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/

Hitchcock (2012)

3/5

Hitchcock tells the story of the titular director's decision to make Psycho, and the personal and professional challenges that came alongside it. As a whole, the movie is entertaining fare. But I think the problem is that the movie doesn't know its audience. Is it for Hitchcock fans? Psycho fans? movie fans? Who knows? It provides a teeny glimpse into the great director's life, but not nearly enough to satisfy. In fact, I would venture to say that the movie is more about Mrs. Hitchcock than about Mr. Hitchcock (and Mirren absolutely shines in her role). That wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I decided to rent the movie, so I was left with a perfectly fine movie that I wasn't expecting and didn't hate. If you decide to watch it, just know what you're getting into and you'll probably be able to enjoy it more.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0975645/

The Debt (2010)

4/5

The Debt is a compelling mystery thriller about missed opportunities and making up for past mistakes. The plot follows three Mossad agents 30 years after killing the Nazi war criminal known as the "Surgeon of Birkenau" (Christensen). Rachel (Mirren), Stephan (Wilkinson), and David (Hinds) have been continually venerated for their contributions, giving talks to the military and television show hosts for years. The movie starts at a release party for a new book, written by Stephan and Rachel's daughter Sarah (Aboulafia), based on their perspective. It then backtracks several times to the events that transpired 30 years ago, and we get to witness the almost-romance between Rachel (Chastain) and David (Worthington) and the truth behind their legendary acts.

The movie works on just about every level it aspires to. It is gripping and tense, keeping you on the edge of your seat with your heart pumping adrenaline into every artery of your body. The directing and editing are calculated and precise, giving us just the right amount of story arc and excitement in each time period before switching back over. The story is thought-provoking and engaging. Though the details of their situation will almost certainly never come up in your life, everybody eventually must grapple with similarly complex ethical dilemmas. The characters are fascinatingly intricate, but hindered by uneven acting that felt too simplistic at times and too complicated at others. The poor casting decisions didn't help; there was a striking similarity between the old David and young Stephan that made it difficult to follow. And while this movie works as a character study, a mystery thriller, and a provocative parable, it is by no means a masterpiece on any of those genres. Still, The Debt is a well-made movie that scores high marks all around.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226753/

State of Play (2009)

3/5

State of Play is a fairly typical journalism thriller with far too many conspiracies and plot twists to be believable, but just enough to keep you from accurately predicting the ending. The plot follows two journalists (Crowe & McAdams) writing separate articles, one on a dual homicide and another on a political sex scandal following a fatal accident, that later become linked by a far-reaching corporation and its deception. But the real focus of the movie isn't the unbelievable ending, nor is it the military conspiracy, nor is it the political cover-up. It's about two people putting their life on the line for something they believe in: discovering the truth and letting everyone know. And because you see their willingness to sacrifice everything for their ethics, you empathize with them. And because you empathize with them, the tension is remarkably palpable.

The cinematography was fairly good, but not consistently impressive. The writing was full of newspaper clichés about being the first to print the breaking story, holding the press for the ultimate story, blah blah blah. Does that stuff really happen anymore? Does anybody ever care about being the first to print a story? Does it provide them with some sort of financial gain? I've never worked in a newspaper before, but it all just seemed so overplayed and unrealistic. It didn't make any sense. As far as movies go, it's enjoyable, entertaining, and extremely gripping, but it's nothing special. If you enjoyed the trailer, you'll enjoy this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473705/

The Queen (2006)

2/5

What a way to bring in the New Year than with a terrible movie, as is my usual habit. The Queen is supposed to be a stunning character study of Queen Elizabeth following Princess Diana's sudden death, but it ended up being a bland, plotless, meandering mess. It failed as a character study, since it spent surprisingly little time on the Queen and much more time on Tony Blair, her family, her aide, and their influences on her. I found her character to be rather shallow and uninteresting; she was merely a puppet that was being pushed and pulled by different people without fleshed-out characteristics that make her an individual. Subject-wise, it failed to interest me and did not even take the time to explain the characters and their motivations--its audience is limited to only those most interested in the Princess Diana controversy. The acting on all parts was amateurish and camera-shy, although it may be the fault of the director using poor takes. The editing was absolutely atrocious; it was almost as if they used Windows Movie Maker to do it. The music was so uninsightful and melodramatic that the realism was completely removed. In using archival footage, however, they attempted to mimic the realistic feel of United 93, but that movie succeeded on many more levels to bringing home the impact and the raw realism inherent in the depiction of true events.

The ending was surprisingly better than expected. Instead of ending on a simple, sappy note with Elton John singing Candle in the Wind, it added an epilogue scene that both gave its characters much more complexity and made a full turn-around and brought it back to the start (something I am quite fond of). The symbolism of the stag was interesting and worth analyzing. Also, the title shot gave me great expectations for the film (even though they did not live up to them). Wholly unrecommended, unless of course you are extremely entrenched in Diana pathos.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0436697/