.S. assurance from what recently worked in Iceland.

While U.S. audiences were well aware of Fincher’s hijacking from Sweden, “Contraband” being a U.S. remake of Iceland’s “Reykjavík-Rotterdam” is lesser known. That film most Americans can’t pronounce is one of the biggest-budget Icelandic films of all time and it features an all-star cast of Icelandic cinema. The original film’s lead actor, Baltasar Kormákur (a successful director in Iceland), interestingly took on the role of director for “Contraband”.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Contraband”.

“Contraband” couldn’t have had a more predictable plot evolution. Guy (Wahlberg) has a skill (smuggling cool stuff), but he’s sworn no longer to use it because of its ramifications. Smoking-hot wife (Kate Beckinsale) doesn’t approve of said guy’s skill because it doesn’t prove a good role model for the kiddies or mark him as a buttoned-up guy to bring home to mommy. Best friend (Ben Foster) pretends he’s a trusted partner in crime, but shockingly, he’s a double crosser.

And, of course, “Contraband” justifies its “A”-list status because our hero’s said skill is forced to be put to use even though he’s promised to said smoking-hot wife that he’s given it up for good. But it’s OK, folks, because he’s only doing it “one last time” and it’s in earnest since it’s for his smoking-hot wife’s naughty, amateur smuggler brother. We’re made sleepy by this “protagonist must do his dirty work once more to save his family from the bad guys” plot.

“Contraband” stars Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, Diego Luna, Robert Wahlberg, Lukas Haas, Jaqueline Fleming, Caleb Landry Jones, William Lucking, Monica Acosta, Michael Beasley, James Rawlings and Connor Hill from director Baltasar Kormákur and writers Aaron Guzikowski and Arnaldur Indriðason. “Contraband,” which is rated “R” for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use, has a running time of 110 minutes and opened on Jan. 13, 2012.

Continue for Adam Fendelman’s full “Contraband” review.

Mark Wahlberg stars in “Contraband”.
Image credit: Patti Perret, Universal Studios

Continue for Adam Fendelman’s full “Contraband” review.

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 Pairs of Chicago Passes to ‘Contraband’ With Mark Wahlberg

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:00:16 -0500

CHICAGO – In our latest action/crime edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated new film “Contraband” starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale!

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Contraband” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Contraband” with Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale.
Image credit: Universal Pictures

Here is the synopsis for “Contraband”:

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of “Contraband”: a white-knuckle action/thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling. It’s full of desperate criminals, corrupt officials, high stakes and big payoffs. Loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away.

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best – running contraband – to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart, and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target.

The movie trailer for “Contraband” can be watched now below.

To win your free advance-screening movie tickets, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com Web site account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having a Web site account with a valid e-mail address is required to win. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this question:

What wouldn’t you do to protect your family?

This Hookup is simple! Just submit your comment below and we will award 50 admit-two tickets randomly via e-mail for our “Contraband” Hookup. Good luck!

Tell Your Friends About HollywoodChicago.com on Facebook & Twitter

Along with entering yourself in this Hookup, tell your friends you’ve found the best source for regular entertainment giveaways by liking HollywoodChicago.com on Facebook and following us on Twitter! The more people who follow us, the better giveaways we can offer you!

Disclaimer
Winners need to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. Since advance screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house, winners are not guaranteed entrance and must arrive early. We recommend arriving 45 minutes before the screening’s scheduled start time. Winners are typically e-mailed our advance-screening passes two days before the screening date. HollywoodChicago.com LLC is a promotional partner with the studio and its partners and doesn’t assume any liability for this giveaway.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Jason Statham, Ben Foster Keep ‘The Mechanic’ From Breaking Down

BrianTT — Mon, 30 May 2011 21:42:24 -0400

CHICAGO – We have seen dozens of movies about hit men caught in dangerous situations. There is something that fascinates us about men who take the assignment to kill someone and just pack up and wait for the next job. Inevitably, the movies tell us that these men will pay the price, whether it be a job gone horribly wrong or an attempt to leave a profession that doesn’t come with a pension plan. The latest entry in the subgenre is the Jason Statham vehicle “The Mechanic,” a film that works reasonably well as a rental but falls a bit flat with a disappointing final act.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

It’s rare to say this because the action genre is so typically based on anything but actual character, but it’s the central performances by Statham and the great Ben Foster that keep “The Mechanic” interesting. As for the plot, we’ve seen it all before, and the action is uninspired and generic as well. Most damagingly, the final act feels bizarrely truncated as the movie rushes to an abrupt ending just as it should be getting interesting. Despite the disappointing finale and relatively generic script, Statham and Foster find the edge beneath the surface of these characters and keep the film from breaking down completely.

The Mechanic was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 17, 2011
Photo credit: Sony Home Video

Arthur Bishop (Statham) is a mechanic, a hit man who takes any assignment with no questions asked. His goal is to get the job done and draw as little attention to himself as possible. Get in. Kill. Get out. His world is turned upside down when his new assignment is to kill his mentor, a wheelchair-bound man named Harry (Donald Sutherland). His boss (a typically-slimy Tony Goldwyn) convinces him that Harry had gone bad and, without doing nearly enough research, Bishop takes his word for it.

The Mechanic was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on May 17, 2011
Photo credit: Sony Home Video

After killing Harry, his mentor’s son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him because he wants to learn the same trade that dear old dad never imparted to him. Without nearly enough questions (plot holes in the script for “The Mechanic” are regularly caused by what seems like a desire to rush the running time instead of explaining character motives), Bishop takes on Steve and teaches him how to become a deadly assassin. Of course, everything has to come full circle in the final act.

There’s a lot going on plot-wise in this remake of the Charles Bronson 1972 hit but West and his screenwriters seem almost in a rush to get to the final credits. The best scenes involve the dynamic between the laid-back Statham and the out-of-control Foster, as their very different styles make them interesting partners in murder. They’re good enough here (and there are a few interesting action scenes) that “The Mechanic” is worth a rental but it won’t rank too high for fans of the bald action star or those who loved the original.

As for the Blu-ray release of “The Mechanic,” the video is solid (Sony almost always delivers in that department) and the audio is strong but the special features are remarkably scant. I guess early-year action movies that disappoint at the box office don’t get A-list Blu-ray treatment but Statham fans deserved better.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Extended Scenes
o Tools of the Trade
o MovieIQ

“The Mechanic” stars Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, and Tony Goldwyn. It was directed by Simon West. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Sony on May 17th, 2011.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Film Review: Jason Statham in ‘The Mechanic’ is a Mindless Repeat of All Prior Gun-Toting Slayers

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:01:37 -0500

CHICAGO – It wouldn’t be a Jason Statham film if in it he was just fixing cars. In “The Mechanic,” his profession is fixing people. And by fixing, like “The Transporter” he’s again cracking skulls.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

But if you’re going to ask audiences to buy into a remake of the 1972 film by the same name with Charles Bronson originating Jason Statham’s role as Arthur Bishop, a film needs to make it less obvious that it’s just modernizing a 1970s flick for the purposes of making new money on a preexisting script.

While “The Mechanic” takes a page from all other hitman movies and employs every trick in the contract killer book we’ve already seen, the one redeeming difference is Statham’s inner dialogue and his cool, calculated demeanor. Sure, this Jason Statham is again a killer with no back story, but this time he’s also a master of restraint, an expert in preparation and ultimately a deadly executioner.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Mechanic”.

That said, he’s again narrowly doing the one thing he does somewhat well and nothing more. Every hitman movie falls into the same trap. The problem with someone who offs people for a living – no matter how Jason Bourne badass you think you are – is that someone who’s smarter, faster, richer or just plain in the right place at the right time will eventually get ‘cha, too.

And then every hitman film continues being snared in this trap by building a film around one hero who (for no reason at all) is unrealistically granted an invincible shield that allows him to dodge all bullets, avert all car crashes and sexify the token hot chick at any given whim. In “The Mechanic,” Jason Statham has none of these exceptions. We are even to interpret his paying-a-prostitute time with Mini Anden as the film’s “love story” considering he decides to tell her his real name and she names an animal after him. Cute.

“The Mechanic” stars Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn, Mini Anden, Jeff Chase, James Logan, Eddie J. Fernandez, Joshua Bridgewater, John McConnell, Christa Campbell, Joel Davis, Mark Nutter, A. Brent Carlson and Lara Grice from director Simon West and writers Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino. The film is rated “R” for strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity. “The Mechanic,” which has a running time of 92 minutes, opened everywhere on Jan. 28, 2011 from CBS Films on a $40 million budget.

Continue for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Mechanic” review.

Mini Anden in “The Mechanic”.
Image credit: CBS Films

Continue for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Mechanic” review.

Blu-Ray Review: Honest, Human Drama of Excellent ‘The Messenger’

BrianTT — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:08:25 -0400

CHICAGO – Just before the Oscar nominations for 2009 were to be announced, a few pundits went out on a limb and predicted that not only would Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” be nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson) and Best Original Screenplay but that it would also find its way into several more categories, including even Best Picture. If more people had seen the film, I believe it would have made the Academy’s top ten. It’s a spectacular drama, one that gets richer and more impressive on repeat viewing. And its recently-released Blu-ray edition treats this spectacular film with the respect it deserves.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

The two-disc special edition of this expertly-made and performed drama includes both Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film along with excellent bonus material and even packaging that stands apart from the traditional release. It reminds me of a Criterion release, complete with an essay on the case by Anthony Swofford, the author of “Jarhead”. So many studios, especially independent ones who may be strapped for cash, unceremoniously release their smaller films on bare-bones, lackluster DVDs. Oscilloscope deserves an amazing amount of praise for treating a small film with the respect it deserves.

The Messenger was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 18th, 2010
Photo credit: Oscilloscope

With a shocking lack of manipulation, melodrama, or easy lessons, “The Messenger” says more about honest, relatable humanity than most dramas of the last few years. It deals with the unpopular issue of not just the cost of war but how common it is for people to refuse to address universal issues like loss and grief. But it does so merely by staying true to its characters, some of the most well-rounded and believable of the year. It’s one of those rare films where it feels like every character in it existed before the first scene and after the last. It’s not an easy film to watch, but it’s required viewing.

The Messenger was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 18th, 2010
Photo credit: Oscilloscope

Giving the best performance of his already-promising career, Ben Foster stars as Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a troubled soldier who has just returned home from his tour due to injury but has a few months left to serve. He is assigned to the Casualty Notification Office - the men and women who knock on the door of the next of kin when their loved one has been killed in the line of duty.

Will is partnered with the more-experienced and tough Captain Tony Stone (Oscar nominees Woody Harrelson, reminding all of us how incredible an actor he can be with the right material). Stone and Montgomery do have something of a traditional arc in that they start off noticing their differences and end up noticing their similarities, but the development of their dynamic never feels false. The genuine relationship at the core of “The Messenger” can be at least partially credited to perfect chemistry between two great actors.

Debut director Oren Moverman constantly made the right decision as a director when options were placed in front of him. Working collaboratively with his cast - most of the casualty notifications were unscripted - and largely with unbroken takes, he has crafted a film where the viewer often feels like they’re a third member of the CNO, learning how to deal with grief along with Will and Tony.

The Messenger was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 18th, 2010
Photo credit: Oscilloscope

Oscilloscope knows this is the most important film of their short existence and have treated it as such, releasing a combo disc set that unfolds like a Criterion release for an acknowledged classic. And the technical elements of the Blu-ray transfer are flawless. The HD picture doesn’t look overly polished with just the right levels of color and line detail. It’s not “Avatar,” but it’s a great transfer.

The special features are similarly above par including one in particular that works as an amazing companion piece to the film called “Notification”. In the research process for the film, a documentarian went along with Moverman as he was allowed to actually experience the world of the CNO. It’s a tough piece to watch but it illustrates the depth of the research for this film and how seriously Moverman and his team took their sensitive subject matter.

Other great special features include an audio commentary by Moverman, Producer Lawrence Inglee, Ben Foster, and Woody Harrelson; “Going Home: Reflections From the Set;” Variety Screening Series Q & A with Moverman, Harrelson, Co-writer Alessandro Camon, Inglee, and Director of Photography Bobby Bukowski. All of the special features feel like they enhance the experience of the film instead of merely serving as filler.

“The Messenger” was one of the best films of 2009 but that doesn’t always translate to the world of DVD and Blu-ray. I wish I could personally thank the team at Oscilloscope for this release, easily one of the best Blu-rays of the year to date.

‘The Messenger’ is released by Oscilloscope and stars Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, and Steve Buscemi. It was written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman and directed by Moverman. It was released on May 18th, 2010 and is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Pandorum’ Puts Space Saga on Autopilot

mattmovieman — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:51:48 -0500

CHICAGO – Christian Alvart’s “Pandorum” is the kind of efficient time-waster that sucks you in, spits you out, and leaves you two hours older. There’s nothing that can be said in its favor, apart from the fact that its not offensively awful (like the producers’ “Resident Evil” franchise). But it is thoroughly mediocre, and for some viewers, mediocrity is offensive enough.

It’s not surprising that the film fizzled at the box office, since its marketing campaign was among the most repellant in recent memory. Its theatrical teasers consisted of characters ripping their skin off to reveal another layer beneath. The teaser was usually followed by a member of the audience uttering, “Now who the [expletive] would want to see that [expletive]?” I couldn’t help shaking my head in agreement.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

The actual film is more watchable than one would expect. A plot synopsis is irrelevant, since the entire film consists of characters explaining the plot to each other. Let’s just say the film begins like a butt-ugly “Star Wars,” as the camera pans over the spacecraft Elysium, housing a group of Earthlings on a mission to the planet Tanis. The people of Earth are quickly wasting their natural resources, and are desperate to find (and potentially waste) them elsewhere. When the Elysium crew discovers that their home planet has met an untimely end, the passengers become racked with ODS (Orbital Dysfunctional Syndrome), and descend into madness. As the saying goes, “In space, no one can hear you call for a therapist.”

Dennis Quaid searches for an original idea in Christian Alvart’s Pandorum.
Photo credit: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment

Cut to several years later: a crew member (Ben Foster) wakes up in the murky darkness of a hyper-sleep chamber. After dutifully ripping off his excess skin, he reconnects with fellow passengers who are equally uncertain of their surroundings. They include a grizzled lieutenant (Dennis Quiad), a Vietnamese sidekick (Cung Le), and a German ass-kicker (Antje Traue) who still manages to keep her makeup applied despite the endless mayhem. The story develops like a poor man’s “Moon” (with its themes of alienation) crossed with a low-rent “Star Trek” (with its melting pot of protagonists learning to work together). And when the creatures pop up, looking like morbidly obese extras from “The Descent,” the film settles into standard “monster attack mode.” Any moviegoer with even a passing familiarity with the science-fiction and horror genres won’t find any of this the least bit fresh or surprising.

Pandorum was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on January 19th, 2010.
Photo credit: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment

Though the premise holds plenty of inherent intrigue, the filmmakers fumble their chance at building suspense by allowing everything to be explained in artless exposition interrupted by predictable horrors. When Quaid is confronted by a mysterious young stranger (“Never Back Down”’s Cam Gigandet), their psychological battle has all the dramatic weight of an embarrassing parent/teen squabble (Gigandet exudes the whiniest malice since Hayden Christiansen). Foster and Quaid are both good actors, but here they’re trapped in roles that directly feed into their weakness for overacting.

Aside from a few pleasurably tense moments and a couple cool shots (particularly one involving thousands of space coffins), “Pandorum” is no more than a C-grade B-movie assembled out of recycled space junk.

“Pandorum” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English and Spanish audio tracks, and comes with a digital copy of the film. Special features include a generic making-of featurette, where the filmmakers discuss how Alvart “elevated” Travis Milloy’s script, which originally took place on a prison ship (he fails to mention whether Sigourney Weaver was onboard). There’s also 27 minutes of deleted scenes (including an alternate ending that makes no sense at all), a still gallery and a feature-length commentary with Alvart and producer Jeremy Bolt. When Alvart discusses his design for the spaceship, he says that it was his goal to make it resemble “an organism,” allowing the creatures to blend in with the background. Sorry Alvart, but “Alien” got there first.

‘Pandorum’ is released by Anchor Bay Home Entertainment and stars Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Antje Traue, Cung Le, Cam Gigandet and Eddie Rouse. It was written by Travis Milloy and directed by Christian Alvart. It was released on January 19th, 2010. It is rated R.

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Ben Foster Brings Humanity to ‘The Messenger’

BrianTT — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:40:46 -0500

CHICAGO – Ben Foster has stolen scenes in works as diverse as “Six Feet Under,” “Freaks and Geeks,” “3:10 to Yuma,” and “Alpha Dog,” but he truly shines in the spotlight of the lead role in “The Messenger,” giving the best performance of his career to date. The young actor was in town for the Chicago International Film Festival and took some time to speak to us about his research for the film, how one leaves such a dramatic work behind, and his love for co-star Woody Harrelson.

Foster stars in “The Messenger” as Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a young man returned home from his tour but with a few months of service left. To fill out his time, Will is assigned to the Casualty Notification Office (and partnered with Woody Harrelson’s Captain Tony Stone), the men who inform “NOK” (next of kin) when their loved one has been killed in the line of duty.

Ben Foster on the red carpet for the Chicago International Film Festival premiere of The Messenger.
Photo credit: Joe Arce/HollywoodChicago.com

Will finds himself drawn to a widow played by Samantha Morton, but the film is much more than a typical love story. “The Messenger” is a moving, dramatic examination of loss and how we deal with grief. Naturally, diving into that kind of a part can be tough for someone to leave behind. Foster admits, “I don’t know if I’ve totally shaken it. What’s nice about asking these kind of questions in the form of a film is that it demands a personal rigor to ask yourself these questions. How do we deal with grief? How do we deal with loss? How do we find ways to connect and celebrate what we do have? If that’s hard to shake, that’s fine with me. I like those questions rattling around.”

The Messenger
Photo credit: Oscilloscope Pictures

To help him shake off the ghosts of “The Messenger,” Foster dove right into another project, the poorly-received “Pandorum,” which was released earlier this year. Three weeks after wrapping something as realistic as Oren Moverman’s debut film, Foster was in Berlin, planning to “go to museums and play hard and run around a f**king spaceship. It was a naive concept.”

Foster somewhat talks around the subject of why it was naive but does admit that “…it wasn’t what was presented to me at the time. I think I probably should have taken time off. I’m not saying I shouldn’t have done it, but…You don’t want to start a project if you don’t have anything to give.”

“The Messenger” may be about a very specific job and the character feel three-dimensional but, for Foster, it’s about the universal experience of loss. He explains, “We’ve received those phone calls and we’ve made them. Someday, people will receive them on our behalf. We’re in a culture where we really duck it. We hide it. And, on some level, I believe it’s an unhealthy approach to the inevitable. It’s not morbid if someone is able to feel what they’re feeling - even if it’s scary and hard and recognize the delicacy and the gift that we have of just existing right now.”

The Messenger
Photo credit: Oscilloscope Pictures

To prepare for such a complex role, Foster and the team behind “The Messenger” had the head of CNO on-set every day. Even the extras were actual men and women who had just returned from their tour of duty. Ben, Woody, and Oren spent time at Walter Reade - “We hung out with those kids…missing pieces. It was very sobering. The way that Oren directed us - his strategy was to serve the piece and not ourselves. He set an example and created an environment where we had to listen to each other and honor these men and women. There was no rehearsal for any scene. We never met those we had to notify until we were actually knocking on the door. He would work the camera in a single move and those that would be notified separately. So, when Woody and I would walk up, we were raw nerves. It created this space where we had to really listen to each other. We didn’t know what would happen.”

Even before they got on-set, Ben Foster went to New York two months early to speak to Oren, talk to soldiers, and watch documentaries. Foster says, “We built a shorthand where, by the time we were on-set, his direction, although incredibly insightful, was very simple and subtle. We just built trust. He’s one of those guys - when you meet him…you can smell a liar. You just know that he’s a true humanist.”

A large part of the success of “The Messenger” is due to the interplay between Foster and Harrelson. “I had already been a huge fan of Woody’s for years,” says Foster. “When I heard that he was coming on, I was so excited. Of course, they say never meet your heroes. But it’s one of those rare love affairs. I’m so…I don’t want to say proud…it’s not the right word…blown away to work with him as he’s working on such a deep level. He hasn’t made the choice to do this kind of work often but when he does, he really swings. He’s my brother. I would do anything for Woody.”

The Messenger
Photo credit: Oscilloscope Pictures

Ben Foster has made a wide variety of films in his short career, but is often seen as “an intense actor”. When asked if he wants to do a comedy someday, he jokingly says that he’s called up the Apatow guys looking to do anything - “I really like to laugh. Help me out here. I’ll hold a f**king light.”

As to what draws him to certain projects, Foster says, “I choose each film for a different reason. I’d like to say there’s some grand scheme but it’s really about what shows up and when and where you’re at. I imagine…just thinking of this out loud for the first time…as a writer, if you’re good at what you do, you’re probably only going to be asking one or two different questions. They’re going to be variations on a theme. You’ll have a question that is important to you and you work through the films or the current project to get closer to some kind of answer. I like to be challenged in different ways, but it depends on who I’m working with. I like all kinds of movies. I’m not a movie snob. I like all sorts of genres. Shaking it up and playing with different environments…”

To close out our interview, Foster once again immodestly speaks of his co-stars and director more than himself as to what he learned on the set of “The Messenger” - “There’s such a humility from Samantha Morton and Woody Harrelson to Jena Malone and Steve Buscemi - it’s so impressive to work with people on such a high level. You see that it’s about sacrifice. I suppose it’s not a new thing to learn but it’s something important to keep after - it’s not about YOU, it’s about IT. That kind of commitment and selflessness for something that could be perceived as selfish is inspiring.”

‘The Messenger’ stars Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi, and Jena Malone. It was written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman and directed by Oren Moverman. It opens in Chicago on November 20th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com