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.