Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

If you like film, pick this one up. It will be nominated for some Oscars, plus you've probably never seen anything like it.

Quvenzhane Wallis plays Hush Puppy, a six year-old girl who lives in the Mississippi Delta area called the Bathtub.  The Bathtub is off the grid, cut off from civilization, and the people who live there have their own way of viewing good and bad, family, celebration, society, everything.

This movie combines magical realism with reality so well that I had a hard time determining if anything in the story was real. Or was it all real? 

Hush Puppy's dad is sick, and her mom is gone. The ice cap is melting, so the Bathtub and its inhabitants are in danger. That's pretty much all you need to know. This is another example of a movie without a linear story line, which is fine with me. I like it when there is no beginning or end, when we are dropped in the middle of a story and just along for the ride.

Lawless (2012)

This movie was amazingly bad. It got bad reviews, so my expectations were low, but it was even worse than I thought possible. And Yahoo users are giving it 7plus stars. Do not be fooled!

This movie is about the Bondurant brothers in Franklin County, Virginia, who run whiskey to Chicago during prohibition. The eldest brother, Forrest, played by Tom Hardy, believes the brothers are invincible. Here are the basic problems with the film:

1. Shia LaBeouf as the youngest brother is supposed to be an immature young man, a coward, who hides behind his violent brothers. During the space of the film he supposedly grows a pair and becomes - what, a criminal? A righteously angry, yet responsible, young man? This transformation is unbelievable, poorly written and poorly acted.

2. Jessica Chastain plays Maggie, a Chicago dancer, who walks into Forrest's restaurant one day looking for a job. She is ridiculously out of place in this hick crossroads restaurant, and in this movie, and her character is not remotely believable, no matter how great Chastain's acting is.

3. Guy Pearce plays a revenue agent, and he plays the agent as an OCD germaphobe who wears white leather gloves to beat people up, dyes his hair and wears perfume. It is nuts. What the hell has happened to Guy Pearce? Why did the director not see that this was a ridiculous way to play the character?

4. Tom Hardy - I love this guy and he is a great actor. Here he plays an extremely violent man who barely speaks - mumbles his words and grunts - and yet falls in love with Maggie, treats her gently, and wears ratty old cardigans. It's weird. Each character in this movie is so oddly written and poorly developed that I am going to get the book. I want to see if Hollywood totally screwed up this story.

I would pass. Tom Hardy never takes off his shirt. There's no point in watching this piece of crap.

Les Miserables (2012)

This movie isn't my type of thing. I wasn't expecting to like it, and I didn't. I'm putting this out there for purposes of full disclosure. In many ways I liked it even less than expected, but in a couple of ways I found it compelling.

If you haven't read the book (I loved it as a kid - need to re-read) or seen the play (once was enough for me), then you should know this movie closely follows the book. It's a tragic story about a convict, Jean Valjean, in 1800s France who gets out of jail after 19 years and breaks parole in order to become a new person. He succeeds, but his past is always following him in the form of a policeman by the name of Javert. The redeeming part of the story is about love for fellow man and resiliency. And it's a great book - a true classic.

The movie sings every line except for perhaps two sentences. It sings "hello". This is not something I enjoy, but I believe many people do. The director, Tom Hooper, wrings all the pathos out of his scenery that any director possibly could. In a way, he's like Steven Spielberg in this. In Spielberg's films, everything is gorgeous and over-the-top. In this film, everything is filthy and disgusting and cold and over-the-top. I found the shivering and shaking and artistically applied dirt to be ridiculous. While the acting was great, I am not fond of the sets that this guy uses. I felt the same way about the King's Speech (also by Tom Hooper) - great acting, but overly contrived sets. Almost cutesy. In this movie the sets are Hollywood-style grungy. Not at all realistic, and distracting.

The good part would be some of the performances, but overall, this movie was way too long for me, and way too melodramatic.

Django Unchained (2012)

Loved it loved it loved it. There was a false ending and then some more scenes, but I liked them. This is no Lincoln! I loved everything! From the cheesy scenery in the opening scenes of slaves being chain-walked in front of false boulders to the hilarious dialog and the sight gags, and of course the great acting, this movie is Tarantino having fun. The fact that he is having fun with a shitty subject may leave some people conflicted, but personally, I loved watching the creepy, nasty, it's-ok-to-have-slaves plantation owners get blown away.

And oh my god! They get blown away. It is very satisfying to watch, as is any revisionist history where the bad guy gets taken to task (with guns or whatever) by a righteous individual and his posse. Hence the Western. This doesn't change the fact that slavery occurred, and many people wonder - what would I have done? What would I have done in Nazi Germany, or in Mississippi during slavery, or - is there something now I should be concerned about?  What am I missing that is occurring right now in our world?

Well, this movie is what Tarantino, and a lot of white people (based on the demographic of the theater I was in) would like to have seen happen. Or, perhaps, sitting in our comfortable homes now, this is what we like to see.

And it's good film-making. How, in such a violent and serious film, does Tarantino manage to make some scenes so light?  A few examples - watch for the sight gags. First, the giant tooth on the top of Dr. King Schultz's (Christopher Waltz's) wagon is ridiculous and funny every time it's seen. It squeaks. Django's first suit - straight out of a cartoon. But it works. The scene with Don Johnson and Jonah Hill (as Bag Head #2) is allowed to develop and run, and it's wonderful. They are buffoons, but haven't you ever looked at the Klan and thought - Why do they wear those stupid cone hats?  What buffoons. 

There is a family of hillbillies (don't know how to describe them) on Candie's (Leo's) property who are unintelligible. They have dialog, but it is gibberish. How Leo kept a straight face in these scenes is a testament to his ability to straighten up and fly right. And this hick family is one of the most evil things you'll see in the film. You didn't have to be rich to go along with slavery.

Anyway, I need to see it again. I know I missed a lot - and I don't want to miss any of this film. Go go go. Skip Lincoln and watch this.

Rust and Bone (2012)

This movie has almost everything I like. The acting is great. The story is unusual, the characters felt fresh, and I really found myself considering their motivation - what made them do the things they did. I loved the cinematography and the art direction. They didn't try to make everyone look pretty all the time. And these people felt real - they did stupid things and had questionable behavior.

I did not like the ending. It was tied up pretty damn neat, which is not unusual for American films, but was a little shocking for a French film. Oh well. This is still a great film - especially if you want something that's not your usual superhero / cop / rom-com.

Marion Cotillard will likely get a Best Actress nomination for her role here as a whale trainer (like at Sea World), Stephanie, who loses her legs in a freak work accident. Already sounds a bit different, right? While recuperating, and while depressed, she randomly calls the number of a bouncer, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), she met previously in a one-off encounter. Ali has recently arrived from Belgium with his five-year old son, and is living at his sister's while he picks up odd jobs as a bouncer, security guard, and then bare knuckle fighter.

These two stories are united by Stephanie and Ali's friendship, which is unusual and constantly evolving. It's very interesting, and I really recommend this movie. As a character study, it's fantastic. And the acting is out of this world.

Jacques Audiard directed this, and he also directed The Prophet. I loved that movie as well, and will get the rest of Audiard's movies in my queue.

The Guilt Trip (2012)

This is a fun, sweet movie. The NYT said this movie was too nice and needed more bite. I disagree. This is not even remotely a perfect film, but if you need a nice movie that will give you a bunch of laughs - a movie to take the in-laws to over the holiday - this will work nicely. It is not too long, it is funny, it has great performances.

Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand are mother and son who take a road trip together - annoying mom and distant son in a small car for eight days. Nice set-up, right? Hi-jinks ensue, as expected. And I really liked the ending! It was a nice surprise.

And mom and I made it all the way through this one, unlike Anna K.

Anna Karenina (2012)

Well, this movie sucked ass. Mom and I walked out - it felt like about hour 3, but it's only a two hour movie.  We don't often walk out, and we probably would have stayed to the bitter end, but I had a headache. Mom noticed, and said - I hate this movie, let's leave. We left, and discussing why we hated this movie - what made it so bad - was a real bonding experience for us. 

If you've read the book, you know that there are a few story lines - Anna and Vronsky, Stiva and Dolly, Levin and Kitty. Anna and Vronsky represent the tortured love story. But this entire movie is tortured, and that was the director's call. Joe Wright also directed Atonement and a version of Pride and Prejudice (a crappy version), and I disliked both movies. Atonement was particularly bad, and I would summarize the problem as style over substance. There was much camera work that was lovely, but that added nothing to the story - it distracted and frustrated.

In Anna K it's the same story. To cram in tons of plot, characters and scene changes, Mr. Wright uses the visual trick of putting the movie on a stage set. Transitions occur as people walk up a ladder and into a different scene, for example. This is distracting and crowded and frenetic. There are very few scenes in a natural setting, and those scenes are largely unnecessary. The camera work is also nauseating. There is a dance scene with much twirling and shots back and forth between partners. If you are inclined to seizures, pass on this. Also, this movie is choreographed. Waiters move in unison in a dance, dances are performed with elaborate hand movements and gestures, there is off-screen singing, workers in an office are choreographed. It's a bizarre mash up of a musical and a tortured drama. And it did not work for me. 

Here's the good stuff. The clothes and jewels are great. Keira Knightley is good, and I am not a fan. Jude Law is great. But this movie blows. Yahoo users are giving it a 7.1, and it got mediocre reviews. I disagree. I give this a 3 out of 10, and a very bad review.

Butter (2011)

I loved this movie - I'm watching it again. I believe it got mediocre reviews at best, and Yahoo users are giving it a 6. Which means nothing, but still!

I hope this becomes a cult classic. Jennifer Garner is awesome as a super-bitch Republican housewife with a squeaky-clean public image, a narrow, nasty mind and an impressive potty mouth (all delivered in a mid-west accent). Ty Burrell is her whipped husband who seeks solace in the back seat with stripper / hooker Olivia Wilde. Hugh Jackman is a car salesman - hilarious. This is the guy who plays Wolverine. I love actors - when they're good, they are so good.

Alicia Silverstone is adorable, and Yara Shahidi as her foster child is not just cute. She can deliver lines too!

The plot revolves around butter carving competitions. It's quite funny. I recommend this, and I will probably buy it.

The Butcher Boy (1997)

This movie blew my mind. Neil Jordan adapted the screenplay and directed this story about a young boy, I would guess he's about 12 in the film, who is slowly losing his mind.

We meet Francie Brady while he is playing with his best friend Joe. Francie is trouble, but in the beginning the trouble seems to be normal kid stuff - not nice perhaps, but not criminal. However, Francie's mother is suicidal and his father is the town drunk. Chaotic doesn't begin to describe what he deals with at home, and his friend Joe is his refuge. There is a nasty neighbor, played by Fiona Shaw, who calls Francie and his family pigs. She constantly calls him a pig, and she means it.

Mom dies and Francie is sent to a boy's school. There he runs into a "funny" priest. Francie is not surprised, and uses this encounter to get an early exit and heads back home. Dad dies. Worse, his friend Joe starts avoiding him. Francie is losing his hold on his sanity, which we see, and the people in town should see it too, but they don't.

I was expecting violence, but when it arrived I was shocked. This entire movie shocked me. This kid was let down by everyone in his life - relatives and priests, police, neighbors, parents of friends, everybody. Nobody reached out to help this kid. And he really needed help.

The movie is directed beautifully, which clever dialog, and a raucous, carnival-like soundtrack. The pace of the movie is brisk and cheerful, yet the tension builds. It's ominous. The acting is top notch (FYI, you will see a lot of the Harry Potter cast in their younger years here). I highly recommend it.

We Own the Night (2007)

This is a serious downer of a movie.  In a family of cops, one son (Joaquin Phoenix) tries to break away and develop his own life. Bobby works at a nightclub which is owned by Russians. Turns out they're Russian drug dealers. 

After his brother, Joe (Mark Wahlberg), arrests one of the Russians, the family is targeted.  There are shootouts, chase scenes, betrayals by friends and loved ones, it's just ugly. Lots of people die and the drugs keep coming. 

Robert Duvall plays the dad. With these three as the family, the acting is good, but the dialog is not.  In this script the brothers are poorly developed - one the good brother, the other the rebel. Both compete for dad's attention, but he's so joyless I have no idea why they do. The only person who blew me away here was Eva Mendes as Bobby's girlfriend. This gal should be in more movies, and should get better roles.  The good acting makes the mediocre script and dialog stand out.

If you like cop / gangster films, this one is a decent rental. But the dialog. Not cool. 

Delicatessen (1991)

This is a film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amelie.  I really liked Amelie, and I probably liked A Very Long Engagement even more.  However, Jeunet also makes fantastical, live-action films with vivid cartoon-ish imagery about imaginary worlds.  Examples would be City of Lost Children, Micmacs and Delicatessen. I am not a big fan of these films, though I do understand their appeal. 

Delicatessen is set in a post-apocalyptic world where food is in short supply. The residents of a dark and dank apartment house are reliant on their ground-floor butcher for food, and they don't seem to mind that the source of the meat is neighbors who get on the butcher's bad side or people who wander by. The artistic imagery is gorgeous and lush and dark and evil at the same time. There is a charming love story.  But I didn't really care. You know how this will end, and I found I was just watching to see the art, the camera angles, the staging. But the rest was dull.

If you would like to see Monsters Inc, for example, with real monsters - check this out. 

Life of Pi (2012)

I am so glad I saw this movie!!  I had a really bad taste in my mouth after Lincoln, so thank God for Ang Lee. He is one of the great working directors today, and he got me out of my movie funk.

Ang Lee has a crazy breadth of ability - it is really not possible to pigeon-hole him. He is the director of Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - to name of few of my faves. These three alone represent a period romance/class study/adaptation of Jane Austen; a stunning story of hidden lives against desolate mountain vistas; an epic love story and adventure tale with virtuoso wire-work.

And he didn't let me down with Life of Pi.  I really loved this book, and if anyone could transform it into a movie, he could do it. And he did, in a way I didn't expect. This movie has a candy-like, fairy tale quality, while still being incredibly frightening at times.

Pi is young man sailing for Canada from India with his family and their zoo animals.  The freighter goes down and Pi alone survives with a tiger, zebra, hyena and an orangutang. They are together on a lifeboat, but here the law of the jungle is the only law. Eventually the lifeboat occupants are down to Pi and the tiger, and Pi must use his wits to survive.

This movie is insanely beautiful. If you can handle 3D, watch it that way - and definitely on the big screen. 

Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her (1999)

This is one of those ensemble films like Babel or Traffic about seemingly unrelated stories that all actually overlap a bit.  It's primarily about women and how alone they can be. And perhaps how badly they treat each other and themselves. 

So it's something of a downer.  The acting, however, is great. Glenn Close opens the film with scenes that rely on body language and facial expression, and this gal can act.  Holly Hunter is brittle, but the homeless woman in her scenes felt very false and contrived to me.  Cameron Diaz was shockingly good. She has such great comedic timing that I forget she can act as well. 

Rent this if you're in the mood for an unusual chick flick. As it's a hard look at loneliness in different forms, make sure you're in the right mood. 

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

There are many ways for a movie to disappoint - a bad ending is the one that bugs me the most.  This movie, however, plays another game. This one hooked me and gave me a good 20 minutes, maybe even 30.  Since I often watch movies in 20 minute increments, I was really excited to turn this back on - but then the movie went to HELL. By the time Snow White and the Huntsman meet the seven dwarfs, things are on a downward slide. But when they get to fairy land, the wheels come off the cart. 

Fairy Land is bizarre, like Walt Disney on acid.  The fairies themselves look like a cross between Gollum and little white maggots. It was appallingly bad and those scenes should have hit the cutting room floor.

But the ending was OK. Charlize Theron was awesome and freaky, Chris Hemsworth is hot and pretty damn good. Kristen Stewart holds her own. I wasn't expecting much from her, so I was pleasantly surprised.

I would call this a mediocre rental.  

Lincoln (2012)

I really detested this film. It's a double whammy for me - I'm not a Spielberg fan, nor do I like Daniel Day-Lewis. I think he is a very talented over-actor. Spielberg does not have a subtle bone in his body, and the two of them together are just too overwrought for me. 

The opening scene of the movie was overly staged, dramatically lit and unnecessary.  The movie had a great ending, but Spielberg added three more unnecessary scenes. I would also have removed the children from the movie, and given more time to James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson and John Hawkes.  They were great, as was Tommy Lee Jones.  Sally Field, on the other hand, joined Day-Lewis in the over-acting. 

I felt the folksy humor was overdone, and the pacing was ponderous. Unless you're a huge Spielberg fan, I would go to the library and get a good book about Lincoln.  And I'm not watching any more Spielberg films. I think it unlikely that I would ever pick one of them as an award winner, and this will save me much grief. At least War Horse had a horse as hero - and horses don't talk. 

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

This movie amazed me! I want to go see it again - and soon. It's a great story with great actors and a fun ending.

Bradley Copper plays Pat, bi-polar and recently released form a mental institute. He moves back in with his parents - Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver. Pat is convinced that if he loses weight and stays positive, he will get his wife back.

He meets up with Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), the sister-in-law of his best friend, and she has issues too. She tricks him into being her partner in a dance contest. In the interim we have a crazy football game, family fights, dance practice, and Chris Tucker. This could have been a silly rom-com with artificial drama, but it's much more. It's serious about family and friends and football superstitions and pulling yourself out of the crap that life can be. 

Jackie Weaver is so awesome - she's one of those mom's who flutters behind everyone and says, Why did you say that?  Why did you do that?  Is everyone OK?  Chris Tucker is hilarious. Julia Stiles has a tiny part and she nailed it - right down to the fingernails!  Cooper was way better than solid, and Jennifer Lawrence was amazing.

Get your butt to this one. 

Jerichow (2008)

This movie is great. It tells a simple story in a tight, compact 89 minutes.  Pretty cool. It's essentially a three-person movie, with husband and wife (Laura and Ali) and employee (Thomas). We quickly see that Ali treats Laura like shit.  Laura and Thomas fall in lust, perhaps even in love. So we're moving in a Postman Always Rings Twice direction, but don't count Ali out yet.  There are a couple of twists here that are very enjoyable, and it's also fun to have NO one to root for - when every character is flawed. That's a tough line to walk, but when you keep it short and sweet, as director Christian Petzold does, it's just gripping.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

This movie is amazingly bad.  Freakishly bad. Movies this bad make me wonder what the actors think when they read the script. Is it hard to tell that a script is pure crap? Or perhaps the movies change so much while being shot or edited that it's kind of a crap shoot?  Or perhaps an actor just wants to make a movie - any movie - and start getting name recognition, or get paid. 

The dialog here is putrid. There is a ridiculous and portentous voice-over / narration thing (by Lincoln) that should have been scrapped. The special effects are not good. Rufus Sewell (whom I like, but not here) is a big bad vampire, and there are certain shots where he looks like Svengoolie of late night TV. I am pretty sure the sets and costumes, including rectangular metal sunglasses, were borrowed from the Sherlock Holmes movies.  At one point one of the female vampires leaves her hoop skirts behind and starts running around in leggings. Lycra. No joke.

The action is BAD. There is a scene with a horse stampede, and a vampire picks up a horse by its leg and swings it at Lincoln. Swings a horse (and I thought the scene where Bourne fought a wolf was stupid). Don't worry - Lincoln was OK.  Not a scratch on him. Presidents have super-powers, don't you know.

I could go on. If this were a real movie, I would say they needed to limit the time period, for example. But this movie is crap crap crap, so let's not have serious discussion.  Just pass.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

I watched this twice. I would like to watch this again - what a wonderful surprise.

This is a charming story of love and friendship clocking in at 85 minutes. Short and sweet but not too sweet.  There is plenty of tart and sad here as well.  There are two real story lines, and the director, Colin Trevorrow, does a great job with them. One is a side story and it stays on the sidelines, which is perfect.

The main story centers around a reporter and two interns for Seattle Times magazine who go to a small Washington coastal town to investigate a classified ad.  The ad was placed by someone looking for a time travel companion - must bring your own weapons, safety not guaranteed.

The potential time traveler, Ken, is played by Mark Duplass (of the Duplass brothers) and he is pretty paranoid. Only one of the reporters, Darius (Aubrey Plaza), makes any headway with him, and soon she is getting ready to time travel. They prepare by spending time on martial arts, target practice, discussing theory of time travel. I found these scenes hilarious. Darius finds Ken intriguing and funny, then attractive, and eventually falls for him.

And this does not end how you expect - although I'm not sure what I expected. Something saccharine, perhaps? This is a fantastic rental - probably one of the best rentals I've seen in a while. Pick it up!

Skyfall (2012)

Sometimes life is sweet.  Watching Daniel Craig in any movie is fantastic, but watching this guy in a great movie?  Fucking awesome.

Movie first.  

In my opinion, this is the best Bond movie ever. I understand there are some Sean Connery films that are very good, but I am not fond of the kitschy style. I am fond of Sean Connery, but ohmygod, I like Daniel Craig even more.  And this movie is well done. It starts with an amazing chase scene with an unexpected twist. The tone of the movie quiets for a minute, as it must, then ramps right back up.

More time is given to other great characters in this film - M has more lines, and more Judi Dench is a good thing. Ralph Fiennes is introduced, and has a decent small role. We finally meet Moneypenny, and she's going to be a favorite. I have loved Naomie Harris since 28 Days Later, and now she has a series! Well done.

And the biggie - Javier Bardem as the villain. I feel the director, Sam Mendes, hit the ball out of the park with this movie for several reasons. As mentioned, we got more of the characters we love - and they're well acted with real roles. Second, what a villain! Has this sentence ever been said before?  Bardem should get a Best Supporting nomination for his role here.  In a Bond film.  No shit.  I cannot express how disturbing and creepy and sad and mesmerizing Bardem is as Silva, a disaffected spy. And what Mendes did? We meet Bardem halfway through the film, and he has a decent amount of screen time.

Third - there are a lot of historical Bond references here.  As this franchise is now an institution, this is nice for the audience.  Fourth - I liked the ending! Points three and four combine and Bond takes us "back in time" for the finale. There are plenty of explosions (don't worry), but this isn't a standard action flick ending as you would see in a Michael Bay film. (Or as we saw in Quantum of Solace.)

And for the fun stuff - Daniel Craig looks hot throughout the entire film. He spends almost the entire movie in a suit (sometimes a tux), and wardrobe departments around the world must love this guy. He wears clothes like no other man I've ever seen anywhere. In Skyfall he fights, jumps on top of a train, wrestles with Bardem, all while looking good. They put him in a bizarre sweatsuit at M16 and he still looks amazing. Let's take a minute on Dead Turkey day to be thankful for that.

The cars are awesome.  Albert Finney is in the film. I wasn't expecting Skyfall to be what it was - I was surprised! Their are serious suggestions that Bond is too old for the job, and he proves them wrong - always satisfying. 

Just go see this! I've already got it on the books for a second viewing.

The Sessions (2012)

This is a beautiful love story - not traditional, and about different types of love, and very beautiful.  John Hawkes plays Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio as a young boy and spent most of his life in an iron lung. Mark wanted to live independently; he became a writer and a poet, and eventually died before he was 50.

There was a documentary about Mr. O'Brien's life, and I need to watch it. This guy was courageous.  He was also lonely and wanted to participate in life as a sexual person. One of his articles led him to interview a sex therapist, and that led him to consider a sex surrogate. This movie is about that decision, that process, and how it affected him and the people around him.

Mark O'Brien was able to spend a few hours a day outside the iron lung, but to do anything - bathe, relieve himself, go anywhere, he needed a caregiver.  He had several (good, bad and indifferent), and the good ones loved him.  They knew he was going to a surrogate, and were there for him - and not in a wink, wink, nudge, nudge kind of way. They were legitimately happy for him.

The surrogate is played by Helen Hunt, and the sex scenes are frank and clinical and quite lovely. I would say that Helen Hunt and John Hawkes are likely nominees here.  I also really liked Moon Bloodgood as one of his caregivers. I would be happy to see her nominated in the supporting category. William H. Macy is great as O'Brien's priest. He does a lot with the role. 

This movie is not perfect - one scene in particular about a pole dance fantasy made no sense and was jarring, but it's still a B+.  I highly recommend it. 

Flight (2012)

This movie was a HUGE relief. Around this time of year I start high-volume movie watching at the cinema, trying to anticipate possible Oscar nominees.  The more possibles I see now, the easier my December / January is. Because I try to see all the movies before the awards (for all the major categories), I see a fair amount of crap.  Last year I was particularly annoyed by Albert Nobbs and My Week with Marilyn.  Neither of those, however, was as torturous as Revolutionary Road or Atonement, or the biggie - Avatar. 

Flight is a likely nominee - at a minimum for Best Actor.  I think it has a decent chance for a Best Picture / Best Director nod as well.  This is a big picture with a lot of story lines, but Robert Zemeckis does a great job keeping them corralled. It doesn't wander too much down the extraneous story lines, and as a result those side trips add to the character development of Whip Whitaker. 

Whip is a pilot - a great pilot - with incredible instincts. We see this early (the plane crash is in the trailers, so this isn't a spoiler), but we also see an overriding character trait from the get-go.  Whip is a raging alcoholic.  After the crash he is no longer able to hide his drinking, though he tries.  The movie is about watching Whip hit his bottom, and it's well done. 

Denzel is amazing here. I have felt for a long time that Denzel was generally going for the easy payday, though I enjoyed Safe House and American Gangster. Well, this is different, and what a joy it is to watch this guy!! As Whip he is bold and cocky, falling down drunk, incoherent, nervous, sly and sneaky, sheepish, aggressive and manipulative. I would watch this guy forever.

Robert Zemeckis is an old favorite - he did the Back to the Future series, Forrest Gump, Castaway. He has been spending time with digital and new movie-making techniques for a while, but I"m betting the Academy members will be so happy to have him back working with actors that he'll get some nominations.  At least I hope so. 

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

This movie is awesome. It is well acted and well written, but the most important part of this film to me is the direction - the tone, the artistic vision, the pacing, the sets, the uniformly goofy performances drawn from the actors - old and young.  Wes Anderson wrote this with Roman Coppola, and he directed. He used some of his favorites:  Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, but added Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Ed Norton, Tilda Swinton and more.  Look at the high number of Oscar winners / nominees in that group. It's an honor to work with this guy, and I bet it's a lot of fun too.

Newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward play 12 year old kids with more than their share of pre-teen angst, family problems and raging hormones.  The year is 1965 and they run away together; she runs from home and he runs from his Khaki Scout camp.  They are found missing, chased, captured, and run again. This is sad, but it isn't a tragedy.  It is sweet and funny and sad and it rings true in a lot of ways, even though it was shot Wes Anderson style.  To me that means it has an odd mix of live action camera shots mixed with still shots of sets that seem so false / fake that they almost have a cartoonish quality.  It works for me, and I find that the almost unreal quality of his sets and art direction draws more attention to the dialog and the acting.  I laughed out loud a couple of times in this movie, but I was shocked a couple of times as well.  I don't know quite what to expect in a Wes Anderson film, which adds to the pleasure for me.

I highly recommend this.

Russian Dolls (2005)

This is a sequel to Barcelona (l'Auberge Espagnol), which I liked. A bunch of gorgeous young people were in Barcelona, sharing an apartment, bed-hopping, drinking, etc.  Here we are back for more of the same in Paris and Russia.  I didn't make it to Russia because I was bored and decided to turn this off.

I try to always finish French films in order to work on my French, but this just wasn't worth it - at least to me.

Strange Illusion (1945)

This movie is old - and the story holds up just fine.  The disc quality I watched was not great; it was fuzzy and the sound quality was poor, and at times downright bad.  There were no subtitles to help with the situation either.  The movie was directed by Edgar Ulmer, known for putting together movies on the cheap, shooting quickly with little known actors. 

Nevertheless, the story is good; a privileged young man has an ominous dream predicting a dark presence preying on his mother in particular and his family in general.  The dream upsets him greatly, and he breaks off his vacation to go home, where he finds his dream is coming true.  His mother and sister are charmed by a handsome stranger courting his widowed mother.  The young man puts himself in danger to investigate who the stranger really is.

I recommend this, but maybe wait until a better version is available.  This was a bit tough to hear.  

Argo (2012)

This is a really good, really solid movie. I don't think it sang, though.  There is a certain something that a movie can have that elevates it above solid.  I don't think this one had it - but my mom did.  I suspect you should probably go with her opinion over mine on this one. 

This movie chronicles an amazing effort to free six of the American hostages in Iran in 1980.  These six managed to escape the embassy and hid at the Canadian ambassador's house. And then they were stuck.  One CIA agent, Tony Mendez, went in with a cover story about a movie crew (for the movie Argo) and got them out.  It's a great story, and even knowing how it ends doesn't ruin the tension. 

The movie was directed by Ben Affleck, and he also plays Mendez. The commitment to the 70's, the attention to detail in recreating the scene at the embassy, at the Canadian ambassador's house, on the streets of Tehran, the pacing and the building of tension - all that was top notch.  Ben Affleck has become a really good director.  As evidenced by most movies out there, it's hard to tell a story without screwing it up.  However, I don't think he should have played the lead.  I think that was a big weak spot.  I would give it a solid B.  I suspect it will be nominated for an adapted script and maybe even Best Picture. 

The Master (2012)

If you are interested in getting ahead on Academy Award movies, go see this one.  I would say it has strong chances for nominations in the Best Pic, Best Director, Actor (probably 2 nominees) and Supporting Actress categories.  There's a lot of bang for your buck here.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Freddie Quell, who drifts around after WWII doing odd jobs and brewing hard liquor out of all manner of ingredients (lighter fluid, for example).  He is definitely an alcoholic, but he is not right in some other way as well, though his mental issue is not named.

Freddie eventually runs into Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the leader of a religious group called The Cause.  Lancaster is called Master, and he is the epitome of a charismatic leader.  Freddie is indoctrinated into the group and travels with them.  He witnesses their way of life and their followers, and the inner workings of the group.  But Freddie is a wild card.  He loves Dodd, but he may not entirely believe in him.

The acting here is top rung.  Philip S-H is magnetic, but I was riveted by Joaquin.  He embodies a twisted, twitchy, misshapen man who has very little control over his emotions, body or reactions to life.  Amy Adams is Dodd's wife, Peggy, and she is the icy voice of reason - control? - behind the public face of Dodd.

My mom thought this was the most disturbing movie she has seen in years.  I agree.  When you watch it, pay attention to the music.  Sometimes it really seemed to evoke torture.  Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed this, and he took his game to a whole different level with this one.  Pretty cool. 

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

This movie is a hot mess.  Colin Farrell plays Marty, a writer with writer's block. He's an alcoholic - a running joke in the movie.  Billy (Sam Rockwell) is his best friend, and Billy really wants to help Marty with his screenplay and the alcohol problem. 

Billy makes his living by kidnapping dogs with his friend Hans (Christopher Walken) and returning them to the grateful owners for a reward. Woody Harrelson is a gangster with an adorable dog.  When the dog gets kidnapped, all kinds of Hell breaks loose.  Sounds like it could be OK, right?

There are a few big problems.  First is the lack of plot.  The writer / director (Martin McDonagh) was suffering from writer's block (just like the fictional Marty), and this is what he came up with - a great title but no plot / arc.  There are flashback sequences that are stupid and poorly filmed.  I think they're supposed to be silly, but the tone doesn't work at all.  As there is not plot, there are many points when the film feels like it is ending, but it doesn't.  It just keeps rolling.

And here's the weird part.  For all that, the movie is enjoyable.  If you have low expectations and just want some fluff, this will do the job just fine.  There is a simple reason:  the chemistry between Sam Rockwell, Colin F and Mr. Walken is fantastic.  Walken can deliver the most ridiculous line and have it work.  Colin Farrell is always easy on the eyes, plus he has a mobile face with hilarious expressions.  But the shocker?  I adored Sam Rockwell.  He was the movie for me. 

Woody was underused - he needed to be with the other guys to have his character work.  All female actresses in the film (Gabourey Sidibe, for example) deserve much more than this writer can give them. 

Maybe rent it?  On a Friday night when you don't want to think. 

Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Love love love this movie!  I watched it twice already and will watch it again.  I am not buying it because I really don't want to buy movies any more - too much plastic.  Maybe I can get it used down the road.

Five friends (important number) go to a cabin in the woods for a weekend of debauchery.  Instead they get Evil. 

This film was written by Joss Whedon.  If you watched Buffy, and you liked Buffy, you will like this.  It's about as scary as Buffy (so not scary), and even more clever and witty and outrageous. There is some gore, but it is ridiculous.  The gore and the effects are not the point here. The dialog and the wonderful premise are the point.  The ending is fantastic.  The send-up of traditional horror is lovely.

Here's an indication of cool level.  Fred and Andrew from Buffy / Angel fame are in the movie, as are Richard Jenkins (Oscar nominee), Bradley Whitford and Sigourney Weaver.  No. Shit.  Pick this one up. 

Southland Tales (2006)

Southland Tales is a mess. The plot is basically a Mad Max spin-off:  after a nuclear attack, much of the population is concentrated in California, called the Southland.  Marxism is on the rise and gasoline is scarce.  Wallace Shawn plays an evil genius who invents a machine to harvest energy from the perpetual motion of waves. 

It's an election year and the Marxists want to take down a political party, the energy company is backing somebody or else sabotaging somebody, I'm not sure which.  The Rock is somehow involved, as well as Buffy.  Both these actors are ludicrous and badly used, but they're not the worst part of the movie.  Wallace Shawn is in makeup and hair gel like someone from the government in The Hunger Games.  And that's not the worst part either. 

The movie has a bit of a Terminator feel, but it is not unrelenting dark.  It should be.  Instead it moves back and forth between Venice Beach pot smoking, bad music videos, a farce, sci-fi and God knows what else.  It is overpowered with SNL alumni, the Poltergeist medium, and all number of bad actors. 

I don't even know what to recommend instead of this.  How about:  Terminator, Road Warrior and the Manchurian Candidate.  Start there. 

The Extra Man (2010)

I had to turn this off.  It's weird and crappy and not in a good way.  A movie that combines bad dialogue, unwatchable characters, and flatulence jokes is not for me.  I have no idea what Paul Dano, Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly were thinking - maybe they just wanted to work together?  John C. Reilly speaks in a falsetto throughout the movie unless he's singing.  Dan Hedaya also sports a totally over-the-top accent. The directors were Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.  I will avoid them from now on.

Katie Holmes is in this too, and she makes no sense at all in the film.  She's presumably the love interest but there is no spark between her and Paul Dano.  I hope she gets to pick better films now that she's divorced. 

Kevin Kline is a woman hating escort for the extremely aged.  It's a bizarre story.  Pass.  Watch Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda instead of this.  That movie got the tone right. 

Hysteria (2011)

Unfortunately, this movie blows.  It's a cute concept, and the leads are great.  They really try, but there is no saving this script or the hackneyed direction. 

Hugh Dancy plays Mortimer, a young doctor in 1880 who would like to help the poor.  Instead, he ends up in an uptown practice helping women with "hysteria", which covers nervous issues, paleness, anxiety, etc.  The treatment involves clitoral stimulation.  Soon he's the most popular guy in town, until his hand cramps.  At which point, his friend Edmund, played by Rupert Everett, contributes his electronic feather duster to the situation. 

This movie starts out at a farce, which was ok but not great.  Then it tries to be a drama, bringing in women's sufferage, Maggie Gyllenhaal, the right to vote, and it really, really gets fucked up.  The tone is off, the pacing is a mess, this movie is a wreck. 

Just pass.  Watch Hugh Dancy in the Jane Austen Book Club for a good romantic comedy.  Maggie G is great in many things - try Crazy Heart, Sherrybaby, and Secretary.  Secretary is a romance that pushes the boundaries like no other movie.  I love it - try that one.

The Jacket (2005)

Why was this movie made?  There are many time jumping movies out there - and many bad ones.  Surely some of the stars who accepted this script had an inclination that this one was about to join the crap list?  And there are so many stars!

Adrien Brody - who apparently thinks delivering all lines in a whisper will make him appear gentle - not a murderer.
Keira Knightley - underwhelming (see her in A Dangerous Method; she's great).
Kris Kristofferson - this casting decision was interesting.
Jennifer Jason Leigh - she's way too good for this movie.
Mackenzie Phillips - if this was a comeback movie she was cruelly disappointed.

Adrien Brody gets put in an asylum for the criminally insane for a crime he may or may not have committed.  Kris K is the evil doctor who subjects him to a treatment involving being strapped in a straight jacket and locked in a morgue body locker.  Did you see the Halle Berry movie Gothika?  Did you like it?  Well you won't like this one either.

If you want to watch a good time hopping movie, pick up Happy Accidents or Sliding Doors.

Queen to Play (2009)

This is a better-than-decent romance / finding yourself story.  It is not perfect.  There are some trite plot points - particularly with the husband and daughter, but they don't ruin the movie.  Also, there are some dropped or unfinished story lines - but that's pretty damn normal.

On the plus side?  Kevin Kline playing an American expat in France (speaking French), lovely scenery, and a great lead - Sandrine Bonnaire  She plays Helene, a femme de menage (cleaning lady), who wants to learn to play chess.  In France, this is a cleaning woman playing outside her class - her station.  But Helene persists, and she's good.  She overcomes.

This is a solid rental if you like a classic romantic / drama. 

Twilight Samurai (2002)

This is the second movie I've watched by director Yoji Yamada, and I am going to get more of his stuff.  He was the director of Hidden Blade, one of my top ten movies.

I like Hidden Blade better then this movie, but Twilight Samurai is great.  It starts Hiroyuki Sanada as the impoverished and widowed samurai with two young daughters and a mother with dementia under his care.  His life is essentially hopeless - no woman would want to enter this household.

But the Midnight Samurai is a great fighter, and in Yamada's movies, honor and fighting ability count for a lot. If you like samurai, honor, romance - pick this one up!!

Margaret (2011)

This is a fantastic film - one of the best I've seen in a long time.  It should have been an award contender (I guess in 2011?), thought that was never meant to be. 

Kenneth Lonergan wrote and directed this film, then assembled a fantastic cast.  He got amazing performances from everyone, but especially from Anna Paquin and J. Smith-Cameron. There are a lot of big stars here:  Matt Damon, Matthew Brokerick, Jean Reno, Mark Ruffalo, but they don't monopolize their scenes or the film.  The film stands on it own - its dialog and cinematography and performances. 

The film follows Lisa Cohen (Anna P), an intelligent, upper West-side NY teenager as she deals with the repercussions of a tragic event that she didn't just witness, but in which she was very much involved.  Lisa tries to talk to the adults in her sphere, but they don't help.  I'm not even sure they see the problem, and some don't want to help in any case.  They have their own problems. 

The beauty of this film is that we get to see everyone's issues - in their actions and reactions, as emotion plays across faces, in body language.  The editing here allows us to see people's reactions to Lisa as well as their own problems.  I often leave a movie thinking it needed more editing, but not here - I wanted more film. 

And that's why this movie wasn't up for awards.  Margaret was filmed in 2005 but has been mired in litigation, apparently over the length of the movie and Lonergan's inability to cut the film to 2.5 hours.  It finally made it through the system in late 2011 and was released in LA (and NY I assume).  Without advertising, however, it was gone in a couple of weeks and is now on DVD.  It's sad - this is a great, great film.  Pick it up.  It runs 2.5 hours, but I would take more. 

I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)

I love Amy Heckerling.  I have loved her since Fast Times at Ridgemont High (she directed) - and really really really loved her since Clueless (she wrote and directed).

This is not Amy H's best film, but it's still better than most of the crap you see every day.  Michelle Pfeiffer and Paul Rudd play an older woman / younger man romance trying to happen, but beset by the normal rom-com issues.  Namely:  age difference, insecurity and a crappy assistant trying to break them up.

I actually found very little in this movie believable (Michelle's ex husband is Jon Lovitz - in what world would that happen?), but everyone was so charming it was OK.  And I really really liked Saoirse Ronan as Michelle's young daughter.  OH - and there is a Mother Nature / imaginary friend thing between Michelle P and Tracey Ullman (as Mother Nature) - that was cool.  However, the movie didn't hang together that well, the tone was off, and it felt like it was made on the cheap. 

Not a bad rental, but watch Clueless again first. 

Election (1999)

This movie is priceless. This is Alexander Payne's first film, and my favorite (he also did About Schmidt, the Descendants and Sideways).  This film hilariously walks the line between flawed people and their oh-so-bad behavior, and absolute tragedy. 

Reese Witherspoon is genius here.  I once read a reviewer, I think Manola Darghis?, who said Reese's brittleness keeps her from being a good rom-com herione - and she is miscast in these roles.  I agree.  When Reese can do this kind of acerbic, witty, creative and joyous work, the gal should stay the hell away from rom-coms.  They are pointless and not her sweet spot.  Watch her in this - very few actresses can do this. 

Matthew Broderick is perfect - the opposite of Ferris, the tone is perfect, the camera work is simple, Reese midwest accent is priceless.  I love this film.  Pick it up. 

A Separation (2011)

I have been trying to watch this movie for at least 6 months.  I never was able to see it before the Oscars, and it won for Best Foreign Film.  Sometimes when I am really expecting greatness, I am cruelly disappointed. 

But not this time!!  This movie was amazing.  It starts simply enough, with a husband and wife in front of a judge.  The wife is asking for a divorce as she wants to go to America, and the husband has decided not to go.  His father has Alzheimer's and the husband feels he should stay in Iran to be with him.  Also at issue is their daughter - would she stay in Iran or go?

It doesn't matter, because the judge denies the divorce - her reasons for a divorce were "not good enough".  Ish.  That's scary. The mom moves out for a while.  The dad gets a housekeeper to clean and help look after his dad.  Things do not go well with the housekeeper.  There is an altercation, and she falls. 

Things get very interesting at this point.  The truth of what happened is not apparent.  It is complicated by motivations, prior lies, off screen activity and untold stories.  There is only one person who behaves well, in my opinion.  And some definitely behave worse then others.  Pay attention to what the father says to his daughter as things develop, and the pressure he puts on her as the situation evolves. 

And I loved the ending.  Pick this one up - it's a great film. 

Eyes Without A Face (1960)

This is ostensibly horror, but it isn't scary.  It has a certain creepiness, due mainly to the claustrophobic style of the film - the art direction and the music.  The huge kennel of constantly barking, extremely large dogs helps too.

A young girl, Christiane, is horribly disfigured in a car accident, leaving her with out a face.  Her famous surgeon father vows to "fix" her, which he plans to do by transplanting the face of another young girl on her.  Unfortunately, the only way he sees to accomplish this is by kidnapping women and killing them.  The string of murders perplexes the police, the doctor is obsessed, and his daughter is slowly going insane. 

I like this film, and I would recommend it to people who are interested in the evolution of horror over the years and across the countries.  In addition, this film was the inspiration behind Pedro's "The Skin I Live In". 

Time Bandits (1981)

My friend Nathan gave me this one to watch, and I'm really glad he did.  This is funny and ridiculous and oh-so British.  A group of little people work for the Supreme Being making shrubs and stuff, and they feel seriously under-appreciated.  They therefore decide to steal a time traveling map in order to look for and steal treasure. Makes total sense, right?

They accidentally hijack a young British boy, and he tries to keep the thieves on the straight and narrow.  This has Monty Python alumni in it, plus Sean Connery in a gladiator costume!  Good rental.

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

I enjoyed this!  The movie is not perfect, but there is a performance here that is out of control.  Nosferatu was filmed in 1922 by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau with Max Schreck playing Count Orlock.  It is still a great movie, and incredibly creepy and disturbing. 

Shadow of the Vampire takes us to the filming of Nosferatu, with Murnau (played by John Malkovich) assembling his cast on location at the ruined castle. He has kept Schreck a secret, and so all are suitably impressed and disturbed when Schreck appears in his first scene in the role of Nosferatu.  He never breaks character while on set.  Because he's really a vampire.  People start disappearing, and soon the agreement Murnau made with his vampire in the name of science and art has put them all in serious danger.

Willem Dafoe plays Orlock / Nosferatu.  He is amazingly good.  I could not recognize him AT ALL.  But I did recognize Nosferatu.  I have watched that movie many times, and Dafoe nailed the real Schreck's movements, body positioning, stance, gestures, expressions.  It's riveting. 

I would recommend you watch Nosferatu, then turn this one on.  What fun. 

The Wrong Man (1956)

This is a Hitchcock film, but not one of his best.  Henry Fonda plays a man wrongly identified as a thief targeting local stores and offices.  He is almost sent to jail on faulty eye-witness testimony, his wife has a breakdown, he goes into massive debt to pay bail and hire an attorney.  It's a mess. 

And the movie is only so-so.  The pacing is off and there is not much tension.  I would pass.  Rent Rear Window again instead!

Bourne Legacy (2012)

There are some reasons to see this movie - first, Rachel Weisz.  This may be an action flick, but she is far above the norm for this type of movie.  The same is true of Jeremy Renner and Ed Norton. 

However, the franchise feels tired.  There is some really ridiculous stuff in here (fighting with a wolf?), and the ending is typical over-the-top nonsense.  Plus they introduce a character at the end - you would think to keep the franchise going - and then kill him off.  It's pointless and detracts from the 23 explosions and car chases. 

Still, it's better than most.  And there's no gratuitous sex!  I love that for an interesting change of pace.

Force of Evil (1948)

This is noir, and not the best out there.  John Garfield plays a crooked lawyer who sees the light only after seeing real consequences of his actions.  There are some great shots here, but the dialog blows.

I would pass.  Watch Night and the City instead. 

Amazing Grace (2006)

I really wanted this movie to be better.  However, it was pretty crappy, with bad editing and horrible pacing.  I thought it was about three hours long, but it was about two.  A painful two.

There is some really great acting - Albert Finney has a great scene!  Unfortunately, the main character was weakly played by Ioan Gruffudd.  He was miscast.  Benedict Cumberbatch played Prime Minister Pitt, and he would have been wonderful in the lead. 

This is the story of William Wilberforce, who spent a good portion of his life campaigning to end the slave trade to British plantations in their colonies.  I wanted this to be better because it's a great story. 

Planet Terror (2007)

I would rather chew off my hand than watch this piece of shit again.

If you want a good zombie movie, watch Dawn of the Dead (either) or 28 Days Later.
If you want good Tarantino, watch Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill or Jackie Browne.
For good Rodriguez, watch any of the Mariachi series or Spy Kids.
If you want to throw up, eat something fuzzy in the back of your fridge.

If you do decide to watch this crap, keep the remote handy.  This movie is why God invented the fast forward button.

Senna (2010)

OK - it's no secret that I love a good documentary.  And this is a really good documentary!  It's about Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna, his rise to fame, his world championships, and his death.  I had no knowledge of Formula One driving or politics or the points system, etc.  This film is educational and gripping.  I recommend it even if you don't care about racing.  It's fun to learn about new things!

Night and the City (1950)

This is really great noir.  Richard Widmark plays a small-time con man, Harry Fabian, who makes his living primarily by finding marks and getting them into the Silver Fox nightclub.  His long-suffering girlfriend, played by Gene Tierney, works there as a singer.  She would like him to get a regular job so they can get married. 

But Fabian is sure his big score is around the corner.  He is constantly in trouble, constantly needing money, constantly running.  And then he meets Gregorious, a famous old Greco Roman wrestler whose son Kristo "runs" wrestling in London.  With Gregorious in his corner, Fabian takes on Kristo.  How do you think that turns out? 

The fight scene between Gregorious and the Strangler is incredible - one of the coolest things I've seen in noir.  And watch Richard Widmark shake off his fear and pretend to be a construction foreman for a wandering cop - this guy is awesome in this role.  Pick this one up!

Talk of Angels (1998)

Whoa - this is a super romantic movie.  It is all cotton candy and not much substance, despite that fact that it takes place in Franco's Spain.  It is beautifully shot, with beautiful people, beautiful clothes and scenery and a magically secluded house.  There is a married man, a governess, and political unrest.  If that appeals pick it up.  The only other reason to watch would be a young Penelope Cruz in a peripheral role. 

I would pass and rent Jane Eyre again.