WORDS AND PICTURES Review- Jonesy's Take

WORDS AND PICTURES

Directed by Fred Schepisi

Written by Gerald Di Pego

Starring: Clive Own and Juliette Binoche

Synopsis: Two teachers develop a budding relationship while battling their own problems and mentoring students at a private high school.

What is more powerful: words or pictures? There's countless arguments for each, and depending on the day, you could fall on either side of the argument. WORDS AND PICTURES attempts to have this discussion through the relationship of two teachers at a private high school.

Jack Marcus (Owen) is a semi-nonconventional English teacher who believes in the power and artistry of the English language. He then meets Dina Delsanto (Binoche), a famous artist who has lost a bit of her stride and takes a job as the new art teacher. The two have a flirty connection from the beginning, and soon create a words vs. pictures war with their students. All the while, they're battling their own personal demons and their growing connection.

The film's strengths lies within the diatribes Owen and Binoche are allowed to go on. They have such screen presence, and it is easy to get sucked in when they monologue about great painters, poets, and authors. The first half of the film is the strongest where we hear the sides of the 'war' and see the relationships between the teachers and the students. Owen ends up completely steals this film. He brings a gravitas to his character, and he's able to make any diatribe about words feel like you're watching a Shakespeare performance.

The later half takes a turn and almost becomes a cliche story. Both Jack and Dina's past troubles come to fruition and in turn, begins to affect their lives in various ways. Unfortunately, this half becomes a bit predictable where you can see the ending coming from a mile away. They try their hardest to transcend the script with their characters, but ultimately, it ends up being rather boring by the end. There was enough substance with the 'war' at school to make the movie somewhat interesting, and it would have been better to keep the focus on the students and teachers.

WORDS AND PICTURES tries hard to be a deep film that will spur discussions, but it gets bogged down by a simple plot structure. There were interesting ideas within the film and great performances, but it's not anything to rush out and see this weekend.

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New GODZILLA Trailer Let's Them Fight!

GODZILLA has been probably the most anticipated movie of the year for me. And now, in what will hopefully be the last trailer before the release, we come to find that the movie will feature more than one huge radioactive monster. The trailer comes via the GODZILLA YouTube channel. Check it out below.

Huge New GODZILLA Trailer Roars

No intro needed here. Just watch the trailer after the break, courtesy of the Godzilla YouTube page. 

GODZILLA Trailer Will Blow You Away

The wait is over. We've had some teasers but now the first official GODZILLA trailer as well as a new poster are here. Thanks to the Godzilla Twitter account and Youtube page, you can check it out below.

New GODZILLA Teaser Will Make You Forget 1998 (Update)

(Edit: It seems that Legendary and Warner Brothers have pulled that clip offline. We'll update this posted when the official one comes out.) 

Despite his place in popular culture as a constant icon in the last 59 years, most people remember Godzilla as a goofy man-in-a-suit. On the same token, most people don't remember that the original GOJIRA was actually a rather somber movie full with some heavy allegory going on. Going off this teaser that was originally shown off during San Diego Comic Con, it seems that Gareth Edwards remembers. Thanks to io9, you can check out the trailer after the break.

New GODZILLA Poster & Viral Site Hint At Awesome Possibilities

As steeped as I have been with my Godzilla project, I am very, very wary of this new adaptation. Questions like "What makes this adaptation so different that it could wash away the ill will from the '98 version?" flow through my head. Part of what makes the Toho movies work at their best is the allegorical aspects of the movie. While still skeptical, thanks to IGN's Comic-Con poster debut, I am becoming a bit more open to the idea. This Godzilla seems to be an update on the old design instead of something that looks as goofy as the '98 version, which, let's face it was awful.

In addition, I came across the site Godzilla Encounter that appears to be the most logo-ridden viral site I've seen in a long time. Today, they posted a teaser that will surely mean we will get footage during Comic-Con. The most interesting thing about this particular post was that it completed a "puzzle" that began with the first post where you see in red letters, the name Serizawa.

Who name Serizawa? He was that B.A.M.F. in the picture above. He had one of the best story arcs in the series and was responsible for creating the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that could be used against Godzilla. Either this is logical or racist, but Ken Watanabe might be playing the good doctor this time around. Between this and the hinted designed of the big guy gives me the impression that this might be an update to the original story set in America. This is all speculation, of course so we'll have to wait until Comic-Con to find out more info.


GODZILLA will be released May 16th, 2014, is directed by Gareth Edwards, and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Bryan Cranston, and Ken Watanabe.


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Director David Cronenberg Does The Impossible, Has Me Excited For A Robert Pattinson Movie In The COSMOPOLIS Teaser

Javi here. No matter what (artistic) crimes to humanity Robert Pattinson has commited, I'm glad that just like Daniel Radcliffe, he is looking to shake off the stigma of being a protagonist in a real famous young adult series. I think that Pattinson has a lot more ground to make up for, which is why I find it interesting that he is pairing up with director David Cronenberg. As a slightly twisted individual, I really dig the darker and sexier movies of Cronenberg's filmography like CRASH and VIDEODROME (at least I find them sexier). Having watched the COSMOPOLIS teaser at least 5 times, I think that the dark/sexy type of Cronenberg movie is the one we will be getting. Today thanks to Twitch via Movies.com, I stumbled across this new COSMOPOLIS teaser trailer. For added classiness, it has French subtititles. Check it out after the break.

Netflix Instant: Cool TV and Movie Picks

Jonesy here for my awesome Netflix Instant picks for the week. All three of these I absolutely enjoy for very different reasons.

Certified Copy

A film in the same category as BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET; a couple meets and spends the day together talking about life, art, and love. However, this cerebral film begins to play with the viewers as we begin to ask questions about the couples relationship. Have they met before? Are they married? Or are they just playing with each other and us. Smart and charming.

Fear

Way before THE FIGHTER or WALK THE LINE, Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon were a couple of kids in love in FEAR. This movie is the typical 90's thriller, and I cannot help but have a soft spot for this cheese. And it has one of my favorite lines of all time, "Nicole 4-eva."

When We Left Earth

At one point in my life, I wanted to be an astronaut. True story. (And I still want to go to Space Camp at some point). This mini-series explores the NASA missions including Ed White's space walk, Apollo 13, and the Challenger tragedy. It's breathtaking, captivating, and awe-inspiring.  

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