Monthly Archives: January 2014

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her_xlrgHer is a beautiful and romantic science-fiction film that is perfect for the times. Joaquin Phoenix is amazing in it, the story is ever interesting, and the production design is incredible yet subtle. The film takes place in a not-so-distant future but isn't about flashy futuristic technology. The world instead has gone back to basics, adopting a minimalistic approach, integrating future tech into everyday items. It looks like a world designed by designers, rather than engineers. The film's love story is relatable on a human level, but the story of Her goes beyond the simple love story. It also tells the story of how the machines will rise against us. Unlike T2 though, Her's "Judgement Day" is a bit more subtle.

4.0 Stars (out of 5)

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wolf-of-wall-street-poster02This is my favorite film of the year, perhaps it is the best film of the year. It moved by faster than any film I saw half its length this year, and I wouldn't have minded if it was thirty minutes longer. It was that good. The story was always interesting, the directing masterful, and the acting fantastic. The film is full of energy and ingenuity and is as unapologetic for being as over the top as its main characters. Scorsese has made a masterpiece of a film. It has comedy, drama, and characters so bad they're good. Bravo.

4.5 Stars (out of 5)

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166053I would have liked it more without any of the voice-work. It works as a playful, educational, and well animated dinosaur film if not for the cheesy, poorly acted, and jammed on-top-of dialogue. Granted, children might not want to sit through 90 minutes with no talking, but even taking a Milo and Otis approach with a narrator doing all the voices would have worked better, especially given the characters' mouths never move anyway. I'm a huge fan of the original Walking with Dinosaurs specials and saw the live-action stage show when it came to town, but even I can see that this is unfortunately a film trying so hard to please everyone, that it ends up not pleasing anyone.

Kudos to the filmmakers for using the most up-to-date theories on dinosaur behavior! Was cool to see Tyrannosaurids hunting in a pack/family unit. Dinos like that are almost always shown as lone hunters. Was impressed to see a primitive bird as a main character. The inclusion of early mammals in each act of the film and their role during the time period was nice to see as well. And even choosing Arctic dinosaurs as the subject helps set the film apart from others. It successfully showcases lesser known species while breaking away from the specific Jurassic Park/King Kong dinosaur imagery we're all too used to seeing from Hollywood.

I'm hoping a dialogue free version will exist in a special edition Bluray someday, as that would be an incredible film worth watching again and again.

3 Stars (out of 5)

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Saving Mr. Banks, plakatWhile this is a fun and often times moving film, I worry it is exactly the sort of thing P.L. Travers would have frowned upon, turning her personal story into a fanciful caricature for commercial gain. I'll admit I smiled and laughed, and even cried while watching, and it was well-worth a watch, but during the end credits they play actual audio recordings of Mrs. Travers making her "crazy" demands back in the writing room, and it all made me feel a little dirty. It's as if the filmmakers are trying to say, see, we're not even making this stuff up! And we the audience are meant to laugh at how ridicules she was being. Laugh at a real woman trying to do her best to keep her legacy from being mocked by future generations. The irony is not lost on me.

All in all though the film does help remind us all the joy the Mary Poppins film has brought to many people over the last half-century, including myself. If it happens to sell more Mary Poppins Blurays in the process for Disney, then I suppose it's a win-win for everyone. And it might even mean another Oscar for the deserving and always entertaining Emma Thompson.

3 Stars (out of 5)

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Anchorman2_PosterHere's one of those situations where the characters themselves are far greater than the very vehicles they originate from. This movie is long, awful, and sometimes flat-out painful. Yet for some reason we'll keep coming back for more. I'll admit I laughed my ass off during two sequences in particular, but then sat in uncomfortable silence for the other 110 minutes. One star for each of those scenes, but nothing else.

2 Stars (out of 5)

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american-hustle-posterI was really looking forward to this film but it didn't live up to my high expectations. The acting was top-notch, most notably from Amy Adams, who blew me away scene after scene. The film was shot well and looked great, but everything fell flat, felt long, and offered nothing really special or fun. I love David O. Russell's last film Silver Linings Playbook, and while I still think he's a director at the top of his game, I didn't enjoy this one much at all.

2.5 Stars (out of 5)