Author Archives: Kyle

About Kyle

My name is Kyle, and I'm just your average aspiring journalist who loves film and pop culture. Like, a lot. Seriously, it's unhealthy. This blog is the only thing that can make me well again.

Oscar Watch: Captain Phillips

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In this series, I look at the major Oscar nominated films and their chances of taking home gold. It is more an analysis of the Awards than it is the film’s quality, though some commentary on that is also included. Enjoy! 

More than other major Oscar nominees, Captain Phillips is a film that reveals both the pleasant surprises and the follies of a typical awards season. With six nominations, it is, by all accounts, a great movie.

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Despite Tom Hanks’ snub, Captain Phillips is still a richly deserving Oscar nominee in other categories.

Which is why the film’s nomination for Best Picture is a pleasant surprise. Director Paul Greengrass has been a box office draw thanks to the Jason Bourne films (he directed parts two and three of the trilogy), but I don’t think he gets enough credit for the way he has changed the way Hollywood approaches the Blockbuster action film. Coming from the world of documentaries, his cinema verite, handheld shaky-cam style both inspired and enraged a new generation of filmmakers and audiences. Shaky-cam is now one of the most overused tropes in action filmmaking. When it’s down poorly, it’s unwatchable. But, when it’s done well, it’s nothing less than exhilarating.

Enter Captain Phillips, which capitalizes on Greengrass’ strengths as an artist while ironing out most of his occasionally rough edges. There’s still a lot of shaky-cam, but here it actually helps to convey the nauseous rocking of a ship on the ocean. Combine that with claustrophobic ship hallways and bunkers, and you’ve got a potentially queasy experience. Shaky-cam may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s done well enough here to justify why it put Greengrass on the map in the first place.

Some might say Greengrass was snubbed for a Best Director nomination, but the real snub goes obviously to Tom Hanks. Despite an already tight acting race, his non-nomination still came as a bit of a shock to many. His role as Rich Phillips, the captain of a freight ship overtaken by Somali pirates is nothing short of revelatory. It’s telling that such a veteran actor can still surprise us by playing a very ordinary real-life person. Hanks hardly looks like a movie star here, and that’s why he’s so good. Most people say the true powerhouse acting comes in the film’s later third, but that doesn’t disqualify what comes before as truly brilliant.

Speaking of brilliant, can we talk about Barkhad Abdi, nominated for Best Supporting Actor? The native Somalian non-actor came out of nowhere to stun as the cunning Pirate captain Muse. I’d love to see him win, not only because he’s brilliant, but because it’s so refreshing to see a truly humble man taking in sudden fame and glamor from the perspective of a wide-eyed outsider. He may be considered and underdog, but his performance, as well as his real-life humility, speak volumes.

How often is editing that makes a film harder to watch a good thing? Christopher Rouse, a frequent Greengrass collaborator nominated in past years for The Bourne Ultimatum and United 93 pulls it off with aplomb. The queasy claustrophobia of his can’t-look-away quick cutting provides Captain Phillips with much of its energy and personality. It’s hard to argue against the other nominees (particularly American Hustle), but I’m happy to see Rouse recognized once again.

Billy Ray’s adapted screenplay will lose to John Ridley’s 12 Years a Slave, but, again, I’m glad to see it nominated, and I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for such a visually focused production to seem alive on the page.

Captain Phillips was one of the best films of the year, and it is getting more Oscar recognition that I thought it would. Most people might be focusing on Hanks’ snub, but I’d rather celebrate the strengths the film was deservedly recognized for rather than dwell on what it missed out on. In the end, as always, the work speaks for itself.

 

Oscar Watch: Nebraska

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Nebraska is probably too smart to win many Oscars, but I hope its original screenplay is at least recognized.

In this series, I look at the major Oscar nominated films and their chances of taking home gold. It is more an analysis of the Awards than it is the film’s quality, though some commentary on that is also included. Enjoy! 

Nebraska is the little engine that could of this year’s awards race. And it’s a brilliant film to boot. Soulfully nostalgic and achingly sad all at once, it’s the best Oscar-nominated movie you haven’t seen. That needs to be rectified.

Director Alexander Payne is no stranger to Oscar. His unique slice-of-American life outlook has resulted in Oscar gold for films Sideways (Best Original Screenplay) and The Descendants (Best Adapted Screenplay) as well as nominations for the likes of George Clooney and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt).

For Nebraska, Payne returns to his home state for the story of an elderly man (Bruce Dern) who thinks he’s won $1 million and, whether its true or not, decides to travel from his home in Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize, at any cost. Eventually he ropes his two adult sons (Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk) into the adventure, as well as his saucy wife (June Squibb) and, eventually, his whole extended family.

There’s nothing not to like about Nebraska—from its sensuous black and white cinematography to its witty script and pitch-perfect acting. It’s the kind of movie that doesn’t seem to expect accolades, but is glad to get them when they come. It’s not an “Oscar bait” movie in any way, and that is so very refreshing.

Much of the credit goes to Bob Nelson’s original screenplay, which deserves to win in its category (close second goes to American Hustle). His balance between humor and tragedy is so fine it’s almost infuriating. Phedon Pamamichael’s cinematography is also wisely recognized (though it will lose to Gravity). The B&W photography gives the empty Midwestern landscapes more character, and is not in any way distracting or preening.

Dern is brilliant, but it’s June Squibb who’s the true revelation here. Seeing such good actors getting their time in the spotlight after so long is a treat. She’s far from a frontrunner, but, at 84, she would be the oldest to win the Best Supporting Actress prize, and the Academy does love to break barriers when they’re deserved. This one is.

Payne’s sensitive and very personal direction netted him a well-deserved directing nod, but it’s tough to vote against the richly deserving Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity. Still, I wouldn’t be disappointed if Payne pulled an upset. Same goes for Nebraska’s Best Picture nod.

Whatever its Oscar fate, Nebraska is, at the very least, destined to become a cult classic of some sort. It’s a potent, lasting reminder that our family is not the one we choose, but simply the one we’re given. We must make due; for better or worse. 

Oscar Watch: Dallas Buyers Club

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In this series, I look at the major Oscar nominated films and their chances of taking home gold. It is more an analysis of the Awards than it is the film’s quality, though some commentary on that is also included. Enjoy! 

Dallas Buyers Club is one of those films whose Oscar buzz seems to be focused in one specific place. In this case, acting. And that’s where the focus should be. The film, while historically important in its treatment of the birth of the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s, is also a bit messy.

Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. The film has a strange, pulsating energy, which is an odd thing to say about a story involving a man dying of AIDS. The real-life journey of Texas electrician Ron Woodruff to first cure himself and, later on, others, of the deadly disease while fighting with the medical establishment to procure funding for an FDA-approved cure is an often bleak one, but there’s an almost irrational strain of hope that runs through these characters and their mission.

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The awards conversation for Dallas is where it should be: the acting.

The movie is tonally inconsistent, and often prefers grit over polish, which makes its Best Picture nomination curious over more accomplished works such as Saving Mr. Banks, Before Midnight and the overlooked Prisoners. The film probably got a boost from its subject matter, neither a first nor last for the Academy.

All complaints about the overall film dissipate when we witness two of the most astonishing performances in recent film history. As Woodruff, Matthew McConaughey reaches that terrifying critical mass of method acting; I was concerned for Woodruff and his gaunt physical deterioration, but I was also afraid for McConaughey.  He just doesn’t look good. It recalls Christian Bale’s performances in The Fighter and The Machinist, where actor and character blend so perfectly you fear for the actor’s safety. I’ve been a fan of McConaughey for years, but this feels like the first time he’s truly transformed himself. All we see is Woodruff, exuding confidence one minute but sobbing in his car the next.

Equally jaw-dropping is Jared Leto’s supporting performance as Rayon, an AIDS-infected, drug-addicted man in the process of becoming a woman who breaks down the homophobic Woodruff’s defenses and helps him run his unauthorized drug business. A scene where a desperate Rayon dresses in a suit, puts his hair up and walks into his disapproving father’s office asking for money is one of the more heartbreaking acting moments in recent memory.

Leto and McConaughey are the front-runners to win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor and, while those categories are stacked, it’s hard to bet against them.

The film’s makeup and hair styling is destined for Oscar gold, adding weight to Leto’s and McConaughey’s often startling physical transformations. The film is up for Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack’s Best Original Screenplay, but it’s hard to see the sometimes-sterile dialogue competing against the crackling intensity of Her, Nebraska, Blue Jasmine or American Hustle.

But, the shortcomings of Dallas Buyers Club do nothing to diminish the two beyond brilliant performances at its center, performances that should be celebrated.

Oscar Watch: The Wolf of Wall Street

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In this series, I look at the major Oscar nominated films and their chances of taking home gold. It is more an analysis of the Awards than it is the film’s quality, though some commentary on that is also included. Enjoy!

And now for something completely different. The Wolf of Wall Street is essentially director Martin Scorsese’s version of a frat-boy comedy. That should tell you whether you’d enjoy the film, or whether it should win Oscars.

It’s a solid accomplishment, but easily the most polarizing movie among the bunch. I think audiences (and critics) are only willing to go so far with a patently unlikable protagonist. And, clocking in at three hours, Wolf tests the limits of good taste and patience.

I’ve heard multiple tales of walk-outs after about the first hour or so, not necessarily due to the movie’s excessive vulgarity (though that is likely a factor) but because of the fact that paying audience thought they had seen all the movie had to offer.

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Wolf’s comedic elements likely make it a breath of fresh air for Academy voters, but that alone does not deem it worthy of taking home gold.

That assertion is mostly correct. Which is why it’s strange to see the movie nominated in prestigious categories such as Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Terrence Winter’s script is certainly one of the most vulgar, over-the-top pieces to ever be nominated in a writing category. It’s so lowbrow, it’s actually shocking to see it competing against screenplays such as Before Midnight and 12 Years a Slave.

And yet, maybe that’s the point. After all, maybe Oscar voters can only take so much dour, earnest drama. Wolf’s nominations are like an adrenaline shot to the competition. And the film can be quite funny. Or maybe it’s Scorsese’s name that brought the film higher in the minds of voters, which made it seem much more important than it actually is.

Not that a movie has to be “important” to win Oscars, but I can’t help but feel the Academy is slumming it. There is an obvious exception, and that is Leonardo DiCaprio’s nomination for Best Actor. It’s the very definition of a stacked category, one where multiple “favorites” will be vying for the prize. But I’m throwing my chips in for the long-suffering DiCaprio, who has never won despite multiple nominations. I don’t think he’ll ever do better than his livewire, completely off-the-wall performance as Jordan Belfort in Wolf, so why not just give it to him now?

Jonah Hill’s Supporting Actor nomination seems a bit of a joke compared to the competition, but, given the film’s length, he probably gets more screen time than the other nominees (and is thus more “supporting,” technically speaking). Still, shouldn’t the fact that we get to see his (prosthetic) penis earn some sort of disqualification?

My intention is not to simply complain about the film, which I did not hate, but to simply wonder at the Academy’s standards. When considering Best Picture nominees, I’d have a hard time believing that The Wolf of Wall Street is better than the magnificent Before Midnight, or even an overlooked gem like Mud. Yet, grossing more than $100 million, Wolf is one of the more popular Oscar contenders. Sadly, “popularity contest” is a term we hear combined with “Oscar” much too often.

Oscar Watch: Gravity

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In this series, I look at the major Oscar nominated films and their chances of taking home gold. It is more an analysis of the Awards than it is the film’s quality, though some commentary on that is also included. Enjoy!

Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity soared higher than most expected, and is now widely considered the greatest blockbuster-style entertainment in a decade. As such, expect the film, which is nominated for 10 Academy Awards, to see plenty of gold come Oscar night.

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Gravity is destined to sweep Oscar’s technical categories, but could sneak in and take home Oscar’s top prize.

The last truly great crowd-pleasing blockbuster, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, took home a whopping 11 Oscars in 2003, including Best Picture, a first for a fantasy film. Gravity certainly could sweep this year’s awards ceremony, but I’m predicting a performance similar to last year’s Life of Pi.

Pi had some early Best Picture buzz, but ended up losing out to Argo, 2012’s prestigious historical drama. Thus continued the trend of the technically audacious crowd-pleaser losing out to the prestige picture (see: The Artist vs. Hugo, The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar, etc.). Still, Pi took home 4 awards, including Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Score and Best Director for Ang Lee.

That Best Director win is particularly important, as Gravity looks poised to repeat not only a technical sweep, but also a Best Director win. Cuaron won at the Golden Globes, and has been seen as the frontrunner ever since. Not only is he richly deserving, but he would also be the first Latino filmmaker to win the award, and the Academy likes breaking historical barriers such as race.

The film is a shoo-in for the sound and visual effects categories, but the other big question is Sandra Bullock lead performance. As Ryan Stone, a woman whose lost-in-space adventure reveals some deeper anxieties about loss of faith and the ability to go on in a world that seems cold and indifferent to our existence, she provided an expertly emotional and physical performance that she’s never come close to before. Bullock did win an Oscar for her role in The Blind Side, and this role is much better. But, the acting categories are particularly stacked this year, and she has to go up against frontrunner Cate Blanchett and hot star Amy Adams. Many other years, I think Bullock’s award will be a given.

But Gravity will likely lose the night’s big prize to this year’s prestige picture, 12 Years a Slave, and Ann Thompson at Indie wire explains why.

“I argue that the reason that 12 Years a Slave will prevail over all countervailing trends is that the Academy thinks about how they want to be represented to the world. It’s not just what movie they like best. It’s what movie they want to like best.”

Nonetheless, Gravity remains a richly rewarding experience that deserves any and every award it scoops up. 

50 Years Later: The legacy of The Beatles

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I’m convinced there’s only one way to spell the word beatle. Microsoft Word is telling me it’s wrong, but how could it be? There’s only one way that word can be used, and it’s to describe the band that changed the way we communicate.

Fifty years ago, on Feb. 9, 1964, the British pop band The Beatles came to America for the first time when they played on The Ed Sullivan Show. It’s impossible to overstate what that moment would mean to the history of popular western music.

On Sunday, CBS aired a stunning tribute to the band called The Night That Changed America: A Grammy salute to The Beatles. A variety of pop stars, from Stevie Wonder to Ed Sheeran to Imagine Dragons, played their own interpretations of classic Beatles songs. But one of the most striking moments for me was when Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters, said, “Without The Beatles, I wouldn’t be a musician.” Some day, I imagine, the next generation of musicians will be saying the same thing about Dave Grohl.

I can safely say, as a music fan, without The Beatles, I wouldn’t be a music lover. I play the trumpet, and the musical influences that have shaped my ear are too myriad to print here. But I’ve never forgotten that my eclectic tastes point back to one source.

This poster of Abbey Road, my favorite Beatles album, will forever occupy prime real estate on my poster-covered wall.

This poster of Abbey Road, my favorite Beatles album, will forever occupy prime real estate on my poster-covered wall.

I have to thank my dad for introducing me to The Beatles (among many other of my all-time favorites), but, unlike many older fans, I don’t remember hearing them for the first time. In my world, they have always existed; they have always been timeless. I can’t remember having not heard nearly any of their songs. This speaks so directly to the group’s widespread influence, that a typical ‘90s kid is as familiar with their body of work as someone who experienced their music afresh while growing up.

But why is the music of The Beatles still seem so new, so enduring? What makes them stand out over their contemporaries? The radio station 100.3 The Sound played an amazing set of the “top 50 Beatles songs of all time” on Sunday (as voted by listeners). A DJ on the station said that “The Beatles introduced art to popular songwriting.” Now, there had certainly been popular rock n’ roll artists before The Beatles: Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, etc. But art as The Sound used it is, I think, more akin to appreciating a favorite painting in a gallery.

Popular music had made us feel before, but not like this. A song like Let it Be or A Day in the Life cause us to feel not just an emotion, but the entire spectrum of human feeling and experience. Never before had rock allowed us to feel hope and despair and outrage and love, often at the same time.

In an interview with David Letterman on that CBS special, Ringo Starr said that the reason he thought The Beatles were so successful because they could play anything; they were never confined to one genre. And, looking through the Lennon-McCartney songbook, it’s easy to agree. The Sound’s top 50 songs include aching love ballads (And I Love Her, If I Fell, Yesterday), nonsensical flights of fancy (I am the Walrus, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) and epic, transcendent odysseys (Strawberry Fields Forever, Golden Slumbers Medley).

While everyone has their personal favorite Beatles songs (Hey Jude was number one on this countdown), it’s tough to argue that any particular “style” of song is superior to another. It seems to be a matter of preference. In other words, The Beatles have something for everyone.

During the countdown, I noticed that many of the Fab Four’s most haunting songs involve looking (often focused on the lover’s gaze). Think of I Want You (She’s so Heavy), You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, I Saw Her Standing There, Something and Eleanor Rigby. Isn’t that appropriate for a band that has changed so much about the way we see?

Speaking of seeing, we’ve never seen anything like The Beatles—never has a “popular” band so expertly mixed politics and pop culture, rage and romance, coolness and controversy—and we never will again. I don’t think we want to.

Golden Globes: Chalk one up for the underdog

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This year, Hollywood’s hottest party was a beautiful, hot mess of rambling philosophical musings masquerading as speeches, awkwardly long walks to the podium and genuine awards surprises. But the biggest pleasure and surprise of the show was the story of the underdogs dethroning established Hollywood royalty.

Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler helped make for an effortlessly entertaining, sometimes surprising Golden Globes ceremony.

Not that some very big names didn’t take home awards. The show got off to a great start, with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler riffing as they do best. An early award went to Jennifer Lawrence for Best Supporting Actress for American Hustle. A previous Oscar winner, Lawrence is, in some circles, already considered Hollywood royalty. But compared to icons like competitor Julie Roberts, Lawrence is still the fun-loving, starry-eyed onlooker, wondering how she ever even got invited to the party. That kind of humility is rare in show business, but there was plenty of it to go around Sunday. The initial reaction is that Lupita Nyong’o was snubbed for her stirring, intensely physical performance in 12 Years a Slave. And, while I love Lawrence more than many, I’d have to agree. Her performance was a delight, but not a revelation like Nyong’o’s.

American Hustle took home several other awards, including Amy Adams for Best Actress Musical/Comedy (beating out Meryl Streep) and Best Picture Musical/Comedy. There’s been a bit of a backlash against the film, but I think it remains effortlessly entertaining, with David O. Russel’s most effervescent and effective direction. Whether “effortlessly entertaining” is enough to justify its win over competition like Her and Inside Llewyn Davis remains to be seen, but the odds seem to be in its favor.

All the other acting category wins were absolute slam-dunks, recognizing some very deserving (and frequently snubbed) performers. I was overjoyed to finally see Leonardo DiCaprio take home a Globe for his performance in The Wolf of Wall Street (musical/comedy). It’s the finest performance of his career, and I hope he isn’t overlooked at the Oscars. Equally deserving was Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (drama), a brilliant actor whose stunning late-career renaissance can be overlooked no longer. It is a bit of a shocker that he beat out Chiwetel Ejiofor for his soul-stirring lead role in 12 Years a Slave, and it should make for a very interesting Oscar night. He also beat out the likes of Tom Hanks andRobert Redford, something to be proud of, for sure.

The Best Director race was one of the most fascinating of the night: Paul Greengrass, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell and Steve McQueen. A phenomenal list of dedicated artists who have worked a very long time to find their way to the spotlight, not one can be considered a celebrity director on the level of, say, Martin Scorsese. Cuaron took home the award for Gravity, and I hope he can repeat that success at the Oscars. The Mexican director has quietly been creating some of the best studio and independent films of the past few decades, and, from A Little Princess to Children of Men, his time has finally come.

Some pegged Gravity for a win in Best Picture/Drama, but, even with snubs in other categories, 12 Years a Slave wasn’t exactly a surprise. It follows a tradition of historical films winning over the more populist, fantastical competition (see: The Hurt Locker over Avatar; The Artist over Hugo, etc.) But Gravity is better than most films that find themselves as “the populist choice,” so the Oscar race is far from assured.

Is there a more perfect image of the spirit of this year’s Globes than Barkhad Abdi? The Somalian actor came out of nowhere and stunned as the unpredictable pirate captain in Captain Phillips. Talk about overwhelming. Nonetheless, he had a smile on his face the whole night, probably wondering how the heck he ended up here, among the entertainment elite. He lost the best supporting actor trophy to Jared Leto, the Dallas Buyers Club actor who returned to the profession after a six-year hiatus. He beat out rising stars Daniel Bruhl, Bradley Cooper and Michael Fassbender. All guys who have come a long way for the recognition they so richly deserve.

Same goes for the TV winners. Bryan Cranston finally won for his role as Walter White in Breaking Bad, and Andy Samberg and Amy Poehler were both genuinely shocked to win in comedic acting categories. From mocking celebrities on Saturday Night Live to beating them out for major awards.

Here’s one for the little guys. Watch out, Hollywood, because someday they’ll be running this business. Sooner rather than later, it seems.

2013: The year in disappointment

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In many ways, 2013 was a great year for movies. As my top 10 list shows, it was a killer year for documentaries, blockbusters and independent productions. I also got to attend the Sundance Film Festival for the first time.

And yet, in many, many other ways, 2013 was a string of disappointments. This is not necessarily a look at the worst things that happened in the industry in 2013, but rather a lament over the things that could have been done better. It’s also a regretful meditation on some of the things we lost for good. So, without further ado…

GOODBYE, MR. VIDEO

Video stores were a massive part of my childhood. I relished our family’s trips to the “tape store” (ours was Mr. Video). It’s safe to say my love of movies was cultivated in those halls of VHS tapes and, later, DVDs. I’m not the only one. Legendary director Quentin Tarantino worked at a video store for years, a place where he cultivated his passion for movies by watching everything in the store, and then discussing what he’s seen with customers. Probably the most knowledgeable director and film historian living, Tarantino would not be where he is today without the video store.

Thus, it is with great sadness that I learned 2013 was Blockbuster Video’s last year. Sure, the movie rental chain had been on the outs for years, but it was the last one to hang on with actual, physical stores. With those stores gone, the death of old-fashioned rentals is complete. Digital and kiosk rental has completely taken over, and that’s both a good and bad thing. Certainly, it’s great to know we can get what we want, when we want it. Our computers don’t “run out” of copies of the latest releases. But, while some don’t remember the glory days quite so gloriously, I’ll miss the video store precisely because of its hardship; it was an adventure. If I didn’t find what I was looking for, I was often steered to something even better. The internet gives us exactly what we want, and thus decreases our odds of branching out and experiencing something new out of necessity.

And what of communities that form around the movies? Certainly, online communities and forums have increased our access to a wider variety of opinions and conversations surrounding the movies we love. But, as we all know, the web is impersonal and often vitriolic. The video store was the place for sane, civil discourse regarding the movies we loved. And, as much as I love writing about movies, talking about them in-person is so much more fun. We’ll miss you, Blockbuster, warts and all.

GOODBYE, ROGER 

When looking over critics’ top 10 lists this year, one voice was conspicuously absent. Not hearing Roger Ebert’s opinion on many of the great films released this year made his death feel all that much more impactful, but his life even more so. As I summed up in my reflection, his was a singular voice in criticism; honest, never indulgent and alive with the joy of the movies. There’s not much more to say, other than the movies will never be the same without you, Roger. Thanks for adding so much to the conversation of film.

THESE MOVIES, SPECIFICALLY 

Now, these weren’t the worst movies of the year (okay, one was) but rather the ones that squandered great promise or were too just crazy, dull or indulgent to evoke anything other than a “meh.” I try to actively avoid bad movies, so here are some one I wanted to love, but couldn’t.

Man of Steel—The worst thing to happen to Superman since Richard Pryor, Zack Snyder’s reboot was admittedly a victim of its own hype (mine included), but that doesn’t make the finished product any better. Numbingly violent and brimming with unnecessary product placement, the greatest sin the movie commits is simply being a great big bore. Great actors are given nothing to do, and Superman remains, at the end of the day, not interesting. Snyder and co. have taken a shard of Kryptonite to any heart this franchise had left.

The Great Gatsby—Only slightly less hyped than Man of Steel, the best and worst thing about Gatsby is that it was directed by Australian visual stylist Baz Luhrmann. He’s an incredibly talented and knowledgeable filmmaker, but he didn’t quite know what to do with such legendary material. The result is an odd, sometimes interesting cocktail, one that simultaneously never quite stays true enough to its source material while also refusing to take the creative risks necessary to make such a lavish adaptation work. Gatsby is hardly a bad film, but neither is it an adaptation of the legendary novel that is much worth remembering.

Only God Forgives—The most aggressively terrible movie of the year, this movie is harder to sit through than an opera starring Justin Bieber. Nicholas Winding Refn had a solid art-house hit with Drive, but the day this tone-deaf, pretentious claptrap passes as a movie or even some kind of abstract art is the day the cinema dies. Drivel is what it is, and drivel it should remain.

Disappointment=solid concept paired with lame execution.

Escape From Tomorrow—The concept is genius: a nightmarish version of Disneyland where innocent cartoon characters become demonic abominations and the line between reality and sanity begin to blur. The only nightmare here, however, is the movie itself. The making of this film in all its guerilla-style, Disney’s-gonna-kill-you bravado, is one that will go down in movie history. The film behind the story fluctuates between brilliant and terrible. It’s a rare “meh” movie that contains no mediocre scenes. 50 percent is genius; the other 50 is complete garbage. If that sounds fascinating, it is; Escape from Tomorrow is definitely worth seeing, but it is nowhere near good.

Elysium—I’m particularly heartbroken to admit this one. I liked this solid sci-fi adventure. But it is more than a bit of a come-down after Neil Blomkamp’s masterful District 9. It’s tough to fault the visceral action, but the ham-fisted political message and eye-rollingly trite storytelling don’t do Elysium any favors. Nonetheless, I have a certain affection for it.

Into the Furnace—While admittedly a good film, it’s baffling to see this on a few high-profile top 10 lists. Masterful acting from Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck can’t save this war vet drama from falling into typical revenge film tropes. And that ending sucked. Sorry.

HOLLYWOOD EXPLOITATION OF RELIGION 

Do people of faith expect outright mockery from Hollywood? Of course. And the industry had a ball making fun of the explicitly Christian version of the apocalypse (see This is the End, Rapturepalooza, etc.). But we also had the pleasure of pandering blockbusters, which attempted to coerce religious audiences into buying tickets by playing up the minimal spiritual aspects in their films. The most egregious example is Man of Steel, what with Superman’s overblown Christological imagery and his jarring come-to-Jesus moment. I’m willing to consider that the filmmakers might have been sincere with this kind of stuff, but it seems more pandering that proselytizing.

Nonetheless, it’s important to call out a few films that I thought got religious faith right. Terrence Malick’s troubled but ultimately successful To the Wonder took both faith and doubt very seriously, particularly in the context of a struggling marriage. Not a surprise, given the director’s pedigree. The Conjuring was a fright flick that had a lot more on its mind than your typical exorcism flick, even if some of its spiritual conclusions were a bit troubling. And thank God for Prisoners, one of the best of the year, a film that wrestles deeply with its main character’s sense of Catholic guilt adding weight to his decisions, good and bad. It’s a world where God is never absent, even in the midst of some very dark human suffering. And that’s pretty darn refreshing.

Will Noah be the rare religious-themed secular film that takes its subject seriously? Multiple movies will fall under this scrutiny in 2014.

I’m both afraid of and excited about 2014, where Hollywood is focusing on the Bible with renewed and intense interest. There’s the reverent-looking Son of God, as well as the adaptation of the bestseller Heaven is For Real. On the secular side of the fence, there’s Darren Aronofsky’s Noah and Ridley Scott’s Exodus. It’s going to be an interesting year for the Bible in popular culture, and I’m excited to be along for the ride. Expect much discussion on this blog over these and other spiritually-minded films.

To 2014, and all the disappointments (and pleasant surprises) the movies will surely bring.

The Top 10 Films of 2013

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In some ways, year-end top 10 lists are completely pointless, if not pretentious. Quality is almost entirely subjective, so anything approaching a “definitive” list is impossible. Also, there’s always bound to be movies that you miss, so a more appropriate title is “the top 10 films that I saw this year.” As a non-professional who has to pay to see things, there are many important films I’ve yet to see. All is Lost, Short Term 12, Blue Jasmine, Inside Llewyn Davis and Her are a few that immediately come to mind.

With those caveats in place, I still adore top 10 lists, especially when film-goers have a chance to highlight films that they believe have been overlooked along with heaping further praise on the more “obvious” but no less deserving choices. I’ve put a lot of thought into my list, and I hope it shows. How do I choose what makes the cut? Well, I tend to go for movies that surprised me in some significant way. Whether I laughed more than expected, was lifted higher than I imagined or thrown for a loop in a way I didn’t anticipate, surprise is something so rare in the cinema, but so valuable. These movies all provided that value. Enjoy.

 10. THE WORLD’S END

Could we have imagined such a completely satisfying conclusion to Edgar Wright’s bonkers Cornetto trilogy? The team behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz reunited for this third outing, which finds stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing losers once again facing a supernatural menace (aliens, in this case).

What puts this movie above the others, for me, is the brilliant supporting cast, including Martin Freeman and Paddy Considine. But what truly anchors the film amidst all the madcap insanity is Pegg’s mesmerizing performance as a man who finds himself living in the perpetual “glory days” that Bruce Springsteen sang about. It’s alternately funny and tragic, like the film itself, and a sobering reminder that no one gets Oscars for “comedic” performances. That’s a shame, because this one was so much more.

9. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

Every time we think we’ve seen everything Tom Hanks can do, he reinvents himself and enthralls us anew. As Captain Rich Phillips, he gives perhaps the best performance of his career, because not an inch of him looks or acts like a movie star. Equal praise goes to native Somalian Barkhad Abdi as the pirate captain. Their game of wits, based upon the true story that enthralled the nation in 2009, provided some of the most intense moments in cinema this year. Not surprising, considering that Paul Greengrass is one of the most exhilarating filmmakers in the business. And good lord, that ending. Be ready for it.

8. PRISONERS

Don’t mistake this terrifying film for a typical revenge thriller. If anything, it’s a reaction against almost every one made in the last few decades. Pulling career-best performances from Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhall as the man determined to find his daughter at all costs and the cop doing all he can to help, Prisoners is a slow burn, and a disturbing one. But its moral complexity, found in Jackman’s Keller Dover and his intense Catholic faith, make every decision feel as weighty as it should. Dover knows torture is wrong, for example, but what else is a desperate father to do? We may not approve of his decisions, but we can understand why he would make them. It makes this thriller so real, and atones for the sins of a thousand thoughtless slaughter fests from Segal, Stallone, Gibson and company.

7. STORIES WE TELL 

In a killer year for documentaries, Sarah Polley’s layered film stands out by reminding us why we tell stories in the first place. Polley’s breathtaking oral history of her family centers on her mother, and some family secrets that come to the surface in some surprising ways. To say anything more would ruin the impact of the film, which unfolds like a can’t-put-down novel, as revelation after revelation glues us to the screen. We tell stories, Polley suggests, primarily to lie to ourselves. After all, life and memory don’t always play out as straightforward narrative. They’re messy, and Polley calls us (and herself) out on our willingness to coalesce human experience into a convenient narrative. While many documentaries are didactic or polemical in nature, Stories We Tell trades more in ambiguity. Kind of like life. It’s essential viewing for anyone who has ever desired to tell a story. And really, isn’t that all of us?

6. FRUITVALE STATION 

Seeing Fruitvale Station at a packed theater at the Sundance Film Festival is one of the movie highlights of my life. Seeing first-time director Ryan Coogler’s real-life depiction of the life and death of Oscar Grant (a great breakthrough performance by Michael B. Jordan), a bay-area black man senselessly killed by a white BART officer in 2009, reminded us of our obligation to our fellow man. We laughed, we cried, we pleaded that the story would turn out differently, that Jordan’s mother (a brilliant Octavia Spencer) would never have to bury her son. But, of course, she did, and that knowledge imbues the film with a sense of dread and urgency that even fuels the many joyful moments in this brilliantly acted, exhilarating debut. I can’t wait to see where Coogler and Jordan go next.

5. AMERICAN HUSTLE

Is there any more consistently exciting director working today than David O. Russell? When his films arrive, it’s like the carnival’s in town and we’re all invited. It’s hard to not be swept up in his effortless energy, his brilliant writing and his ability to bring the best out of today’s most talented actors. In his loose fictional interpretation of events surrounding the Abscam bribery scandal of the ‘70s and ‘80s that took down a number of big Jersey-area politicians, he does that and more. He channels his own inner Scorsese, resulting in a rich crime drama full of memorable characters, a great pop-filled soundtrack and some of the best hair ever committed to a screen. Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams are all at the top of their respective games, and great supporting performances from the likes of Louis C.K., Jeremy Renner and Robert DeNiro only sweeten the deal. I could watch Jennifer Lawrence singing “Live and Let Die” in yellow rubber gloves for hours. And that’s only one scene.

4. BEFORE MIDNIGHT

A perfect ending to what may go down as one of the best trilogies in movie history. Director Richard Linklater reunites with stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for a bittersweet meditation on love, commitment, and the way life both strengthens and whittles away at both. If the previous films worked more like romantic fables, Before Midnight is so real it hurts. The possibility that these passionate lovers’ relationship may be on the rocks is beyond heartbreaking. If Linklater’s dialogue might be a bit too existential for some, Hawke and Delpy go a long way in making it feel as natural as breathing. The Before trilogy is one of the great triumphs of modern independent filmmaking; all you need is a good idea, a couple of passionate and talented artists, and a little bit of money. No pressure, right?

3. MUD

Combine the best elements of Stand By Me, The Goonies and the plays of Tennessee Williams, and you have a newly minted American classic on your hands. Director Jeff Nichols’ previous film, Take Shelter, is one of the best films of the decade so far, and Mud continues the trend. This southern gothic tale, set on the Mississippi bayou, is filled to the brim with warm characters, beautiful locales and that ever-approaching mix of fear and excitement over growing up that is the cornerstone of any great coming-of-age story. Tye Sheridan provides one of the more natural and engaging child performances in recent memories, and Matthew McConaughey complements an incredible year as the title character, showing once again why he’s the most surprising actor in Hollywood. Along with amazing performances in The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club, he’s ready for a date with Oscar. It’s more a matter of when, rather than if.

2. GRAVITY

Wow, wow, wow. What else is there to say about Alfonso Cuaron’s revolutionary space film? I’m bored by conversations over how Gravity will hold up in years to come. Who cares? In the here and now, it is one of the most emotional, exhilarating and audacious experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theater. Maybe it’s an obvious film for a top 10 list, but it’s on almost everyone’s, so that probably just means it’s really, really good. And it is; if all big-budget spectacles were this spectacular, I would have no life. Sandra Bullock is so exhilarating to watch; it’s the finest performance of her career by far. She has to carry most of the film on her shoulders, and she does so with impressive physicality and a quiet resolve. From its breathtaking opening to its haunting final shot, Gravity is the work of a true master. It will be emulated for years to come, but no one will come close to replicating this space opera for the ages.

1. 12 YEARS A SLAVE 

The word “essential” should be very rarely used in the word of film. But, with 12 Years a Slave, it is entirely justified. Director Steve McQueen’s films have come off as a bit cold in the past, but in his treatment of American slavery his relatively objective lens lends the true story of Solomon Northup an appropriate level of gravitas and reverence. Northup, a free black man living in 1840s-era New York who is captured and sold into slavery in the south, is played with an aching level of passion by Chiwetel Ejiofor in the performance of the year. In his expressive eyes, we see not only Northup’s pain but also his unquenchable spark of hope. The supporting cast is all-around brilliant too, from Benedict Cumberbatch to Brad Pitt to Michael Fassbender. And Luptia Nyong’o as Patsy is one of the most wrenching breakthrough performances in memory.

12 Years is not an easy sit, and some might be looking forward to seeing it like they would a root canal. I did. I was shaking when I entered the theater, and I was shaking when I left. But that intensity underestimates the film’s aching beauty; from its sensuous cinematography and costumes to the quiet moments of hope and joy that can be found in the film’s small moments. The most memorable scene is not a whipping, or an act of verbal torture, but rather, a group of slaves, burying one of their own and singing, with both pain and hope, to the God that is still with them, even as others use the same God to subject and demean them. It’s rare to be reduced to a blubbering mess by a movie without feeling emotionally manipulated, but 12 Years is a passionate, beautiful masterpiece that earns such a heartfelt response.

Holiday Movie Review Roundup

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This Christmas season, Hollywood seems especially concerned with one primary aspect of the holiday: consumerism. Several recently released films are about money; how much American society needs it as well as how much that same consumer society destroys and corrupts good and bad alike. During a time of year obsessed with consumerism, it’s an important theme. They’re also about dreams, both those that are broken and those that are occasionally fulfilled. I checked out a few new movies receiving major critical and awards attention.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is a three-hour effigy to excess. Scorsese teams up once again with Leonardo DiCaprio, who gives a fireball of a performance as Jordan Belfort, the real-life sleaze ball broker who made millions by scamming people out of money by selling them phony stocks. Along the way, he enlists the help of Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) and a few select others in their attempt to grow their phony company, Stratton Oakmont, into a legitimate operation.

The film’s early scenes are fascinating, as a bright-eyed Belfort with ambition and ideals is enthralled by a Wall Street veteran (a brief but brilliant Matthew McConaughey) and begins to build his phony firm from the ground up. The process behind the operation is the most interesting part of the movie.

Belfort and company’s rise to the top (and descent to the depths of debauchery) is chronicled in increasingly graphic displays of rampant sex and drug use. It’s fun for a while, and some over-the-top scenes rank among the funniest in Scorsese history (one particularly brilliant, almost vaudevillian sequence involves Belfort’s overdose on Quaalude, his drug of choice). But the movie wears out its welcome by the end. So much screen time is devoted to the film’s ribald sexual content that most attempts at lasting character development fall flat. By the time the narrative switches gears by throwing in an FBI agent (an underused Kyle Chandler) hot on the scent to bust Stratton, it’s much too late to rein in the film’s overstuffed ambition.

Then there’s Belfort, a completely horrible person from beginning to end. Are we actually supposed to be rooting for this guy? Scorsese has made a career out of depicting despicable yet fascinating characters, but Belfort takes things a bit too far. DiCaprio plays him much too charming to actively root against, either. Azoff and the supporting characters don’t fare any better; everyone is thoroughly unredeemable. Much talk has been made over whether the film is misogynistic, and I think the criticisms are justified. There are lots of naked women in this movie, and, while Belfort’s model wife, Naomi (Margot Robbie) gets ample screen time, she’s mostly just there as a sex object, too. It’s a shocking misstep from a director who has a history of very strong female characters.

Of course, some may argue that these things make sense when viewed through Belfort’s eyes, an unreliable narrator who often breaks the fourth wall to talk directly (and down) to the audience. But just because the film hews to Belfort’s real-life story doesn’t imbue it with meaning. The film’s ultimate letdown is that it doesn’t bother to make us care for these sick characters or say anything new. It’s certainly outrageous that one of the foundations of our economy could be manipulated like this, but “money corrupts people” isn’t exactly a novel concept.

Wolf is an occasionally brilliant movie, but I can’t help but think that this is Scorsese’s version of a frat boy comedy. DiCaprio is certainly deserving of high praise; he seems to be completely enraptured in his insane performance; if the man doesn’t get an Oscar for this one, I’m not sure he ever will. The movie itself is an enthralling, often hilarious portrait of a director at his most gloriously unhinged, but those looking for a bit more depth beneath the madness will very likely feel bludgeoned and numbed by Scorsese’s raucous, slick con job.

 American Hustle

David O Russell channels his own inner Scorsese in American Hustle, a brilliant caper film that begs comparison to Goodfellas, among others. It’s the kind of film Scorsese used to make, a smoldering mix of memorable characters, a twisty plot and the distinct voice of a true American original.

Loosely based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the late ‘70s (the opening states that “some of this stuff actually happened,”) the film follows the exploits of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale, with what is described as an “elaborate” comb over), a professional New Jersey con man who, along with his girlfriend, Sydney (a sweltering Amy Adams) is pulled into an FBI sting operation led by Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). The goal is to implicate multiple Jersey politicians in taking bribe money under the banner of restoring the once-glorious Atlantic City.

Things are complicated both by Irving’s vindictive wife Rosalyn (a manic-depressive Jennifer Lawrence) and his friendship with naive politician Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), who DiMaso asks Irving to implicate in the sting.

Hustle pulses with the urgency surrounding a high-stakes plot that could unravel at any moment. And, between con over con and Irving’s complex love triangle, the film threatens to unravel, too. But it doesn’t. Director O’Russell is such an exhilarating director, swooping the camera in every imaginable and lending the movie a vibrant, breakneck pace. O Russell proves himself once again as a brilliant writer, too. Despite the machinations of the plot, the film is ultimately a deep character study, a look at survival and the role the characters’ duplicitous natures contributes to their working-class ennui. In particular, the relationship between Irving, Sydney and Rosalyn is handled with aplomb, and grows even more engaging as the film continues.

The acting is off-the-charts great, with Bale, Adams, Lawrence and Cooper all pulling in AAA performances. Brilliant supporting work from Louis C.K. as a bumbling FBI agent and Robert DeNiro as a mobster (what else) rounds out the powerhouse package. O Russell’s attention to period detail (particularly the costumes and that glorious hair) lend the film an authentic vibe where it could have easily felt fabricated. His use of popular period music is equally exciting (and again, quite Scorsese-an).

Hustle has its flaws, but it’s so hard not to fall in love with, because it’s a movie in the purest sense of the word. A sheer joy for the art and craft of filmmaking permeates its pores. If he wasn’t already, David O Russell is now one of the most consistently surprising and accomplished directors in the business.

 Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks couldn’t be any more different. British author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) seems entirely uninterested in money. She calls it a “dirty word,” but profits from her successful Mary Poppins books have dwindled, and she decides to humor Walt Disney (Tom Hanks), who invites her to come to California in an attempt to convince her to sign over the rights to her story to make into the now-classic film.

Mr. Banks is the kind of film I instinctively enjoy, a movie about the movies that takes no small amount of joy in the artistic process. The ideological warfare between the stuffy and picky Travers (who insists she be called Mrs. Travers) and the wide-eyed, uncouth Disney (who insists he be called “Walt”) is engaging, but the real draw comes from the fact that these two impossible dreamers seem almost wholly unconcerned with money, but rather with seeing their dreams come to life. Of course, Walt Disney was a money machine, but its corrupting influence is, refreshingly, wholly absent here.

The movie tells Travers’ story by flashing back and forth from her traumatic childhood experience with her alcoholic father to her battles with Walt and company. The chronologically disjointed formula occasionally feels a bit manipulative, and many of the historical connections feel more concerned with cinematic indulgence than historical accuracy. But this is a movie of grand emotions, and it wears its heart very much on its sleeve.

Director John Lee Hancock gets great performances out of side characters such as the Poppins songwriting Sherman brothers (Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak) and Travers’ chauffer (a typically pitch-perfect Paul Giamatti). Thompson is brilliant as Travers, giving just the right amount of sugar to a rather bitter role. She’s never so nasty that she becomes unbelievable. While Hanks doesn’t exactly look the part, he brings a warmth and sincerity to Walt Disney that is just too infectious to ignore.

The film is a big dollop of Disney sugar, but Travers’ backstory and her stubbornness offers just the right amount of dramatic heft to balance things out. It’s a completely engaging, refreshingly cynicism-free look at dreamers who may, for once, actually be able to make their dreams reality.