Elysium (2013)

4/5

Neill Blomkamp's Elysium will, of course, draw comparisons to the director's previous work, District 9, since both are sci-fi action movies employing hyper-realistic special effects, cinema verité-style camerawork, and plots that play like morality tales about the maltreatment and subjugation of a population's citizens. While the combination of all those things felt exhilarating and unprecedented 5 years ago, here they feel a bit tired.

Elysium, like District 9 and Children of Men, delivers a precisely-detailed and complexly-envisioned future. But the characters with which it inhabits that world are unexciting; their quest is uncompelling; the stakes are underwhelming. It is not enough for the background to be thematically interesting, because the foreground is what will get our blood pumping and bring us to our feet cheering. Instead the story feels like a pretty barebones excuse for fights and explosions. Luckily, the (rather sparse) action is exceptional, leaps and bounds better than most of what we are seeing in theaters today. Some scenes are so visually arresting, so stunningly beautiful, that they seem somehow operatic and timeless. That they are simultaneously violently graphic and viscerally horrifying does not diminish their value, but simply brands them in our minds.

Elysium is ultimately not as good as District 9. While perhaps more technically impressive than his previous work, it needed a stronger story to unlock all the potential it had. What frustrates me is that we know Blomkamp can do better. And I sincerely hope he pulls through on the next one, because I love watching his movies.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

3/5

Disney's Saving Mr. Banks is an expectedly heartwarming story about the creation of the Mary Poppins movie. Walt Disney (Hanks) has been trying for decades to woo P.L. Travers (Thompson) into giving them the rights to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the silver screen. Due to recent financial difficulties, she finally agrees to meet with the Disney songwriters (Novak, Schwartzman, Whitford) as long as she gets the final say in what ends up in the film. Upon first blush, she appears to be a crotchety old fart with a bug up her butt; she is senselessly rigid and unreasonable in her demands. But as the movie progresses she opens up, first to her chauffeur (Giamatti) and then to Disney himself. We discover what her childhood was like, why she wrote the Mary Poppins stories, and why she clings so closely to the words she put on the page.

Immediately after exiting the theater, I remember thinking how life-affirming and rewarding the movie felt. But looking back, it seems extraordinarily Hollywood-ized. Disney is basically advertising itself, which heavily limits how much we might believe that this was "based on a true story." If you've seen the trailer, there really is nothing particularly surprising about Saving Mr. Banks, from the saccharine atmosphere to the predictable storyline. After all, the ending "reveal" is so obvious they made it the title of the movie.

But the movie is not about twists and mysteries; it's about characters and their motivations. And there again the movie stumbles. Travers feels like an obstacle the entire time, who is eventually overcome by American bravado and intelligence, instead of a complex character with nuance and subtlety. Instead of framing the movie as a character study, Hancock directs it so conservatively that it loses the depth that Thompson worked so hard to infuse in her character. There is so much more to P.L. Travers than her childhood, but that is all we get to see. The movie rides on her ability to generate empathy within the audience members, and Hancock shoots himself in the foot by making her the enemy at the outset.

Now, that's not to say that this isn't an entertaining or enjoyable film. It very much is. It's delightful and funny too. And it will have you reaching for your tissue every once in a while. But it doesn't feel honest to me. It feels deceptive and inauthentic. And it's such a shame because so many fine actors deliver impeccable performances here. It's a good movie, but not as good as it could have been.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140373/

White Christmas (1954)

3/5

White Christmas is a whimsical musical from the 50's set after World War II and starring Bing Crosby. That's about all you need to know to get a sense of what it's like. There is nothing inspired or creative about this film. It feels like it was churned out of the Hollywood studio machine--and almost certainly was. The plot follows two soldiers (Crosby, Kaye) who take up a performing career after the war. They meet two singing sisters (Ellen, Clooney) and unexpectedly find themselves performing together at an empty hotel run by their old commanding officer (Jagger). Wanting to do something special for him, they decide to film a live TV special there without letting him know.

The movie is decidedly middle of the road. The acting is flat--somehow deadpan with a smirk, like they know they're being filmed--and the cinematography is bland. The story is straightforward but tepid, although it has a fair number of tear-jerking scenes and laugh-out-loud moments. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever find myself truly attached to war movies because I never had to go through anything resembling war. I just don't have a connection to the subject matter and cannot appreciate it as much as someone who does.

I'm not quite sure why it's a Christmas classic, because there are far better movies that fit the bill. I guess this one has singing in it, so I suppose it's got that going for it. The songs are kind of catchy at first, but in retrospect quickly become forgettable and meaningless. (I would argue the same is true about Singin' in the Rain, which I love.) At the end of the day, I'd rather watch Holiday Affair than White Christmas during the next winter season, although neither of them really wowed me. White Christmas gets a solid meh from me.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047673/

American Hustle (2013)

5/5

David O. Russell's American Hustle is a phenomenal piece of entertainment. The plot is what it is: interesting but predictable. It is very loosely taken from real-world events, so much so that Russell doesn't even say that it was "based on a true story." Instead he writes that "some of this actually happened." Who knows what did and didn't. But does it even matter? While parts of the story may proceed out of historical necessity, I get the distinct sense that Russell's real joy in writing act after act was to unveil backstories, to reveal motivations, to delve into his characters. He focuses on the people rather than the plot.

Russell's directing is a bit more on point than last year's Silver Linings Playbook. He downplays the camera as an active participant, although it is not quite the invisible observer we are accustomed to. The cinematography and editing are unexciting. He steps back as a director to showcase his actors, and it was the right move. Russell allows his actors to breathe, to inhabit their characters, to follow them wherever they go.

Christian Bale somehow offers us a charismatic, sympathetic view of an intensely unlikeable, unattractive man. Underneath his bad combover is a hyper-functioning brain and below that still is a broken, aching heart. We care for him, although any rational person seeing his character in real life and hearing about his actions would find him repugnant and deplorable. That we are able to cheer for him at the end is a testament to his acting ability. Jennifer Lawrence gives an equally impressive turn as his wife. She unwittingly manipulates, she foolishly destroys, she ferociously loves. She is a mess, a chaos of emotion that falls apart and builds itself anew daily. She finds strength amidst mental illness in such a way that it tears us up. Lawrence makes her character human in the most unexpected of ways, in the simplest of words, in the subtlest of gestures.

I could go on and on about the rest of the cast--Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper deliver perhaps the finest performances of their careers--but I would rather you experience it for yourself. It is one thing to read about these characters; it is an entirely different thing to watch them light up the screen. And seeing this ensemble perform is absolutely mesmerizing.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800241/

Frozen (2013)

3/5

Disney's Frozen is a commercially-successful princess movie chock-full of uplifting songs and adorable animation. And while it has its charms, it just didn't satisfy any of my expectations. For me, it's fairly middle of the road. I have a lot of issues with it--first and foremost being that a lot of it simply doesn't make sense--so I'll go on a short rant before I come to my conclusion.

1. The relationship between the sisters feels inauthentic. As if the mere fact that they are sisters is enough that they display unconditional love for each other. Maybe that's how Disney stories have always been and I haven't been paying attention, but it just didn't feel real for me.
2. Why are there trolls? Why do they possess certain magical properties and not others? What purpose do they serve? And, most importantly, what makes them "love experts"?
3. Why is Olaf the snowman so absurd? He is not merely comic relief; he is the epitome of non sequitur. How and why does he exist at all? Even visually, he seems out of place in the film. In terms of mood, he's even more nonsensical.
4. I find myself opposed to the morals of the film's conclusion. The suspicious character, who does not seem particularly bad, is imprisoned. The truly evil murderous villain, on the other hand, is simply sent back home for his family to punish. Is that really the message we want children to get out of this movie?
5. The songs feel more like Broadway songs than Disney songs. They're extremely dynamic with a full sound and mature voice behind them. They're fantastic songs, but they don't fit comfortably within the Disney canon.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the movie is perfectly adequate but not particularly special. It will entertain and it will delight, but it feels so haphazardly constructed that I cannot imagine it will stand the test of time. It's fine. Most people will like it. But it's ultimately a distraction; it is not Disney's reclamation of success.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/

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/