Echoes Of Dreams

The Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Russell Girl" flys under the radar.  Seriously.  I had a hard time finding one picture to put up here. The movie poster was virtually impossible to find.   So I had to settle for this little pic of Amber Tamblyn.  But it kind of makes sense why this was easiest to find.  She makes the movie in just about every way.  She shows dramatic range here without becoming too corny.  You definitely get to see this underrated actress shine.  It is a little disappointing that you still see her dealing with the same old issue - cancer.  Luekemia to be exact.  Her character dealt with a cancer victim friend in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", only this time it is Tamblyn's own character, Sarah Russell, who is the victim. 

The mood is very nice.  It captures a small town suburban feel just like your own neighborhood, expect maybe a little more perfect.  I have a soft spot for this kind of mood in movies, which are all homey and make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, like the end of summer.  So maybe I'm not being completely impartial, since this is the sort of mood I want ideally.  But generally, I think people would like the mood. 

The scenery and lighting help the mood move along and are part of what make the story believable and realistic, and at the same time, still polished.  Most scenes capture overcast skies and darkened, but not dim, rooms, which reflect the emotions of Sarah as a character. 

The film in successful in making you cry.  They make you not necessarily care about the characters, but at least sympathize with them. So when they are feeling pain, you feel appropriately uncomfortable at least.  I know I at least needed some tissues when watching.  They pile on the tragedy almost too much.  This point can be viewed as both a pro and a con. 

The story definitely gets off to a slow start.  They take too long in explaining why Sarah's neighbor is so nosy.  Until they actually tell you what her problem is, she just comes off as snooty, creepy, and weird.  If the movie might have set their pace a little faster, it could have held the attention of the viewers without getting them totally annoyed. 

Parts of the movie are definitely cheesy, whether it comes from indecision on part of the characters, a romantic kiss from an old high school flame, or a hug from her neighbor's husband to console her, sometimes it just seems to sappy.  Maybe it's not sincere enough, maybe they just needed someone who need have tragedy lurking in their background to shake things up.  Whatever it was, more of it would have made the film better. 

Finally, my pet peeve of all Hallmark movies.  The commercials.  Many people consider the commercials to be the highlight of the viewing.  But look at it like this.  The movie makes you cry at a climactic point in the storyline.  You think, "At least the commercials will give me some recovery time."  But no!  These commercials will make you cry at the same rate - if not more - than the actual movie does.  Then the film comes back on and makes you continue to cry.  It's just not fair! 

"The Russell Girl" is an average Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with the same sadness as any other.  This leaves you with the feeling that it isn't new, a sort of déjà vu.  This movie is good to watch if you're in the mood to cry, but otherwise, you may get a little depressed. 

Alyssa's Rating:  B-

Mike Enslin (played by John Cusack) is a man who is so haunted by his own past that he goes out looking for haunted hotels, with no success.  But when he gets a tip to visit The Dolphin Hotel, room 1408, he decides to try it out.  The hotel manager (played by Samuel L. Jackson) warns him against it using a number of tactics, but Enslin will not be persuaded.  He finally enters the room and discovers it is a real paranormal experience on a level he's never witnessed.  Things turn ugly fast, and he just wants to get out.  But will the room let him? 

"1408" is a smart thriller that bills itself as a "psychological ride".  It succeeds in keeping you thinking ahead, trying to figure out how Enslin can possibly get out of there alive.  It is definitely interesting, and some of the twists are unexpected.  I have yet to read Stephen King's novella of the same name which inspired this flick, but I wonder if it is as smart as the film. 

Another positive you can say about "1408" - it is absolutely not horror porn.  In fact, there is nothing even a little gory about this film.  If you're a horror movie fan with a sensitive stomach, this film is a good one for you.  The only things that could possibly make you a little squeamish are photos of the deaths in the room (these are mostly in black and white, and who can become nauseous at the sight of blood if it isn't even in color?) and a few shots of stains he sees with a blacklight, which are a little disgusting, but they also make fascinating shots. 

Samuel L. Jackson does a good job in the movie, even if the point he is trying to make is a little tired (don't go into the room, alright, we get it already!).  He makes the character of Hotel Manager Gerald Olin seem ritzy but still sort of personable, and at times a little scary.  Jackson fares well in a part with dialogue so often beated it seems like he's always saying the same thing, and still manages to make it interesting for the viewer. 

But nothing about "1408" makes you want to scream or jump out of your seat.  It is never really truly scary.  You keep waiting for it to get really bad, and before you know it the film has reached the fiery climax without any noise.  And that's essentially it.  "1408" captures a sort of quiet movie feel, and this prevents it from making you feel as in danger as a horror movie should. 

As I've already said, "1408" is smart.  But sometimes what may have worked well on paper doesn't transfer into film as successfully.  One particular plot twist makes you feel like you've missed something, and when they explain it later in the film, you still don't get it.  It never really recovers from this, and for the rest of the movie you're still going, "Huh?".  It makes the next part drag, and when the twist comes full circle, you're just disappointed.  I was sitting in my seat going, "What?  I knew it was too good to be true, but this is just not right!" 

John Cusack's character is supposed to be bored out of his mind until the good stuff starts happening.  Either Cusack is such a good actor he really makes you believe it, or he really was disinterested.  A little more subtlety would help, because Cusack gives the impression he doesn't want to be there at all. 

Lastly, the extras are seriously lacking.  A couple of sad, two minute webisodes and alternate endings which are almost identical to the ending in the film are all this DVD has.  I would have loved to see an interview with John Cusack that is longer than ten seconds, or even one with Samuel L. Jackson!  I'm sure a behind the scenes featurette would brighten up the extras considerably. 

"1408" is a level above most of the horror movies out now, but that doesn't make it perfect.  There are definitely some points that could be improved on.  The good areas mostly outweigh the bad, and this is what makes "1408" a movie that is interesting to watch. 

Alyssa's Rating: B

Atonement  by Ian McEwan is probably selling more copies than ever with the movie out now, earning critical acclaim and box office bucks.  I'm sure people know there is a novel out there that it is based on, but they probably don't know how good it is.  I'm serious.  It was one of my best reads in a long long time. 

I have an image of the book being like a intricate piece of glasswork.  It's delicate and beautiful.  But it is also easily breakable.  Everything about it is so carefully worded and shaped, such as the characters and the plot.  It must have taken a very long time to plan and write, because everything about it is so precise.  I really like McEwan's style in the way he goes about putting down what he means and not what he thinks will make the reader understand what he is trying to say. 

All of the characters are interesting and captivating.  Briony is most likely the character you will remember the most.  She is a young girl when the story begins, still foolish, and bursting with imagination that she lets run wild and sometimes carry her away.  I loved to hate her while I was reading the novel.  She basically sets the whole story going, and makes the main problem much more than it needs to be and you despise her for it.  Near the middle, you see she has matured some and you give her a little respect for it.  At the very end she is heartbreaking.  Cecilia is also a character that will stick with you, her blindness in the beginning of the book and a realization that causes her to throw everything she has into the story.  Robbie is also very interesting, but not quite as interesting as the other two.  While Cecilia and Briony are both full of contradictions and twists, Robbie is almost too good natured to be as entrancing.  Even the background characters get to you, Paul Marshall being another character that just gets to you, and you are not amazed when you find out about his wedding, but you still are taken aback because what he is doing is so wrong.  Leon is a character who was really one of my favorites, because of his interactions with his sisters, but he was also such a likable guy without being bland. 

The plot was entrancing and captivating.  The gildedness of the era in 1935 make you interested to turn the next page, leaving you thinking that everything was just so perfect then.  It is almost as if the author knows this and is trying to prove you wrong, so his gives you a central conflict that will make your jaw drop.  It will keep you wildly flipping the pages, unbelieving of what has happened.  It's actually kind of ironic, because one of my friends picked it up because she thought it was a "civilized romantic drama".  She's the kind of person where anything even the slightest bit crude offends her, so I'm sure she will be shocked to find out what it's all about.  It will be interesting to see if she finishes the book.  I thought I would be offended, but the way things panned out it just made me want to read more. 

The last chapter was absolutely the best part of the book.  It was heartbreaking, saddening, and still exciting all at one time.  There was a twist that was barely mentioned but made me cry so hard.  Then I had to go back  and reread a section of the book to make sure my head wasn't playing tricks on me.  Older Briony is a real treat, and her guilt and humility that she has earned just about makes up fir everything else she did in the beginning of the story.  I think it was absolutely brilliant, something that explains why critics love the book so much.  And why I did too. 

The only bad thing about the book that bugged me was that it dragged when narrating on something too far from the central conflict we care so much about.  For example, when Robbie was at war, I had a really difficult time concentrating on what the author was saying.  I ended up skimming really long paragraphs, because I really just wanted to get back to the whole Cecilia/Robbie/Briony interaction.  I felt like I was drudging through all of Part Two miserably.  This section also was full of war lingo that was terrible in trying to understand. 

I would recommend Atonement 100%.  I think it is an enlightening read and certainly worth your time.  Please set aside a few of your easily offended feelings in order to make it through this jewel of a story that you will keep in your thoughts for weeks after you finish reading it. 

Alyssa's Rating: A-

"National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" is quite obviously a Disney movie, from the minute you see Cinderella's castle to when the credits roll.  How can you tell?  The scenery, props, and the cast in the movie just scream "big budget adventure movie franchise".  If you like that sort of thing, you might fall in love with this movie.  Then again, you might not. 

The director and the editor must be so excited to do this movie they just can't wait for a sequence to finish.  There are multiple - multiple - scenes in which the cuts are so fast that you can't understand what is happening.  One of the scenes near the end where Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) needs to get out but the bad guy, Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) won't let him.  So I guess that Ben must have jumped forward and Mitch fell back to keep from killing them all, but how do I know?  The cuts are so darn fast I just ended up assuming that he somehow managed to get around Mitch's orders. 

That's the thing.  The movie leaves too much to the viewer.  At one point Ben's mom, Emily, must give her ex-husband a fake clue or Mitch threatens to kill said ex-husband.  So she gives him a fake clue, something about "Go to the edge of the island and release the hummingbird".  So then Patrick (Jon Voight) is safe, but he doesn't know that the clue is a fake.  Or does he?  Next thing we know Mitch is trying to get to the treasure with the real translation of the clue, and he sees Ben and Patrick there too!  How in the world did they manage to figure out the clue was a fake?  They simply don't say.  The only mention of it is a line from Emily along the lines of "I knew you would decipher my message about the hummingbird"!  Then I think, "We're going to get it explained!"  But alas, we do not.  Hmph. 

The whole movie is like an instruction manual, an equivalent to "Here's the problem.  Here's the history of the problem.  Here's how I would solve it ideally.  Here's how we have to solve it, provided the obstacles we have."  In some cases this is necessary, because let me tell you, I had no idea there were three Statues of Liberty.  But give the audiences credit where credit is due.  We understand when you say, "President" and then "secret book", that the Presidents must have compiled a secret book with the secrets to all their terms.  We don't need five/ten minutes to get it explained.  But when you say other things, like the above paragraph, or the Native American stuff, please don't leave us hanging.  Don't give us too much credit either. 

Diane Kruger plays Ben's ex-girlfriend (almost everyone has an ex in this film), Abigail.  She is not one of my favorite actresses.  You can tell that she still has a bit of a German accent when she talks, and some of the words she said have the emphasis on the wrong syllable.  She also has a sort of lifeless way to go about her acting.  There is a scene in which Ben is trying to create a diversion by faking a loud argument with Abigail, and Nicolas Cage throws his all into the scene, to the point where he looks a little silly.  Abigail later says she caught on and that's why she became so heated.  I kept thinking that she never did catch on.  "Heated? You call that heated? That was like the silent treatment!" 

The other actors and actresses in the film I don't have a problem with as much.  Nicolas Cage was pretty good in it, as he was the first one, but for me it was definitely no "Moonstruck".  Helen Mirren was good as always and looks wonderful, which was great contrast to Jon Voight, who looked old.  His character seemed less vibrant than in the first film, but not so bland as Diane Kruger's.  Riley (Justin Bartha) breathes some much needed life and laughs into the film, especially when things start to get too heavy.  He was just as good in this film as he was the first film, which I appreciated very much.  Sometimes he was the only part of the scene I thought to be nice and believable. 

Believability (is that a word?) was certainly a struggle for me.  The first one was probably just as ludicrous, but somehow for me it was easier to take.  Maybe we're making too many connections.  In the last movie, everything was still kind of in the same time or period, pre-Revolution and the Revolutionary War.  But here we're connecting Ancient Native Americans to the Revolutionary War to the Civil War to the present.  It still makes my head spin. 

Some moments in this movie are genuinely funny and exciting.  Sometimes it turns to gobblety-gook, and sometimes it is so spelled out for us I thought that the filmmakers must think that we are idiots.  I think that someone, either the editor, the writers, or the director, need to make up their mind about this movie.  What do you want it to be? 

Alyssa's Rating:  C+