Sharknado (2013)

1/5

Sharknado is a movie about a tornado that rains hungry sharks down on LA. Its tagline is "Enough Said," which is appropriate, since that is all you need to know about it. It is astonishing--literally jaw-dropping--how awful this movie is. I'm not sure I have the words to adequately quantify how bad it is, but I'll give it a shot.

First, the script. It is mind-numbingly stupid. Its existence is unfathomable. Watching the characters think and act is an exercise in suspending disbelief. Second, the special effects. Syfy's CG department has not advanced one bit since Sharktopus. In fact, if I were the person who worked on the special effects for this movie, I would probably intentionally excise it from my resume. They leave essentials like textures and lighting by the wayside, where the cinematography, editing, and acting sit as well. Third, the "director," and I use that term loosely. Mr. Ferrante intercuts scenes from unrelated b-roll with tight shots of line-reading, splicing together shots from different times of day with different ambient lighting temperatures as if they're all from the same scene.

This movie is absolutely engrossing, but only because it's so absurd. Much like Movie 43, it's hard to turn your eyes away. You will always underestimate how much worse the movie can get. I do have to say that watching it let me catch up on some sleep. And I was actually struck by how good the Dodge Ram and Lowe's commercials were in comparison to this garbage. Honestly, I don't know why I keep subjecting myself to the Syfy Original Movie torture. I need to stop.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2724064/

Holiday Affair (1949)

3/5

Holiday Affair is a sentimental Hollywood holiday story with enough cute kids and Christmas cheer to pull at your heartstrings and make you swoon. Janet Leigh plays an indiscreet "comparison shopper" who gets caught by a kind and generous salesman named Steve (Mitchum) when she tries to return a toy train set the day after she buys it. Instead of turning her in, Steve gives her a pass and ends up getting fired. He quickly falls in love with her and her young son (Gebert), but soon discovers that she's already engaged to a perfectly adequate lawyer named Carl (Corey) with plans to get married several days later on New Year's.

The movie is fairly straightforward with a very simple premise: how will these two lovebirds end up together? But it challenges us to find a solution to the love triangle and it somehow surprises us with the only solution possible. It seems to hurdle toward an impossibility, but deftly twists around the curve at a steady pace. Just thinking about it makes me smile even now. It's not the best shot, the best edited, or the best acted movie of its day. Not even close. But its story has charm and its actors have electricity. And while it's an enjoyable enough holiday movie, I'm not sure it's good enough to make the yearly Christmas roster.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041473/

The Heat (2013)

4/5

The Heat tells the odd-couple story of an uptight FBI agent (Bullock) who is forced to work with a crude, plainclothes Boston cop (McCarthy) to take down a druglord. I had extremely low expectations going in, but I came away extremely impressed. I blame the trailers, which advertised it as a simplistic, family-friendly PG-13 cop movie starring Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock in silly situations and always-hilarious Melissa McCarthy telling tame jokes. It is not. It's a delightfully R-rated, profane, and ribald buddy comedy version of Bridesmaids, with some added action elements and even more irreverence. I loved it! Bullock and McCarthy have an incredible chemistry together that brings out the heart beneath the humor. I can give it no greater compliment than to say I laughed my heart out the whole time and enjoyed every minute of it. And I hope to see it again.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404463/

The Sunset Limited (2011)

3/5

Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset Limited, as adapted by Tommy Lee Jones, is an interesting story. White (Jones) is a retired professor who attempts suicide by jumping in front of the titular train. Black (Jackson) is an ex-convict who rescues White from death and brings him back to his apartment. And that's where the movie begins, as they start to talk. It retells the age-old battle between cynicism and hope, atheism and religion. Everything up until the ending seems tried and true, an ancient cliché, but it brings it to a close in a way that seems novel and intriguing.

The cinematography is surprisingly inventive and entertaining, despite taking place in a single room in real time. The editing keeps the pacing tight and, as far as directing goes, Jones does an expert job. But the problem with the movie is that it's overly-talky. I wouldn't expect anything less from Cormac McCarthy, but it's a little excessive in a film. What reads well doesn't always screen well. That is really the problem with The Sunset Limited. Although his technical feats are much appreciated, I would have hoped Jones could have adapted it a little bit better.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938/

Monsters University (2013)

4/5

Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc., is another impressive installment in Pixar's already phenomenal canon. It tells the story of the unlikely meeting between Mike Wazowski (Crystal) and James P. Sullivan (Goodman) in the scare academy. Like the best prequels, it deepens our love for each character, enriching their personalities and unveiling their motivations. We learn how they got to where they are today, what obstacles they had to overcome, what imperfections they had to live with, what prejudices they had to endure. They become more compelling than ever before and so we treasure our time with them.

The story and animation are both absolutely charming. The pacing is spot-on, shifting from comedy to excitement to sentiment with seeming ease. It is a delight to watch and it will leave you grinning with glee. Part of what makes Monsters University so good is how good Monsters Inc. is, knowing how it all ends. And now that we have Monsters University to enjoy, Monsters Inc. becomes that much better too!

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453405/

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

4/5

Catching Fire, the second in Collins's dystopian series, delivers another extremely faithful adaptation. Like the book it's based on, Catching Fire is better than The Hunger Games. Ironically, watching this movie made me realize how bad the first one was. It probably deserved a 3/5, but I must have given it an extra 1 star because of my fondness for the book. Catching Fire, however, is more exciting and action-packed--with less of the morally-reprehensible kids-killing-kids storyline--than the first one. I probably would have enjoyed the movie even more if I weren't so tired going in, and I even nodded off a few times in the first half of the movie, but it maintained a perfectly tight pace in the second half.

The acting by all parties is surprisingly adept. Although by no means Oscar-worthy, Lawrence, Hutcherson, and Claflin all do their job at evoking emotions and making you care about them. You care not only that they survive the games but also that they satisfy their hearts' desires. The real treasure is the directing itself, which combines emotion, mystery, and action effortlessly. The script is taut and the editing lean. Although the runtime is well over 2 hours, it doesn't feel like there are any extraneous or wasted scenes (which litter the first one in an attempt to be "faithful" to the source material). It stands on its own as a good movie, independent of the phenomenon that is The Hunger Games. For anyone who enjoyed the books, this is an easy recommendation. I only wish the next one wasn't split into two parts.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951264/