Brick

I praise this movie a lot. Seriously, I love it. I would have loved to be at Sundance and have seen this movie with the first audience. I am sure it rocked some worlds. This is the kind of movie that is so powerful the first time you watch it that you just don’t have the words for a little while after the credits roll, and I do know that, because the first time I watched those credits roll by I remember being glued to my seat in awe of what had just passed.

Part of why this film has such power for me is because it’s the kind of film that I want to make. Not just because it’s a noir, but because it takes something familiar and flips it on it’s head a bit. It changes things. It has the mark of people who love the craft and a director with a very clear style and vision.

I’m still hoping that someday someone will be saying that about a film of mine.




Brendan: No, bulls would gum it. They'd flash their dusty standards at the wide-eyes and probably find some yegg to pin, probably even the right one. But they'd trample the real tracks and scare the real players back into their holes, and if we're doing this I want the whole story. No cops, not for a bit.

Brick

As always, I give this movie two thumbs up, and I'd probably give it more if I had more than two hands.





Kara: You better be sure you wanna know what you wanna know.

Brick

Brick (2005)
Originally uploaded by ∆P

So apparently, while I’m working on my own film noir I’m going to be watching Brick on a regular basis. It just doesn’t seem like I can avoid it. I keep wanting to revisit it, and have it feed the pool of inspiration.

Thank God for the films of Rian Johnson.

I realized part of what I love about Brick, part of what makes it so real and visceral is the sound design. This is a film that is visually sparse and distinct, and the sound design matches that in every way possible. There is little to no background noise that can’t be called “generic”, the only things you hear are what you see, and yet everything is distinct and clear. That may not sound like a lot to those of you that have ever thought about sound, but if you’ve ever been subjected to a film that has had the sound over designed or under designed I am sure your brain picked up that something was very off – even if you couldn’t figure out what that was. Never assume that what you’re hearing along with the picture, was simply what the sound peeps recorded while filming.

My favorite random bit about the sound design of Brick? [Yes, I am a geek that has a favorite part of the sound design in this film.] I adore the fact that everyone’s run/footsteps sound distinct. I remember reading an article that Rian Johnson had taken his characters shoes into account when plotting what they would be like, and I think this extends right down to how they sound. Normally, this is the kind of thing that isn’t readily apparent, but where I noticed it the most was the sequence where the thug is chasing down Brendan at school. Ws they run through the corridors Brendan’s step is lithe and quick and the thug is heavy and significantly slower – the sound comes more into play when Brendan realizes he can be heard running and discards his shoes to double back on the thug as he hears him approach.

My point is, from script, to production to post every element of something as “simple” as how the shoes would work in this film was fully planned, thought out and executed to maximum effect.

I am both astonished and inspired by this. This is the kind of craftsman ship I aspire to, and while I know I subconsciously do add touches like this to my works, I’m still working to make it a conscious effort. I would love to one day be compared to Rian Johnson, the Orange County director with an eye for artful details.

The Brain: See the Pin pipes it from the lowest scraper for Brad Bramish to sell, maybe. Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they'll say they scraped it from that, who scored it from this, who bought it off so, and after four or five connections the list always ends with The Pin. But I bet you, if you got every rat in town together and said "Show your hands" if any of them've actually seen The Pin, you'd get a crowd of full pockets.
Brendan: You think The Pin's just a tale to take whatever heat?
The Brain: Hmm... So what's first?
Brendan: Show of hands.

The Brother's Bloom

Rian on board the S.S. Delphine
Originally uploaded by tara holland

I think I’ve raved about Rian Johnson a lot, but that won’t stop me from raving about him again. The man may only have two feature films to his credit, but they are damn good ones. Brick and The Brother’s Bloom have secured his spot on my list of favorite young directors.

Simply put, I think the man has one of the most unique visions out there and I cannot wait to see what leaps from his brain, to page to screen next.

One of my professors once said that you could tell a directors talent by watching their second film; if their first film was fantastic and their second film lacking, it usually meant that the director was overwhelmed and didn’t truly understand how they put the first film together and made it what it was. Well,Brick was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Johnson hit his second film out of the park with The Brother’s Bloom.

This is a film where every visual is calculated to give maximum impact, color is used to create whimsy in what should be a dark world, and again, the writing shows the unique mind of the creator behind it. The Brother’s Bloom is a unique world or quirky characters, real danger, whimsy and intrigue. This is a film where gentlemen thieves exist and there is no damsel in distress, a witty narrator helps tell the tale, and when the credits roll none of the characters will ever be the same – yet it can still end on a hopeful note.

If you haven’t seen this gem of a film I emplore you to see it. You’ll be ushered into a world unlike any other, and at the end of the day I hope you’ll be awaiting Johnson’s next film as well.

Penelope: This was a story about a girl who could find infinite beauty in anything, any little thing, and even love the person she was trapped with. And i told myself this story until it became true. Now, did doing this help me escape a wasted life? Or did it blind me so I didn't want to escape it? I don't know, but either way I was the one telling my own story...

Brick

Brick scares me in a way I cannot describe to you unless you too are a young director looking to make their mark on cinema. Rian Johnson managed to make a low budget feature so awe inspiring that I cannot stop watching it as I think of what my next project might be. I can only hope that my next feature directorial effort will land somewhere in the ball park that Brick occupies, and yet the film intimidates me enough that I’m not sure how to pull something like that off on a lack of a budget.

If you haven’t seen Brick here’s why I think it’s so awe inspiring.

I’m going to start with the visuals, the cinematography. This film is fully planned visually, somehow balancing an Orange County setting with dirt and grit. As I live in Orange County, not too far from where Brick was filmed, I know what this local looks like and somehow Johnson and DP Steve Yedlin managed to make San Clemente look like a place I’d never seen before. On as meager a budget as they had, the duo put a consistent color scheme, texture and feel into their film that set it apart from so many low budget films. The cinematography tells the story as the characters go through it.

You can’t talk about Brick without talking about the cast. This is the film that helped launch Joseph Gordon-Levitt into the realm of a hard core indy actor and shake loose from the mantle of television he’d had on him. In a career that’s since spanned some of the richest roles in recent cinema, Brick still stands as one of his best performances. Getting that kind of performance out of your lead actor, and achieving riveting and genuine performances out of everyone else onscreen is a thing to be envious of. As a director it’s hard enough to get one outstanding performance out of your cast, but to get every actor to appear onscreen as if they were born into the roles they are playing is a thing of downright beauty.

One cannot watch even the trailer for this film without noticing the writing, again by Rian Johnson. The dialogue that drips off the characters tongues seems ripped from Dashiell Hammett and the plot could easily fit within any noir made in the era of Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder. This is a film so intricate that the audience gets lost with the characters and if any one element were out of place the entire film would come crashing down around us all.

Every single element that awes me about Brick comes back to one central element – Rian Johnson and his directorial style. Johnson manages to hit it out of the park from the opening shots of Brick; for a first feature he artfully merges tone, acting, dialogule, the visuals and the plot in such a way that his directorial stamp is clearly seen. Along with the story of Brendan Frye you can see the hand of Rian Johnson, and that is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve on a first feature.

Rian Johnson is someone I am both humbled by and inspired by because we’re young directors from the same county, and yet I have yet to be able to achieve what he has already artfully succeeded at doing.

Brendan: No, bulls would gum it. They'd flash their dusty standards at the wide-eyes and probably find some yegg to pin, probably even the right one. But they'd trample the real tracks and scare the real players back into their holes, and if we're doing this I want the whole story. No cops, not for a bit.

Brick

Brick (2005)
Originally uploaded by ∆P

I clearly remember the day in 2006 when my brother and I decided to see Brick. We didn’t know a lot about the film, except it was a detective film, was a hit at Sundance, and starred the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun. This was why I was taken a bit back when I purchased my ticket and was handed a small Brick thesaurus. Needless to say, I was intrigued and frightened. What unfolded for me over the next two hours is still one of the single most inspiring films I’ve ever seen.

Set in a non-descript California high school, Brick is the tale of a young man, Brendan who answers the plea for help from his ex-girlfriend Emily. When he finds Emily’s body, Brendan is wracked with guilt because he did not act fast enough and decides to start shaking things up. As Brendan investigates the last few months of Emily’s life he unearths the shady underbelly of his city that he’s avoided and gets wrapped up with the Pin a local drug dealer, his main muscle Tug, and Laura who may or may not be on his side. As Brendan works through the mysteries surrounding Emily he gets pulled deeper into a void that he tries to keep from spiraling out of control and consuming him the way it consumed Emily.

If you haven’t experienced Brick yet, I cannot urge you enough to find it. This film is Rian Johnson’s feature directorial debut, and let me tell you it has rocketed him to the top of my list of director’s to watch. Brick was made for next to nothing in terms of budgets, but Johnson used every resource available to him, filled the cast with young but impeccable talent, and filled the screen with compelling visuals and uses writing and dialogue the way a painter uses oils. It’s a beautiful thing.

Brick works so well because it’s a hard boiled film noir that chooses not to worry about paying homage to its roots. When the story already has drugs, crime, a femme fatale and an anti-hero there’s enough going on that Johnson knew directly referencing any noir would be like hitting the nail on the head – too hard. Instead you are ushered into an odd setting for a noir, a contemporary high school and given all of the pieces of the puzzle as Brendan is given them and the journey is what drives the homage and the viewing experience.

I can’t get out of talking about Brick without showering some praise on the man that brings Brendan to life – Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Brendan is the role that landed Gordon-Levitt on the map of young actors to watch and provided a solid foundation for the years that have passed since; though he is young Gordon-Levitt doesn’t have to worry about a pay check and instead has chosen to appear in films that he selects based on content – this has kept him out of the trap of making work just to eat. In this, as with most of his films, Gordon-Levitt disappears into the role and what makes the skill involved here most believable is that the complex dialogue rolls off his tongue as if it were second nature. This is quite a feat on a film as unique as Brick.

I’ll finish up by saying it again, find this movie. Sooner rather than later. Maybe like me you’ll want to drive down to San Clemente and explore the sights you recognize from the movie too.

Director & Writer: Rian Johnson
Brendan: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Laura: Nora Zehtner
The Pin: Lukas Has
Tug: Noah Fleiss
The Brain: Matt O’Leary
Emily: Emilie de Ravin
Dode: Noah Segan
Kara: Megan Goode

Brendan: Throw one at me if you want, hash head. I've got all five senses and I slept
last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you.

The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom
Originally uploaded by AsceticMonk

Brother’s Bloom and Stephen lived a rag tag life of floating from foster home to foster home never finding their role in the world until they discover the art of the con. Stephen and Bloom rise to the top of the con echelon with Stephen as the master architect and Bloom as his main player; the con is their work of art with actors, themes and over-reaching ideas. Their schemes are things of beauty. Soon, Bloom grows tired of having no life but the ones Stephen writes for him, but before he can quit Stephen talks him into one final con, to take bored heiress on the adventure of a life time and relieve her of part of her fortune. What Bloom doesn’t count on is that Penelope could be the one thing he’s always wanted in his life.

What I love most about Rian Johnson’s movies is that they surprise me. From the opening frames right until the end credit scroll beings I don’t know what is going to happen or how Johnson is going to take me there. This alone would gain Johnson credibility in my book simply because of the amount of movies I see, but the fact that his movies are astoundingly complex and beautiful on all levels makes me wish The Brother’s Bloom was a movie that could get remembered come Oscar nomination.

Most of the critics out there have universally declared that Rachel Weisz steals the film. I do not disagree with this. She is funny, charming and all together irrepressible. However, I have to say that Rinko Kikuchi who barely speaks a word in the film as pyro expert Bang Bang steals a bit of the film herself.

I won’t say much to spoil Johnson’s latest tale here, but what I can say is that The Brother’s Bloom is not a movie that should be missed. It should be praised, re-watched and added to DVD collections everywhere. If it can garner an award or two that would be even better.

Penelope: Rachel Weisz
Bloom: Adrien Brody
Stephen: Mark Ruffalo
Bang Bang: Rinko Kikuchi
The Curator: Robbie Coltrane