Auteurs and Ovations

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - 2011

2012-01-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

Director: Stephen Daldry
Writer: Eric Roth
Starring: Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks

After discovering a mysterious key in a nigh-unmarked envelope in a vase in the closet of his late father (Hanks), a young boy (Horn) sets out on a journey across the five boroughs of New York City to discover the complementary lock, as well as the secrets of the mute man (von Sydow) to whom his grandmother rents a room.

Initially, I dismissed this film as cheesy and trite, and between its rating on RottenTomatoes and casting a non-child actor from children's Jeopardy, it wasn't on my radar at all...and then the Academy announced their nominations, so naturally, I went to go see it. And while there's still an intangible quality that makes me think Dujardin deserves his nomination for a silent perfomance but von Sydow doesn't, and this isn't what I consider Best Picture-worthy...at the end of the day, though, film is about being moved on a deep, emotional level, and that happened to me three separate times in the theater, by which I mean wept openly. Good for you, everyone involved with this. Almost makes me not care about the third act reveal that I saw coming from moment one, or a very unsatisfying feeling I got near the very end for reasons I can't disclose. B+

Chico & Rita - 2011

2012-01-26T14:34:00.000-05:00

Directors: Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal
Writers: Ignacio Martínez de Pisón & Fernando Trueba
Starring: Limara Meneses, Eman Xor Oña, and Mario Guerra

This film follows the story of two star-crossed lovers, a singer and piano player in Havana in the late 1940s.

If you're fluent in Spanish and a big fan of jazz (and can close your eyes for 90 minutes without taking a nap), that's the only reason I'd recommend this film. It's shoddily animated and the plot is predictable. Oh, and this isn't a film for the young ones, either. It's a shame motion capture doesn't meet the Academy standards for animation, otherwise Rango might have had some legitimate competition from Tintin for the Oscar. C-

2012 Golden Globes thoughts

2012-01-16T13:48:00.000-05:00

Elton John was the first to be bleeped of the night. I knew it would come back to haunt him.
Ricky Gervais got off to a great start, but there was far too little of him in the show as a whole.
While I think no one can top Albert Brooks in Drive, no one can say that Chris Plummer doesn’t deserve his awards.
Tina Fey photobombing was the first great moment of the night.
Paul Giamatti looks like a hobo in a tux.
Kate Winslet gets to be the first played off winner of the night.
Kelsey Grammer beats out Buscemi and Cranstons? That Boss must be some kind of show.
The Artist takes home the score award. No surprise there.
Yes, Michelle as Marilyn is award-worthy (I was hooked from the first line of “Heat Wave”), but My Week is not a damn comedy. Get your act together, HFPA.
Peter Dinklage for all the awards.
Adventures of Tintin is so beloved worldwide, it makes sense that it’d beat Rango in this case.
Come on, Woody: take a week off from shooting in Rome when you’re nominated for awards. It’s not going to kill anyone.
I hope the person running across the stage behind Madonna was punished. Severely.
Why are we “introducing” Katharine McPhee? I don’t even watch American Idol and I know that’s where she’s from!
There’s no way Matt LeBlanc beats out Alec Baldwin’s 30 Rock performance.
I don’t think Octavia Spencer should have won. Viola Davis was the sole great performance in The Help.
I feel bad for Helen Mirren, having to tell those awful jokes about Morgan Freeman.
Watch Street Smarts. EVERYONE.
“In my house, [the Cecil B. deMille award] would also be known as the Sidney Poitier award.” I think I rolled a tear.
Is that Mrs. Hazanavicius with her camera phone out all the time? Classy.
With all due respect, Marty’s the last guy I expected to win for best director. It must have involved some back-alley film restoration.
THAT’S RIGHT MODERN FAMILY IS GREAT AND NEW GIRL SUCKS. Props to Ty Burrell for rocking a white tux.
I have an unashamed man-crush on JGL. However, I’m okay with Jean Dujardin winning instead because of the unique challenges that come with starring in a modern silent film.
High moment of the night: Meryl Streep forgets her glasses, yet gives a stellar speech highlighting all the great female performances of the year…while George Clooney and David Fincher attempt to get her glasses up to the stage. Also, mad props for fighting the “wrap it up” music.
Even though I think the funniest film should win the award for best comedy/musical, I can live with The Artist taking this one too, especially since they brought the dog.
George Clooney thinks that Michael Fassbender can play golf with both hands tied behind his back. Okay then.
The Descendants takes best actor in a drama and best drama? I think I watched a different movie.

Six weeks until the Oscars!

We Need to Talk About Kevin - 2011

2012-01-15T15:11:00.000-05:00

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Writers: Lynne Ramsay & Rory Stewart Kinnear
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, & John C. Reilly

Eva Katchadourian (Swinton) deals with the various trials and tribulations of raising her very disturbed son Kevin (Miller), including the aftermath of a high school massacre he perpetrates.

Kevin is one of a multitude of films where the performances surpass the work as a whole. Miller (as well as the child actor playing a younger version of his character) spends most of his screentime being absolutely terrifying, and Swinton is incredible as the woman living in fear of her uncontrollable, violent offspring. In her scenes following the incident, she has an intense hollowness about her that is unattainable by most great actors. Unfortunately, I had a major problem with the structure of the film. It's massively non-linear, told through not-quite-chronological flashbacks. It even starts out with an entirely pointless scene in the Tomatina, in which Eva is barely recognizable. However, things start being clear about 45 minutes in, and the stellar performances begin to take hold. B

The Iron Lady - 2011

2012-01-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Abi Morgan
Starring: Meryl Streep & Jim Broadbent

Rating: B-

Carnage - 2011

2012-01-14T17:52:00.000-05:00

Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Yasmina Reza & Roman Polanski
Starring: Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, & Christoph Waltz

After a physical altercation between their two sons, two couples meet in an attempt to instigate the reconciliation. However, this attempt to bring peace soon takes a very sour turn.

Before going into this film, you need to know it's based on a play. Many films that started on a stage keep to the restrictions that that imposes, and this is no exception. Aside from a brief, wordless scene that shows the fight between the boys and another similar scene in the end, the vast majority of the 80 minutes is confined to the apartment of the couple portrayed by Foster and Reilly; we see their living room and the hallway outside, as well as a brief jaunt into their kitchen and bathroom. Fortunately, Polanski has quite possibly the best cast to overcome the technical limitations as much as humanly possible. A cold lawyer that can't separate himself from his phone, an arrogant broker who denies her son's aggressive nature, a high-strung worldly liberal, and a blue-collar salesman...throw in projectile vomiting and 18-year-old scotch and nothing but carnage could possibly ensue. A-

Cars 2 - 2011

2012-01-12T19:41:00.000-05:00

Director: John Lasseter
Writer: Ben Queen
Starring: Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer

A billionaire alternative fuel enthusiast establishes an international racing competition to prove the worth of his fuel, and naturally, Lightning McQueen (Wilson) can't help but enter. However, while abroad, Mater (Larry) gets entangled in his own troubles--espionage.

It might be a good idea to can sequels for all CGI film companies, considering the state of them lately. Aside from Toy Story, every CGI franchise worsens with age, and Cars is no exception. While Pixar has once again made a richly detailed alternaverse for these characters, that's the sole positive thing about this film. Cars was no one's favorite Pixar film, and they made it worse by increasing its worst aspect: Larry the Cable Guy's screentime. The story is shoddy, despite Lasseter's involvement and best intentions; either give us all-new characters and tell the spy story you obviously wanted to, or tell us a story about an international racing competition with the characters we're already familiar with. Just leave Larry out of it next time. F+

Puss in Boots - 2011

2012-01-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

Director: Chris Miller
Writers: Tom Wheeler, David H. Steinberg, & Chris Lynch
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, & Zack Galifianakis

The beloved feline swordsman (Banderas) from the Shrek franchise gets his own tale, complete with magic beans, a femme fatale (Hayek), and Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis).

This is a franchise that Dreamworks should have put down years ago. The first two are really good, the third is okay, and the fourth was a blatant ripoff of It's a Wonderful Life. Now that the writing staff's resorting to incest, prison rape, and marijuna references (all quite a bit more adult than the series has gone before), I think it's safe to say this well's gone dry. If only they'd stop making so much money... F

Warrior - 2011

2012-01-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Director: Gavin O'Connor
Writers: Gavin O'Connor, Cliff Dorfman, & Anthony Tambakis
Starring: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, & Nick Nolte

Ex-Marine Tommy (Hardy) returns home to Pittsburgh in order to seek the training of his father (Nolte) for a shot at the $5 million top prize in a mixed martial arts tournament. However, with his high school teacher's salary unable to prevent the bank from foreclosing on his house, Tommy's estranged older brother Brendan (Edgerton) also sets out to enter the tournament.

I saw Contagion the weekend that Warrior hit theaters, and I can say with total certainty that I made a huge mistake. This film was absolutely incredible, and that's coming from a guy who doesn't often gravitate to sports films. Hardy, Edgerton, and Nolte are an immense triple threat of acting, which means a lot for two rising stars and a man who most would write off as having his best days behind him (considering his performance in Ang Lee's abysmal Hulk). The script works really well, getting just the right amount of each man's story to where it's nigh impossible to root for one over the other in the final bout; the main story goes over so well that you can overlook two supporting characters go from being 100% against Brendan fighting to completely in his corner for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Perhaps the box office would have worked out more in the film's favor had this not been made following so closely to The Fighter. At least we can hope that the sanctity of this film won't be ruined by franchisement like the earlier project. A-

The Artist - 2011

2012-01-08T13:41:00.000-05:00

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell

Silent film star George Valentin (Dujardin) fights against the inevitable rise of sound pictures, while also entering an uneasy relationship with newcomer Peppy Miller (Bejo).

Rating: A

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 2011

2012-01-08T13:34:00.001-05:00

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writers: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds

High-ranking British intelligence official George Smiley (Oldman) must find a Soviet mole within his ranks.

Rating: C-

2011 Roundup

2012-01-01T01:14:00.000-05:00

Here's my ten favorites (as opposed to the best, necessarily) and five least favorites for the films of 2011. Keep in mind, there's plenty I haven't seen yet. Just throwing up the list for now; I'll come back with reasons later when it's not New Year's anymore.

10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
9. The Muppets
8. Young Adult
7. Rango
6. Drive
5. 50/50
4. Bridesmaids
3. Beginners
2. Attack the Block
1. Red State

And now, my five least favorite.

5. The Green Hornet
4. A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 3D
3. The Tree of Life
2. Cowboys & Aliens
1. Meek's Cutoff

The Adventures of Tintin - 2011

2011-12-31T18:10:00.000-05:00

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, & Joe Cornish
Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Based on the Belgian comic series, this film brings the classic character of Tintin (Bell), a young journalist/explorer, as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of the Unicorn, a three-masted sailing ship, along with the descendant of its captain, Archibald Haddock (Serkis).

This was a perfect movie for Spielberg to be involved with. Why? Because it's pretty much a motion capture CGI version of Indiana Jones, but with a younger journalist as opposed to the American archaeologist. I'm even willing to overlook the fact that the characters are mysteriously British when they should be Belgian, since it seems like we've finally figured out how to make humans look good in mocap. Thomson and Thompson, two Interpol agents, also have an odd, brief subplot involving a pickpocket that's a bit unrelated to the rest of the film, but I guess you have to introduce them somehow. Oh, and the 3D was utter perfection. A

War Horse - 2011

2011-12-31T17:51:00.000-05:00

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Richard Curtis & Lee Hall
Starring: A bunch of humans who don't really matter

War Horse tells the tale of Joey, a colt-turned-plough horse that is forced into service when the British enter the Great War.

Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest living directors, with nearly forty years of one stellar film after another. Unfortunately, this one's a bit of a misstep in my book. Despite being a film version of a renowned play (in turn adapted from a book), I'm going to go out on a limb and say the true skill of the play was in the unique way that human performers portray the horses. My main issue with this film is the use of an animal as the protagonist. Sure, (mostly) children's films use animals as protagonists all the time, but there's one key difference: communication. The horse in this film, naturally, doesn't utter a single word, because this isn't that kind of movie. After getting to know the family who raises the horse in the first hour, we get treated to a revolving door of three separate sets of human characters (and not enough time to get attached to any of them). Maybe I'm alone, but I can't really get into a story when the main character can't tell me anything or show emotion. However, it's still shot beautifully, and maybe sometimes you don't need an Oscar-worthy performance to make a good film. B

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - 2011

2011-12-22T11:51:00.001-05:00

Director: David Fincher
Writer: Steve Zaillian
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard

Thanks to a combination of talents of all involved from the director to the score writers, the film may be even better than its Swedish counterpart. A+

The visual aspect is significantly better on the big screen, but it's still one of the best cover songs I've ever heard.

Beginners - 2011

2011-12-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

Director: Mike Mills
Writer: Mike Mills
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent

Told through a series of flashbacks, Beginners is the story of Oliver (McGregor), a man in his late 30s struggling to have a fulfilling relationship with a French actress (Laurent) while coming to terms with the death of his recently out father Hal (Plummer).

If I were asked to make a movie about the entirety of human experience, it would be this. The film manages to be simultaneously beautiful and depressing throughout, and the quirky humor and unconventionality balances the low points well. Plummer gives an especially great performance, playing the false strength of a terminal cancer patient to great effect. Few films manage to be as incredible and low-key as this one, and they should be savored. A+

My Week with Marilyn - 2011

2011-12-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

Director: Simon Curtis
Writer: Adrian Hodges
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones

Saying that the shooting of The Prince and the Showgirl didn't go well would be an understatement. Tempers flared and personalities clash, especially between director/male lead Sir Laurence Olivier (Branagh) and female lead Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). It didn't help matters when Monroe's husband Arthur Miller left town and she had a fling with third assistant director Colin Clark (Redmayne).

Confession: I had never seen an entire Marilyn Monroe film before My Week with Marilyn came out. Thus, I felt this review would be inadequate if I did not watch the "source material," as it were, afterwards. Now that we've got that out of the way...this film was absolutely incredible. Michelle Williams is just as great as she was in Blue Valentine last year, if not better. Not only does she look the part, but she also brings out the dichotomy of the dark, tortured soul versus the childlike/"innocent"-yet-sexy that Monroe did so well. She also sings Branagh is unsurprisingly perfect as Shakespearean actor/director Olivier; I think they both deserve awards purely for running around so long with that monocle. The one bad thing about this movie, sadly is...Emma Watson. Not that her performance is bad, by any means, but the role. She plays a wardrobe girl and the initial object of Colin's affection; you could cut all her scenes out and the movie would suffer nothing. Shame on Hodges for leaving her in. Oh, and it's a bit unsettling to see Howard Stark and Arnim Zola working hand in hand, but if you're not some comic book geek, that shouldn't be too off-putting. A

Young Adult - 2011

2011-12-19T11:11:00.000-05:00

Director: Jason Reitman

Writer: Diablo Cody

Starring: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson

Young adult fiction writer Mavis Gary (Theron) leaves her swanky Minneapolis apartment for a brief return to the small town in which she grew up in an attempt to steal her old high school flame Buddy Slade (Wilson) from his "unhappy" life as a new father.

Quick sidenote: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the nominating body for the Golden Globes, often comes under fire for "mis"-categorizing certain films in an attempt to recognize movies that might not get one otherwise. This is about to become very important.

Jason Reitman, son of legendary filmmaker Ivan Reitman (and brother of YouTube film critic Catherine Reitman), has made three incredible films so far, and Young Adult makes four. This should come as no surprise to anyone. However, this is his reunion with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody, who (despite an Oscar win) many rail against because of her unique dialogue choices in her first two scripts. These critics have finally been silenced, as Young Adult contains none of this stylized dialogue. In addition, Theron's character seems significantly modeled after Cody herself (a small-town Minnesota girl who moved to the big city and became famous), and when the writer's soul is as apparent as it is here, it makes for a very high quality product. That said, don't let certain award nominations and marketing make you think this is a comedy. Sure, there's jokes around a few corners of the script, but it's ultimately a film about an emotionally damaged woman who values the halcyon days of yore far too much, unable to relate to others. Theron is unparalleled, however, in the emotional depth that the role requires. She's clearly come quite a long way from Children of the Corn III. Patton Oswalt (voice of Remy in Ratatouille and star of the criminally underseen Big Fan) does an even more tremendous job, portraying a high school classmate with a horrifyingly tragic past. This is one of those films we need more of, so please go see it theatrically. A

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 2011

2011-12-17T12:02:00.002-05:00

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Kieran & Michele Mulroney
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Rachel McAdams

The Sitter - 2011

2011-12-15T14:25:00.002-05:00

Director: David Gordon Green
Writers: Brian Gatewood & Alessandro Tanaka
Starring: Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor, Max Records, Sam Rockwell, JB Smoove

J. Edgar - 2011

2011-12-03T10:28:00.002-05:00

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Dustin Lance Black
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts

The Muppets - 2011

2011-12-03T10:26:00.004-05:00

Director: James Bobin
Writes: Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, & Rashida Jones

Hugo - 2011

2011-11-28T17:31:00.000-05:00

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: John Logan
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace-Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helen McCrory, Christopher Lee, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jude Law

Hugo (Butterfield) is an orphan living in a train station, continuing the Herculean task of his late father (Law): reconstructing a mysterious automaton. When he meets Isabel (Grace-Moretz), a young girl who somehow has a key to the strange device, the two discover a long-buried secret about her godfather (Kingsley).

I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider Hugo to be a brilliant piece of cinema. Virtually anything Scorsese goes to work on ends up great; while Shutter Island wasn't one of my favorites, it was still far from terrible. The cast he cobbled together is nothing short of wonderful. Between this and Kick-Ass, Grace-Moretz has proven her worth double that of some actresses twice her age. Butterfield, who had his breakout role in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, also shows he's more than your standard child star. Kingsley is tremendous as always, and Cohen is as enjoyable as he was in Sweeney Todd, another script by Logan, rather than his usually intolerable roles in his own pictures. The story is straightforward enough to be enjoyed by all ages, which aids in Scorsese's debut in the realm of non-adult fare. Unfortunately, I think that the reports of Scorsese's skill with the 3D have been greatly exaggerated, despite his great attempt to replicate the response early audiences had when first seeing Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. The third act plays out more as Scorsese's love letter to the old films moreso than one the audience at large might identify with, and film buffs may enjoy the latter half more than the average moviegoer, but Hugo is a triumph nonetheless. A

The Descendants - 2011

2011-11-25T14:50:00.000-05:00

Director: Alexander Payne
Cowriters: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, & Jim Rash
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer

After his wife slips into a coma, Hawaiian native Matt King (Clooney) must become a father to his two daughters with renewed vigor. However, a wrinkle comes into play when one of King's daughters tells him about an affair his wife was having before her accident.

Payne's last film was Sideways all the way back in 2004, and I'm glad as hell to see him back. While the protagonists of the three films of his I've seen could be said to share a basic archetype, that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. This time he's working with Clooney, who's pitch perfect as the haole (white Hawaiian) struggling to keep his life together while tackling a B-plot related to the sale of some family land. It's this secondary storyline that seems a bit excessive, but otherwise it's a spectacular film. The cinematography shows off the natural beauty and Hawaii, and all of the cast is terrific, right on down to the newcomers portraying King's daughters. I hope Payne doesn't wait seven years for his next film. A

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 3D - 2011

2011-11-04T14:20:00.000-04:00