Branded (2012)

One thing I like about Netflix is that I can stream a decent selection of movies.  They may not be the best movies, but I do occasionally find one I like.  While browsing streaming movies, I found Branded.  It looked similar to They Live, which it is.  I figured I’d give it a try and see what they did with the concept.

For those that haven’t heard of either movie, Branded is about Misha, played by Ed Stoppard.  He’s a Russian who knows how to market stuff.  He goes from the employee of a street vendor to working with Bob Gibbons, played by Jeffrey Tambor, advertising American brands in Russia.  Bob is constantly stringing Misha along with the possibility of a promotion which never happens.  When Bob’s niece, Abby, arrives in town, Misha takes a liking to her, despite Bob’s objections.

Meanwhile, various fast-food companies are having trouble staying in business.  They hire a marketing guru (listed on IMDb as Marketing Guru) to turn sales around.  Marketing Guru can do this, but they have to be wiling to go all the way.  One thing leads to another and Misha is working on a reality TV show that’s using modern science to make an overweight woman thinner and more beautiful.  Things go horribly wrong and Misha blames himself.

Unfortunately, so does everyone else. Misha is arrested and Abby is told to leave the country.  He’s released, but he doesn’t feel he can go back to advertising.  Thus, Misha takes to tending cows.  Abby finds her way back to Russia six years later to find Misha and his herd, hoping to convince him to rejoin society.  During this visit, he has a dream that leads him to make a ritual sacrifice of a cow.

Just like Nada finding the glasses in They Live, Misha can now see things as they really are.   This is where the strange blobs on the cover come in.  People have all sorts of blobs attached to them.  The blobs seem to be associated with the various fast-food brands.  Fast Food has taken over and it’s up to Misha to fix that.

Having read about the movie, I was thinking it would all be about Misha fighting the blobs.  Instead, the cow ceremony came about halfway through the movie.  Misha goes through a few ups and downs throughout the story.  I’ve also seen one of the coming attractions, which can be misleading.  The coming attractions would have reinforced my belief in the structure of the story.  I can understand a lot of people feeling misled.

I also caught a hint of a Devil/Jesus dynamic going on between Marketing Guru and Misha.  Marketing Guru wants to lead people astray and give them an unhealthy lifestyle, basically leading them astray.  Misha is essentially crucified by the media, condemned by the police and goes away, only to come back to redeem society.  The two of them have to battle it out for the sake of humanity, or at least Moscow.

I was able to enjoy the movie, but it seemed odd.  It’s hard to say that there was a clear message.  Yes, I get that it’s supposed to be anti-corporate and anti-advertising.  The message didn’t seem to really sink it.  Part of this is that it took so long for Misha to start fighting the corporations.  Also, Misha doesn’t fight Marketing Guru directly.  He’s not fighting a single bad guy.

Instead, he’s trying to pit the various corporations against each other.  It’s not really explained what the creatures are.  We just know that they’re feeding off of humanity somehow and must be stopped.  There didn’t seem to be any sort of emotional connection to Misha and his battle.

I can’t even think of who I’d recommend this movie to.  It would have been interesting, though, to have watched it with someone so that we could have discussed it.  I think more of the movie would have made sense that way.  Even though this isn’t your typical Hollywood movie, I think it would be funny to have this presented on broadcast television sponsored by a fast-food company.


Branded - Trailer

Night Train = It Rang Thin

Every so often, I go through Netflix looking for movies to watch and eventually review.  I tend to add a lot that are available streaming, including this one.  However, I didn’t get to it in time; the movie was no longer available streaming, so I had to rent it.  It looked interesting, but all I really knew about it was that it was about three strangers on a train.

The description doesn’t quite do it justice.  Danny Glover plays a conductor named Miles.  There aren’t many passengers on the train.  (As the title would indicate, the train is traveling at night.)  Two passengers of interest are Chloe, played by Leelee Sobieski, and Pete, played by Steve Zahn.  They’re joined by a mysterious man who boards the train at the last moment.  He’s carrying a package, which he guards closely.  It doesn't take long for Mystery Man to die from a combination of vodka and sleeping pills.

At first, Miles wants to leave everything to the authorities.  After finding a small box containing something valuable, Miles reconsiders.  From there, things only get worse.  Being strangers, each person is quick to be suspicious of the other two.  They also have to do something with the body, preferably without drawing attention.  Eventually, someone comes looking for the passenger and his package.  Miles tries to get rid of all sorts of unwanted attention, including the train’s three other passengers and the police.

When I saw the page on Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I liked to concept of a fairly contained story, which it was.  (Most of it takes place on the train.)  There is a paranormal aspect, though.  Each person sees something valuable in the box, but each person could see something different.  One person might see emeralds.  Another might see diamonds or rubies.  The box has the power to corrupt people who look inside.

It reminded me of The Brass Teapot in that both movies had a supernatural object that used greed to control people.  However, The Brass Teapot handled it better.  It did a better job of showing a slow descent into madness.  With Night Train, we just had three people that got greedy in a hurry.  I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be any better, but we don’t really find out much about the characters other than why each wants the money.  (Miles has a sick wife, Chloe is pre-med and Pete has a job he doesn’t care much for.)

Part of the problem was that the movie wasn’t well-written.  I didn’t see any real reason to empathize with any of the characters.  Miles seems at least smart about it.  He takes it upon himself to hide the box.  Chloe becomes very methodical very quickly.  Add to that the low production values. (The movie was released straight to video.)  The CGI for the train was fairly obvious.  (It seemed to me that the train was moving to quickly in the exterior shots.)

I’m kind of wondering what Danny Glover was thinking, taking the role.  I’m not saying the movie was beneath him, but it doesn’t seem like something he’d do.  Glover is a big name.  I can see him wanting to support an independent film.  That I would at least understand.  However, this wasn’t a great film.  Even at 90 minutes, it seemed to stretch at times.

My one regret here is not having watched it streaming.  I don’t think it was worth getting it on DVD.  I’m not saying that it’s not worth watching.  It’s just not going to be for everyone.  I asked my parents if they wanted to watch it before I returned it.  I don’t think they got past the first fifteen minutes.