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Cold Souls: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:03:12 +0000

Cold Souls, starring Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, and David Strathairn is a film by first time feature writer/director Sophie Barthes, which tells the story of how to save your soul… just put it in a freezer! In a world where people will do anything in order to de-stress themselves, soul removal is the next step in medical services.

The film is one of the first truly ORIGINAL ideas that we’ve seen on screen for a long time and Barthes is definitely a filmmaker to watch out for!

Check out the good, the bad and the plot below…

The Plot:

Paul Giamatti stars as Paul Giamatti, in the fictional story about an actor who is being plagued with difficulties over his interpretation of Chekhov’s masterpiece “Uncle Vanya.” The weight of the play is weighing him down and through an article in The New Yorker, he discovers a high-tech company which promises to alleviate suffering by extracting souls. Giamatti decides to give it a go seeing as he can always have it put back in after the performance is over. Unfortunately, due to some complications he needs it back sooner, only to find that a soul-trafficking “mule” has stolen his soul and taken it to Russia, were a talentless, soap-opera actress is using it.

The Good:

Paul Gimatti: Giamatti turns in a performance that would make Chekov proud. Overall this film had a tendency to feel a little slow and under-developed at times, but Giamatti performance pumped blood to the film and gave it life when at times it could have fallen flat.
The Cast: There were so many great performances to back up Giamatti’s. David Strathairn and Emily Watson were both wonderful and helped bring the humor to the film. Dina Korzun did an amazing job of making the entire situation seem real and even threatening at times.
The Idea: There is a lot of humor in the idea of “soul removal” being the new Xanax. One of my favorite parts of the film is when we find out that the size of your soul doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts. It’s so rare that he get a truly original idea on screen that is so well thought out, applied to real life, and then taken in completely unexpected places.
Dialogue: There were some really clever lines that were so much fun to see delivered by such a great cast.
The Dream Sequences: These were some of the more interesting parts of the film, they were eerie and undefined, like most dreams are. They allowed the director to show more of her creativity, I only wish that we could have seen more of this side of her.

The Bad:

Non-Quirkiness: They don’t go far enough. It feels like they thought they would go overboard so they pulled it back right when they should have gone all out. If you’re film is about soul removal you might at well go full crazy. Barthes needed to trust her instincts and show us what she’s made of.
Pacing: It needed to clip along just a touch faster. Maybe because Barthes is used to making short films she felt daunted by a longer run time. I’m not sure what the reason, but there were a number of times I could feel the film drag and I think that was mainly due to, again, them not going all out with some of the scenes in which they could have.

Overall:

My main complaint about this film is that it had a great original idea behind it, great performances, a great script and overall a really interesting look to it, but I felt like it was only 70% of what the film could have been. It seemed like because Barthes was a first time writer/director she pulled back a bit in order to not go over the top, and make something a bit “safer,” but with something like this, I wanted her to take her style and run with it. She has all the tools, she just needs to realize it.

Since this was only her first feature film, maybe this was her just getting her feet wet. If so, I can’t wait to see what she dives into next.

Rating: 6.75/10

Check out the film, in theaters now and find out what Giamatti and Barthes had to say about the film at LA Film Festival.

Watch trailer below…

Movie Releases: G.I. Joe, Julie and Julia, Paper Heart

Anet Hovhanesian — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:02:51 +0000

If there was ever a week where we had movies for all types of people, this would be it. From your action big shot movie (Stephen Sommers‘ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) to your romantic satire (Nicholas Jasenovec‘s Paper Heart) to the suspense thriller (David Twohy’s A Perfect Getaway), you will find something for every mood. If you only saw one movie this weekend then it should be Nora Ephron‘s film Julie and Julia starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Ephron’s past hits alone, (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally) should be reason enough but if you need another reason, you should look up Streep’s resume.

Here are the movies coming out on August 7th:

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Reviews | Interviews: Channing Tatum, Stuart Beattie | Tickets and Showtimes
Julie and Julia | Screencrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
A Perfect Getaway | Screencrave Review | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Cold Souls | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Paper Heart | Reviews | Interview: Nicholas Jasenovec | Tickets and Showtimes
Beeswax | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes
Bliss | Reviews | Tickets and Showtimes

Watch the trailers:

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Julie and Julia

A Perfect Getaway

Cold Souls

Paper Heart

Beeswax

Bliss (movie with subtitles)

Which movie has caught your attention this week? What was it about this certain movie that makes you want to go see it?

Interview with Cold Souls Director Sophie Barthes and Paul Giamatti

Mali Elfman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:38:48 +0000

Last week at the LA Film Festival, writer/director Sophie Barthes premiered her third film Cold Souls starring Paul Giamatti (check out the trailer and poster). After the screening, both of them got up to talk about making a comedy about a world where soul-removal is the new Xanax.

In a world were consumers can have anything they want people choose to go soulless as easily as they decide to give up carbs. Of course, an actor struggling with Chekov is the perfect subject for someone looking to lighten their mood.

In the film Paul Giamatti plays several different versions of himself in search of the best performance of the character, unfortunately everything goes wrong when his soul gets mysteriously “misplaced” and he finds himself in Russia searching for it…

Where did the idea for Cold Souls come from?

Sophie Barthes: I took the idea from a dream I had two years ago. In the dream, I was in a strange office very much like the office in the movie. I was holding a white box and Woody Allen was there. A doctor came in with an assistant and told us our souls had been extracted. They were going to check the shape of our souls and tell us our psychological profiles. So when Woody Allen’s turn came, and they opened his box, it was a little chickpea. He got extremely offended and very neurotic about it and was kind of fidgety. He said, “There is no way I can make 40 movies and be a chickpea.” I opened my box and the dream ended, so I didn’t see my soul. I have been writing my dreams down for a long time.

Paul, what was it like to play different versions of yourself?

Paul Giamatti: Yeah, well that was the thing that interested me about it. I do play a kind of “type”. The idea that it was me didn’t strike me so much until I was filming it. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m filming myself.” The interesting thing was the soulless, partially souled, and having a Russian factory worker soul. It being me? I didn’t really care.

What was it like to play different versions of Chekov’a play Vanya?

PG: That was kind of the most daunting. Knowing that I had to do it badly, but I had to do it well. I knew that I could do it badly, and that wasn’t going to be a problem, but I had to actually be kind of good. I was crapping myself about that. I thought, “This won’t work if I just blow the whole time.” So, I don’t know if I pulled it off. It was fun doing the whole soulless thing. It is almost like the soul is the superego, the regulating device. I kind of having this overly confident approach to the film, and I end up having the stupidest, wrong-headed way of playing Vanya, but I do it with incredible gusto. I thought that was a great way of playing it. It was really fun to do it.

SB: When Paul started doing it, I had the feeling he was doing a William Shatner impersonation. I was just laughing so much I couldn’t even direct anymore.

PG: I love Shatner, so I would never do that to him.

Did you have any ideas of how you wanted the actors to play their characters?

SB: I knew very specifically what I wanted to do. It was tricky because it is a very abstract story. With Paul and the William Shatner thing, I would have never imagined him to take it in that direction. Sometimes I am surprised by actors, they are very creative and use their intuition and propose things that a director wouldn’t think about.

What was it like filming in Russia?

SB: Russia, was actually a very pleasant surprise. The producers told us “No way. You are not going to Russia. You have to shoot in Minnesota.” I said, “No way. Did you see the architecture in Minnesota?” Russia was really part of the script. For me, it was just really important. We heard all these stories about corruption, but we actually didn’t have any problems. They were very professional. It was a good experience for me.

PG: We ended up going to a lot of places with the Russian crew. Many of these actors had never lived in the communal houses, which were kind of insane. There were like sixteen people living in these places. The actors were great. I was kind of intimidated to work with the Russian actors. Yeah, they were kind of terrifying. They are really serious folks, and they take it really seriously. Everyone proclaims, “Do you realize you are working with this great Russian actor?” [laughs] The actor who plays Dimitri, he doesn’t speak English so he learned all of his lines phonetically. He is amazing. He was a terrifying human being. He really was scary.

SB: He is an artist actually. He has a cooking show. [laughs]

PG: He was killing elk, and teaching us how to dress an elk. It was insane.

The film has a fairy tale sensibility, was that planned?

SB: I realized afterwards, when I was editing, it was inspired by my favorite tale The Princess and the Pea. I now understand the chickpea. I think it is something in the collective unconscious. What is the pea? Is it her soul? Is it her sensibility?

What was the idea behind the film taking place in space?

SB: The idea was to make science fiction that takes place today. It is the next step of the process. The idea was to shoot New York the way it is. I love science fiction.

How did you decide to write the part for Paul Giamatti?

SB: After the dream, I thought to write it for Woody Allen and then I thought I would never come close to being able to talk to him. Then I saw American Splendor and I was completely blown away by Paul’s performance and this soulfulness he had. Then I wrote it for him. I actually became really stubborn, I thought if he wouldn’t do it then I wouldn’t shoot it. The screenplay won an award in Nantucket, in a screenplay competition. By a crazy twist of fate, Paul was there to give an award and I was there to get my award. I was too shy to talk to him. I got a bit drunk and started to talk to his wife. She was really open. I told them about the chickpea dream with Woody Allen and they really liked it. Then they gave me their address. I just thought, “Okay, I’m drunk. I’m drunk”. Then they called back on Monday! It was beginners luck.

What was it like to have a screenplay written for you?

PG: Hey, well she was drunk and she’s got that accent; I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. I was like, “Just nod sweetheart.” She was drunk and French. No, actually it was nice. When she told me the idea, I thought it sounded great. Then when she sent it to us, it was more dreamlike. I loved all the Russian stuff. I was really happy she approached me about it.

Cold Souls Trailer and Poster

Mali Elfman — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:43:53 +0000

Every year we get a film that stands out as “the amazing quirky comedy of the year.” Films like Eternal Sunshine and Being John Malkovich immediately come to mind, although there are many more. There are many films that try to join this category, but only a few that do it successfully. Everything about Cold Souls looks like this will be the new interesting comedy of the year.

The film stars Paul Giamatti as Paul Giamatti, in a story about a guy who wants have his soul removed.

Before I go into more detail, check out the poster and the trailer below…

In response to shiny, bigger, better American consumerism comes Cold Souls, is a metaphysical comedy in which souls can be extracted and traded as commodities. Balancing on a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and between reality and fantasy, the film presents Paul Giamatti as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of Uncle Vanya.

Paralyzed with anxiety, he stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by deep-freezing souls. Giamatti enlists their services, intending to reinstate his soul once he survives the performance. But complications ensue when a mysterious, soul-trafficking mule borrows Giamatti’s stored soul for an ambitious, but unfortunately talentless, soap-opera actress. Rendered soulless, he is left with no choice but to follow the trail back to St. Petersburg.

Sounds interesting huh? Check out the poster for the film below. I would consider hanging it on my wall as art if you took away the writing…

What do you think? Does this film look like it will match up to the other great films of its genre? What are some of your favorite quirky-comedies?

ScreenCrave.com » cold souls

Cold Souls: Movie Review

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 6.75/10

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