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