FilmJerk Favorites

A group of unique directors and the essential works that you've got to see.

||| Elia Kazan |||
Elia Kazan

Known for his creative direction and controversial story choices, Kazan was not only a great proponent of “method acting” and one of the founders of the Actors' Studio, but he used the style to its greatest effect, working with actors to capture unforgettable moments that bore his unique signature.

Under Kazan's potent direction Andy Griffith gives a stunning portrayal of a Southern itinerant singer catapulted to fame, with dehumanizing effects, in this early look at the power and corruptibility of television celebrity.

Gregory Peck is a humble and idealistic magazine writer who researches an article on anti-Semitism and learns first-hand about prejudice when he poses as a Jew. The film is unique in its ability to be quietly strong and subtly powerful while remaining constantly engaging.

Winner of eight Academy Awards, this powerful and brilliantly performed saga focuses on the dreams, despair and corruption of New York City longshoremen, Marlon Brando as he struggles over the choices of right and wrong and what that means to his brother, corrupt union officials, his priest, and his girlfriend.

Recommended by CarrieSpecht

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How She Move

By BrianOrndorf

January 24th, 2008

A graduate of the Sundance Film Festival class of 2007, "How She Move" arrives in theaters dragging behind a slew of urban dance productions. However, "Move" has heart, respect, and some incredible acting newcomers, making it late to the party but ending up the best feet-first creation yet.

How She Move

Finding her pathway to medical school obstructed by financial difficulties, a smothering mother, and trouble with her peers, Raya (Rutina Wesley) struggles to live life her way. When the world of step-dancing comes calling with offers of cash prizes and social acceptance, Raya jumps at the chance to join the local underdog group. Finding herself emotionally drawn to the squad’s captain (Dwain Murphy), Raya risks losing the way to her goals, only to find these aspirations might not be what she wants for herself after all.

Imagine “Stomp the Yard” with a budget of $1.25, a higher IQ, and some visual restraint, and there’s “How She Move.” Perhaps it’s unfair to match the two movies together, since both features were created under such different circumstances, yet both offer the audience a chance to watch step-dancing at its most theatrical; a quality that makes the pictures interchangeable at times.

Where “Move” excels is in the characterization. Screenwriter Annmarie Morais has a sincere love for her screen personalities, and she refuses to let them slide on pure cynicism or screenwriting conceits. It’s unusual for a teen-centric film to feature such attention to behavior, but the screenplay, while hardly an oasis of originality, is nonetheless interested in emotional dimension and moments of fallibility. It also helps that the picture is founded on goals of education and self-worth, not thuggery. Morais’s attempt to drag some of the latter element into the picture to act as a setback for Raya comes across ridiculous and aggressively formulaic.

There’s a real star on the horizon with young Wesley, who delivers a turbulent performance as Raya. Making her motion picture debut, she already possesses a healthy dose of big screen poise, not to mention excellent dance moves to match the rest of the professionals flopping around this film. Wesley is the heart and soul of “Move,” making the undesirable components of the movie (horrible lighting, aforementioned goofball thug villain, and director Ian Iqbal Rashid’s inability to make his locations reverb with some sense of life) less irritating. She’s one to watch.

Obviously a huge step-dance showdown (the “Step Monster”) closes the film, and while the moves are familiar, the energy is enthusiastically maintained by Rashid, who prudently keeps the ending short and sweet. “How She Move” isn’t revolutionary material, but it’s presented with a little more effort than what audiences are accustomed to, at seemingly 1/100th the budget. The effort is appreciated.

My rating: B