Recently in Vera Farmiga Category

Directed by Wayne Kramer. Starring Paul Alexander, Vera Farmiga, Cameron Bright, Johnny Messner, Ivana Milicevic, Chazz Palmentieri, Bruce Altman, Elizabeth Mitchell, Karel Roden, David Warshofsky. Action/Drama.

 Synopsis:An intense thriller about a a low level organized crime member who doesn't follow his instructions to dispose of a gun used in the murder of a dirty police officer, and then the same weapon is used by a child, who is the friend of his own son, to shoot the child's father. A race against time to find the child and the weapon follows as the man's family is in danger as he attempts to find the child and the incriminating weapon, coming into conflict with his own crime family, the Russian mafia, honest cops, and another dirty cop.

Well, this one is really something. By that, I mean, like it or not, anyone who watches this film can probably say that they have not seen too many-if any-other filsm quite like it. It deals with a story and issues that we are familiar enough with: organized crime, crooked cops, bad guys who are likable...but its the way that the story is told that will probably make everyone sit up and take notice.

The film is fast moving, hare hitting, gritty, and does not shy away from dealing directly with some of its more sensitive issues. The videography is stunning: graphic, with a unique use of special effects employed throughout. I don't think its so much that any special effect you will see here is something that the active movie fan hasn't seen before....again, its the combination of effects and the way they are deployed that is unique. Seeing the bullets fly (and there are many) in slow motion from different angles, both exit and entry wounds, was something that I found to be unqiue.

Make no mistake, this is a violent film, but the violence is not gratuitous. If you allow yourself to get into the story, you will find yourself cheering for the purveyors of some of the violence, even when it comes from a "bad guy". (or gal)(or kid)

The story starts off with all of the subtlety of an earthquake, as we find the protagonist, Joey Gazelle (Paul Mitchell) doinig a deal with his organized crime superiors and members of another drug group. Suddenly, they are "hit" by several masked intruders looking to steal the bundles of cash layng around the room. In exciting, if slightly unrealistic fashion, Joey and his buddies manage to thwart (meaning kill) the masked intruders, and subsequently find ids on their corpses that show the intruders were cops.

Well, Joey is entrusted with the simple task of disposing of the gun that his boss, Perello (Johnny Messner) used to whack a couple of the dirty cops.Simple enough task, but Joey botches it by inexplicably storing it in the basement of his home where his son and his son't best friend, Oleg (Cameron Bright) often play. So, while Joey is enjoying the charms of his loving wife (Vera Farmiga Iron Jawed Angels), Oleg steals away with the gun and uses it later that evening to shoot his abusive, John Wayne obsessed, Russian Mafia, father Anzor (Karel Roden) Fortunately, or unfortunately, Anzor does not die from the shotgun wound and, suddenly, Joey is in a dire situation. He needs to find the gun and the child to dipose of it and the incriminating evidence, but does not want to hurt Oleg, the best friend of his own son (Alex Neuberger).

This already intricate plot becomes more deliciously complicated when a corrupt cop (Chazz Palminteri Analyze This) figures out the real story and sets out to blackmail Joey's bosses if they don't pay him a king's ransom. Add to that the fact that Oleg is not just hiding out somewhere, but moving along the mean streets that finds him in situations such as holding a gun on a street pimp, and finding himself held hostage by a wicked couple (Bruce Altman and Elizabeth Mitchell) which requires a rescue attempt by Gazelle's wife.

Believe me, no review can do the intricacies of the plot justice, and I will not go further for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't seen the film, but I will say that there is a  major twist near the end of the film that will explain some of Joey's clumsy behavior.

The plot, if a little incredulous, if fascinating and will keep you engrossed. The performances of the actors is strong across the board. Walker shows that he can carry an action film from stem to stern. Major characater Farmiga is, simply, wonderful, and Cameron Bright has the gift of being able to play both the "spooky" kid and the "cute" kid in this film. What makes this film so good, in my opinion, as in most films that are very good, is the minor roles or the character actors. Karel Roden as Anzor is so wonderfully wicked and deranged that you have to be impressed with the acting ability as you hate him every minute he is on screen. Chazz Palminteri is fantastic in his relatively brief role as the corrupt cop, but if you have seen him in movies such as Analyze This, that will not surprise you. David Warshofsky as the "mac daddy" pimp is so over the top that you can't help but like him even as you are cheering for him to be whacked. Arthur Nascarello as the senior Perello is so familiarly (Copland, Good Fellas)  nasty as a bad guy that it truly will shock you to learn or remember that he made a career as a real life police officer.

DEserving special mention are Bruce Altman and Elizabeth Mitchell as the disgusting,  child abusing couple that Oleg meets up with during his run from everyone. I promise that you will not forget them.

This film is not for everyone, but if you are even the slightest bit of an action movie fan, or a fan of Walker, Farmiga, or Bright, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't see this movie.        

Directed by Martin Scorsese.  Drama/Action. Starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson.Oscar winner: Best Picture. Best Director. 

Synopsis: The world of high level law enforcement and high level organized crime become inseparable when an undercover state police officer who infiltrates the premier organzed crime family in Boston finds that the target of his work has a law enforcement  source in the same police unit that placed him undercover. 

I've seen this one both in the theater and on DVD and by the time you read this, you will know it has won a well deserved Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director. (Martin Scorsese The Aviator). This, as you may have heard, is an intricate story of the sometimes too close relationship between organized crime and elite law enforcement. Set in Boston, the story traces the reign of mob boss Costello (Jack Nicholson The Pledge, Anger Management) over his South Boston neighborhood and eventually, the city itself. One of the children in the neighborhood that grew up to respect Costello is a young man, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon Courage Under Fire, Bourne Supremacy)  who has just finished his training with the elite Massachusetts State Police (know locally as "the Staties") who remains on the good side of Costello by providing him information even as he moves into the highest level of the State Police investigative department.

Another young man with ties to the neighborhood, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio Gangs of New York, The Basketball Diaries) also goes into the  State Police, only to be recruited into a top secret undercover role in which he is so deep that he is "kicked out" of the State police, sent to prison, and then put into the old neighborhood to get close to Costello. Only two of his superiors know his identity and assignment, his Captain (Martin Sheen The American President, Apocalypse Now)  and Sgt, Dignam (Mark Wahlberg Four Brothers, Boogie Nights) .

So, there you have it, a situation where there is an undercover cop in with the big crime family at the same time the big crime family has a rat in the state police. Scorsese does a wonderful job of giving the characters depth while not slowing down the story at all. The supporting cast is awesome, with the likes of Alec Baldwin (Running with Scissors) and Anthony Anderson (Malibu's Most Wanted) doing turns as cops in the investigative unit.

The standout supporting role, however, goes to Vera Farmiga (Running Scared Down to the Bone) who is the only significant female character who plays the psychologist who is dating Colin Sullivan at the same time she is getting to know her rambuntious patient who is attending his court ordered psychology treatment...you gussed it, Billy Costigan.

No short review can do justice to this film, there is action and twists, believable romance that does not distract from the plot. I won't waste any time or blog space telling you that one of the best actors of all time, Jack Nicholson, was superb.

The only drawback to picking this up on DVD ia that there are, unbelievably, no special features, not even a director's commentary. A shame. But, this flick is more than great enough to make up for that faux pas.  

Add this to your collection as soon as you can.

Directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schrieber, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright, Vera Farmiga, Kimberly Elise. Sci/Fi/Drama.  Synopsis: An Army officer with disturbing dreams after the Gulf War finds that his curious memories of one major incident are exactly the same as other soldiers who were there, particularly one former soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics and is now on the short list for Vice President. But, is the memory real, or was it somehow planted in all of them for political purposes?

My first disclosure is that I have never seen the original of this film, which I know is considered by many to be a classic. Clearly, it is not a complete remake since it is modernized to the present day and the antagonists are not a foreign communist power but a seedy, greedy corporation...named Manchurian.

In this version of the story, a Gulf War combat veteran officer (Denzel Washington Inside Man) is doing public relations for the Army, in particular telling people about the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest. This is of particular relevance because one of the soldiers (Liev Schreiber The Omen) who served under him in Kuwait is no a representative from the State of New York who is a dark horse candidate to land a spot on the presidential ticket in the Vice-President slot.

He also happens to be the son of a very influential and manipulative Senator (Meryl Streep The Devil Wears Prada)  Now, all of this sounds just fine, but some of the other member of the unit who are still alive when their hero comrade makes his run for office realize that they share the exact same memories of that fateful night in Kuwait...and now share the same nightmares all these years later.

As you might predict, Denzel's character is the one who takes it the furthest, coming to believe that he and his fellow soldiers have been the victim of some kind of brain washing experiment, maybe even to put one of them into the White House.

I know this movie did not do as well as expected at the box office, given the Hall of Fame cast and the fact that the original film was such a classic. I don't know, maybe you can't go home again, but I don't think the story is dated in the way we might have thought if it had been released in, say, 1998, when the biggest threat to our security-at least publicly-was seen to be a oversexed Commander in Chief and a loose intern. No, the story is not dated and it works for me, with the required suspension of disbelief.

The performances of the actors is wonderful as you would expect. To me, the definition of "wasting time" is to actually spend minutes on a blog saying that Streep and Washington are outstanding as the leads...what else am I going to "tell" you? That the sun will rise in the East?

Schreiber is real good here, too, and he has to be, since the film really revolves around the viewer feeling some empathy for him, as he is not really the bad guy here. Who is? Well, I'm no spoiler, but I will give a hint to those who have not seen the film. The term "bad guy" should not be taken too literally.

So, I liked it, though I would be interested to hear the views of people who have seen and enjoyed the original with Frank Sinatra. That would be interesting. 

Directed by Katja von Garnier. Hillary Swank, Anjelica Huston, Frances O'Connor, Vera Farmiga, Brooke Smith, Laura Fraser, Julia Ormond, Molly Parker, Patrick Dempsey, Bob Gunton. Drama. Synopsis: A look at some of the young women who were instrumental in the passage of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote throughout the United States

This film is an HBO production that I first saw a couple of years ago and just watched again on DVD for the second time. It is, without question, one of the better movies in a distinguished litany of HBO productions. The movie focuses on a roughly ten year period in the early twentieth century as the long time woman's suffrage (voting rights) movement came to a head and final conclusion with the passage of the 19th amendment. The movie uses several real life characters and, happily, background research shows that it gets the main events and circumstances correct with regard to historical accuracy.

I realize the need for creative license and interpretation in all movies about real life events, and the issue of historical interpretation and ambiguity when it comes to events of which there are no living participants or first hand witnesses when the film is made. Having said that, I still cringe when period piece movies either make up or change known and undisputed historical facts (like Murder in the First).Iron Jawed Angels does not do that and the script writer and director deserve special commendations for that.

The story is laid out with women's rights icon Alice Paul (Hillary Swank Million Dollar Baby) as the protagonist, but the cast is really an ensemble one, and all of the major characters, as well as the minor ones, deliver strong performances. The infinitely likable Frances O'Connor plays Lucy Burns, Alice Paul's historical suffrage partner and the combustible fire behind the aggressive portion of the movement.

The crux of the story is the growing division between the "older" generation of suffragettes, led by Carrie Catt (the wonderful Anjelica Huston Gardens of Stone) and the "younger", more militant faction led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. The older faction still held onto the old way of gaining ground, trying to win the vote for women on a state by state basis (with the Western states leading the way), a strategy that had led to 9 of the 48 states enfranchising women by 1912, the start of the movie. The younger faction advocated more aggressive action, more direct political attack on President Wilson, and, most importantly, a constitutional amendment. Of course, as with any historical movie in which we know the outcome, we can guess that the two factions ultimately come together, if not personally but in ultimate success. (The movie does a good job of dealing with the generation gap between the two factions as the real point of contention without laboring the point)

Other strong characters who you will like in the film include the real life Doris Stevens (Laura Fraser, a Isabelli Rosselini lookalike) and Mabel Vernon (Brooke Smith, who is so good at immersing herself into a character that I actually did not believe the Bible of movie info, imdb.com, when I realized that she played the surviving kidnap victim in Silence of the Lambs).The beautiful Julia Ormond plays real life Inez Milholland, the literal face of the more militant movement.  Two other main characters who I was not able to verify as real life-I'm not saying they weren't- are Vera Farmiga's (Running Scared, In Tranzit) Ruth Wiesczelaw and Molly Parker's Emily Leighton, who plays the wife of previously anti-suffrage Senator Tom Leighton, a women who is disinterested in politics and the world initially and, of course, ultimately becomes invaluible to the movement. If these two are composite of fictional characters, they certainly fit the bill as representing the nameless rank and file women who were crucial with their support: Farmiga's representation of the working class immigrant woman and Parker's "society" woman who, on the face of things as they were viewed in the early twentieth century, had no real reason to be so driven to gain the vote but did.

Another thing I liked about this story is that it paid tribute, albeit briefly, to other important issues and historical figures, such as Ida B. Wells, the African American civil rights hero, and the issue of the role of black women in the movement, and Fiorello LaGuradia, future mayor of New York and namesake of the airport so many of us are familiar with, and the homage to historical figures who were not at the forefront of this movement, but supported it anyway.

Happily, this is a female character driven serious film, a relative rarity especially when you consider that women are the majority of the world's population. It would have been easy to cop out and tell this story through the eyes of the politicians and make them the heroes, but Angels does not do that, sparing us the irritating fiction of seeing politicians who came on board only when it was politically expedient to do so as the heroes, while ignoring the people who risked love, freedom, and their lives to make it happen. We've seen enough of that crap in historical movies, such as the many films that appallingly portray FBI agents as the heroes of the civil rights movement. (Sorry if that is just a little too much personal opinion for this otherwise completely subjective review)

The only two main male characters in the film, Bob Weissman (Patrick Dempsey Outbreak) and President Woodrow Wilson (Bob Gunton Glory) are good in their relatively brief screen time. Dempsey as Alice Paul's love interest, shown only as an example of the choice and sacrifices made by the leader of the movement, not as a diversion from the real story. Bob Gunton is good, as usual, in his customary role as the man we love to hate-or at least dislike- as President Wilson.

Some might criticize the music and style of this film, modern, upbeat music and fast cuts set to a period piece. I was also surprised hen watching the movie, but it works, in my opinion. Now, I'm not advocating that all period pieces follow suit, I don't know that I want to hear JayZ or 50 Cent in the next movie I see about the Civil War, but it works here, as I think the youthful modern angle is key to this vision of the story. Remember, these young women were the militant, youthful, and modern thinking actors of one hundred years ago. I think showing it with similar music and style from our perspective in the 21st century helps us understand that.

Finally, no discussion of this film should be done without mention of the scene in which the last vote in the last state needed to ratify the amendment came down to one young politician (representing a largely anti-suffrage constituency) who changed his vote from anti-suffrage to pro because-and this is true-he received word from his mother to do so and he believed a good man always listens to his mother. Wonderful!!

And, again, done in such a way as to not make him the real hero.

Simply, an excellent film.