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Sundance Review: YOUNG ONES

by Posted in Festival Reviews

“Young Ones”
Directed by Jake Paltrow
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elle Fanning
100 Mins

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Sprawling future Western quais-epic Young Ones offers a poignant deconstruction of sci-fi and western films, an allegorical gaze into a murky future that strips both genres down to the studs and builds them up as one.

Brother of Gwenyth and Godson to Steven Speilberg, Jake Paltrow successfully brokers this moody, panoramic vista of draught dystopia by juxtaposing elements of hi-fi tech against the dust bowls and wind storms of plains life. Technology has taken great bounds forward, providing the illusion of solace to a society brought to their knees by perpetual thirst, but with water in such scarcity, this Western shanty town is on the brink of extinction. Life nectar that it is, water has become the new oil, a cherished commodity that’s become even more rare and necessary, a cause for showdowns and scuffles.

Opening on a brutally tense standoff between hero Ernest Holm (Michael Shannon) and two grubby water thieves, this expertly-realized world could conceivably be post-apocalyptic, sparsely occupied by a patchwork of desperate characters milling through stretches of sand-blasted country on a hunt for their next water source. Had it been such, it would risk bearing a striking resemblance to Cormac McCarthy‘s dystopia cannibal-drama The Road (which star Kodi Smit-McPhee also feautred in) but we soon learn that Ernest and son Jerome (Smit-McPhee) are not alone. They live in a desolate settlement built of stacked shoddy boxcars complete with black market baby sales, dry-lipped, sandy-haired beggars, and its own class of elite citizenry.

Ernest, a haunted, recovering alcoholic, has fruitlessly tried to convince the mob-like watermen to run a direct line to his desolate town but has been shot down. There’s life in the soil, he’s convinced. It, much like he, just needs another chance. Shannon sells haunted meditation, a character trait he’s perfected, and his watchful relationship with milquetoast son Jerome is a strong emotional platform for the narrative to rest on. Since The Road and Let Me In, McPhee has sprouted into an almost unrecognizable teenager but rather than fiddle with stodgy angst, his ‘becoming a man’ progression is a hat-tipping throwback to the Westerns of old.  

Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning play a young couple with their own update on Western boilerplate anchors. Hoult is willy and unscrupulous and Fanning, a housemaid dissatisfied with washing dishes (with sand, naturally). With Shannon and these three talented young actors, Young Ones lets the grit and speechless contemplation pile high, as any decent Western should. Better still, the landscape upon which this three-chaptered tale unfolds is so articulately designed that it feels as pronounced and occupied as Tatooine .
 
Like a Neill Blomkamp film, Young Ones soars when it’s building atmosphere. Stuck in the sun-bleached desert, we’re still acutely aware of the world at large. Radios blare affected sales announcements. Pack donkeys are phased out and replaced with Big Dog-style robotics. Supersonic jets boom overhead, ripping the sky from LA to NYC. In other parts of the world,  processing plants synthesis water with nuclear technology and smartphones fan out with conceivably inventive new wave tech. The world may be moving forward but, for all we’ve seen, humanity has stepped backwards.

A riveting series of chapters of once upon a time in the future west, Young Ones spins a unique take on clutching onto one’s manifest destiny. Rich with morose mood, towering metaphor, and dusty, dusty atmosphere, just watching it will leave you parched.

B+

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Sundance Review: WHIPLASH

by Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

J.K. Simmons has been gracing the screen, both big and small, for twenties years but his career is more in the long category than the illustrious kind. Simmons has quietly paid his dues, slipping in a commendable character actor’s career, and was undeniably long overdue for a role of this magnitude. After witnessing his knockout performance in Whiplash, I’ve join the ranks now wondering why he wasn’t cast in roles like this a long time ago. Read More

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Sundance Review: THE GUEST

by Posted in Reviews Tagged , , , , 4 Comments

“The Guest”
Directed by Adam Wingard
Starring Dan Stevens, Brendan Meyer, Maika Monroe, Lance Reddick, Alex Knight, Jesse Luken
99 Mins

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Slam Drive and Stocker together, rub them down in a spicy 80’s genre marinate and sprinkle with mesmerizing performances and dollops of camp and you have The Guest. Like a turducken of genre, Adam Wingard‘s latest is a campy horror movie stuffed inside a hoodwinking Canon action flick and deep fried in the latest brand of Bourne-style thriller. It’s clever, tense, uproarious, and hypnotizing nearly ever second.

Coming off the success of You’re Next and the crowd-pleasing anthology V/H/S films, Wingard has assembled another cast of “where did these people come from?” talent.

Dan Stevens is absolutely magnetic as the titular guest and from his vacuous eyed stares to his charismatic domination of conversations, he oozes character. You might recognize Stevens from Downtown Abbey but his turn here is a reinvention and could signal the birth of a true star. While youngsters have a floppy tendency to detract from the overall thespian landscape, newbies Brendan Meyer and Maika Monroe each hold their own, elevating cliches into compelling characters.

Wingard and scribe Simon Barrett admit in the writing process, the film was inspired by Terminator and Halloween, an unlikely combination but you can see the influence bleeding from both. By transcending a single genre, The Guest is able to riff on the tropes of nearly all mainstay film culture. But don’t confuse homage with mocking, there is artistry present here that escapes cheap imitation, a fact that garners such a spectrum of emotions. The fact that the film’s mood can change on a dime depending on Steven’s facial composure is a sure sign of its thematic success. The Guest may not be deadly serious but it’s never not deadly funny. We laugh because its familiar and yet new; a crossroads of homage and invention.

Completed in a mere 31-day shoot, the technical aspects of Guest shine as bright as Stevens immaculately pearly chompers. The throbbing soundtrack is a living heartbeat, becoming a secondary character that informs the laughs and tension in equal stake. Gorgeous sets born of Susan Magestro make up for the otherwise bland middle American landscapes with a final Halloween-themed set piece that was exactly what one hoped for.

When all is said and done, The Guest is 30-caliber entertainment, mainlining laughs, thrills, and excitement like a junkie on a bender. A step forward for the already majorly competent Wingard, this kind of movie reminds us of just how much fun a time at the movies can be.

A

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Sundance Review: LOCKE

by Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged , , , , ,

“Locke”
Directed by Steven Knight
Starring Tom Hardy
United Kingdom
85 Minutes

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True to its name, Locke slams us in a car with Tom Hardy for 85 mins as he’s forced to steer his life in new directions that ultimately orchestrates the end of his small but satisfying world.

Zipping along sparsely populated English highways in a sporty beamer, Ivan Locke (Hardy) undertakes an abrupt quest – a writ of obligation passing as him “trying to do the right thing.” A metaphorical captive to his BMW, trudging through the night towards a new destiny, Locke buries himself in a series of bluetooth-enabled phone calls to his family and work that will occupy the film’s entire run time.

Absconding from what we would normally call responsibility, Locke’s plight is an almost heedless attempt to break from the legacy circle. His attempts to step out from the footsteps of his absentee father is tragically symbolic of the hubris of “collected” men; men of power destined for greatness. Although Locke never fits the part of controlling patriarch, his calculated but desperate attempts to play Mr. Fix It to everyone’s problems showcase both his naivety and strength, traits that Tom Hardy embodies and radiates.

With Locke acclimating to the off-suit hand he’s been dealt, Hardy is given ample opportunity to flex his significant dramatic chops. Though he’s mostly known for his physically brutish roles (look no further than his turn as Bronson and Bane), Hardy should not be overlooked as a dramatic powerhouse and Locke is proof of that fact. Watching Hardy try to remain calm and collected shows unmatched restraint, even when his life goes up in flames.

Locke shows us that when all goes to hell, you never dictate the reactions of humans. Sometimes when we think the pieces are just scrambled, the puzzle ends up having shotgun-sized hole blasted in its center. There are just some things you can’t fix. Likewise, Locke’s attempts to maintain composure in his darkest hour is an exercise in holding fistfuls of sand. And though these elements provide some lasting dramatic tension, they lack the stakes to keep us invested for the duration of a feature film.

Filmed guerilla-style over the course of eight days, director Steven Knight had Hardy relive the entire 85-minute saga time-and-time again without dividing takes into traditional scenes. Immersive as this art-imitating-life experience must have been for Hardy, the method-level commitment doesn’t necessarily translate into a fully captivating final product. Greater films have managed the confines of a single-set shoot (look at Buried) but Locke can’t live up to this hardy task. Instead, a lackluster script, sparse story development, and droning repetition produces tiring monotony that wears on the audience like a grinding axel.

Wasted opportunities for much needed atmospheric claustrophobia are as evident as anything onscreen and it’s squandered moments like this that detract from Locke‘s overall impact. Another major ding for the script department involves a series of scenes spent communicating with someone who isn’t there. Although it has it’s place in the narrative thread and character arc, it just doesn’t play well and jars our sense of reality.

So while there are great things to be found in Locke (hearing Hardy sport a proper Welsh accent is worth at least a few scenes), ennui ultimately takes the steering wheel and drives us in haphazard directions. But what can we expect from a film that spends a good thirty minutes discussing concrete?

C+

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2014 Academy Award Nominations Breakdown

by Posted in Awards Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

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Oh what a year it has been, a fact cemented this morning with the announcement of 121 Oscar nominations. Noticeably absent were a host of Academy kings and queens like Tom Hanks, who was originally looking at two potential nominations and would up with none, and Hank’s Saving Mr. Banks co-star Emma Thompson, who became a runner-up to the five ladies who secured Best Actress noms. Missing out on the expected nominations, Saving Mr Banks is definitely the biggest snubbed film as it failed to secure even one nom while it almost looked like a frontrunner at one point.

For best picture, I nailed seven of the nominations but left out Philomena, which edged out Inside Llewyn Davis and Banks. Alexander Payne took a spot in the Best Director category that many expected to head towards Paul Greengrass. The absence of both Hanks (Captain Phillips) and Robert Redford (All is Lost) opened up spots for Christian Bale (American Hustle) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street). And while my predictions suffered for not including either, all in all, I’m really happy with those switches as I believe Bale and DiCaprio put in two of the best performances of the year.

A couple pleasant surprises include Jonah Hill‘s Best Supporting Actor nomination and Her scooping up a few extra awards with Best Original Song and Production Design.

Amongst those films noticeable absent across the board are Inside Llewyn Davis, which only scored two nominations (Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography), and The Butler which didn’t see a single nom. It seems like Dallas Buyers Club got some last minute wind beneath its wings to edge out Davis in just about every category I had it positioned for nomination.

But the biggest snubs seem to come from 12 Years a Slave, which still managed nine nominations. Most notably Hans Zimmer was passed up for his score and Sean Bobbitt who served as DP on 12 Years and was thought to be a sure contender in the cinematographer field both left empty handed. Alex Ebert, who just won a Golden Globe for his All is Lost score, was also surprisingly passed up. And though I’m not shocked, it was disappointed to not see Lana Del Rey‘s stunning “Young and Beautiful” left out of the Best Original Song category.

Leading the scoreboard, both Gravity and American Hustle each have ten nominations and stunningly director David O. Russell continues his streak of just crushing it and garnishing his actors nominations in all four categories. As if he wasn’t already an actor’s dream director, he’s become so adept at scoring noms for his performers now that any future performer in an O. Russell film is essentially assured a nomination. And while American Hustle suddenly looks like the one to beat, Gravity is still poised to strike down competition in all the technical fields.

Taking Hustle and Gravity‘s domination into account, 2014 certainly signals a mood shift for the inherently old-timey Academy. More than ever, this set of nominations is a populist collection, leaning heavily towards mass approval and away from the eclectic little indies that the mainstream doesn’t often stray into. What will this mean when award times come? Most likely a bent towards the breezy, the easy, and those that don’t wallow in the muds of slavery.

—————————————————————————————————-

 

So let’s get down to the actual nominations. Without a doubt, we’re in store for an interesting season.
I’ve highlighted those that I predicted in green.

BEST PICTURE
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Her
Gravity
Nebraska
Saving Mr Banks
The Butler
Captain Phillips
Philomena

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen
Alfonso Cuaron
David O. Russell
Martin Scorsese
Alexander Payne

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejifor
Christian Bale
Bruce Dern
Matthew McConaughey
Leonardo DiCaprio

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett
Amy Adams
Sandra Bullock
Judi Dench
Meryl Streep

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto
Bradley Cooper
Michael Fassbender
Barkhad Abdi
Jonah Hill

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o
June Squibb
Julia Roberts
Jennifer Lawrence
Sally Hawkins

BEST EDITING
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Dallas Buyers Club
American Hustle
Captain Phillips

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nebraska
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Blue Jasmine
American Hustle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 Years a Slave
Wolf of Wall Street
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hunt
The Missing Picture
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
Omar

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Prisoners
Nebraska

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
12 Years a Slave
The Great Gatsby
American Hustle
Her
Gravity

BEST SOUND MIXING
Gravity
Captain Phillips
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SOUND EDITING
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson “American Hustle”
William Chang Suk Ping “The Grandmaster”
Michael O’Connor “The Invisible Woman”
Catherine Martin “The Great Gatsby”
Patricia Norris “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
William Butler and Owen Pallett “Her”
Steven Price “Gravity”
Thomas Newman “Saving Mr Banks”
Alexandre Desplat “Philomena”
John Williams “The Book Thief”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty War
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
Despicable Me 2
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
The Wind Rises

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
Iron Man 3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek into Darkness
The Lone Ranger

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Bad Grandpa
Dallas Buyers Club
The Lone Ranger

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Let it Go” – Frozen
“Happy” – Despicable Me 2
“The Moon Son” – Her
“Alone Yet Not Alone” – Alone Yet Not Alone
“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

—————————————————————————————————-

For their nominations, certain actors, directors have already spoken out in gratitude.

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
“I’m really chuffed with the Oscar nomination especially being recognised alongside such great actors.  It’s a real honor.”
 
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
“I’m extraordinarily happy for all the cast and crew of our 12 Years a Slave family.  This has been an amazing ride, and to receive nine nominations from the Academy is testament to all of the hard work.  And for that I am truly grateful.”
 
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
“At no point during filming, in the sweltering heat of New Orleans, did any of us ever foresee the journey this film would take us all on. Steve McQueen created an entire family to tell one man’s tale and I am delighted that so many of this family have also been recognized today. I am hugely grateful to the Academy for this great honour, and, of course, to Solomon Northup for sharing his story through his breathtaking book.”
 
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
“It feels very special, but I just really appreciate how people have responded to Solomon Northup’s story and his life.  I’m just so happy for the whole crew and cast who brought Solomon’s memoir to the screen.  It’s been a great year for film, and for people to consider 12 Years a Slave to be among the best is more humbling than you can imagine.”

Amy Adams, American Hustle
“I’m very honored to be nominated alongside such inspiring actresses. Congratulations to the cast and crew of American Hustle and Her, two films that I’m incredibly proud to be a part of.”
 
David O. Russell, American Hustle
“First of all, I want to congratulate all of the nominees from all of the films. We are all blessed to be in this business, telling stories. In American Hustle, we tried to create characters and a world that the audience would find romantic and moving and real. I am so thrilled for my partners – my actors, my producers, Eric Singer, and the craftspeople from the film – who were honored today. They gave it their all; they poured their passion into the movie and I am truly thankful to them.”
 
Dana Brunetti, Captain Phillips
“We’re so incredibly proud of this film and the team we assembled both in front of and behind the camera. Simply put, we could not have done it without the enormous talent of Paul and Tom.  It was an honor to be able to tell the heroic story of Captain Richard Phillips and the US Navy SEALS who rescued him.” –
 
Michael DeLuca, Captain Phillips
We are grateful to the Academy for the recognition and for the privilege of being included in an amazing field of movies this year. It’s all a testament to Paul Greengrass’ artistry and Tom Hanks’ craft and commitment.
 
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
“I am truly honored to have been nominated by the Academy this morning.
This has been a life changing experience for me.  I would like to congratulate all of the nominees this morning, especially the team from Captain Phillips who were recognized.  My performance is a testament to the vision of our incredible director Paul Greengrass, and our other Captain
— the generous, amazing, and inspiring Tom Hanks.”

—————————————————————————————————-

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Oscar Nominations Packed with Snubs and Full of Interest

by Posted in Reviews

Oh what a year it has been, a fact cemented this morning with the announcement of 121 Oscar nominations. Noticeably absent were a host of Academy kings and queens like Tom Hanks, who was originally looking at two potential nominations and would up with none, and Hank’s Saving Mr. Banks co-star Emma Thompson, who became a runner-up to the five ladies who secured Best Actress noms. Missing out on the expected nominations, Saving Mr Banks is definitely the biggest snubbed film as it failed to secure even one nom while it almost looked like a frontrunner at one point.

For best picture, I nailed seven of the nominations but left out Philomena, which edged out Inside Llewyn Davis and Banks. Alexander Payne took a spot in the Best Director category that many expected to head towards Paul Greengrass. The absence of both Hanks (Captain Phillips) and Robert Redford (All is Lost) opened up spots for Christian Bale (American Hustle) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street). And while my predictions suffered for not including either, all in all, I’m really happy with those switches as I believe Bale and DiCaprio put in two of the best performances of the year.

A couple pleasant surprises include Jonah Hill‘s Best Supporting Actor nomination and Her scooping up a few extra awards with Best Original Song and Production Design.

Amongst those films noticeable absent across the board are Inside Llewyn Davis, which only scored two nominations (Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography), and The Butler which didn’t see a single nom. It seems like Dallas Buyers Club got some last minute wind beneath its wings to edge out Davis in just about every category I had it positioned for nomination.

But the biggest snubs seem to come from 12 Years a Slave, which still managed nine nominations. Most notably Hans Zimmer was passed up for his score and Sean Bobbitt who served as DP on 12 Years and was thought to be a sure contender in the cinematographer field both left empty handed. Alex Ebert, who just won a Golden Globe for his All is Lost score, was also surprisingly passed up. And though I’m not shocked, it was disappointed to not see Lana Del Rey‘s stunning “Young and Beautiful” left out of the Best Original Song category.

Leading the scoreboard, both Gravity and American Hustle each have ten nominations and stunningly director David O. Russell continues his streak of just crushing it and garnishing his actors nominations in all four categories. As if he wasn’t already an actor’s dream director, he’s become so adept at scoring noms for his performers now that any future performer in an O. Russell film is essentially assured a nomination. And while American Hustle suddenly looks like the one to beat, Gravity is still poised to strike down competition in all the technical fields.

For their nominations, certain actors, directors have already spoken out in gratitude.

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
“I’m really chuffed with the Oscar nomination especially being recognised alongside such great actors.  It’s a real honor.”
 
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
“I’m extraordinarily happy for all the cast and crew of our 12 Years a Slave family.  This has been an amazing ride, and to receive nine nominations from the Academy is testament to all of the hard work.  And for that I am truly grateful.”
 
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
“At no point during filming, in the sweltering heat of New Orleans, did any of us ever foresee the journey this film would take us all on. Steve McQueen created an entire family to tell one man’s tale and I am delighted that so many of this family have also been recognized today. I am hugely grateful to the Academy for this great honour, and, of course, to Solomon Northup for sharing his story through his breathtaking book.”
 
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
“It feels very special, but I just really appreciate how people have responded to Solomon Northup’s story and his life.  I’m just so happy for the whole crew and cast who brought Solomon’s memoir to the screen.  It’s been a great year for film, and for people to consider 12 Years a Slave to be among the best is more humbling than you can imagine.”

Amy Adams, American Hustle
“I’m very honored to be nominated alongside such inspiring actresses. Congratulations to the cast and crew of American Hustle and Her, two films that I’m incredibly proud to be a part of.”
 
David O. Russell, American Hustle
“First of all, I want to congratulate all of the nominees from all of the films. We are all blessed to be in this business, telling stories. In American Hustle, we tried to create characters and a world that the audience would find romantic and moving and real. I am so thrilled for my partners – my actors, my producers, Eric Singer, and the craftspeople from the film – who were honored today. They gave it their all; they poured their passion into the movie and I am truly thankful to them.”
 
Dana Brunetti, Captain Phillips
“We’re so incredibly proud of this film and the team we assembled both in front of and behind the camera. Simply put, we could not have done it without the enormous talent of Paul and Tom.  It was an honor to be able to tell the heroic story of Captain Richard Phillips and the US Navy SEALS who rescued him.” –
 
Michael DeLuca, Captain Phillips
We are grateful to the Academy for the recognition and for the privilege of being included in an amazing field of movies this year. It’s all a testament to Paul Greengrass’ artistry and Tom Hanks’ craft and commitment.
 
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
“I am truly honored to have been nominated by the Academy this morning.
This has been a life changing experience for me.  I would like to congratulate all of the nominees this morning, especially the team from Captain Phillips who were recognized.  My performance is a testament to the vision of our incredible director Paul Greengrass, and our other Captain
— the generous, amazing, and inspiring Tom Hanks.”

So let’s get down to the actual nominations. Without a doubt, we’re in store for an interesting season.
I’ve highlighted those that I predicted in green.

BEST PICTURE
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Her
Gravity
Nebraska
Saving Mr Banks
The Butler
Captain Phillips
Philomena

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen
Alfonso Cuaron
David O. Russell
Martin Scorsese
Alexander Payne

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejifor
Christian Bale
Bruce Dern
Matthew McConaughey
Leonardo DiCaprio

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett
Amy Adams
Sandra Bullock
Judi Dench
Meryl Streep

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto
Michael Fassbender
Bradley Cooper
Barkhad Abdi
Jonah Hill

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o
June Squibb
Julia Roberts
Jennifer Lawrence
Sally Hawkins

BEST EDITING
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
Dallas Buyers Club
American Hustle
Captain Phillips

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nebraska
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Blue Jasmine
American Hustle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 Years a Slave
Wolf of Wall Street
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hunt
The Missing Picture
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
Omar

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Prisoners
Nebraska

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
12 Years a Slave
The Great Gatsby
American Hustle
Her
Gravity

BEST SOUND MIXING
Gravity
Captain Phillips
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SOUND EDITING
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lone Survivor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson “American Hustle”
William Chang Suk Ping “The Grandmaster”
Michael O’Connor “The Invisible Woman”
Catherine Martin “The Great Gatsby”
Patricia Norris “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
HER
Steven Price “Gravity”
Thomas Newman “Saving Mr Banks”
PHILOMENA
John Williams “The Book Thief”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish (Cutie and the Boxer)
Stories We Tell (Dirty Wars)
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
Monsters University (Despicable Me 2)
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
The Wind Rises

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
Iron Man 3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek into Darkness
Oblivion (The Lone Ranger)

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
American Hustle (Bad Grandpa)
Dallas Buyers Club
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Lone Ranger)
The Great Gatsby

BEST ORIGINAL SONG(name the song, not just the film)
“Let it Go” – Frozen
“Young and Beautiful” – The Great Gatsby (Happy for Despicable Me 2)
“The Moon Son” – Her
“Amen” – All is Lost (Alone Yet Not Alone)
“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

BEST PICTURE:
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr Banks
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen “12 Years a Slave”
Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity”
David O. Russell “American Hustle”
Paul Greengrass “Captain Phillips”
Martin Scorsese “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejifor “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey “Dallas Buyers Club”
Robert Redford “All is Lost”
Bruce Dern “Nebraska”
Tom Hanks “Captain Phillips”

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett “Blue Jasmine”
Emma Thompson “Saving Mr. Banks”
Sandra Bullock “Gravity”
Judi Dench “Philomena”
Meryl Streep “August: Osage County”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto “Dallas Buyers Club”
Michael Fassbender “12 Years a Slave”
Daniel Bruhl “Rush”
Barkhad Abdi “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper “American Hustle”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle”
June Squibb “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts “August: Osage County”
Oprah Winfrey “The Butler”

BEST EDITING
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger “Gravity”
Joe Walker “12 Years a Slave”
Thelma Shoonmaker “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers “American Hustle”
Christopher Rouse “Captain Phillips”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spike Jonze “Her”
Bob Nelson “Nebraska”
Joel and Ethan Coen “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Woody Allen “Blue Jasmine”
David O. Russell and Eric Singer “American Hustle”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ridley “12 Years a Slave”
Terrence Winter “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater “Before Midnight”
Billy Ray “Captain Phillips”
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope “Philomena”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hunt
The Grandmaster
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Notebook

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki “Gravity”
Sean Bobbitt “12 Years a Slave”
Bruno Delbonnel “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Roger Deakins “Prisoners”
Phedon Papamichael “Nebraska”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Adam Stochausen & Alice Baker “12 Years a Slave”
Catherine Martin & Beverly Dunn “The Great Gatsby”
Michael Corenblith & Susan Benjamin “Saving Mr Banks”
Jess Gonchor & Susan Bode, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Dan Hennah & Ra Vincent “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

BEST SOUND MIXING
Gravity
Rush
All is Lost
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SOUND EDITING
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Rush
Lone Survivor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson “American Hustle”
Daniel Orlandi “Saving Mr Banks”
Michael O’Connor “The Invisible Woman”
Catherine Martin “The Great Gatsby”
Patricia Norris “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Hans Zimmer “12 Years a Slave”
Steven Price “Gravity”
Thomas Newman “Saving Mr Banks”
Alex Ebert “All is Lost”
John Williams “The Book Thief”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
Monsters University
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
The Wind Rises

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
Iron Man 3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek into Darkness
Oblivion

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
American Hustle
Dallas Buyers Club
The Great Gatsby

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Let it Go” – Frozen
“Young and Beautiful” – The Great Gatsby
“The Moon Son” – Her
“Amen” – All is Lost
“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

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The Absolute Worst Movies of 2013

by Posted in Lists Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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With all the talk of great movies out of the way, the task of singling out and ridiculing the slate of absolutely garbage that somehow managed to limp into theaters this year has come. Now every year inevitably sees a slew of flunkies hit the big screen like a batch of rotten tomatoes but I found 2013 in general to be a torpid offender in the “worst of” category. Maybe I ought to chalk up the number of bad movies this year to the fact that I watched over 150 films but then again, I did actively skip a lot of movies that seemed objectively “bad.”

You won’t find the likes of Scary Movie 5, Grown Ups 2, Safe Haven, or Madea’s Christmas on this list because there was no way I was going to see those films. At least the ones I’ve included below had a shot at being decent. Whether or not that makes them even more offensively bad is certainly a topic worth debating, but all that really matters is that they stunk to high heavens and deserve to be watched by no one.

Before I launch into the absolute bottom of this trash bag of entertainment, I do need to recognize some crud that managed to stay off the list just because their terribleness was one-upped. But don’t confuse their absence from the coveted top ten as me patting them on the head and letting off the hook. Think of it more like a police officer letting you off for grand theft auto because someone just set fire to a hospital full of cancer babies. Obviously they’re going to go after the baby arsonist. Here, I have my sights on the baby arsonists of cinema.

Dishonorable Mentions:

Prince Avalanche
The Last Exorcism: Part 2
The Lone Ranger
Parkland
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Epic
Diana
Now You See Me
Pacific Rim
A Good Day to Die Hard

10. GETAWAY

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A remarkably dull endeavor that (worse than anything) turned Ethan Hawke‘s otherwise considerable year on its head, Getaway uses close quarter tactics to unwittingly beat us into a state of exhaustion and apathy. More believably a hack than a hacker, Selena Gomez offers some of the worse acting of the entire year so poor Hawke didn’t stand much of a chance. Watching them interact is like having a Skype conversation with a five second delay. There’s just absolutely no life to it. There is one definitive scene towards the end of the film that showcases how the film could have been approached successfully but, unfortunately, filmmaker Courtney Solomon decided to go the easy, cliché action route and blasted out this dud of a thrill ride that’s absent on thrills and, at the end of the day, makes absolutely no sense.

9. OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

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What a plastic, cold effort from otherwise rafter-swinging Sam Raimi. In addition to being a massive disappointment, Oz: The Great and Powerful is easily one of the worst of the year. It all just seems like one big joke. The cocksure and smarmy performance from James Franco is certainly gag-worthy but it’s somehow outshone by the spam of a performance from Mila Kunis as the poorly makeup-ed Wicked Witch. Even the usually consistent Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz are flat and ineffective. For a movie with so much talent, promise, and resources, Oz is a far cry from great and not even remotely powerful.

8. ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE

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I hate to bury Adam Levine‘s 2006 horror movie that finally saw the light of day this year but it really deserved to stay in its coffin. Existing on a purely meta level, this genre film dares us to see past the faux-irony that is having everything we expect to happen happen. Or maybe the whole thing was supposed to be a shock and I just saw through it like the 35-cent jello mold that it was. Although a small fan base slobbered this one up, it unequivocally offered nothing new in terms of surprises, effects, or execution and was as wholly flat as the Texas plains where it takes place. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a glowing representation of the horror of lazy horror.

7. MOVIE 43

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You know this list is bad when you find Movie 43 all the way up in seventh place. Steaming pile of garbage though it was, I didn’t actively hate Movie 43 the way I did many of the others on this list. Sure, it’s lazy, dumb, obnoxious, tasteless, offensive, and desperate for laughs but at least we didn’t go in to this expecting it to be a real movie. And for the many, many misses, there were a few sketches that worked my funny bone and I gotta dish out some credit where it’s due. Still, nothing this year clawed at my nerves like the Beezel the cat sketch. That was just in a league of its own.

6. THE HANGOVER: PART 3

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An ugly and unnecessary conclusion to a series that should have ended when it began, The Hangover: Part 3 has no idea what it’s doing. Instead of rehashing the events of the first one like the Bangkok-set Hangover 2 did, this second sequel turns fatally dark and all but drops the comedy angle. There’s not a laugh to be found in its 100-minute runtime. And maybe it’s the disappointment that the series has fallen so far or maybe it’s the fact that this movie is just undeniably bad to the bone but The Hangover: Part 3 is the perfect example of sequels sullying the good name of the original. The decision to carry on the franchise even though they were clearly out of ideas is only exacerbated by bringing Ken Jeong‘s cringe-worthy Chow character to the forefront. What a steaming mess this flick is from cover-to-cover.

 5. THE FIFTH ESTATE

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A purely pathetic effort no matter which way you look at it, The Fifth Estate is the Billy Madison of biopics. And with its agenda so clearly honed in on degrading Julian Assange, I’m surprised they didn’t just have Adam Sandler play the part. Shockingly enough, it seems to have no idea how terrible it is. There are no character revelations, no sense of arc, no focus, and no real reason for this film to exist at all. Beyond the cinematic no-no that is trying to make coding cool, Bill Condon goes so far as to craft a series of scenes that take place in “the coding world.” Part bumbling Matrix-style mind game, part collective brain fart, these recklessly awful sequences provided some of the most laughable moments of the entire year. The true shame is that within The Fifth Estate is an important story but it was approached with the finesse of a drunk chimp and made for entirely daffy drama.

4. AFTER EARTH

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Look no further than Jaden Smith‘s earth-shatteringly horrendous performance to see the failings of M. Night Whoever‘s latest box-office turd. It was a miracle that anyone agreed to finance another Shyamalan film after steady and progressively worse receptions of his films but, considering the sizable budget on this one and the seeming star power in the Smiths, hope was in the air that maybe After Earth would be a redemption of sorts of the faltering director. But when it crashed landed, it couldn’t have been further from a revival. Defunct on all levels, After Earth is one of the dumbest films to see the light of day in 2013 and fails on just about every level that a film could fail at. However if there was one film this year proved to us the effectiveness of acting through pouting your lips, After Earth proudly stands on the puffiness of Jaden’s punim.

3. THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES

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Long, unnecessary title aside, plot threads dangle throughout The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones like cobwebs in a tomb. Though convention has taught us to expect resolutions by a movie’s end, it’s almost as if the people in charge here forget how many nonsensical plot holes were left gaping by the time the lights went up. The best, and worst, example of which includes the central teenage pair who fall for each other even though they’re informed that, you know, they’re brother and sister. But, I mean, whatevz right? Backed by awful, hammed up performances across the board, this flunkie failed to make even the devout YA fans care. The saving grace is that after such a disappointing financial cull, production was halted on the follow-up that was already in progress, so it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a sequel.  

2. THE CANYONS

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As ugly as it is repugnant and pseudo-intellectual, The Canyons is gross and unnecessary on all fronts. Imagine a movie so bad that Lindsay Lohan looks endlessly talented when compared to her co-stars and the solitary selling point is its close resemble to soft core porn and you have the ingredients that make The Canyons. From the very first tracking shot that just screams amateur filmmaker, I knew this film was going to be awful but nothing could have prepared me for just how hideous and empty it really was. The Canyons goes about trying to indite LA trust fund babies for being vacuous and unable to relate by being vacuous and unable to relate. Like that guy who wears neon t-shirts down to his kneecaps and leaves the sticker on his b-ball cap and think he’s the cock of the walk, the whole cast and crew in The Canyons just don’t seem to realize that we’re laughing at them, not with them.

1. THE HOST

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An amazing feat of filmmaking as implosion, The Host, when it isn’t awful, is busy boring you to tears. Even for a teen franchise, The Host is dramatically inept and utterly incapable of making you care about anything or anyone. As if that’s not enough already, it lacks even one moment of genuine excitement. Even the love quadrangle will leave tweens checking their watches. The Host transforms the boredom of watching the paint dry with waiting for the wheat to grow. Seriously, there are multiple scenes where the characters are literally waiting in a cave for wheat to grow. How did anyone expect this movie would appeal to anyone?! I haven’t even mentioned the intolerable voice-over inner-monologues a la teeny-bopper arguments which serve as the brown icing smeared on this shit cake. The Host is so actively bad that it seems like the kind of thing that would play on repeat in hell while your eyes are shuttered open Clockwork Orange style.

 

So there it is, the worst of the worst of 2013. As a consolation prize for everyone who made it all the way to the end, here are my (brief) awards for worst actor and actress.

Worst Actor: Johnny Depp “The Lone Ranger”/Jaden Smith “After Earth”

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I had to make this category a tie because both performances are truly awful, but for their own unique, special reasons. While Jaden seems to be suffering from a case of not knowing any better, Depp has no such excuse. So a tie between Johnny “I don’t want ever watch the movies I’m in”/”I’m 1/64 native American so me playing Tonto isn’t offensive” Depp and Jayden “I literally can’t act”/”But Daddy says I can” Smith seems like a fore-drawn conclusion in the worst actor of 2013 showdown. When it comes down to the wire though, I don’t think I could be forced to choose which of their performances is more actively awful. Coin toss anyone?

Worst Actress: Selena Gomez “Getaway”/”Spring Breakers”

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If there’s one thing Selena Gomez has proved trying to break away from her Disney image it’s that she shouldn’t have tried to break away from her Disney image. Her wildly ineffectively chemistry with just about anyone who happens to be unlucky enough to share a scene with her is written on the walls with permanent marker. Between her pitiful performances in both Getaway and Spring Breakers, Gomez only has herself to compete against herself to be named the Prom Queen of grade-F acting.

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2014 Academy Award Nominations Predictions

by Posted in Awards Tagged , , , ,

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In two days time, Chris Hemsworth and the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cheryl Boone Isaacs will announce the nominations for the 86th Academy Awards. With the dust from the Golden Globes still setting, this year’s nominations will indelibly include some surprises and snubs because with 2013 being such a crowded year for talent, there really is no other option.

Two categories overflowing with potential nominees include Best Actress which is really a six-horse nom race between Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, with Cate Blanchett all but assured the win. At this point, even though Adams scored big over at the Globes, I’m willing to bet that old blood rings true and she misses out on her fifth nomination.

In the best actor category, Chiwetel Ejifor, Robert Redford, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Hanks, and Leonardo DiCaprio will duke it out for a spot and Leo’s spotted history with the Academy (they have a tendency to overlook his work) suggests to me that it’ll be him who misses the mark by a margin.

As far as Best Picture goes, I would be shocked if all ten of these films receive nominations but I figure it’s best to nominate more rather than less. I wouldn’t be surprised to see The Butler, Captain Phillips or even Saving Mr. Banks missing out. Although the new policy has dictated nine Best Picture nominees in the past two years, I have a feeling that with 2013 being so divided, it might be closer to eight or even seven.

And finally, no, I have not bothered predicting any shorts.

BEST PICTURE:
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr Banks
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen “12 Years a Slave”
Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity”
David O. Russell “American Hustle”
Paul Greengrass “Captain Phillips”
Martin Scorsese “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejifor “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey “Dallas Buyers Club”
Robert Redford “All is Lost”
Bruce Dern “Nebraska”
Tom Hanks “Captain Phillips”

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett “Blue Jasmine”
Emma Thompson “Saving Mr. Banks”
Sandra Bullock “Gravity”
Judi Dench “Philomena”
Meryl Streep “August: Osage County”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto “Dallas Buyers Club”
Michael Fassbender “12 Years a Slave”
Daniel Bruhl “Rush”
Barkhad Abdi “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper “American Hustle”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle”
June Squibb “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts “August: Osage County”
Oprah Winfrey “The Butler”

BEST EDITING
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger “Gravity”
Joe Walker “12 Years a Slave”
Thelma Shoonmaker “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers “American Hustle”
Christopher Rouse “Captain Phillips”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spike Jonze “Her”
Bob Nelson “Nebraska”
Joel and Ethan Coen “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Woody Allen “Blue Jasmine”
David O. Russell and Eric Singer “American Hustle”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ridley “12 Years a Slave”
Terrence Winter “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater “Before Midnight”
Billy Ray “Captain Phillips”
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope “Philomena”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hunt
The Grandmaster
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Notebook

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki “Gravity”
Sean Bobbitt “12 Years a Slave”
Bruno Delbonnel “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Roger Deakins “Prisoners”
Phedon Papamichael “Nebraska”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Adam Stochausen & Alice Baker “12 Years a Slave”
Catherine Martin & Beverly Dunn “The Great Gatsby”
Michael Corenblith & Susan Benjamin “Saving Mr Banks”
Jess Gonchor & Susan Bode, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Dan Hennah & Ra Vincent “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

BEST SOUND MIXING
Gravity
Rush
All is Lost
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SOUND EDITING
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Rush
Lone Survivor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson “American Hustle”
Daniel Orlandi “Saving Mr Banks”
Michael O’Connor “The Invisible Woman”
Catherine Martin “The Great Gatsby”
Patricia Norris “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Hans Zimmer “12 Years a Slave”
Steven Price “Gravity”
Thomas Newman “Saving Mr Banks”
Alex Ebert “All is Lost”
John Williams “The Book Thief”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
Monsters University
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
The Wind Rises

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
Iron Man 3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek into Darkness
Oblivion

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
American Hustle
Dallas Buyers Club
The Great Gatsby

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Let it Go” – Frozen
“Young and Beautiful” – The Great Gatsby
“The Moon Son” – Her
“Amen” – All is Lost
“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

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ANT-MAN Finds Another Ant-Man in Michael Douglas

by Posted in Casting News Tagged , , , , , ,

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After Marvel’s Phase Two, which started with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World and will continue with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, concludes with Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers 2, the next comic book movie from Marvel universe is Edgar Wright‘s long gestated Ant-Man, a tale about a scientist who creates a suit that allows him to shrink down and communicate with, and subsequently control, ants. Silly though it may seem, with these ant-like powers, Ant-man fights crime on a big scale. Funnyman Paul Rudd was cast as Ant-Man last month and many assumed that Rudd would play the original version of the superhero, Hank Pym. Those assumptions were incorrect.

As it turns out, Rudd was actually cast as the second generation Ant-Man, a Marvel mainstay by the name of Scott Lang. According to Marvel lore, Lang is a thief who steals the original Ant-Man’s technology from Pym, unintentionally burdening himself with the power and responsibility of a super. Today brought news that while Rudd would not play the original version of the character, Michael Douglas would. Obviously, this timeline will see Douglas stepping in as a more veteran version of Pym. This shift makes sense considering Rudd fits the description of a jovial thief more so than he does a serious scientist like the Hank Pym of the comics.

In the comic series, Pym plays an important and essential role in creation of The Avengers. While he was obviously omitted from the creation mythology in the Marvel Movie Universe, Pym will now get to at least have some place in the MMU Marvel films have created. Also notable, Pym was responsible for the creation of Ultron, the bio-mechanical villain from which the second Avengers movie takes its name. Whether or not Douglas will play any role in The Avengers 2 is unknown but somewhat unlikely.

By casting the venerable, well regarded, and, not to mention expensive, Douglas as Pym alongside Rudd as Lang, Marvel has proved that they are willing to continue to shell out for top-shelf talent that comes with name-brand recognition. But even more interesting than Douglas or Rudd is director Edgar Wright‘s involvement, who will likely bring his high-art blend of comedy and action, a common ingredient to the Marvel world. As far as expectations, juxtaposing the snarky Rudd with the gravitas of Douglas could create a potentially excellent repartee and sets this one up to be one of the most interesting combinations out of Marvel’s gates.

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Weekly Review 38: SIMON, ACT, CUTIE, HOSTEL, HISTORY, 2, OLDBOY

by Posted in Weekly Review

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Weekly Review post with the holidays and all so the following is really what I’ve seen over the past three weeks or so. Between traveling coasts, wrapping up my top ten, and busting out a bundle of lingering 2013 reviews, I finally had a chance to eject some thoughts of a number of films from the year that I hadn’t yet had a chance to reflect on. So strap in and take a look at this surprisingly great collection of films.

SIMON KILLER (2013)

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Trying to fulfill my list of underseen films of 2013, I finally got to watch Simon Killer which had snuck past me all year until it arrived on Netflix Instant. Perhaps expecting it to be an edgy and powerful foreign landscape romp reduced my enjoyment of the actual picture but I think either way I would have only found this film just ok. Featuring a cast of unknowns, none of whom prove their staying power or demand the rise to name brand performer, Simon Killer dips into the swampy territory of Parisian prostitution as an American traveler tries to bandage his recent breakup with a new kindled flame with a whore. Director Antonio Campos definitely tries to be different as his camera is never focused on the action but always wandering on the scene’s lower sections – legs, shoes, sofas, shuffles. It’s an interesting choice but it becomes too obvious and faux-artsy as the movie wears on. While the soundtrack managed to garnish some killer tunes from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, the editing leaves them without much of a place to go, much like the film itself.

C

THE ACT OF KILLING (2013)

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An interrogation has never been as self-reflective as it has in Act of Killing. Documentarians Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous third have turned the camera on Indonesian gangsters, or as they like to be called and call themselves “free men”, as they reflect on the heinous acts of near genocide they inflicted on rivaling communist party. At first, they are callused and cheery, almost gleefully ready to reenact their heinous crimes. But in the midst of these reenactments, they learn the true horror of what they have done. Rather than force-feeding these conclusions to their subjects, the filmmakers draw it from them with meticulous restraint, making the internal transformation we witness that much more powerful and cathartic. The Act of Killing is certainly one of the best documentaries of 2013.

A-

CUTIE AND THE BOXER (2013)

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Another 2013 documentary, Cutie and the Boxer aims the camera at Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, two struggling Japanese-native artists who’ve been living in New York City for decades. Ushio has been the breadwinner, however light his monthly cull may be, for a long time so when Noriko starts to emerge as a respected artist their already shaky marriage is thrown for a loop. Rather than just focus on their art, director Zachary Heinzerling shows us a surprisingly intimate view of love as a battlefield. But for all the issues the Shinoharas endure, their love is a foundation that we never doubt, making Cutie and the Boxer a shockingly affecting piece of documentary filmmaking.

 A

HOSTEL (2005)

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Years ago I turned off Eli Roth‘s blistering torture porn Hostel because I was too grossed out. Apparently, my more recent adoption of the horror genre has changed my view of what is “too much” as this time around I was surprised at how tame the film appeared to me. Sure, there are melted eyeballs, fingers getting snipped off, and decapitated heads and limbs by the pile, but here in 2014 that’s pretty much standard. Nonetheless, I found myself captivated by this story of country-hopping adventure gone awry and appreciated moments when the story would derail from expectations. By no stretch of the imagination is this a great or even good film but it was certainly one that I found myself enjoying.

B-

THE HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK (2013)

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I learned of about this other little guy at about the same time that I learned of Simon Killer and was equally unstirred by a viewing. The History of Future Folk sees an humanoid alien arrive on Earth with plans to exterminate and populate but is sidetracked when he hears music for the first time. There’s a bit of similarity to Flight of the Concords and Tenacious D when the duo is slinging their oft-kilter folk rock but there’s nothing inherently memorable or funny about any of the songs they perform. And those are the highlight of this otherwise forgettable film. Rather, it’s a bit of a painfully awkward affair and while I don’t prefer to hate on little indie films, this one is just too unremarkable for me to give a pass to with a clean conscience.

C-

2 GUNS (2013)

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Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington lead this buddy cop film that feels right out of the 80’s and might as well be a reboot of the Lethal Weapon franchise. But after two hours of shooting, running, and “twists” it really doesn’t go anywhere. Wahlberg and Washington both play undercover detectives working an angle who each drink a dose of getting screwed over and must team up, despite their many mangy differences (sigh), and ultimately wind up in over their heads with criminal organizations and rogue government agencies alike. It sounds like the plot to a million different action films and, complete with the snark you would expect from a Wahlberg, Washington team-up, it feels like it too. Thankfully there are worse things than watching these two bozos run amuck and shooting things for a few hours but, then again, there are better things too.

C

OLDBOY (2003)

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So Oldboy and I go way back. This is a film I’ve had on my too-see list for years and despite having started it once or twice have never finished because I didn’t feel like “the timing was right.” I know, I know, that’s weird and all but you’ve got to be in the right mood to truly appreciate certain kinds of films and let’s just say I’m happy I waited on this one, because watching it last night after the clock struck midnight was exactly the kind of viewing experience Oldboy demands (well that or a packed theater but that time has passed.) Originally I was going to see Spike Lee‘s American remake but after that wasn’t screened for critics and then went on to bomb, I felt it right to return to Chan-wook Park‘s lauded original. Violent, twisted, and heavily philosophical, Oldboy is the perfect union of ideas and exploitation. When we’re not still guessing, Park keeps us occupied with meticulously staged fight sequences and horrifying reveals. But his greatest accomplishment lies in his ability to wrap things up in such satisfying manner. It makes me wonder, if Oldboy had ended any other way would it be the celebrated landmark it is today? I would render a guess: no.

A-

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