Tag Archives: Jessica Chastain

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Heady Business for Your Queue

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Out this week on DVD and Blu Ray is the surprisingly watchable Cloud Atlas – a challenging yet accessible sci-fi fantasy. Nesting six stories inside each other, Atlas connects human souls over generations, from a 19th Century shipwrecked notary to a clone awaiting execution in a dystopian future and onward. The large cast is anchored by solid performances from Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Jim Sturgess, all playing multiple roles as settings quickly move across time and space.

Viewed individually, some of the segments do struggle to keep silliness at bay, making the nearly three hour running time feel a bit bloated. As a whole, though, Cloud Atlas is ambitious, often visually stunning, and constantly fascinating.

For an even stronger existential dream across time and space, check out Terrence Malick’s glorious 2011 effort, The Tree of Life. As gorgeous a film as you’ll find, Malick’s rumination on innocence lost boasts magnificent performances from Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. It’s a masterpiece of a film, as big an effort as anything Malick or any other director has tackled. Talk about ambitious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRYA1dxP_0

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Spooky Kids for Your Queue

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Slim pickins in new release this week, but if you’re looking for something spooky, Jessica Chastain’s spectral thriller Mama is your best bet.  Thanks to the impressive performances of its youngest cast members, this supernatural tale of feral orphans generates true dread. Heartbreaking, pensive and convincingly creepy, the wee ones steal the film in a disturbing way. Their stellar work is nearly undone by a lackluster title character, but for about 2/3 of its run time, Mama is a keeper.
For a much stronger voyage into spectral horror and creepy children, try the 2007 Spanish gem The Orphanage. Elegantly filmed, atmospheric and deeply creepy, The Orphanage recalls such genre greats as The Devil’s Backbone, The Others, and The Innocents. Is a mother so distraught over the vanishing of her son that she’s seeing ghosts, or is there something more sinister afoot in the old orphanage she bought? It’s a haunted house tale that manages to be familiar, surprising and, most importantly, spooky.
And, of course, for the real Slim Pickens, cue up Dr. Strangelove or Blazing Saddles!