Side Effects' plot ended up not being exactly what I had read about. The main character ends up not even being the character played Rooney Mara, but Jude Law (at least I think so, thus why he has top billing and probably also due to his seniority as an actor).
Rooney is Emily, who is anxious that her husband (Channing Tatum) is being released from prison after some creative insider trading. He quickly gets back into old habits which she wants to get away from, and it appears she has had depression in the past for a couple reasons. She tries to commit suicide, bringing her to the attention of a new doctor, Dr. Banks (Jude Law). He is sympathetic and tries to put her on different anti-depression medications, and goes so far as to speak to her old doctor, Dr. Siebert (Catherine Zeta Jones) about her past history, who mentions to him a new drug called Ablixa.
As is (probably) prevalent in the industry, a drug company approaches Dr. Banks and his colleagues to promote a different new drug. Dr. Banks takes this paid endorsement due to various financial needs but is open with his patients about his paid participation when he asks them to go on the test trials. The film shows one patient eagerly taking advantage of having a drug provided free.
Meanwhile, Emily mentions a friend has tried Ablixa with good results, so Dr. Banks, who has tried other drugs like Zoloft for her with no success, prescribes that for her. It is pretty successful in lightening her mood, but the side effects include bouts of sleepwalking where Emily acts out things and has no memory of doing so. During one of these bouts Emily does something tragic, which puts Dr. Banks' reputation in jeopardy. He is pressured to let Emily take the blame for a crime she has committed "due to reasons of insanity" rather than it become known that the drug he prescribed to her as the potential reason for her actions. Although he does sincerely want to help Emily, he bows to the pressure that he is getting from many sides and commits her to a mental health facility under his continued supervision, rather than send her outright to prison.
There are still a lot of gray areas of suspicion about him so Dr. Banks still wants to clear his reputation even though he is not legally blamed. During his own investigation he begins to suspect that Emily is not as innocent as he has been led to believe, and that there has been a conspiracy around him.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Past seven days
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Past seven days
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
I watched...
I watched at least 92 new films in 2012. And on top of that, many more things I've never seen on DVD! How about you, anything to recommend that I missed?
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Albert Nobbs
Anna Karenina
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Being Flynn
Bernie
Brave
Cabin In The Woods
Carnage
Casa Di Mi Padre
Celeste & Jesse Forever
Chinese Takeaway
Chronicle
Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away
Dark Horse
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Django Unchained
Fat Kid Rules The World
Flowers Of War
For Greater Glory
Frankenweenie
Game Change
Get The Gringo
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance
God Bless America
Haywire
Hemingway And Gelhorn
Here Comes The Boom
Hit & Run
Hitchcock
Hyde Park On Hudson
In The Family
Intouchables
Jeff Who Lives At Home
John Carter Of Mars
Joint Body
Joyful Noise
Killer Joe
Last Ride
Les Miserables
Liberal Arts
Lincoln
Lockout
Lola Versus
Man On A Ledge
Mirror, Mirror
Moonrise Kingdom
Nobody Walks
Not Fade Away
Paranormal Activity 4
ParaNorman
Playing For Keeps
Premium Rush
Rampart
Red Lights
Red Tails
Robot and Frank
Safety Not Guaranteed
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Seeking Justice
Seven Psychopaths
Silver Linings Playbook
Sinister
Skyfall
Snow White And The Huntsman
Sparkle
Step Up: Revolution
The Avengers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Bourne Legacy
The Five Year Engagement
The Grey
The Hobbit
The Hunger Games
The Lorax
The Pirates: Band Of Misfits
The Raid: Redemption
The Secret World Of Arrietty
The Sessions
The Vow
This American Life Live: The Invisible Made Visible
Total Recall
Trishna
Trouble With The Curve
Woman In Black
Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The Seventh Day
Won’t Back Down
Your Sister’s Sister
Zero Dark Thirty
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Albert Nobbs
Anna Karenina
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Being Flynn
Bernie
Brave
Cabin In The Woods
Carnage
Casa Di Mi Padre
Celeste & Jesse Forever
Chinese Takeaway
Chronicle
Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away
Dark Horse
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Django Unchained
Fat Kid Rules The World
Flowers Of War
For Greater Glory
Frankenweenie
Game Change
Get The Gringo
Ghost Rider 2: Spirit Of Vengeance
God Bless America
Haywire
Hemingway And Gelhorn
Here Comes The Boom
Hit & Run
Hitchcock
Hyde Park On Hudson
In The Family
Intouchables
Jeff Who Lives At Home
John Carter Of Mars
Joint Body
Joyful Noise
Killer Joe
Last Ride
Les Miserables
Liberal Arts
Lincoln
Lockout
Lola Versus
Man On A Ledge
Mirror, Mirror
Moonrise Kingdom
Nobody Walks
Not Fade Away
Paranormal Activity 4
ParaNorman
Playing For Keeps
Premium Rush
Rampart
Red Lights
Red Tails
Robot and Frank
Safety Not Guaranteed
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Seeking Justice
Seven Psychopaths
Silver Linings Playbook
Sinister
Skyfall
Snow White And The Huntsman
Sparkle
Step Up: Revolution
The Avengers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Bourne Legacy
The Five Year Engagement
The Grey
The Hobbit
The Hunger Games
The Lorax
The Pirates: Band Of Misfits
The Raid: Redemption
The Secret World Of Arrietty
The Sessions
The Vow
This American Life Live: The Invisible Made Visible
Total Recall
Trishna
Trouble With The Curve
Woman In Black
Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The Seventh Day
Won’t Back Down
Your Sister’s Sister
Zero Dark Thirty
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Past seven days
You know when you're sick and you just want a comforting bowl of chicken soup? I'm that way with what I choose to watch. So instead of something new and challenging during this cold I've got, I go for something comfortable that I've seen before. Just a way to say I haven't watched much that is new this week:
Below
Caught on a Train
On the Road
Below
Caught on a Train
On the Road
Thursday, January 10, 2013
2013 Oscar Nominations
Oscar nominations are out! What are your personal picks? Here are mypicks of several of the major categories.
XX-my picks
OO--what I think Oscar will pick
Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln--OO
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty--XX
Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln--OO
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild--XX
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln--XX/OO
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty--XX
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible--OO
Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master--XX
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln--OO
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln--XX
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables--OO
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Original Screenplay
Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal--XX/OO
Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin--XX
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner--OO
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Foreign Language Film
Amour, Austria--OO
Kon-Tiki, Norway
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark--XX
War Witch, Canada
Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague--XX/OO
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man
XX-my picks
OO--what I think Oscar will pick
Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln--OO
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty--XX
Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln--OO
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild--XX
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln--XX/OO
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty--XX
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible--OO
Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master--XX
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln--OO
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln--XX
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables--OO
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Original Screenplay
Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal--XX/OO
Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin--XX
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner--OO
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Foreign Language Film
Amour, Austria--OO
Kon-Tiki, Norway
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark--XX
War Witch, Canada
Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague--XX/OO
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Past seven days
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Paper Heart
Filmed in a documentary style although largely fictional.
Real life 20-something comedienne Charlyne Yi (I have no idea who she is though) is bummed because she hasn't experienced real romantic love, and feels she is incapable of doing do. She attempts to understand this by making a documentary, examining her feelings and hearing others' stories about their own experience with true love.
Along the way she interviews much-in-love couples of varying ages and types, as well as friends and strangers. Interspersed throughout the movie are a few puppet scenes that illustrate a story someone is telling about their love match (the puppetry is pretty amateur though). She also meets Michael Cera (the actor playing himself) at a party and he seems to be attracted to her (his vocation is not mentioned much in the film and doesn't seem intrusive in their life). While it is "unplanned," the film continues to document their "relationship," and although Charlyne is hesitant to start anything romantic and even more hesitant to have it onscreen, the relationship does blossom. At times her friend/documentarian coerces her and Michael to do things for the camera that they don't want to do or are not true to life. This kind of intrusion eventually leads Michael to end the relationship. Charlyne tries to re-examine things and repair the relationship, even if ends up a friendship and not a romance.
Real life 20-something comedienne Charlyne Yi (I have no idea who she is though) is bummed because she hasn't experienced real romantic love, and feels she is incapable of doing do. She attempts to understand this by making a documentary, examining her feelings and hearing others' stories about their own experience with true love.
Along the way she interviews much-in-love couples of varying ages and types, as well as friends and strangers. Interspersed throughout the movie are a few puppet scenes that illustrate a story someone is telling about their love match (the puppetry is pretty amateur though). She also meets Michael Cera (the actor playing himself) at a party and he seems to be attracted to her (his vocation is not mentioned much in the film and doesn't seem intrusive in their life). While it is "unplanned," the film continues to document their "relationship," and although Charlyne is hesitant to start anything romantic and even more hesitant to have it onscreen, the relationship does blossom. At times her friend/documentarian coerces her and Michael to do things for the camera that they don't want to do or are not true to life. This kind of intrusion eventually leads Michael to end the relationship. Charlyne tries to re-examine things and repair the relationship, even if ends up a friendship and not a romance.
Free event: My Mexican Shivah
Morirse esta en Hebreo (My Mexican Shivah)
Tuesday, January 8, 2012
6:00 p.m.
UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)
350 W. Erie Street
This comedy Mexican Jews who have to perform shivah, a funeral/death rite, when one of them dies. Many of the deceased’s friends and family gather to see him off, but they are all petty and selfish with their own agendas for being there. Meanwhile, two Jewish “angels” watch over them, adding up points for and against the deceased, to see where he will end up, in heaven or hell.
I was hoping this would show me some cultural differences or show the mix of these two cultures I haven’t seen together before. The comedy tends to instead show stereotyped characters such as that Hispanics are lovers and Jews are money grubbers. Here and there were interesting characters or a small storyline that was interesting.
Tuesday, January 8, 2012
6:00 p.m.
UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)
350 W. Erie Street
This comedy Mexican Jews who have to perform shivah, a funeral/death rite, when one of them dies. Many of the deceased’s friends and family gather to see him off, but they are all petty and selfish with their own agendas for being there. Meanwhile, two Jewish “angels” watch over them, adding up points for and against the deceased, to see where he will end up, in heaven or hell.
I was hoping this would show me some cultural differences or show the mix of these two cultures I haven’t seen together before. The comedy tends to instead show stereotyped characters such as that Hispanics are lovers and Jews are money grubbers. Here and there were interesting characters or a small storyline that was interesting.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Free event: The Awful Truth
This is a screwball comedy starring veterans Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. They are a married couple who think the other is unfaithful.
The Awful Truth
Monday, January 7, 2013
8:00 p.m.
Transistor
3819 N. Lincoln Avenue
The Awful Truth
Monday, January 7, 2013
8:00 p.m.
Transistor
3819 N. Lincoln Avenue
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The Quare Fellow
This film is based on a play by Irish playwright Brendan Behan. Often when we think of prison films, it is most likely from the prisoner's point of view. In The Quare Fellow, the story is about a young idealistic prison guard. The film appears to take place over only a few days.
Patrick McGoohan is the main character, Tommy Crimmin. On his first day at work, he is full of zeal and sees his job as one of protection, pretty much black and white as to what he is there to do. He is a little naïve, being a country boy from rolling Irish hills.
It's evident early on in the film that the story has something to do with capital punishment, as there is a man in the solitary cell having a hearty meal, and discussion that the doctor has to make sure the prisoner is healthy before he is executed.
There are two men waiting to be executed. Tommy meets the wife of one of them (Sylvia Syms, who forgets her Irish accent for most of the film), and she feels that she has somehow caused her husband to be in this position. But she is also quite hardened to her predicament.
Although McGoohan doesn't appear that young (he was 34 when he did this), his character of Tommy is naïve and gets tricked/taken advantage of by prisoners (teasing, not really malice), which gives the film a bit of humor (just a bit, it's quite depressing otherwise). Also there is no training, Tommy is just thrown into the job on his first day, although there is a helpful older guard (sympathetically acted by Walter Macken). They discuss whether each "believes in" capital punishment.
Through his witnessing the wife's behavior and guilt, whom he sympathizes too much with, and his own experiences at the prison, Tommy eventually is uneasy about the execution. Character by character, we see how others are affected too.
Patrick McGoohan is the main character, Tommy Crimmin. On his first day at work, he is full of zeal and sees his job as one of protection, pretty much black and white as to what he is there to do. He is a little naïve, being a country boy from rolling Irish hills.
It's evident early on in the film that the story has something to do with capital punishment, as there is a man in the solitary cell having a hearty meal, and discussion that the doctor has to make sure the prisoner is healthy before he is executed.
There are two men waiting to be executed. Tommy meets the wife of one of them (Sylvia Syms, who forgets her Irish accent for most of the film), and she feels that she has somehow caused her husband to be in this position. But she is also quite hardened to her predicament.
Although McGoohan doesn't appear that young (he was 34 when he did this), his character of Tommy is naïve and gets tricked/taken advantage of by prisoners (teasing, not really malice), which gives the film a bit of humor (just a bit, it's quite depressing otherwise). Also there is no training, Tommy is just thrown into the job on his first day, although there is a helpful older guard (sympathetically acted by Walter Macken). They discuss whether each "believes in" capital punishment.
Through his witnessing the wife's behavior and guilt, whom he sympathizes too much with, and his own experiences at the prison, Tommy eventually is uneasy about the execution. Character by character, we see how others are affected too.
Past seven days
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