Man Of Steel

The latest film incarnation of the classic Superman story, gets a much needed fresh take thanks to director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and writers David Goyer and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises). So it goes without saying that Man Of Steel certainly has an impressive epic like feel to it, anchored by the performances of many of Hollywood's heavy hitters, including Amy Adams, Russel Crowe, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, and Henry Cavill.  The story focuses on the origin of Superman (Cavill) and the destruction of his planet Krypton, that ultimately leads its former military leader General Zod (Michael Shannon) to earth in an attempt to rebuild that world.  Throughout the film, I was really most  impressed with Shannon's stellar performance at portraying this formidable and complicated villain of Superman, which given his previous work is really no surprise.  A fresh take is also given to the role of love interest Lois Lane as an integral part of the story, though the onscreen chemistry of the couple wasn't present.  But I reiterate in giving much credit to writers Goyer and Nolan for the shift in focus, that take into account the traditional old school fans of Superman and the more contemporary fan base that grew up watching Smalleville.  After the very successful Marvel franchises of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor that culminated into the spectacular game changing The Avengers or the equally impressive Transformers franchise, it was time for DC to step up after the conclusion of their Batman trilogy and failure with no less than Green Lantern.  I won't say that Man Of Steel was the best, but Nolan, Snyder, and Goyer certainly saved Superman, resurrecting him from the ashes of 2006's Superman Returns and making him cinematically relevant to today's audience.  It was the least DC could do.  It's true that there are so many plot parallel's that damn near mimic the identical action plots of the Transformers or Marvel films.  If costumes and characters were changed, it could easily be one of those films.  But it certainly does work in an undeniably enjoyable and watchable way.  The strong epic and contemporarily relevant story,  infuse Man Of Steel with just enough substinance to keep DC afloat.

12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave is the extraordinary unique story of Solomon Northrop , a free born African American, taken captive into slavery and ultimately struggling to win his release.   Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor in a magnificent performance as Northrop, it is sure to be a contender in the Oscar arena.  So great and authentic are the performances here by Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, and the talented newcomer Lupita Nyong'o.  They portray the complexities and nuanced transformations of their characters to great effect.  Equally great is the ability of McQueen's directing, a testament to the power of filmmaking when it stays true to the integrity of the book.   12 Years A Slave is an instant  American classic, that unflinchingly takes an actual eyewitness look at the sins of America.  I can't say enough good things about this film, as it is truly real and superior filmmaking of the highest order that is compelling and captivating from start to finish.

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim obviously takes place in the Pacific, where the earth is threatened by alien species and is forced to take military action. After the loss of his brother to the species, a young military officer known for disregarding procedures and orders is suddenly one of the last of a few thrust into the position of fighting these beings by using old school technology to close a portal they emerge from. Fortunately, the young officer also learns more about the invading species from smarter folks in his team. This is the basic premise of Pacific Rim folks, but its also the same one for the movie Battleship. Unfortunately, it shares the same disappointing viewing experience. I like Guillermo Del Toro, but what was he thinking with this film?

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire.   What mostly stood out for me is the very visceral and surreal beauty in the cinematography and detail of the Roaring 20's era.  Obviously, there was a lot of money spent on the production and the lead characters do a decent enough job.  Overall, that's about all I can say, as there was nothing exactly jutting out at me, except for the exceptional performances in Mulligan as Daisy and Joel Edgerton as her husband Tom.  Maguire, though a good actor, is just being his usual wide-eyed self essentially serving as the audience's witness and narrator to the enigmatic Gatsby and Daisy.  DiCaprio is now notorious for these type of roles, whether they are classic, period, etc. What I didn't like was how the lush production value overwhelmed the actual heart of the story, including brief soundtrack insertions by Jay Z. 

Pain & Gain

You would think that a crime drama based on real life events starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, and Ed Harris; and directed by Michael Bay would at the very least be watchable.   The bizarre crime spree of 3 bodybuilders and a host of other accomplices is turned into a black comedy-drama that doesn't work on any level.  This is one film that I was sadly unable to even finish.  It didn't even satisfy on a cheap level. What little humor I saw was barely palatable, and there was not enough interesting character development, star charisma, or chemistry to push the story along.  I don't know why the fuck they even made this movie, less it was just a chance for these stars to work together, get jacked in the gym, have fun in their criminal portrayal, and.... Hey, wait a minute.   I get it now.  This is sort of like Wahlberg's film The Big Hit fifteen years ago, a testosterone injected cast with stylized action and humor.  No, shit wait again. That was at least actually entertaining and watchable and enjoyable on certain levels.  On the surface, Pain & Gain would understandably have some sort of interest and certainly it did on the initial box office draw.  But for me, it was just pain and no gain.  Normally, one would say save your money.  In this case, save your free time.

Snitch

Snitch stars Dwayne Johnson and from the cover, trailer, and typical filmography of Johnson, one may easily think that it's just another typical action movie.  But you couldn't be further from the truth.  That's not to say that it doesn't contain it's fair share of action.  It does, but it's very appropriate action to the story.  But more importantly, it's a crime drama about a father willing to put his life at risk by going undercover to save his son from an unfair drug sentence.  That rather unbelievable premise being my only critique, is quickly disseminated by the rest of the compelling story and performances.  A modest exploration and commentary into the world of drug smuggling and the current legal policy in the U.S., also lend it a certain authentic weight. That said, it's surprisingly good and Johnson gives an honest performance that calls on more than just good looks and muscles for a change.  So, if you prefer it's an "action" movie with substance and authenticity, not unlike Mark Walhberg's Contraband that harks back to this recent and refreshing trend of action movies driven by character and story while minimizing or eliminating special effects, cgi, and other Hollywood gimicks.  Further supplementing the solidity of Snitch, are excellent performances in the supporting cast that include Barry Pepper, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, and Michael Kenneth Williams. 

The Butler

A surefire Oscar contender this year in numerous categories is Lee Daniel's The Butler, a movie that chronicles the life of African-American Presidential butler Cecil Allen (played superbly by Forest Whitaker) and inspired from the real life of Eugene Allen.  I knew this film would be good, but wasn't expecting just how much. It is a genuinely authentic and instant American classic that I believe is garnished with pure unapologetic truth and humility from all of the outstanding participants. What is truly remarkable about the film is that with a greatly talented all-star ensemble of actors in Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey (whose acting ability has developed immensely), David Oyelowo, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jane Fonda, Liev Schreiber, and Alan Rickman among a who's who of many other notable performers; the immense star power of talent that is contained in The Butler never take away from the focus of the film's powerful story.  From the Eisenhower administration in the backdrop of the Jim Crow and emerging Civil Rights era  to the present Obama administration where racial inequality is still being carried out, the life of Cecil Allen is a story for every American of every generation to not forget where we come from, the tragic cost and sacrifices ensued , and the present day honesty or denial that fault us all in acknowledging and overcoming ourselves.  I give immense credit to director Lee Daniels and writer Danny Strong for doing an exceptionally well job at conveying the important theme of how the life of a Black domestic was just as relevant and noteworthy in the fight for civil rights, as anything from seemingly more pro-active figures like a Black Panther militant, peaceful protester, social activist, congressman, or even a President.  In addition, all of that is magnificently balanced by just the right amount of converging storylines and relevantly, well developed supporting characters, and humour to offset the thematic weight.

A Good Day To Die Hard

Recently, I went to imdb and saw the possibility of another Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis scheduled for 2015 with the title of Die Hardest and I thought to myself, "What the fuck!  Are they really going to resurrect John McClane's ass again after this fiasco of a movie?"  Seriously though,  there is no really good day or night to watch A Good Day To Die Hard.  This time, John McClaine goes to Russia to help out his estranged son (Jai Courtney) who's on trial for murder.  Oh and he didn't know his son was in the CIA and so becomes part of a plot with his son to stop a political nuclear weapons bla bla bla thing.  This film lost me from the very beginning, as it was soo unbelievably implausible as to why McClane would go to Russia and what the fuck was he gonna do there.  Shoot and blow shit up to get his son out of jail?  Oh, my bad, someone already basically does that for him unintentionally.  How convenient for McClane and so now we can finally have him driving, shooting, and tearing his way through the streets of Moscow.  Yeah, he's back at home now folks.  From there, it just gets worse as John Sr. and Jr.  go after the Russian bad guys while repairing their relationship.  There is no sense of urgency to this limp film and Willis' limp performance is just as annoying as the badly played Russian villains. There is better character development , plot believability, and enjoyment in a 1st person shooter video game.  That 92 million dollar budget could have been put to better use and seems like a financial crime.

The Last Stand

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as an aging sheriff of a small town, that just happens to serve as the last destination point before crossing Mexico for a most wanted and recently escaped fugitive drug lord played by Eduardo Noriega.  I have to be honest here.  I naturally wasn't expecting a lot from this movie given that it was the return of Schwarzenegger as a lead actor after his notorious family scandal.  But I give this movie credit for playing it very smart and being surprisingly enjoyable.  I mean it's wise, for instance to pepper The Last Stand with a fairly talented cast in the humor of Johnny Knoxville,  the dramatic gravity of Forest Whitaker, and the outrageous villany of Peter Stormare.    Then add to the recipe for the first half of the movie generally without focusing on Schwarzenegger's character (this is a very good thing), action plot sequences that greatly mirror the recent success of the Fast and Furious movies.  Finally, stir carefully resisting the urge to abundantly dip the dialogue with generic action movie one liners, and let Schwarzenegger finish the film by doing his best version of a still tough squinty-eyed Clint Eastwood.  Of course, by this time, you really don't care about the increasingly washed over illogic of the plot.  It's just good  action entertainment which is something Bruce Willis and company should have learned better when they made A Good Day To Die Hard.

Alex Cross

I have to admit I thought this film was going to be so so bad, but for Tyler Perry's first run at playing the lead in an entirely new genre for him, it was a bit north of ok.   Of course, it was substantially helped out by having a pretty decent story that wasn't so predictable and having a greatly needed and talented supporting cast.  As a Detroiter, I also give them credit for setting and shooting it here.  The problem with Alex Cross, however, does seem to come from Tyler's attachment to it, as in all fairness he is no Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington.  As a result and perhaps a bit unfairly, such an important James Patterson character adapted to film so successfully a decade ago and reprised by Perry, seems to already have a built in auto destruct at least in immediate thought.    It is the scrutiny that I also share even after viewing Alex Cross, especially at the very real possibility of another Patterson film with Tyler as the lead.

Parker

Jason Statham plays a thief  Parker with a code of integrity who's double crossed  and left for dead by his partners in crime for declining his participation into their next heist.  With the help of a real estate agent played by Jennifer Lopez, he goes after the bad guys.  Not much imagination here and certainly no stretch for Statham. I like Jason Statham, even knowing that his films aren't always the best of the action genre.  But Parker certainly falls very short of my already meager expectations here.  First off, the story is dull from the start and the other actors themselves seem to exude that in their performance.  Secondly, and probably more importantly, Jennifer Lopez should never have been inserted in this film.  A bored and nearly broke real estate agent living at home with her mother and yearning for some new excitement meets the exciting outlaw in Statham and is immediately intrigued.  I didn't buy it, there was no chemistry, and (spoiler alert) there was not even consummation between the two.  The latter was probably a good thing on second thought.  I suppose they were going to try and use Lopez to insert a sort of starry eyed romantic comedy sort of thing to a Statham film, but it doesn't work for the aforementioned reasons.  I mean, if I was bored from the beginning and then you have all this lag time before the romantic comedy genre crashes horribly into a substandard action film, it isn't very long before your waiting for this film to just fucking end.  I couldn't even bring myself to look at the special features on the dvd, namely the one titled "Who is Parker".  I'll tell you who Parker is.  He's the same guy as he was in the Transporter, Snatch, Crank, etc. but this time stuck on a dvd featurette that makes for a better drink coaster.

Argo

Argo is the true story of CIA operative Mendez and his plan to rescue 6 American embassy staffers hiding out in a hostile Iran.  In a nutshell, the movie is good.  Director and actor Ben Affleck does a very good job in this.   What really makes this movie excel is not just the incredulous story, but how Affleck manages to effectively capture and pace the film in a way that left me on the edge of my seat.  It's a solid film, but I must admit that after hearing much about this and with its many accolades,  I was expecting something a bit more spectacular.

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths is a wild ride for sure. Starring a great cast in Collin Farrel, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson,  and Sam Rockwell, it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh of In Bruges fame.  Writer Marty endeavors to write a book about psychopaths along with the persistent help of  best friend Billy.  Wildly chaotic with black humor and inspired delusional storytelling make this film a great ride for the viewer.  The mix of witty dialogue, great acting, and unexpected heart complete the film very nicely.  It's a film seemingly going nowhere, but cleverly taking you everywhere. 

Superpower

Whether you scrutinize the whole world of conspiracy theory or not, if you live in the United States and don't recognize the very real blemishes that we have as a country and how it has and continues to affect us today, shame on you. Superpower is a documentary that explores many of those blemishes and invites us to suspend our American exceptionalism, think, look back at history, and then examine our current state as it relates to our military industrial complex.  Told via interviews with various historians, political leaders, ex-military, and authors; the documentary is compelling at forcing us to look honesty within at our previous and present role as a world superpower and the cost we pay to maintain it.

Flight

Flight is a 2012 film starring Denzel Washington as an airline pilot, who happened to miraculously end up saving the lives of the majority of the passengers and crew.  But as a result of the inevitable fame, comes an investigation that reveals his alcoholism.  This is a very, very good film, most notably in the acting ability of Denzel Washington.  I believe that it is definitely one of the best roles he's ever done, so realistic and compelling is his performance.  The supporting cast is also great, but it is Denzel's journey as pilot Whip Whitaker that is at the heart of the film.  What also makes it great, is that it is also a social commentary on how we as a country treat celebrity/heroes and how we all "function" in a drug culture.

Red Dawn

When the North Koreans invade Spokane, Washington, it's up to a group of teenagers led by ex U.S. Marine Jed (Chris Hemsworth) to take a stand.  Yeah.  Well in case you didn't know, Red Dawn is a remake of the 1984 film of the same title starring Patrick Swayze.  Unfortunately, it's not a remake in believability, acting charisma or talent, or any of the appeal that made the original good.  First, off it doesn't do a very good job of adequately establishing how (even tactically) and why the North Koreans would be invading America in such a grand manner.  If you've stomached through that implausible shit and gotten to the point of where the North Koreans have actually taken over the town, you'll find much more implausibility in these hunky-dory American teenagers all of a sudden learning how to fight a sophisticated guerrilla style war against a more sophisticated airmobile world army; oh and again led by (spoiler alert) an eventually martyred "Captain America" who in the short duration has to somehow impart growing up and being brave to his annoying younger brother Matt (Josh Peck) and the rest of the small-town scrubs who eventually become the infamous Wolverines militia with such an unrealistically  high reputation.   Throughout, I couldn't help but ask where everyone else was, like the fucking American military, the other adults to help them, and even more support for the North Koreans hunkered down in that town.  Eventually, the Wolverines run into 3 real Marines fighting the Koreans behind the enemy lines, who laughably seem so shocked and in awe of the group's reputation, as deep gaps in story logic allow them to perform professional clandestine operations with the Marines.  Just like the performances, everything in Red Dawn felt so small and unbelievably anemic like a bad tv show. This movie quickly degenerates and is akin to an after school kids special that was just impossible to even care about, as it lacked any sense of real urgency.  Red Dawn should not have even gotten to the show and was a waste of my time with it's corny, pretentious, homogenized patriotism.  That's the bottom line.  These days, I really abhor remakes done too soon; and more importantly, remade worse.

Killing Them Softly

All set to write a piece on one of James Gandolfini's last film projects Killing Them Softly after viewing it last night, I wake up today and turn on the news and learn of his passing at the age of 51.  First off, a moment of sadness, respect, and deep admiration for one of the best character actors of his generation and acclaimed television stars who I believe truly changed the "game" in his role as Tony Soprano.  That being said, he was no less effective in this role, portraying the wore out boozing hitman Mickey, subcontracted by fellow hitman Pitt to help eliminate the robbers of a high stakes card game.   The movie is interesting for sure in it's caper premise, laced throughout with black humor and showcasing the current American political-economic overtones of the day and how they also permeate the criminal community.  We're meant to see the parallels within this world and how it is in essence no different in many ways to how banks, government, businesses, and people in general restructure and respond to an economic crisis.  But what made Killing them Softly really stand out for me, are it's strong dialogue and cast performance.   Many movies aren't often made this way anymore, especially in a criminal drama where in this case dialogue moves the film along and takes center stage to comparatively little to no action.

The Grandmaster

When I first started this blog nearly a year ago, my very first post was in reference to really wanting to see this movie.  Wong Kar Wai fans are no strangers to extensively waiting on his cinematic masterpieces to finally emerge and in reference to my last post of feeling very confident in that assertion, I found out that I wasn't wrong.  Where to even begin here is the only real dilemma I have.  First off, a biopic about the life of Bruce Lee's Master from a director known more for his artsy melodramatic films, is a challenging enough prospect.  Adding to that are the other recent and competing series of movies about Yip Man, including the successful Ip Man films of Donnie Yen.  Well, The Grandmaster is all that and then some.  Wong Kar Wai fans should love it, as it is on par or better with the best of his other films.  It is a visual masterpiece in cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd with an equally impressive soundtrack in the recurring collaboration of composer Shigeru Umebayashi of In The Mood For Love fame. The tale of Yip Man's life as viewed in a series of dramatic flashbacks is powerful, albeit I concede, sometimes at the expense of being confusing and getting far away from the prime character (more on that to follow).  Also, there are so many parallels and references to Kar Wai's other films, that at times, it was deja-vu like; especially in the melancholic longing and regret relationship of Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi's characters already prevalently seen in Kar Wai's  2046.  I'm obviously a bit too biased in favor of Kar Wai films, but I suppose that too much Kar Wai heavy handedness could be a turn off to the average person wanting to just see a typical martial arts movie.  But I would argue that The Grandmaster is more than just a martial arts film or even a  more truer martial arts film than most.  Martial arts is simultaneously a backdrop to the story and the most important point to the narrative. In making this movie, what I really appreciate more than just the aforementioned characteristic style of a Kar Wai movie, is how as the writer he really did the historical research and stayed true to the deeper themes of the martial arts.  That tumultuous time period in the early part of the 20th century in Chinese history caused a lot of shifts that affected the martial arts in permanent ways.  The rivalry of martial artist in the north and south or the battle of internal and external arts, is not always shown so effectively.  That was the "golden age" of Chinese martial arts, prior to changes in the government suppressing and eliminating them.  For me personally, that was indeed one of the best things about watching The Grandmaster.  That authentic look and feel of the period so well displayed with all it's martial diversities being shaken around by the chaotic historical realities of the time, was brewing with martial art stories.  Not many martial art films can authentically showcase a comparatively simple southern style like Wing Chun against more sophisticated, internal styles like Bagua or Hsing-I to help impart the worthy trait of Yip Man.  Sure, the Ip Man movies may have had the martial expertise of  Donnie Yen and choreographer Sammo Hung.  But the extensive training of actor Tony Leung, the always masterful choreography of Yuen Woo-Ping, the cinematography of Le Sourd, and the well invested research of Kar Wai make The Grandmaster more than distinct enough on its own in stylistic aesthetics and authenticity.  Where else could you find such a symbolically relevant and awesome display of Zhan Ziyi's character displaying the bagua circle walk in a northern snowfield?  The texture and atmosphere of all the settings from the rain soaked streets of Foshan to the seedy glamour of the Golden Pavilion, is just as rich as the dialogue throughout. Kar Wai is great at summarizing key parts of the story beautifully through these wonderfully constructed montages of artistic images, subtley framed gestures, and music to emote the passage of events in time. It should also be noted that this movie, arguably for better or worse, does not exclusively celebrate the life of Yip Man.  Kar Wai seems to go out of his way whether intentional or not to pay equal homage to all the old school martial arts masters of that era.  Perhaps, that's also why the movie falls under the title of The Grandmasters. I certainly don't fault him for that, as it could be argued that the film is only guilty of being overly zealous in the themes of higher martial arts.  As I mentioned before, other films have captured moments of authentic martial arts in theme, historical meaning, and display as well, but relatively few martial art films come close to the overall cinematic density that is The Grandmaster.  A Kar Wai film to it's credit usually demands repeated viewings to really see the rich tapestry that is woven throughout and this one is no different.  After reading that the original cut was nearly 4 hours long, I only wish that a longer cut was available instead of being edited down to 120 and 130 minute versions.  After purchasing the Chinese dvd, it looks like I'll still need to view the Weinstein edition whenever it drops, which will more than likely have a richer picture quality, a behind the scenes feature or two, and a more accurate subtitle translation.  With that in brief being said, The Grandmaster(s) is indeed grand.

In Anticipation of "The Grandmaster"

One thing about director Wong Kar Wai, is that he makes you wait and wait as he delays and delays his brilliantly poetic films.  Well, the wait is over, as I just had to order my dvd copy of The Grandmaster yesterday, as soon as I knew it was available.  Harvey Weinstein and his American distribution will take their time about releasing it directly in the States and may do some unnecessary choppy chop on this art piece.  I say "art piece" with great confidence, not just because I'm a huge fan of China's equivalent to the team Scorsese and Deniro in director  Kar Wai and lead actor Tony Leung, but because the trailer variations and opening 30 minutes that I couldn't help but take a peak at online, are instant marvels of cinematography on par with classic visual martial art works of art like Kar Wai's classic Ashes of Time and nodding to Zhang Yimou's  Hero.  In addition, the higher internal level and historical elements of the various southern and northern martial, seemed to be justly represented and explored; which to me is exquisitely interesting in any martial arts film.

In the meantime, check out Tony Leung who's been training for the role since 2007 in this clip.

Silver Linings Playbook

This was an awesome and compelling movie with a great cast. Bradley Cooper was very good and Jennifer Lawrence was outstanding, especially considering how young she is.  It's a film about mental illness told with great warmth, humor, and humanity.  More importantly for me, it's a film that really speaks about the restorative power of love for those struggling with it.  

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is Peter Jackson's first in a series of  three part prequels to the LOR movies.  Of course there are a lot of expectations to this film and for the most part, it is delivered.  In addition to having a great director, an excellent story, cinematography, and a talented cast in newcomers Martin Freeman and Richard Armistice,  viewing the beautiful and scenic backdrop of New Zealand alone, is worth the nearly three hour running time. So let me get to the main detractors.  If anything, it takes a while to get the story really going, which is understandable considering the LOR sequels were/are very much, the successful shadows to resurrecting its orgin story.  Once it does get going though, Jackson is obviously back at the helm in brilliantly moving the adventure along to a point where it becomes rather hard to distinguish this earlier adventure from being mistaken for just another LOR film.  Another similar point I would makes, though not as strongly, would be that the main ensemble of characters especially the protagonist were slightly lacking in the kind of diverse cohesion that successfully help drive the plots of the LOR series.   So my main criticism would be that despite or because of the nearly predictable nature of this film, that simultaneously helps in audience familiarity (though I grew up watching the Hobbit as a kid) and hurts in so far as originality; what ends up suffering the most is the overall momentum slightly lagging to take the audience to the second film.  However, all in all, this was the start of a great movie trilogy that generally only and perhaps unfairly suffers from ironically being judged by it's already successful sequel in LOR.  Nonetheless, Peter Jackson has done it again in carefully covering the main bases and holding to the integrity of the story. 

Broken City

It was very refreshing to see an old-fashioned, film-noir crime drama done solidly.   That about summarizes what I can say about this movie, which may have not done as great at the box office but is certainly in my eyes, a sleeper hit.  Mark Wahlberg stars as an ex-cop turned private investigator entangled up in the politics of New York's mayor, played by Russel Crowe.  Rounding out the excellent cast of this thriller are Catherine Zeta Jones, Jeffrey Wright, and Barry Peppers.  Broken City is certainly a well done updated homage to the great film noir of the 40's and 50's detective-crime dramas.  Seeing this movie, reminded me so much of those movies that I loved and grew up on, which had that good snappy dialogue, great twist and turns, and great characters of duality inhabiting a seedy urban city.  Mark Wahlberg may not be Humphrey Bogart, but he fits the bill of the flawed everyman just as well as his co-stars fit in to their parts.  The ode to that genre is further balanced by a modern day relevant plot and character driven complications as diverse as redemption, love, and power.  In fact, it's all the more amazing for director Allen Payne and his production team along with the amount of talent and star power in this film, that they don't erode the stylistic integrity of film-noir and the straight-no chaser attribute that it comes with, by easily  deviating or exploiting into one of the usual Hollywood formulas that tend to weaken the story or make it just a star vehicle.  It's just very good shared film-making from all aspects. 

Dragon/Wu Xia

Dragon/Wu Xia, despite the very generic title, is one of the freshest and most unique of martial art films I've seen in quite a while.  Notably, because it fuses the detective/mystery genre with the martial arts, using a nice sort of modern day CSI type of special effects infused storytelling.  In equal measure of the film's effectiveness, Donnie Yen as the outlaw killer turned simple country papermaker, brings actual real heartfelt acting without his usual pretension, for an even  more progressive change that he quite effectively capitalized on in the Ip Man movies recently, that is quite on equal par with Takeshi  Kaneshiro's performance of the detective in pursuit of him.   Add to that, a great charismatic performance by martial arts legion Jimmy Wang (The One Armed Swordsman and The Chinese Boxer) and actress Tang Wei (Lust, Caution).  Wu Xia is a beautifully shot movie in the tradition of A History Of Violence, that doesn't disappoint and is very engaging with layers of intrigue, mystery, and depth. It's a very nice and almost seemless blending of art and action.  I reiterate the great performance of Yen and I think that is easily his best and most mature in acting I've seen to date. This movie more than lived up to the hype and easily should be a great sleeper, unfortunately only suffering from the lack of promotional exposure that it justly deserves. 

Iron Man 3

I was pretty eager to see this movie, as most people would expect after a successful run and buildup culminating with The Avengers.  It's was good and decent enough, but I think without giving too much of the plot away, falls a bit short of my own expectations.  This time around, we're taking a closer look at the flaws and vulnerabilities of Tony Stark in the aftermath of his most challenging life altering experience with The Avengers and going back into Stark's past to see the origins of his current villain - The Mandarin.  It's a challenging and logical premise that is very relevant to all that went on in the previous movies with his character while simultaneously speaking to the ways in which warfare/terrorism, the military industrial complex, and the media are all used.  So in this juncture, I think it inevitably loses much of the steam throughout at least half the film.  Flashbacks to the past are done throughout to help explain the storyline and witness the arc of Stark's character evolving and re-inventing himself in the face of mortality and guilt.  How is all that done while defeating the bad guys and pulling out all the obligatory coolness of all that is Iron Man? Well, rather good by Downey of course, and somewhat and understandably mediocre by director Shane Black.  This Iron Man does very well at examining itself and I found it similar in many ways to the movie Watchmen, which I also liked.  Indeed at this point in the franchise, it seems rather obligatory especially when you look at the inward character journeys in other movies like Spiderman 3 or The Dark Knight Rises.  Ok, so juxtapose that with the other half of Stark pulling out all the very cool upgrades to his suit in fighting a let's just say, shadowy enemy who falls somewhat short of being really interesting or that intriguing.  The Iron Man soup we usually order hasn't exactly marinated long enough to absorb all the flavors well this time around.  If it sounds like I hated this movie, far from it.  I just know it could have been done better with less going on in the story, because it seemed to divide the movie into too many pieces of an ambitious pie, at the expense of an even enough momentum and urgency that is usually customary in propelling the audience to the next part of the marvel story.  Spoiler alert - instead, I waited for all the long ass credits to roll through, only to find Dr. Bruce Banner falling asleep on Stark's narrative.  I found that pretty telling indeed.

Olympus Has Fallen

Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Aaron Eckhart, Rick Yune, and Dylan McDermott, Olympus Has Fallen is an action drama centered around a terrorist takeover of the White House.  Well, the cast, director, storyline, and trailer certainly sucked me into going to see this movie at the show, and why wouldn't it given that.  However, it does fall short a bit on some things.  Basically, it's a collage of movie formulas, notably the Die Hard movies and Air Force One.  If you ignore the absurdity of the plot, the first half of the movie with the Korean terrorist takeover of Washington is very exciting action-wise.  The Air Force's AC-130 gunship is hijacked and used to reign terror upon DC.  Yeah, I know.  But seeing something like that on the screen, makes it real easy to ignore or forget the improbability and absurdity of it happening.  From here on, it's up to Butler as the former Secret Service/Special Ops guy and the only guy left alive inside the White House to kill the terrorist, save the President and his son, and thwart the real plans of the terrorist.  At this point, watching the movie becomes very much like watching someone play a 1st person shooter game, sometimes annoyingly interrupted by the commanders and higher officials held up in the situation room, that only seem to give intermission to the game.  It's also at this juncture of the film, that the missing details of story-line logic become all the more apparent. The obvious question of how could this well prepared and coordinated attack be pulled off this perfect post 911 by so few Korean terrorist without the intelligence community or Homeland Dept. having a clue, is still beyond me even after viewing the film. So few terrorist and only one man can stop them, while the whole US arsenal of  police, military, intelligence, and everyone else can only wait outside The White House?  Not to sound like an extreme delusional right wing patriot, but I still couldn't buy the logic of it, although Gerard Butler does a good job in the role. Also, was it me or was Dylan McDermott's role or character (still deciding which) just fucking stupid? The writers of this film respectfully pulled out all the stops from not so implicitly referencing the 911 attacks, the Seals assault on the Bin Laden compound, and the present situation with North Korea.  I also give the film credit for directly touching on many issues in dealing with the global war on terror and nuclear deterrence. No spoiler alert here, but the directive of saving the President at all cost, is really put to the test and momentarily picks up the dimension of the terrorist's plot in the second half. It's a decent enough action movie and certainly enough to bring in an audience and keep them entertained, although excessively drippy with obligatory patriotism far too contrived.  But let's hope that this next film (White House Down starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx) about terrorist taking over the White House, will fare better this year.  If anyone has seen The Raid: Redemption, I think the martial artist guy who played Mad Dog was in here as one of the terrorist uncredited, who unfortunately got taken out way too fast.

Samsara

2011's Samsara is a visual masterpiece that the best of it's kind I've seen since Powaqqatsi.  It was filmed over the course of 5 years in 70mm.  I loved this film as it explores aspects of life, the earth, and people then and now while still touching on how they relate.  You can't help but just to watch, listen, and meditate to it.

W.E.

W.E. is the true life account of King Edward VIII and his controversial love affair with American socialite Wallis Simpson that ended up costing him the throne.  It is also seen through the contemporary eyes of  the married and unhappy character of American Wally Winthrop, who becomes personally fascinated and obsessed with the story and the parallels to her own life.  First off, this movie directed by Madonna is way too far long.  I mean it looks good, the trailer I remember was very interesting and good, and it looks good throughout with the cinematography, costumes, and set pieces.   Yet, it took a while to really understand what what really going on in this film, as we're going back and forth throughout six decades between two different stories with annoying, infrequent intersections of the two women via the imagination of Wallis and Wally.  Throughout watching the movie, out of boredom and an attempt to understand, I found myself googling who the historical  characters were and their stories, as this film took forever to put the full context together.  Madonna, I suspect strongly like myself is a Wong Kar Wai fan, because this movie is drenched in what might be her very heavy handed attempt as an ode to his works; even  so far as to the similar cello theme of In The Mood For Love.  This attention to aesthetics  might be all well and good  and admittedly, I was intrigued with certain facets of it, but it only serves to further confuse the storyline and is far too excessive for a story of this kind.  What further divides and detracted from the film for me, was the contemporary second storyline of Wally and how it was even all that significantly relevant to the historical romance of  Wallis and Edward.  I mean sure, this girl needed some help and was unhappy, but to just sit around sadly and go to artsy galleries bidding on things related to a legendary love affair in such a obsessive manner...   Her storyline wasn't even needed, or at least could have be told better.  At least change her fictional name because the parallels only further confused me.  Initially, I was thinking who the hell are all of these Williams, Wallis, and Wally.  Are they related somehow?  What was meant to be uncovered by the quest of Wally, somehow throughout gets lost with too much length and Madonna's heavy handed direction.  If you do manage to muddle through this, there are interesting and relevant subjects that do come up for which Madonna is understandably aptly suited to helm, such as the role of media/public perception, privacy, living and loving on your own terms, and the price of celebrity for both Wallis and Edward that had many parallels to the life and death of Princess Diana.

Beast Of The Southern Wild

I was told on more than one occasion that this movie and it's plot were very hard to describe and indeed it is.  But I would describe it as a fantasy coming of age story that falls on so many life themes and subject matter, not the least of which would be the allusion to hurricane Katrina which actually serves more as a symbolic backdrop.  Through a young girl's eyes and imagination, realities of life and loss and the meaning of home and family are dealt with.  Young newcomer and Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis is quite phenomenal in her performance as Hushpuppy, a young girl abandoned by her mother and desperately trying to hold on to her father Wink, also played terrifically by first timer Dwight Henry.  My take on the title and it's meaning is that the beast in the imaginary mind of Hushpuppy are the extinct Auroch cattle, who serve as a metaphor perhaps to our stewardship to the earth and at the same time representing what's innate in ourselves. I really enjoyed this movie, as it was moving, refreshing, and yielded the spirit of real film making and the subject matter of universal humanity and survival.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

A figure like President Abraham Lincoln and the historical importance that he holds today, given the extraordinary times of that era, and his abrupt assasination would/could lend itself understandably well to taking fictional liberties.   But this movie has taken that quite too far.  Even if you can digest the notion of Lincoln being a vampire hunter, this movie certainly doesn't mesh the now well established genre of vampires/vampire hunters very well.  There are moments when it tries way too hard, and the filmmakers can't seem to be able to make up their mind.  It's kind of embarassing to me personally and seems to be saying a lot about this country and it's regards or disregard for it's own history.  I must admit that the filmmakers did do their research in applying many of the historically details to his life and rather deftly did insert a fictional vampire narrative that is almost plausible at least in concept and pre-production idea.  But again, the execution of  this seems to have turned out more comical and ill-meshed at times during the film.   I would argue that it needed to be more steady in it's tone, especially given the weight of this historical figure and the gravity of isssues like war and slavery.  From the Twilight to the Underworld series, it seems that everyone thinks that they can make a vampire movie now.  Don't get me wrong.  I didn't want to dislike it.  Part of me even thought it was kind of a cool idea, because Lincoln has always been to me kind of a cool and mysteriously aloof figure that was only really appreciated years and decades later.  I think that where the filmmakers really went wrong was in the over the top action and fighting scenes.  I mean they portray Lincoln as suddenly being able to do all this super martial art, gravity defying shit that you see in every other action film now, even after he becomes the President.  It's cool sure, especially to a young attention deficit, action loving audience who increasingly doesn't know or revere shit about history.  But turning Lincoln into a fuckin' Bruce Lee who killed vampires to win the Civil War seems to favor denigrating with action over educating with mysterious intrigue.

Safety Not Guaranteed

An assignment to find out why a quirky guy is placing ads seeking a companion for time travel, leads 3 magazine employees on a journey that changes their lives.  I must admit that I was a little skeptical about this one, but it is proof that a seemingly boring and stupid story can blossom into something quite touching and magical.  I was a bit tempted to turn it off, as it has a pretty slow start that only began to hold my interest after about 30 minutes.

The Souls Of Black Girls

The Souls Of Black Girls is a must see documentary made in 2008 from director-writer Daphne Valerius that brings to the discussion of the self image consciousness or lack of in women of color.  Along with commentary from celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith, Chuck D, and Regina King, light is shed on the emerging image problem of young Black women, the historical plight of it, and how the media and entertainment images figure into contributing towards a potentially detrimental perception of it.

The Words

A young married writer (Bradley Cooper) in New York after some years of  struggling, suddenly rises to the top with his latest novel only to discover that the journey comes with a personal price to pay. Where does one even begin in describing this film?  In a word, no pun inteneded, it's just brilliant.  Not yet having seen Silver Linings Playbook, it's the best performance I've seen Bradley Cooper in so far.  Needless to say, the entire cast, consisting of Cooper, Olivia Wilde, Jeremy Irons, and Zoe Saldana, were outstanding in this remarkable drama, love story, and mystery that doesn't stop unfolding.  It's this unfolding of the story within the story and the ambiguity it rest on that leaves each viewer fully invested in the experience.  The Words sure enough is about writing and the rippling power of words to uplift, destroy, and manifest love.  But it's also about our humanity in pain and regret, survival, redemption, and healing.  In today's world, it begs the question of what does success and happiness mean to each of us and are we content in our choices of one or the other. For myself as a film blogger, it certainly was an innate delight to view this and be so viscerally affected in a refreshing way that these meager words will not entirely convey without being proceeded by a spoiler alert.  Rottentomatoes has given this film a meager 22% favorable review, but I sharply disagree as I did of their  77% rating of  Dredd.

Dredd

First off, why anyone would want to make a remake of a not so great film baffles me to no end.  Secondly, how anyone could make a remake of it even worse 17 years later is really disturbing.  Ok, ok, so it's not technically a remake in all fairness.  I guess it's technically a continuation of the adventures of the character Judge Dredd.  This time around the judge, jury, and executioner cop (Karl Urban) takes a psychic rookie judge (Olivia Thirlby) under his wing.  An investigation into a triple murder leads to them to try taking down drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) held up in a 200 story apartment.  Yeah, it's soo original a story. We've seen this type of story before and we've seen it done so much better and creatively in films like The Raid: Redemption and District B13.  I don't know what they were doing here in Dredd.  It was limp and all the cgi, special effects, sets, costumes, gunplay, and futuristic set designs couldn't get this film going or me even mildly excited about it.  Karl Urban is as wooden as his character throughout and for 95 fucking minutes, we have to listen to his cheap raspy one liners and watch him keep that stupid helmet on.  Might as well, have been watching Robocop.  Oh wait, they are actually making that as I write this.  The villain Ma-Ma is a psychotic killer and drug addict, who doesn't really do anything interesting or that smart throughout the film.  She just looks like a grungy crackhead ordering people to find and kill the judges and what she does manage to have up her sleeve when confronting Dredd, is equally weak in imagination or smart cunning.  The only slightly interesting facet to this movie was Dredd's trainee partner with her psychic abilities, that I was hoping would move the story along a more interesting path, in so far as character development or plot.  Of course, by the time I realized it wasn't to be, I was already numb with disappointment and boredom.  It was as if I had taken some of Ma-Ma's Slo-Mo drug and had a bad trip.  Dredd is quite dreadful.

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Killer Joe

When a young Texas drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) is double-crossed by his mother and finds himself in debt to loan sharks, he along with his dysfunctional father (Thomas Haden Church), sister (Juno Temple), and stepmother (Gina Gershon) decide to hire a police detective moonlighting as a hitman (Matthew McConaughy) to kill her and collect the insurance money.  Since the family doesn't have the money upfront, the young sister is pimped out as the hitman's retainer.  Yes, it's a crazy redneck, trailer trash of a movie that does have some interesting twist and turns.  But if you can get beyond the incredulous, southern fried mess of a plot and inherent black comedy, where this film shines admirably is in the performances from the aforementioned actors.  Matthew McConaughy plays this role to the twisted hilt and Gina Gershon....  Well, I didn't even recognize her initially, as I was too busy scratching my head at the shocking plot.  I'd say see Killer Joe  for the performances but don't eat fried chicken while watching this.

Ted

Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) is the come to life childhood friend and teddy bear of John (Wahlberg) and their close brotherly relationship becomes very challenging for him and girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis). Seth MacFarlane is a damn genius as the writer, director, producer, and star of Ted.  I haven't laughed out loud so hard in a long time since probably Tropic Thunder, really.  This is not a movie for the little kids, but nearly everyone else should find themselves in stitches.  One of the brilliant things about this movie is that the adult content and outrageousness still give way to same heartfelt sentimentality one would expect in say a children's coming of age story.  The idea of a Boston accented, cursing, rascal of a teddy bear is funny by itself, but to put it not just to animation where it would be expected, but to a live action film is incredible.  Incredible because you forget about the whole animated, cgi, blue/green screen computer generated effect of it all.  You instantly buy it because the effects and  interactions are that great.  Beyond that, there is so much hilariousness throughout from Patrick Stewart's warped narration to the many cameos.  Those of us who are of generation X will definitely appreciate the many references throughout the film.  I thoroughly enjoyed Ted, the unrated version, the special features, and all.  MacFarlane graduates to film with a bang.

Total Recall

It should go without saying that this updated version of the 1990's Total Recall is very much improved in many ways, namely in special effects and storyline.  It's certainly entertaining and has a superb cast, but sometimes seems to lose it's own identity as a movie.  The futuristic set throughout is a bit too reminiscent of Ridley Scott's Bladerunner classic, while the story itself at times feels too similiar to The Matrix as we witness Colin Farrell's character morph from an ordinary factory worker seeking something more in his mundane life to unlocking a life he can't remember in order to save an earth colony.  As if this remake wasn't feebly channeling enough other films like Minority Report and Inception, the addition of  stars Kate Beckinsale and Bill Nighy under the direction of Len Wiseman ensure that it has a healthy dose of feeling like the Underworld franchise.  Despite all this, it's worth watching, moves at a decent enough pace, and is worthy enough of making you forget about the original.

Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow may have really outdid herself this time around with the perfectly taut and intensely well acted thriller of  Zero Dark Thirty. This is by no means a small feat to pull off after the success of 2009's The Hurt Locker and considering that the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is one of the most ambitious, controversial, and sought after of storylines.  That alone could have easily tanked this movie, but until I saw for myself at how she pulled it off, I had my own latent doubts.  The way she tells the story mostly through the eyes of CIA operative Maya (Jessica Chastain) is amazing to see, especially since the whole undertaking was a frustrating decade long hunt both helped and hindered by the political, military, and intelligence tactics and approaches over the course of two White House Administrations. So if any film was more open to criticism and controversy this year, it would certainly be this one, but I certainly after seeing it, have only praise for it. At nearly 3 very justified hours long, it's hardly noticeable as your invested into the whole story.   The ambiguity of the torture scenes in the movie, despite political criticism, are handled very well. In fact, one of the other things that's so amazing about the picture, is that those scenes and the later scenes of action throughout, including and especially the amazing build up to the raid, are rather unlike anything I've ever seen on film.  Obviously and accounting for that, this is not your average thriller or action movie.  It's a real account, of course with certain cinematic liberties taken, that's still fresh in our minds from a decade ago.  Bigelow makes it such a superb, visceral, almost docu-drama of the highest order, as the audience is finally taken along with the Seals in the blacked out, night-visioned-up suspense and anticipation of raiding Bin Laden's compound.  I found myself so thoroughly engaged in the film, that I was more than audience appropriately and unexpectedly surprised, frightened, on edge, and even disturbed throughout (not an easy undertaking).  Zero Dark Thirty more than deserves the accolades it is currently receiving and I don't think I could add much more of anything else.  I haven't looked at a whole lot of the details about the movie or the making of it, especially in regards to Jessica Chastain's role of Maya and how she was largely instrumental in making the OBL connection and pushing for the raid.  But I can certainly concur that Chastain was great in her portrayal; and that throughout the viewing I kept subconsciously saying that it was almost like Bigelow was being channeled through her main character as this strong woman in that alpha male environment.  Later that same day when watching the Golden Globes, it was Chastain who echoed that same sentiment during her acceptance speech for best performance by an actress.  The greatness of the actors and writers of ZDT should be equally praised with fervor, but I still must lean towards Bigelow's ability as a director to harness all of that into what I think is her best work.

Will the healing begin?

Lately, whether intentional or not, there seems to have been a surge of movies dealing with the subject of slavery or with it as a backdrop.  The two Oscar contenders of Lincoln and Django Unchained and the upcoming Twelve Years A Slave starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Michael Fastbender seem to suggest that Hollywood might have found a little comfortable footing with the telling of America's horrific sin of slavery.  At the very least, a wealth of many fascinating untold stories are hopefully being written for film, that could finally, equally, and honestly reflect and represent the demographics that were missing in the Republican Presidential Convention of 2012.  This applies to other historical exploits not fairly represented in film, too; such as the near extinction of many of the original Americans - Indians.  Lets hope these recent films aren't just money-making trends to be exploited because rich diverse stories are still waiting to be told, written, uncovered, and filmed with ultimately the capacity to heal the scars of America.  
Also in production are Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Something Whispered and Keith David's The North Star

Lincoln

Steven Spielberg knocks another one out the park in one of the most heavily nominated pictures of the upcoming Oscar race.  Daniel Day-Lewis shines in this role of one of the most celebrated of all Presidents, perfectly fleshing out the role with all the complexities and nuances of the man beyond that of the presidency.  With a winning supporting cast, including Sally Field, James Spader, and Tommy Lee Jones and a historical story that in many ways echoes the current political divide and gridlock in Washington against the backdrop of the Civil War and the question of slavery, the film is very engaging and relevant.  Tying all these great elements together and what really drives the appeal of this film is the fascinating dialogue of the time and as adeptly carried out by the cast.  Lincoln is a must see.  In fact, it is an essential must see for every American that serves to simultaneously entertain, realistically interpret history, and remind us of our greatness as a country and as all inclusive citizens charged with cooperating with each other.

Django Unchained

It should go without saying that adding Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained  to this year's extensive list of Oscar candidates is already a given.  Viewing this brilliant over-the-top epic was indeed a treat that only Tarantino could dish out, as he already proved with in Inglorious Bastards by taking difficult historical subject matter as a backdrop to tell a story.  This time around, that backdrop is slavery in America, injected with enough cinematic steroids and humor through Tarantino's updated use of the blacksploitation and spaghetti western genres.  The story and title is a nod to the Django of 1966 and a simple classic one of a man trying to find and save the love of his life of which  Tarantino is a master of giving these simple stories so much zest.  Recently freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx) teams up with bounty hunter Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to find and free his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), a slave of plantation owner Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). First off, an A+ cast are hitting on all cylinders here, as every performance is pretty damn brilliant, including that of the supporting cast in Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, and Walter Goggins.  The most unexpected and surprising role would go to Sam Jackson playing Stephen, the slave butler of Candie.  Yes, cool, tough, black baddass Sam plays the biggest "Uncle Tom/Ruckus" you have ever seen, as his character's name would imply (think Stepin Fetchit).  Likewise, Don Johnson as plantation owner and KKK leader Big Daddy turns in also one of the most memorable and funniest performances.  At a running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, there's a lot to take in and it's delivered like a five course meal.  The obvious brutal violence and racism of the time and of the characters is dealt with in your face, unfiltered, and often with perhaps an uncomfortable but undeniable humor.  A considerable amount of the dialogue throughout uses the word "nigger" and Quentin makes no apologies about writing as such, against the protest of folks like Spike Lee no less. Now this is where there is a real brilliance to Django Unchained.  A movie like this has something for all audiences, in confronting a historical and social issue still relevant that America hasn't dealt with directly often enough.  It does so unapologetically with style and vigor and entertainment, whether or not audiences are comfortable with the subject matter or are diluted into thinking that the existence of a Black President puts everything right with slavery/racism.  Without being preachy in meaning, it does what many of the best films do in starting a conversation within ourselves and with each other to look at our ideas, attitudes, and behavior.  One such obvious question would be why haven't there been more films made that dealt with the stories during the ugliest part of our American history.  Tarantino successfully manages to use the stylistic thread of blacksploitation cinema without really exploiting anyone, because the story is kept moving and focused on throughout.  How brilliantly and comically ironic is it that Django is freed, helped, and befriended by the only liberal White man in the story, a German bounty hunter?  So Django Unchained is off the chain in more than just the obvious ways.  Indeed the chains of our past still enslave this country, so the title and film itself serve as a very appropriate metaphor to unraveling that which binds us