The Brothers Bloom

[eternity]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=47144

:pritch:

[Gerbier]

How dare you make new threads noob!

[Pop Trash]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=47144

:pritch:
Eeeehhh I don't know about that one. Sorry Eternity. Then again, I wasn't as into Brick as you were.

[MacGuffin]

Looks terrible.

[Sven]

Ooooo, quirky cute! Bet it sucks.

[D_Davis]

Looks like old Wes Anderson remaking Oceans 11.

[Lucky]

Looks terrible.

Yes, it does. Something about Adrien Brody just bugs me.

[eternity]

Rian Johnson said on his website that he hates how much the trailer misrepresents the film, saying that Summit edited the trailer to make it look like a quirky Oceans 11. So yeah, he doesn't like the trailer.

http://rcjohnso.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1913

[MacGuffin]

saying that Summit edited the trailer to make it look like a quirky Oceans 11.


The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job - showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.

Sounds like a quirky Ocean's Eleven to me.

[eternity]

Sounds like a quirky Ocean's Eleven to me.
I'd look at it as if Hal Ashby directed The Sting, but to each his own.

[Sven]

I'd look at it as if Hal Ashby directed The Sting, but to each his own.

That trailer looks nothing like Hal Ashby.

[Pop Trash]

I'll just rewatch Southland Tales :P

[eternity]

That trailer looks nothing like Hal Ashby.I kind of just ripped that exact line off of Moriarty's review. :|

[Ezee E]

Looks like old Wes Anderson remaking Oceans 11.
This.

Looks horrible though.

[eternity]

"She'll be on the run from imaginary russians."

Yeah.

[DavidSeven]

That looks instantly forgettable. I do hope that this is just a marketing misstep because Brick was fantastic.

[ledfloyd]

i was really excited for this before i saw the trailer.

[Lazlo]

Looks like a blast. Love that cast and I'm a big fan of Brick.

[Bosco B Thug]

I think it looks good, directing/cinematography-wise anyway. Has an old-fashioned feel to it, in not necessarily Wes Anderson-y ways.

[monolith94]

God that cast is just so good, but some of the things in the trailer are just such stereotypical rehashes… and the cinematography strikes me as being more than a bit uninspired. I guess I'll have to think this one over. Maybe I'll sneak into it.

[Ezee E]

My dad saw this and "meh'd" it. Says it's too convoluted, and that the surprise is that Rinko Kikuchi is the best part about the movie.

My mom, to no surprise, enjoyed it. Thought it was funny.

[eternity]

My dad saw this and "meh'd" it. Says it's too convoluted, and that the surprise is that Rinko Kikuchi is the best part about the movie.

My mom, to no surprise, enjoyed it. Thought it was funny.

Well...that certainly isn't bad news!

[[ETM]]

A large part of the film was shot in my country, and my girlfriend knows some of the actors in bit roles (her mother and sister are actresses), so I'll definitely be seeing it. It's funny, actually - Casino Royale takes place in Montenegro, yet not a single shot was done here. I suppose in Brothers Bloom it substitutes other places.:P

[eternity]

They released a bunch of FYC ads for Rachel Weisz for the Golden Globes, but since she didn't get a nomination I guess they decided to pull the plug on 2008. Summit is either the worst studio in Hollywood right now or this is a colossal failure of a film waiting to happen. Dammit, I mean, the delays are going to become Killshot bad in no time.

May 2009. This is awful.

[Sycophant]

Hey, I saw this tonight! Pretty good. Some pacing issues. I had a blast watching Rachel Weisz.

[[ETM]]

Hey, I saw this tonight! Pretty good. Some pacing issues. I had a blast watching Rachel Weisz.

Can't wait to see it.

[Sycophant]

You'll be happy to know there were scenes actually set in Montenegro.

[[ETM]]

You'll be happy to know there were scenes actually set in Montenegro.

Yeah, I was wondering whether they set it here or just used the locations.... awesome. From the trailer I recognized the cafe where the brothers meet, and the small island with the church. They're both in Petrovac.

http://www.petrovacmontenegro.com/images/petrovac-front.jpg
You can just make it out behind that large tree on the dock bottom right.

Here's the island:
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/4233548.jpg
It's very close to the shore.

[trotchky]

I agree about the pacing issues, but the more I think about the film the more minor they seem. I really liked it.

The part where Brody makes a finger gun at his head and we cut to him sitting in front of a giant mural of a guy holding a gun to his head and there's a loud "bang!" as his brother smashes the door (embedded in the gun part of the mural) open is an expert piece of direction.

[eternity]

I'm seeing it tomorrow. You might want to get into the bunker.

[Pop Trash]

I'm seeing it tomorrow. You might want to get into the bunker.

Geez dude, what took you so long?

[eternity]

Geez dude, what took you so long?It finally expanded to a distance less than two hours away. And I've been out of town.

[Pop Trash]

It finally expanded to a distance less than two hours away. And I've been out of town.

Ah, I would've figured you would see this in Paris if you had to.

[eternity]

I didn't find it playing anywhere, and since I knew I'd see it eventually when I got home, I would have figured seeing all the Cannes stuff playing in Paris would have been more worthwhile.

But yeah, like any of you are surprised. What a fucking movie.

[Ezee E]

I didn't find it playing anywhere, and since I knew I'd see it eventually when I got home, I would have figured seeing all the Cannes stuff playing in Paris would have been more worthwhile.

But yeah, like any of you are surprised. What a fucking movie.
You're the first to rave about this. Do explain.

[chrisnu]

You're the first to rave about this. Do explain.
He's the biggest Brick fanboy there is, so that may be something to do with it. I'd still like to hear your thoughts as well, eternity.

[Ezee E]

He's the biggest Brick fanboy there is, so that may be something to do with it. I'd still like to hear your thoughts as well, eternity.
But it looks and feels nothing like Brick from the previews.

[[ETM]]

Give the boy time. Lots of expectations for his review, has to live up to the hype.

[eternity]

There's a ton of spoilers here and if I were you, I'd really see the movie first and then read this, as I think it would probably cheapen a bunch of what the movie accomplishes.

"There's no such thing as an unwritten life, only a badly written one."

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c123/lorenzobongo/BBWeiszHeartsm.jpg

The entirety of the film hinges upon the belief that both cons are artists, and that artists are cons. The film starts off with three, count 'em, three cameos by Brick cast members, playing relatively similar characters as their characters in Brick, but with the entirely different tone that The Brothers Bloom puts on. Noah Segan (Dode) is a much more clean cut version of his character, Nora Zehetner (Laura) still has that cold, frame-stealing presence that made Laura such a great femme fatale, and Joseph-Gordon Levitt (Brendan) just sits in the background, hardly moving a muscle, not even featured in the credits but made obvious that it's him, just idle, much like his character, while he was the main aspect and focus of Brick, to the perception of anyone other than himself, he was quiet and non-noticeable. The film throws these characters out there and throws them out that scene, a send-off from Brick giving us some pseudo-continuity, showing that the style and structure of Brick is thrown out the window and thus Bloom begins.

The excessively contrived nature of both Brick and now The Brothers Bloom, where every little moment seems to have impact in the future, no detail being insignificant, is finally made self-aware through Ruffalo's character, who serves as the manifestation of Johnson as the writer of both films. Stephen Bloom constantly has written their lives and all of their cons, living them all, removing any sort of actual identity. The fascination and knowledge with literature is constantly being expressed, and the initial conflict of the film rests with Bloom (Adrien Brody) wanting "an unwritten life", a thing Stephen mocks.

The way the plot is webbed together is as multifaceted and layered as these cons we witness the brothers pull off, and when the initial meeting of Bloom, the con man, and Penelope (Rachel Weisz), the "epileptic photographer", which the first real conversation they have after all of the awkwardness presented by Weisz, who pulls off this socially inept girl perfectly, centers around her fruit-made pinhole camera, and that the un-duplicatable nature of any artform is a secret within a secret. The con man's art is taking something away from someone without their knowledge, the artist's con is giving something to someone without their knowledge.

As the con upon Penelope unfolds, the con is too clever for it's own good in regards to how the audience is having to perceive it. The amounts of loopholes, tricks, and sheer wit being presented makes all of the Joker's excessive planning and trickery in The Dark Knight seem relatively simple, and it's very easy to believe that Stephen Bloom's web of lies is perfectly realistic, as is Rian Johnson's web of lies in his script. For example, the con of Penelope is that they wittingly reveal to her that they are indeed con men and that they already have conned her of a million dollars, and becomes a member of their crew along with their non-English speaking partner, Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), who has very little dialogue but as she proved in Babel, can convey and have a dominating presence on screen with body language. The level of Stephen's con is incredible in the way that only he in the end understands it, as each con contradicts the other in his master plan where the levels of reality and plotting merge. With this confusion, the incredibly humorous and charming tone that the film takes on is thrown into a loop, bringing us back to the very dark, emotional angsty tone of Brick. As the stroke of the writer's hand in his life is being pulled away, it seems as if the story is being written anyway, and it is. The audience is sometimes in the know of the con while the characters aren't, and sometimes only the characters know while the audience is conned into thinking that the con has ended.

The ending of the film is when any of this begins to matter in the grand scheme, much like how the sum of the parts of Brick would not matter nearly as much if not for the ending's importance. The brothers are eventually double crossed, but Stephen, constantly living the con, cons his brother into believing that this is all a part of the con. Stephen is able to get Penelope and Bloom away to go off in their life. It has to be said that problems do exist with this ending, as instead of the really satisfying reveals of Brick that are foreshadowed feel legitimately shocking and filled with weight, the foreshadowing here tends to be obvious. Lines of dialogue such as "The day I con you is the day I die." and the focus on how fake blood, a common trait of the brothers' act, how it does not turn brown with time as real blood does, and how they are usually stated right after another at least three times during the film, were really sloppily handled in comparison to the entirety of Brick and to the rest of the film. The entire film hinges upon the con of every art being "written", whether written or written badly, every little aspect of the world having to be calculated and consciously made with the intent to make things seem as normal and unwritten as possible. This climax sort of falls in the "written badly" department, as it's the only time when Stephen's con doesn't slip, but Rian's does. That said, the shot of Bloom looking at his brother's blood on his shirt as he and Penelope drive away and seeing it turn brown is really one of the more memorable shots of the year. It carries the emotional weight of Laura walking away down the football field at the end of Brick.

Speaking of cinematography, the two very strong aspects that also felt homegrown are still present in Bloom, being the cinematography and the score. The score is very similar to Brick's with the instruments and homemade sound, while the cinematography borrows some pointers from the Wes Anderson handbook, as the entire style of the film's look and humor is a mix of two Anderson's; Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson. It's a very fresh style that Johnson employs in this film, yet still feeling familiar. The humor is plentiful and there are many laugh out loud moments during the film; unlike Brick, it's incredibly fun. The location shooting is beautiful, though my bias exists even more than the rest of the film, given my understated love for Brick; I was in Prague four days before I saw the film in the exact location that about a half hour of the film takes place. Having pictures on my hard drive right now that nearly match identically some of the shots is quite exciting, walking along the same alleyways of the city square as the characters gave me this excitement that makes me really wish I saw the film before I went. Johnson does as much as he can with the scope of the plot, as a way to makeup for how limited the scope of Brick was. The budget of this film was around $20 million, while Brick was around $500,000, and it shows. The awkward editing that was sometimes a necessity in Brick due to the shoestring approach has now been turned into a style by Johnson, his sudden cuts halfway through an action and during action sequences now work to his advantage as opposed to being a deterrant. The film is absolutely beautiful to look at, as Johnson already made the suburbs of Santa Monica look gorgeous on the cheap, taking advantage of this worldwide scope was very much working to the advantage of the film. The imagery matches the whimsy of Penelope, seeing these places for the first time much like the audience, showing us so many areas of the world in such a short amount of time.

Early in the film, Stephen says to Bloom with the prediction in mind that he would fall in love with Penelope, and he as the grand puppetmaster, the symbolic Mary Sue of Rian Johnson, he was absolutely correct, and while Bloom will want to ride off into the sunset, all sunsets turn into dark, uncertain nights. This line can easily be forgotten by the end of the film, a lot happens in that timespan while not much happens before this point, and Penelope and Bloom drive off into the sunset, and the screen fades to black. The end of Brick ends with Brendan and Brain walking back to normalcy, getting some sleep after the events that sat in front of them through the duration of the film. Then in Bloom, Johnson casually says bye to Brick, as if we will never see it again. That story has ended. However, Bloom and Penelope are still driving after the runtime ends. This kind of Rian Johnson is here to stay, but with much uncertainty as to where he will go. But let it be known, he is no one trick pony, and critical division and terrible release patterns by both Focus on Brick (the PTAs that movie was getting still baffles my mind; they just don't make sense as the film had no major draw that early without WOM) and by Summit with this film. That said, Rian Johnson is one I can definitely call an auteur with a distinctive craft all his own, one that you can't duplicate, but it's all one big con anyway.

[trotchky]

I've been thinking a lot about the multiple possible meanings of the title "Brick" recently.

[eternity]

I've been thinking a lot about the multiple possible meanings of the title "Brick" recently.

Ooh, explain further. I've had a couple alternate theories but have never really expanded upon them in any way other than the obvious one.

[monolith94]

Really enjoyed most of this movie, with the exception of a couple of just-too-implausible parts, and how one character ended up, which didn't really jive with me. Solid, very solid, loved the agile camera.

[ledfloyd]

i didn't like this. it felt like low-rent wes anderson. the story perhaps has something, but it's drowned in quirk.

[Henry Gale]

This is such an enjoyable film. I'll definitely sleep on it and think about it some more to determine exactly how good/great I actually think it is, because to clearly look at it now that all the twisty-turny-ness has straightened itself out (for the most part) will be a bit of a chore. Overall though, it has left a very nice impression.

Also, the opening sequence is probably one of the better starts to any movie in recent memory (the beginnings to Up and Star Trek also come to mind from this year). Once the title hit I was already pretty sure I loved the movie.

[eternity]

This is such an enjoyable film. I'll definitely sleep on it and think about it some more to determine exactly how good/great I actually think it is, because to clearly look at it now that all the twisty-turny-ness has straightened itself out (for the most part) will be a bit of a chore. Overall though, it has left a very nice impression.

Also, the opening sequence is probably one of the better starts to any movie in recent memory (the beginnings to Up and Star Trek also come to mind from this year). Once the title hit I was already pretty sure I loved the movie.
One of those kids is the kid in Where the Wild Things Are in the very beginning. And yes, Led is wrong, this movie rocks, blah blah blah.

[Henry Gale]

One of those kids is the kid in Where the Wild Things Are in the very beginning. And yes, Led is wrong, this movie rocks, blah blah blah.

I definitely thought for a second, "is that that Max Records kid?", but then the next time he was on screen he didn't look as much like the crown-wearing Wild Things image in my head. Very cool though, and both just happen to be films with Mark Ruffalo that had longer than desired post-production periods and countless delays!

[BuffaloWilder]

This may be one of the best films I've seen this year, so far.

Hmmm.

[eternity]

This may be one of the best films I've seen this year, so far.

Hmmm.Good...good...good.

[BuffaloWilder]

Bang Bang intrigues me.

[eternity]

Bang Bang intrigues me.Kikuchi really did make the most out of the character.

The "call me" moment had to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a movie this year.

[Ezee E]

This movie's four main characters are more enjoyable than any Wes Anderson character I've seen. However, the movie is at its best when not progressing the story or detailing the conflict. When it's going through montages, or explaining the history of the Brothers Bloom, it's so fun-natured that it's fantastic. Rinko Kikuchi, reminding me of the antics of Harpo Marx, was the highlight of the movie for me. Every scene she was in had me watching her rather than whatever else was going on.

Rian Johnson has a great eye for framing and art direction. I'll continue to look forward to whatever he does. Brick is going to be on the instant watch soon. Another rewatch is in order for that one. It's been some time.

[[ETM]]

It's finally in the theatres here, I really want to see it.

[Adam]

This movie's four main characters are more enjoyable than any Wes Anderson character I've seen.

Oof, that's hard to even respond to

http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss47/adamstone20/342293_height370_width560-1.jpg
Well, Wildcat was written in a kind of obsolete vernacular...

[Mara]

I saw this on a whim during my vacation and disliked it intensely. It had a number of good elements and nice moments (my favorite-- when Brody touches the indents that Weisz' teeth made in the rose.) But overall I felt like it was aggressively quirky and incoherent. The dialogue was particularly bad and it never felt like any of the characters had a specific tone, but were just rattling off oddballisms.

The plot was deliberately convoluted, and always felt forced. Some of the unexplained moments drove me bonkers (example-- WHAT did Penelope say to the Belgian police?)

A very frustrating experience.







An excellent supporting performance by Montenegro playing Montenegro.

[ledfloyd]

yay, somebody agrees with me.

[eternity]

Hobo loved it. Break your neck, Led.