The Neon Demon

First Hit:  Odd, visually striking, with great electronic music but the direct story was way too twisted.

However, there are depths in this story that are poignant and were interesting. Directly, Jesse (Elle Fanning), is a young girl without parents who comes to LA seeking to be a model. As she states: “I can’t dance, sing, or have any skills, all I have is my looks.” At 16 she’s young, she’s beautiful and everyone who meets her is taken by her presence, innocence, inner strength and beauty.

She quickly rises up in the LA fashion modeling scene, and the other models are jealous. There is a lot of gossipy discussion among the other girls about what work they have had done on their bodies to make themselves look better: Nose jobs, breast augmentation, eye lifts, body augmentations and lots of other things so that they can be the “it” girl and continue to work.

Jesse is naturally beautiful and mesmerizes every clothing designer and photographer she meets. She has become the "it girl". Her innocence and surety of her beauty is profound.

The depth of the film comes with what people will do to be seen as beautiful and how much physical beauty matters. I’m not sure I liked the way it was presented as I was bored at times but it also had a power of drawing me into the main character.

Fanning was very good as the young mid-western girl wanting to live her dream of being a model. Her ethereal beauty and strength were evident and why she was chosen for this part - she was perfect for it. Karl Glusman as Dean a photographer and friend of Jesse was OK, but didn’t bring out a strong dynamic. Jena Malone was very interesting as Jesse’s friend and make-up artist. Her twists are edgy. Bella Heathcote as Gigi the model who will do anything surgically to be the “it” model. Abby Lee was interestingly strong as another model who has some odd eating habits (at the end of the film). Keanu Reeves as the intense somewhat twisted motel manager was a nice turn. Nicolas Winding Refn wrote and directed this oddly twisted film.

Overall:  This film was more odd and interesting than engaging.

Time Out of Mind

First Hit:  An insightful slow paced film that provides an interesting window into homelessness.

The film opens with cornucopia of noise and a view out of a trashed apartment in NYC. The noise continues through the entire film.

The background conversations and noise had me probing the screen looking to see who was talking or where the noise was coming from respectively. It was relentless and for George (Richard Gere) his 10 years of homeless or, being “temporarily without a home”, the noise adds to his inability to be clear and function. At times he’s clear and functional while at other times he succumbs to the fogginess of his despair and confusion.

As the film moved along, I felt as though this film was made by shooting Gere unrecognized wandering the streets and through homeless shelters of NYC. It was as if the cameras were shooting him from a distance and the people in the streets had no idea it was Gere. We learn during the film that his daughter Maggie (Jena Malone) doesn’t want to have anything to do with him and his attempts to see her are rebuffed.

The back story is shared with fellow homeless man Dixon (Ben Vereen). Dixon can’t stop talking which adds to the noise in George’s life. During one of their walks George tells Dixon what he remembers, his wife dying from cancer, his losing his job, drinking, losing his home, his daughter being raised elsewhere and going down a rabbit hole.

The scenes in the shelters and many of them on the street were really strong. When watching this film, one has to be patient as it moves at its own slow pace and everything unfolds slowly and realistically, just as in life.

Gere is really great. I loved his looking intelligent and at home within himself, yet barely holding on to what is next – wonderful juxtapositions. Malone is very good as Gere’s daughter. She has an edge of anger, sadness, and determination to not being dragged into George’s life again. Vereen is fantastic. His constant conscious stream of dialogue is perfectly like some of the homeless people I’ve befriended. Steve Buscemi as a building manager was perfect. Oren Moverman wrote the screen play and also directed the film. At first I was annoyed at the noise in the film, but quickly realized how it really made this film work.

Overall:  At the end of the film, I felt I’d been through a really good experience and got a view into homelessness.

Into the Wild

First Hit: An amazing adventure which touched me in my adventurer’s spirit.

Emile Hirsch does an extraordinary job of capturing the spirit of Christopher McCandless.

It is at the end of the film when Director Sean Penn shows a real life picture of Christopher sitting in front of the bus where he spent more than 100 days do you see how well Emile captured Christopher’s spirit. Their smiles are one and come from that deep joyful place of adventure and spirit.

During the film I counted three times when Emile looks directly at the camera. One is very up front and obvious the other two times are more a little more subtle, however I think this helps to set off the photograph of McCandless at the very end of the film.

The narrative part of the film is handled in two ways: 1) The voice of Jena Malone, Christopher’s sister, and 2) The writings of Christopher which appear on the screen from time to time. Jena’s narration speaks of the family history in which she and Christopher were brought up in. This is an important key to this film and helps the audience understand part of the motivation.

I did find the film a little long; however I was entranced with the scenes with Hal Holbrook who just may receive an Oscar supporting nod for his role.

Overall: This was a very very good film and Sean Penn does an outstanding job with the screenplay and direction of Jon Krakauer’s book.