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.