Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh
Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Millions, The Beach, Shallow Grave); Written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later…, The Beach)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
Rated R
Tagline: "If the sun dies, so do we."
Plot Summary: A group of scientists are on a mission to fly a powerful atomic bomb into the heart of the dying sun, but their mission quickly goes awry as they find the remains of a previous attempt at the same mission.
Of Note: Danny Boyle reunites with Cillian Murphy, the breakout star of his hit 28 Days Later…
I'm an unrepentant lifetime Danny Boyle addict, because even when he falters, which some might say was the case with The Beach and A Life Less Ordinary, he still creates the type of cinematic coup that few filmmakers can match. Sunshine is his first foray into the science fiction genre, and though it might not be what some might be expecting, there's something to say about how it greatly adds to his filmography by venturing into new territory with this movie. It's not science fiction in the "Star Wars" action vein, but it's more of a character-driven space epic, the type of creepy outer space thriller that culminated with "Alien", and it features a terrific cast of characters/actors including Cillian Murphy, reuniting with Boyle after "28 Days Later." (It also stars the Human Torch, Chris Evans, in a rare dramatic role, and he's really good in this!) If you read my review linked above, you'll see that I do have a few issues with the movie, particularly the last act, but I really thought this was a very unique take on the type of sci-fi premise we've seen many times before, and Boyle really has pulled out the stop with the movie in terms of visuals with filmmaking techniques that we haven't seen used before. That's really what's so amazing about Boyle as a filmmaker and why so many cinephiles and movie buffs love his movies, and it's not likely to be disappointed by "Sunshine" even when it turns into a bizarro slasher flick. Oddly, Fox Searchlight is opening this movie in a few cities this weekend with plans to open nationwide next weekend.
Also in Limited Release:
Cashback (Magnolia) - British filmmaker Sean Ellis expands upon his Oscar nominated short film of the same name about Ben Willis, an insomniac art student (Harry Potter's Sean Biggerstaff) who takes a night job at a local supermarket and falls for the checkout girl.
Mini-Review: There's more than a bit of irony to Sean Ellis' expansion of his Oscar-nominated short opening this weekend because the influence that Danny Boyle has had on this first-time filmmaker is fairly blatant. Sadly the rest of the movie isn't nearly as good as Ellis' original short, being little more than a series of vignettes masquerading as a feature film, but it's fairly plotless with no solid beginning, middle and end. The main character Ben is such a loser—imagine the character from "Art School Confidential" with a British accent--that one wonders how he was able to pull such a hot girlfriend as Michelle Ryan, but it's really just a plot device to set up his insomnia to get him working at the market. From there, it's essentially the short, which is like "Office Space" in a supermarket and it tends to be all over the place in tone and quality with the childhood coming-of-age flashbacks being the most fun. It's never quite clear how Ben is able to stop time with his mind, but you have to give Ellis props for using his photographer credentials to show many scantily-clad and fully nude women. Then again, you can just as easily see these bits by watching the short film, which is readily available on iTunes. In general, the movie tries to be too clever, but it's pretty obvious and silly at times, particularly in an extended soccer sequence which seems to serve very little purpose. Rating: 6/10
David & Layla (NewROZ Films) - Jay Jonroy's political romantic comedy is based on his own journeys as an Iraqi refugee in New York City after having met a Muslim woman in Paris who escaped from Saddam Hussein's Baghdad and fell in love with a Jewish man. It opens at a couple theatres in L.A. on Friday.
Goya's Ghosts (Samuel Goldwyn) - Legendary filmmaker Milos Forman (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) tells a tale set during the Spanish inquisition, examining the relationship between a monk (Javier Bardem), the popular Spanish artist Franscisco de Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) and his model/muse (Natalie Portman) who is imprisoned for fifteen years. Opens in New York and L.A. on Friday.
Review (Coming Soon, hopefully!)
Live-in Maid (Film Sales Company) - This film from Argentina by Jorge Gaggero looks at the relationship between a wealthy divorced woman (played by Argentina's Meryl Streep Norma Aleandro) and her live-in maid, who eventually leaves when she realizes that her mistress can no longer afford to pay her. It opens at New York's Film Forum on Wednesday.
Mini-Review: This simple but effective character drama explores the difference between the classes in urban Argentina through the symbiotic relationship of two very different women. While Norma Aleandro's housemistress is used to living in the lap of luxury, she's fallen on hard times, but her poor maid (Norma Argentina in her first feature film) is forced to live in squalor since she hasn't been paid by her deadbeat boss for months. Still, there's a sense of love and friendship between the two women as their roles are reversed when the head of the household hits rock botton and her former maid starts to find her own way. It's a tragic tale that rarely requires very many words to get its point across, but eventually, it's obvious that the two women need each other, leading to a touching finale. Anyway you slice it, this is a very special film. Rating: 8/10
Your Mommy Kills Animals (Halo-8 Entertainment) - Curt Johnson's in-depth look at the animal rights movement and its battle with a government that's deemed it the #1 domestic threat in the country features an impressive array of celebrity interview subjects including Katherine Heigl, Jessica Biel and many others. (Frankly, I have no idea where this is opening.)
