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Tag Archives: Liev Schreiber

Spotlight

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 53 Comments

Tags

2010's, Based on a true story, Brian d'Arcy James, Drama, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Spotlight, Stanley Tucci, Tom McCarthy

Film Title

Spotlight

Director

Tom McCarthy

Starring

  • Michael Keaton as Walter “Robby” Robinson
  • Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes
  • Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer
  • Liev Schreiber as Marty Baron
  • John Slattery as Ben Bradlee Jr.
  • Brian d’Arcy James as Matt Carroll
  • Stanley Tucci as Mitchell Garabedian

Gripping, intelligent and thought-provoking, Spotlight is based on the Boston Globe’s team of investigative journalists(known as Spotlight) in 2001 and their exposing through a year-long investigation of widespread child molestation and cover ups within the Catholic Church. Unshowy yet hard-hitting due to its attention to detail and refusal to exploit the source material, Spotlight is a film that really provokes your thoughts and shows the work of those bringing these horrifying events into the open.

The year is 2001 and the Boston Globe has a new editor in the form of Marty Baron. Something of an outsider in the predominately Catholic Boston area, the Jewish Marty is softly spoken yet very decisive. It is upon arriving that he enlists the expertise of the Spotlight team, who specialises in cases that require long and in-depth investigations. Spotlight Movie PosterThe team comprises of main boss Walter “Robby” Robinson, Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, Matt Carroll and overseeing managing editor Ben Bradlee Jr. After reading an article about lawyer Mitchell Garabedian who is representing a client in a case that says that the highest reaches of the Church in Boston knew of child abuse and did nothing, instead moving the priest to another parish, Marty has the team take a look at the potential story. The team is initially reluctant to investigate due to the readership being mainly Catholic, but go about the investigation nonetheless. The team in the beginning thinks that the case is just about one priest, but through their diligence and digging, they begin to uncover darker territory. Continuing to dig, through help from Garabedian, the attempts to unseal classified documents and testimonies of those who were the victims of molestation, they discover that over 80 priests molested children throughout the decades and the Church covered up their crimes by turning the other way. SpotlightShocked by their findings, the team becomes more determined to break the story and continue their search for the truth. Fighting political opposition and the Church trying it’s best to stop any story getting out to the public, it’s up to Robby and his team to break the silence on decades worth of systemic abuse and cover ups and bring the story into the light so that nothing like it ever happens again.

Now the first thing to commend Spotlight on is its treatment of the difficult subject matter. Rather than just over-embellish the story and become histrionic, it presents the events uncovered by the eponymous team with a documentary like precision. Tom McCarthy succeeds in making the film as authentic as possible and not making the horrifying findings that the team unearthed in any way sensationalized. Spotlight CastThere is a degree of respect that he keeps with Spotlight that does the subject matter justice and reveals the whole extent of the cover ups and abuse that happened throughout the decades. McCarthy wisely doesn’t use any stylistic flourishes as this is a story were the facts take precedence over that and to have overdone visuals would be wholly out-of-place and just wrong. Instead, Spotlight presents things in a gripping and powerful way that illuminates the fight for justice and the desire to bring forth the truth so it is never forgotten. The main characters in the film aren’t presented as fame-hungry opportunists trying to climb the ladder, but genuine, soulful people who cared about the story, telling it right and bringing it out in the open to expose the horror within the trusted organisation of the Church. It’s quite refreshing, due to the setting of the movie, to not see a lot of technology. Too often in movies now, there is a huge overuse of technology that often mars movies. Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams SpotlightThere is the odd computer in Spotlight(yet it is not on par with today’s ones and neither should it be), but the focus is all on the note-taking, digging and legwork that went into the investigation and the impact it has it presenting the facts is deeply felt. A score that quietly builds and doesn’t overly intrude is well used throughout Spotlight as the investigation gains momentum and it is reflected in the gathering pace of the music.

The cast of Spotlight is an excellently assembled ensemble who burrow into their parts and create performances of naturalism and authenticity. Michael Keaton excels in his portrayal of the head of Spotlight Robby. He brings out a steel and drive to this man with little subtle things he does. Yet we can also sense an inner struggle that you can’t quite put your finger on that is effectively shown by Keaton.Mark Ruffalo Spotlight Mark Ruffalo brought a whole lot of emotion to the role of Michael with his determination growing as the horror of events opens up and his heart on his sleeve personality. His cry about how shocked he is about what the scale of abuse and the cover ups is a genuinely moving bit of acting that really makes an impact. I can see why he is up for a Best Supporting Actor award because his performance is really phenomenal. The same goes for Rachel McAdams, who is also up for an Oscar for her work as the compassionate Sacha. Her performance is one of nuance and sympathy as she talks to the victims and with her humility and warmth, helps them open up about their traumatic experiences. Liev Schreiber is authoritative and deeply intelligent as the new editor Marty, who is the person who puts the Spotlight team onto the story as he believes it needs to be told. John Slattery as the managing editor and Brian d’Arcy James as one of the group are equally as impressive as the rest of the cast. Stanley Tucci SpotlightStanley Tucci is marvellous as the lawyer who is representing many of the abuse victims and who prefers to work alone. Tucci just exudes the dogged desire to do right by these people and eventually he works with the eponymous team to help with the story.

Well-paced, superbly acted and mightily powerful in the true story it tells, Spotlight is one movie that triumphs, not due to sensationalism or distortion, but by the seriousness, authenticity and commitment with which it is told.

 

Scream 3

10 Monday Nov 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

2000's, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Deon Richmond, Emily Mortimer, Horror, Jenny McCarthy, Lance Henriksen, Liev Schreiber, Matt Keeslar, Neve Campbell, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Scream 3, Wes Craven

Film Title

Scream 3

Director

Wes Craven

Starring

  • Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
  • Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
  • David Arquette as Dewey Riley
  • Parker Posey as Jennifer Jolie
  • Scott Foley as Roman Bridger
  • Patrick Dempsey as Mark Kincaid
  • Lance Henriksen as John Milton
  • Matt Keeslar as Tom Prinze
  • Jenny McCarthy as Sarah Darling
  • Emily Mortimer as Angelina Tyler
  • Deon Richmond as Tyson Fox
  • Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary

The third entry into the original Scream Trilogy, Scream 3 doesn’t meet the standards set by the first Scream and second film. Yet it does wrap the series up with some witty humour and genuine scares. Scream 3 may be the weakest of the bunch as it falls into the trap of many horror clichés that the other films so greatly lampooned, but it does have some merits that make it enjoyable including the acting and suspense.

In the opening scenes, we see Cotton Weary has now become a major celebrity with his own talk show. As he is driving home one night after filming a cameo in the latest ‘Stab’ movie, he is contacted by none other than Ghostface who proceeds to kill his girlfriend. When Cotton arrives, he is beaten by Ghostface, who asks where Sidney Prescott is. Scream 3 posterRefusing to answer, Cotton is stabbed to death. Sidney, since the events of Scream 2 has isolated herself in the Californian mountains under tight security, hoping to escape the nightmares of her past encounters with Ghostface. Meanwhile, reporter Gale Weathers is drawn into the investigation of Cotton’s death after a photograph of Sidney’s mother is found near his body. It seems the killer has his own agenda by targeting the stars of the latest ‘Stab’ movie in the order in which the die in the script and an interest in drawing Sidney out of her cocoon with some revelations about her late mother. Reuniting with Dewey, Gale begins to investigate the relevance of Maureen Prescott’s pictures with the added help of Jennifer Jolie, the flighty actress playing Gale Weathers in the ‘Stab’ flick. As the body count begins to pile up, Sidney realises she must break out of her isolation and once more face off with Ghostface in order to rid herself of the pain he has caused her. Sidney Prescott Scream 3Yet as we are told via Randy’s video message, with this being a trilogy all bets are off and the usual rules of the horror movie have now been turned upside down.

As I previously mentioned, Scream 3 does not match the heights of the film before it. Part of this is due to the script, which for the first time isn’t written by Kevin Williamson. Whereas he managed to balance the horror and the humour, this one features too much comedy in it and the film suffers as a result. The descent into horror conventions is also a downside as the characters in the past two movies where self-aware of these and mocked them. At least we have Wes Craven’s direction which helps to create many suspenseful moments including a haunting scene in which the isolated Sidney dreams of her mother dressed in ghostly white, who warns that everything she touches dies. Adding to the suspense of the picture is once again the gothic score of morose chanting and slithering drums.

For all of its flaws, at least we have the talented principal cast to fall back on. Neve Campbell once again brings strength and underlying vulnerability to the role of Sidney, who realises that to exorcise her nightmares she must do battle with Ghostface. We see the growth of Sidney in this film and how she can now capably defend herself when threatened with her mind as well as her fists. Courteney Cox shows how Gale has softened but still can’t resist getting her hands on the latest news scoop. She has excellent chemistry with David Arquette as Dewey as the two quietly resume their romance whilst overcoming obstacles. Out of the newer cast, Parker Posey steals the show as Jennifer Jolie, who believes she is better than the real Gale Weathers and has interesting ways of getting into character. She is funny and fawning with her over the top remarks and highly strung personality that really give the film a jolt of much-needed humour. The rest of the supporting cast, which includes Patrick Dempsey, Jenny McCarthy and Emily Mortimer are unfortunately lumbered with uninteresting roles and are purely there to be the victims of Ghostface. Even Liev Schreiber who played Cotton so well in Scream 2 is murdered within 10 minutes of the film starting.

So all in all, Scream 3 doesn’t make as much of an impact as the first two movies. But saying that it does have some effective scares and performances that manage to wrap up the trilogy in a good but not great way.

Scream 2

08 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 38 Comments

Tags

1990's, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Elise Neal, Horror, Jada Pinkett, Jamie Kennedy, Jerry O'Connell, Laurie Metcalf, Liev Schreiber, Neve Campbell, Omar Epps, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Scream 2, Timothy Olyphant, Wes Craven

Film Title

Scream 2

Director

Wes Craven

Starring

  • Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
  • Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
  • David Arquette as Dewey Riley
  • Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks
  • Jerry O’Connell as Derek
  • Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary
  • Timothy Olyphant as Mickey
  • Elise Neal as Hallie
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cici Cooper
  • Laurie Metcalf as Debbie Salt
  • Jada Pinkett as Maureen Evans
  • Omar Epps as Phil Stevens

Following on from the first Scream movie, Scream 2 is a sequel that doesn’t diminish the impact of the first. Rather it expands on the greatness of the first by fleshing out the characters, making the deaths more elaborate and poking fun at the usual run of bad sequels that follow on from a successful horror movie.

Two years after the gruesome events at Woodsboro, survivor Sidney Prescott is now a college student who is trying to put the pain behind her and start again. Scream 2 posterThis seems to be going relatively well as she is still good friends with movie nerd Randy, has new best friends in the form of funny Hallie and film lover Mickey and a sensitive boyfriend named Derek. She is even excelling at acting and her first production is coming up very soon. This attempt at letting go of the past is shattered by the news of two murders by someone in a Ghostface costume at the screening of ‘Stab’, a movie based on the book by Woodsboro survivor and newswoman Gale Weathers. Sidney Prescott Scream 2The media turn its attentions to the college and Sidney as the body count begins to rise. On top of this, Cotton Weary( the man Sidney accused of murdering her mother) arrives on the scene looking for fame and forgiveness from Sidney. With a  copycat killer beginning to replicate the past murders committed by Ghostface, Sidney is still very much the target for the twisted psychopath’s sinister games. Banding together with returning police officer Dewey and the opportunistic Gale, she must once again do battle with Ghostface if she wants to survive the brutal events that surround her. But who can Sidney really trust as the killer continues to strike in increasingly brutal ways? Witty in jokes on sequels, a much higher body count and believable characters make Scream 2 a worthy sequel.

Wes Craven continues to direct with assurance and atmosphere as well as capturing the post-modern ideas of film sequels and the expectations. The satiric script complements this by upping the stakes in terms of the gore and violence in the film, whilst commenting on the debate surrounding whether we are too easily influenced by violence in the media. Ironically, a key scene involves film students discussing the declining qualities of horror sequels. Scream 2 thankfully doesn’t fall into this category because of its mix of dark laughs, elaborate deaths and commendable work from the cast. Whilst the dark humour is kept intact, the horror is perfectly balanced with it and generates some chilling sequences and a genuine shock or two. Scream 2 Gale chaseThese include Sidney performing Cassandra as part of her acting major and being stalked by someone who resembles Ghostface and Gale trying to evade the killer in a pulse-pounding chase by hiding in a recording studio as he gets closer and closer. The score once again is an eerie listen with melancholy percussion and strings capturing Sidney’s fear of everything starting again and the resilience she must use to face her enemy the second time around.

Neve Campbell contributes another impressive performance as the heroine Sidney. We see how strong she has become since her first encounter with Ghostface but also the hints of vulnerability that lie beneath the surface. Campbell imbues Sidney with a very human quality that makes her a relatable heroine thrust into these brutal circumstances and trying to find the best way to survive it. Courteney Cox is similarly effective as Gale, who for all her ruthless ambition is actually quite scared underneath it all. Her budding romance with Dewey is a highlight as they bicker with one another but can’t deny the spark. David Arquette is earnestly charming as Dewey, who now walks with a pronounced limp following his almost fatal encounter with Ghostface in the first movie. Jamie Kennedy yet again provides trivia and movie lingo as the lovable Randy, whilst Liev Schreiber is suitably menacing and fame hungry as Cotton Weary. Timothy Olyphant and Elise Neal both make impression in their roles as two of Sidney’s college friends and Jerry O’Connell is sensitive as Sidney’s new boyfriend Derek. Sarah Michelle Gellar has a small but memorable role as the gorgeous sorority sister menaced by Ghostface. Laurie Metcalf is twitchy and fawning as the news reporter Debbie Salt who idolizes Gale. Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps are the two students whose graphic deaths spark the media circus.

Satirical and bloody in equal measure, Scream 2 is proof that sequels don’t necessarily herald the death of a franchise.

 

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