Boyhood (2014)

2/5

Richard Linklater's decade-long experiment Boyhood is not a very good movie. It feels honest and true, with almost voyeuristic and documentarian authenticity, but those qualities don't make it engaging or compelling. It's a great idea, filming short snippets in real time across years, and I'm amazed that it was accomplished at all given the industry's eagle eye on quarterly profit margins. It could be the future of filmmaking, but I hope that better storytellers can do something more with it. While it tackles some strong emotional threads, including domestic violence, alcoholism, and abandonment, Boyhood feels incomplete and unsatisfying. Even though it recycles a number of themes, it all feels like one big unfinished thought. The only thing more frustrating than a slice-of-life movie without an ending is 12 of them stacked together. Linklater delivers an emotion instead of a story, but perhaps the same people who appreciate Terrence Malick's evocative but empty films will also appreciate Boyhood.

It should have been called Before Adulthood, because it feels very similar to Linklater's previous series of interconnected films where the predominant architecture of the film involves a couple walking around and waxing poetic across the expanse of time. No matter how intriguing the discussion is, the Before series is just a bunch of talking heads. In Boyhood especially you realize that even when things besides conversations happen, Linklater prefers writing to acting, prefers telling to showing. Is there any reason this was a movie instead of a book or a podcast? Did we gain anything at all from having this appear on screen? No. This is not a movie. This is a piece of prose that just so happens to involve cameras and actors.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1065073/

New York, I Love You (2009)

2/5

Unlike its predecessor Paris, je t'aime, New York, I Love You is a terrible movie. It is a terrible, terrible movie. It is a collection of short films that reveal characters who become intertwined with other characters in New York City. Unfortunately, you wouldn't know that if you just watched it. It would appear to an innocent bystander to be a random smattering of ludicrous events that are pretentiously written, acted, and directed that give the illusion of lofty meaning and artistic flair. It is filled with empty stories based off of shallow ideas. However, amongst the 11 short films, there were two (2) good segments. The first starred Bradley Cooper and Drea De Matteo as two strangers who spent a night together that became more than a one-night stand; it is about the fears and doubts they have about what it meant for them and for the other person as they barrel through the city to meet again. It has a tremendously powerful ending. The second starred Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman as an old married couple who head out on their 63rd anniversary to Coney Island, where they had their first date. They exchange playful banter, as unique and genuine as a real-world couple who might have lived in each other's companies longer than they have lived alone, who love and hate everything about the other person. It reminded me of No Country for Old Men in the best possible way. Still, those two gems in this giant pile of poop aren't quite valuable enough to recommend wading through it all. Ick.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808399/

Gattaca (1997)

4/5

Gattaca takes place in the not-too-distant future where genetically engineered children are the norm and babies made out of love are scorned and treated like dirt. They are forced to become the janitors to the better off, for no other reason than because their genes show a higher predisposition to heart disease or other illness. Their DNA matters more than their willpower. In this dystopian future we find Ethan Hawke as an "In-Valid" who dreams of going into space. He takes on the identity of a recently-paralyzed Jude Law and is soon on his way to the stars. When the mission director is unexpectedly murdered, he must keep his secret from getting out.

This wonderful treat is a provocatively-envisioned and beautifuly-shot film. The acting is spot-on, although the characters themselves can be a bit dull and uninteresting. The set and costume design are impeccable, both believable and beautiful. The editing and music are nothing to write home about, except for the audacious Schubert played as only a twelve-fingered pianist could. This movie gives you something to think about and talk about long after the film ends, and isn't that reason enough to watch it?

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

3/5

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is a flawlessly realized melodrama thriller, but the technical mastery Sidney Lumet has over the medium does not save the movie from its absolutely ridiculous story. It is about two brothers who need money; naturally they plot a robbery of their own parents' jewelry store. Something goes wrong, and the rest of the movie deals with the aftereffects of their grievous error in judgment. By the end of the movie, when everyone's life had spiraled wildly out of control and every character has made irreversible mistakes, I got up and left the theater in a hurry. Why? Because it was so spectacularly unbelievable. And I mean Snakes on a Plane unbelievable, accentuated even more so by the relative normalcy that preceded it. The characters morph from seemingly intelligent men to brainless psychopaths. These characters are not real; they are preposterous caricatures. I cannot fathom their thought processes or their motivations. But apparently other people could.

If you can deal with the single hang-up that I had about the movie (namely the poppycock masquerading as characters and plot), you will probably fall in love with it. Because the movie is technically brilliant. Sidney Lumet really is at a high point cinematically (albeit an extreme low point fictionally). The nonlinear storytelling was powerful, adding depth and tension to a rather simple story. It tantalizes you by giving you what you want in measured amounts, like a calculating drug dealer. I guess that's not a great analogy, but it works. The acting is awesome. They really make the insane characters seem insane. But seriously, the emotions on display were raw and real, and props go out to all the actors. I hope you see it if you find it interesting, because it seems I'm in the minority regarding my disbelief of characters and plot. Be your own judge.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0292963/