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Zach Synder, Samurai-Inspired Star Wars Movie Heading to Theaters?

by Posted in Movie Announcements

 

I’m sure you’ve all heard at this point that George Lucas sold the much beloved Star Wars franchise to Disney Corp for a whooping four billion dollars, the majority of which he donated to education-centric charities, and that a corresponding third trilogy was being prepped with Episode 7 slated for a 2014 release. This is another beast entirely. While there’s not too much news on this Zach Synder Star Wars adaptation, a few things are clear–

1) This story will not be Episode 7, nor is it likely to be a numbered addition to the saga at all.
2) The story is said to be inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s much lauded Seven Samurai
3) This experimental adaptation is unlikely to hit theaters until 2016.
4) This will run parallel to the stories told in the upcoming trilogy and won’t include any of those central characters. Cameos however are a maybe.

This is a lot to swallow considering the Episode 7 project is still without a director but it’s something we can take with a grain of salt. One thing’s for sure, it’ll be stirring up a lot of controversy and will be sure to be the talk around the water cooler, internet, communal bathing pool. Let the comments begin!

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Teaser Trailer for GAME OF THRONES Season 3

by Posted in Television

 

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21800000/Three-Eyed-Crow-game-of-thrones-21859879-624-352.png
 
While this second bit of macabre teaser marketing doesn’t come with any new footage, it features a foreboding tune and a glimpse at the mysterious three-eyed crow. Fans of the novels will know what this bit is foreshadowing but for those unfamiliar let the mystery suffice as a pallet cleanser for what is sure to be another fantastic season of Game of Thrones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7e_Oo0Bis
This season, breaking from the precedence of seasons one and two, will only cover the first half of author George R.R. Martin’s tome A Storm of Swords. As a massive fan of both the books and the series, I have a feeling where they will be truncating this season.

On a side note, does anyone else think this sounds like a creepier version of The Beatles’ “Happiness is a Warm Gun”?

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Oscar Nominations Offer Some Big Surprises

by Posted in Awards 1 Comment

 

 

This year’s race certainly has proven that it’s got some cards up it’s sleeve as this mornings nominations shook things up, particularly in the directing department. There were snubs and surprises across the board but what else can you expect from the Academy? I’ll be filling you in on where my predictions lay and the percentage I actually managed to predict. Follow along to find out these year’s nominee and who missed out.


Best Picture

  • Amour
  • Argo
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Django Unchained
  •  Les Misérables
  • Life of Pi 
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty 

Prediction Percentage: 9/9, 100% (with 10 nominees predicted)

The Shockers: This category was the only one that went pretty much according to plan. I had all nine of these contenders as my picks but also thought that Moonrise Kingdom may have filled that coveted tenth slot. Seems like there was little love for Wes Anderson’s latest though and the Academy went only with nine this year. As far as my predictions, I was looking pretty spot on.

Best Director

 

  • Michael Haneke “Amour”
  • Benh Zeitlin “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
  • Ang Lee “Life of Pi”
  • Steven Spielberg “Lincoln”
  • David O. Russell “Silver Linings Playbook” 

Prediction Percentage: 1/5, 20%  

The Shockers: This one is a doozy. Ask any Oscar pundit and they’ll tell you that this year’s Best Director category was straight out of left field. Now that’s not saying that anyone thinks the nominated directors are unworthy of the title, there were just more high profile directors who have been to have that position locked throughout the year.

The big names missing out are Ben Affleck, for Argo, and Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, as they both felt like locks going into this morning. Hooper and Tarantino managed to stay on the sidelines as well, which isn’t shocking but most would assume that without Affleck and Bigelow, these boys might have been able to slip through.

My best guess for what went down is too many people assumed clear nominations for Bigelow and Affleck and went with their fringe favorites. It’s all pretty, in a word, shocking.

Best Actor

 

  • Bradley Cooper “Silver Linings Playbook”
  • Daniel Day-Lewis “Lincoln”
  • Hugh Jackman “Les Misérables”
  • Joaquin Phoenix “The Master”
  • Denzel Washington “Flight”

Prediction Percentage: 4/5, 80% 

The Shockers: No big shockers in this category, in fact I said that if anyone was gonna grab that spot away it would have been Phoenix but the wind had seemed to have gone out of The Master‘s hair. Apparently it had not though. Only one missing out here in John Hawkes who plays a paraplegic virgin in The Sessions.

Best Actress

 

  • Jessica Chastain “Zero Dark Thirty”
  • Jennifer Lawrence  “Silver Linings Playbook”
  • Emmanuelle Riva  “Amour”
  • Quvenzhané Wallis “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
  • Naomi Watts  “The Impossible”

Prediction Percentage: 4/5, 80%

The Shockers: Again this category didn’t offer many shockers and I’m not at all surprised that Naomi Watts claimed a spot. This category was always a six woman race and someone had to miss out, unfortunately for Marion Cotillard.

Best Supporting Actor

 

  • Alan Arkin “Argo”
  • Robert De Niro “Silver Linings Playbook”
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman “The Master”
  • Tommy Lee Jones  “Lincoln”
  • Christoph Waltz “Django Unchained”

Prediction Percentage: 4/5, 80%

The Shockers: I’m starting to see a trend with my predictions and while four for five isn’t bad at all, it’d be nice to have the perfect category. I’m slightly surprised to see Waltz nabbing that last spot because most positioning had Leo leading him and with Javier Bardem circling that last slot as well, I thought Waltz had missed out. Very happy to report that he indeed did not, if you remember from my Django review, Waltz’s performance was one of my favorites of the year.

Best Supporting Actress

 

  • Amy Adams “The Master”
  • Sally Field “Lincoln”
  • Anne Hathaway “Les Misérables”
  • Helen Hunt “The Sessions”
  • Jacki Weaver “Silver Linings Playbook”

Prediction Percentage: 4/5, 80%

 The Shockers: Again, I went four for five here and the choice of Weaver is a fair one to have missed out on. I had Ann Down “Compliance” for that last slot but was very sketchy on her to say the least. I loved Silver Linings Playbook though so the more nominees it garnishes, the better. 

————————————————————————————————————————–

That’s it for the major categories and my predictions.

For anyone keeping score my total aggregate prediction percentage ends up being: 26/34, 76%
If it weren’t for that kooky directors dodge, it would have look even prettier.

For the technical categories check below. All that I will say about those is Christoph Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises managed to snag a crisp zero nominations. Now that’s some hardcore backlash. Ouch.

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Best Animated Film
“Brave” Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
“Frankenweenie” Tim Burton
“ParaNorman” Sam Fell and Chris Butler
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” Peter Lord
“Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore

Achievement in Cinematography
“Anna Karenina” Seamus McGarvey
“Django Unchained” Robert Richardson
“Life of Pi” Claudio Miranda
“Lincoln” Janusz Kaminski
“Skyfall” Roger Deakins

Achievement in Costume Design
“Anna Karenina” Jacqueline Durran
“Les Misérables” Paco Delgado
“Lincoln” Joanna Johnston
“Mirror Mirror” Eiko Ishioka
“Snow White and the Huntsman” Colleen Atwood

 Best Documentary
“5 Broken Cameras”
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
“The Gatekeepers”
Nominees to be determined
“How to Survive a Plague”
Nominees to be determined
“The Invisible War”
Nominees to be determined
“Searching for Sugar Man”
Nominees to be determined

Best Documentary Short Subject
“Inocente”
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
“Kings Point”
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
“Mondays at Racine”
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
“Open Heart”
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
“Redemption”
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

Achievement in Film Editing
“Argo” William Goldenberg
“Life of Pi” Tim Squyres
“Lincoln” Michael Kahn
“Silver Linings Playbook” Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
“Zero Dark Thirty” Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Best Foreign Language Film
“Amour” Austria
“Kon-Tiki” Norway
“No” Chile
“A Royal Affair” Denmark
“War Witch” Canada

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
“Hitchcock”
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
“Les Misérables”
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Original score
“Anna Karenina” Dario Marianelli
“Argo” Alexandre Desplat
“Life of Pi” Mychael Danna
“Lincoln” John Williams
“Skyfall” Thomas Newman

Original song
“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from “Ted”
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Achievement in Production Design
“Anna Karenina”
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
“Les Misérables”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
“Life of Pi”
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Lincoln”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

 Best Animated Short Film
“Adam and Dog” Minkyu Lee
“Fresh Guacamole” PES
“Head over Heels” Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
“Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”” David Silverman
“Paperman” John Kahrs

Best Live Action Short Film
“Asad” Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
“Buzkashi Boys” Sam French and Ariel Nasr
“Curfew” Shawn Christensen
“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)” Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
“Henry” Yan England

Achievement in Sound Editing
“Argo” Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
“Django Unchained” Wylie Stateman
“Life of Pi” Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
“Skyfall” Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
“Zero Dark Thirty” Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in Sound Mixing
“Argo”
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
“Les Misérables”
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
“Life of Pi”
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
“Lincoln”
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
“Skyfall”
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in Visual Effects
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
“Life of Pi”
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
“Prometheus”
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Adapted Screenplay
“Argo” Screenplay by Chris Terrio
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi” Screenplay by David Magee
“Lincoln” Screenplay by Tony Kushner
“Silver Linings Playbook” Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original Screenplay
“Amour” Written by Michael Haneke
“Django Unchained” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“Flight” Written by John Gatins
“Moonrise Kingdom” Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
“Zero Dark Thirty” Written by Mark Boal

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Oscar Noms Predictions

by Posted in Awards

 

The Oscars aren’t a precise science, they’re more speculation and guesswork- an aggregate of maybes based on a huge number of variables. But they’re fun to mess around with and try your hand at so these are my best bets for who we can expect to be nabbing noms come Thursday morning.

 

 

Best Picture:

 

This year has some strong Oscar contenders, the real name of the game is guessing just how many will make the cut. Since it’s such a diverse year with wins heading all over the place, I went with the maximum 10. Is this a safe bet? No. It’ll probably end up being eight or nine but I guarantee those eight or nine will include these features.

Best Director:

 

  • Steven Spielberg “Lincoln”
  • Kathryn Bigelow”Zero Dark Thirty”
  • Ben Affleck “Argo”
  • Ang Lee “Life of Pi”
  • Quentin Tarantino “Django Unchained”

I feel like it’s a lock for Spielberg, Bigelow and Affleck with Lee, Tarantino, O’Russell and Hooper battling over the last two spots. I’m going to go with Lee because he’s an old favorite amongst the industry and Hooper already won a few years back. I’m going with Tarantino because he deserves it and hopefully the academy recognizes that too. But you can pretty much can guarantee that it goes to O’Russell or Hooper over Tarantino…but I can dream.

Best Actor:

 

  • Daniel Day Lewis “Lincoln”
  • Hugh Jackman “Les Miserables”
  • Bradley Cooper “Silver Linings Playbook”
  • John Hawkes “The Sessions”
  • Denzel Washington”Flight”

I feel like Joaquin Phoenix deserved a position here but it has been a very competitive year for lead actors. If I had my play, I’d swap him out for Hugh Jackman, who I didn’t love in Les Miserables.

Best Actress:

 

  • Jessica Chastain “Zero Dark Thirty”
  • Jennifer Lawerence”Silver Linings Playbook”
  • Marion Cotillard”Rust and Bone”
  • Quvenzhane Wallis “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
  • Emmanuelle Riva “Amour”

These leading ladies all seem like locks but Naomi Watts is a really serious contender as well. If anyone’s going to grab a spot it’ll be her. When it comes to February though the battle is really between Chastain and Lawerence. On a side note, Wallis may just be one of the youngest Oscar contenders of all time at a mere nine years old.

Best Supporting Actor:

 

  • Alan Arkin “Argo”
  • Phillip Seymore Hoffman”The Master”
  • Tommy Lee Jones “Lincoln”
  • Robert De Niro “Silver Linings Playbook”
  • Leonardo DiCaprio “Django Unchained”

We have four locks with Arkin, Hoffman, Jones and De Niro but that fifth slot could go five ways. I’m going to go with DiCaprio even though I would personally give it to Christoph Waltz. Matt McConaughey (“Magic Mike”) and Javier Bardem (“Skyfall”) are sitting in the wings as well for this one.

Best Supporting Actress:

 

  • Anne Hathaway “Les Miserables”
  • Sally Field “Lincoln”
  • Helen Hunt “The Sessions”
  • Amy Adams “The Master”
  • Ann Dowd “Compliance”

This is the field I know the least about but feel the most sure of. Anne Hathaway is going to take it in the end, the only question is who will she be beating out come February? I’m sure Field will be included as will Hunt. Adams is pretty much a lock too leaving me with Ann Dowd from “Compliance,” a film I’ve yet to see but am anticipating. On the outskirts we have Jacki Weaver, Nicole Kidman, Maggie Smith and Samantha Barks.

Bringing our tally for these major award nominations to:

  • Lincoln, 5
  • Silver Linings Playbook, 4
  • Zero Dark Thirty, 3
  • Argo, 3
  • Les Miserables, 3
  • Django Unchained, 3
  • The Sessions, 2
  • Amour, 2
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2
  • Life of Pi, 2
  • The Master, 2
  • Compliance, 1
  • Rust and Bone, 1
  • Flight, 1 

Check it periodically for more updates on the Award season and look for my Oscar predictions come February. 

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Out in Theaters: The Nature of Heroism in ZERO DARK THIRTY

by Posted in Out in Theaters

 


“Zero Dark Thirty“
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oh7_303lEcs/UP2zV-aQVvI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/x7XEPRd4eas/s1600/Zero-Dark-Thirty-Poster.png
Based on the real life exploits that led to the location and assassination of Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty presents intelligence as a process of patience rife with moral ambiguities.

We’re introduced to our protagonist Maya, played here by Jessica Chastain, by way of a Guantanamo-esque torture sequence which happens to be her inaugural assignment after arriving fresh-faced to Pakistan. What plays out subverts our expectations of Bush/Cheney era torture tactics.

It’s less of Jack Bauer-fueled “Where is the bomb?” stylings and more a drawn-out game of carrot-and-stick lead by an outwardly bipolar interrogator, played by Jason Clarke, performing the role of both the good and bad cop but the result is equally, if not more, distressing.

This is a harsh reality where humanity is chiseled away. Like Chastain’s Maya, we know we can look away from the water-boardings taking place in front of us but that know we need to watch.

Many have pointed fingers at director Katheryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and screenwriter Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for legitimizing the use of torture but these accusations are a little more than fuzzy.

While these factual accounts may raise an opportunity to debate American intelligence gathering techniques, to accuse Bigelow of supporting torture is analogous to accusing Coppola of aggrandizing gangster vengeance or Spielberg of reveling in dino mass murder.

A documentarian should not be held accountable for the views and mannerisms of their subjects as Bigelow should not be for hers. Her task her is to present a true story in an interesting manner- to play mediator between art and reality. In that capacity, she has exceeded herself.

But let us delve further into the film itself. Zero Dark Thirty is a slow-moving train with a foregone conclusion but the strength of the film lies in the amplification of our emotional investment which, for the most part, delivers.

The story at the center is truly miraculous and one that needed to be told. In essence, it’s the tale of a modern unsung American heroine who pursued her convictions to the point of disrepute and chastisement.

Losing nearly everything along the way, she is a woman on a mission- a mission to kill the most high profile terrorist to ever live. But don’t expect this mission to involve shadowy espionage and state-of-the-art gadgetry as most of it plays out in a cubicle. This is realism 101.

It’s hardly a spoiler to say that her goal is eventually executed but don’t expect a “Mission Accomplished” banner. No, it’s a deeper film than that- a film that explores the consequences of obsession and the nature of patience, the burying of grief and the pain of success. Lacking are the tattered flags, melodramatic victory speeches and hoorahs of pro-Americano filmmakers like Michael Bay, replaced by a more forward looking message of “where do we go from here?”

To think that this film was originally constructed without the eventual tagging of Osama Bin Laden is shocking. I truly cannot imagine this film without that cathartic pinnacle. It’s a testament to Bigelow’s talent that she could even conceive of this film prior to his eventual take down but also points to some of her flaws.

While it’s hard to pinpoint Bigelow’s intent, much of the film is a series of knitted together factoids– little vignettes that play into the overarching mission but often do little to gain much traction towards that goal. This plodding storytelling makes some moments seem inconsequential and burden the film making it at times yawnable.

Having said that, the perceived boringness does play into the central message of intelligence and heroism as patience. So is Bigelow in effect challenging the audience to undertake this same patience to prove a point about heroism? We can only wonder.

To some, Zero Dark Thirty may overindulge in its 157 minute run time, but to call the end product unfulfilling is to misunderstand the journey. This is not a ragtag, shoot-em-up, tag ‘em and bag ‘em, round up a posse, rara America scenario. This is carefully constructed, meticulously plotted realism. It’s a procedural in both product and process and the end result is a modern history lesson that sneaks an age old adage about the notion of heroism.

A-

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Oscar Noms This Way Come

by Posted in Awards 3 Comments

 

 
 

This Thursday, January 10, be prepared to find out who will be duking it out for the ownership of the much coveted little golden men as Academy Award host Seth MacFarlane will be joined by Emma Stone to announce this years Oscar nominees.

Precedence has always had the Academy president making the announcements so this year will break tradition when Stone and MacFarlane deliver the nominees at 5:30 am to the Samuel Goldwyn Theater and the masses of international press.

 For more information on the Oscars, rules, regulations, past nominees and wins please the official Academy Awards website at www.oscar.com.

Be sure to check back this Wednesday to see my Oscar nomination predictions. 

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Chilling Red Band Trailer for EVIL DEAD Remake

by Posted in Trailers

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/12/21/Evil-Dead-trailer-10_612x380.jpg

I’ll be the first to admit that when I heard of yet another remake of a classic horror movie, I was not impressed but the latest trailer from this re-envisioning of the film that made Sam Raimi Sam Raimi has shaken and baken my expectations. It is important to note though that both Raimi and Bruce Campbell are abroad this project and both seem to be pretty gung-ho about it. The violence is gratuitous, the trailer terrifying and the fact that this isn’t just the same retread material cut and spit out a new way makes me really look forward to this one.

Check out the trailer for yourself below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvDLWlxxcak

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Top 10 Films of 2012

by Posted in Lists
http://cdn.theatlanticwire.com/img/upload/2011/12/29/2012_energy_conservation.jpg
2012 was an enigmatic year for film. There were an unusual amount of really good films but few great ones. In any case, I present my –purely subjective– top ten list of 2012 films. But first, the runners up. It was exceedingly difficult to make a list of just ten but it would be cheating to stretch the list to a greater number. All of the following films were truly excellent but just couldn’t secure that top spot.

Runner-ups (in no particular order):

  • Argo
  • The Avengers
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • The Cabin in the Woods
  • Chronicle
  • Cloud Atlas
  • Flight
  • The Grey
  • Magic Mike
  • Seven Psychopaths
  • Skyfall
  • Wreck it Ralph

Onward to the 10 finalists:

10. Bullhead 

Even though this Belgian drama was technically released in 2011, it hit the USA in early 2012 and it packed such an unforgettable punch that it’s imprint lingered for the entire year. It’s very rare when a film’s conclusion both legitimizes the entire process and ups the emotional stake to heart-breaking levels but Bullhead is that rare film. Chartering the nature of violence and the inescapable shadow of childhood, Bullhead explores the dire notion that we do not control our destiny- it is irrevocably pieced together from our experiences. Though it is often hard to watch, it is eerily sincere in its frankness and surprisingly affecting.

9. Lincoln

A stirring and smart courtroom drama elevated by strong performances across the board. It’s hard to think of anyone this year who put in a better leading performance than Daniel Day Lewis as the eponymous 16th president and Lincoln scores major points just for that. Although we can debate the accuracy of this biopic, Lewis plays Lincoln as a gentle hearted idealist struggling to change the ethos of his time. The film is all about political positioning and pandering that draws a close comparison to the bipartisan politics of 2012. Tommy Lee Jones plays his typical grumpster self but in this case he absolutely kills it.

8. Prometheus

Ridley Scott revolutionized both the sci-fi and horror genres with his 1979 flick Alien and after 33 years returned to make a quasi-prequel to his cult hit. The result: Prometheus. A surprisingly quiet and talky feature about the roots of human existence, Prometheus walks a fine of being too heady and out there while occasionally stirring in goopy scares. Though some may question the true ambition behind this film, the eye popping effects, the simply beautiful visual canvas and a first-rate android performance from Michael Fassbender make this one of the year’s finest.

7. Moonrise Kingdom

Meticulously crafted and unapologetically blunt, Moonrise Kingdom puts the oddness and neurosis of director Wes Anderson into the hands of pubescent children. Featuring a host of nods to classic films from Sergio Leone to Shawshank Redemption to Lord of the Flies, it dutifully illuminates the strangeness of youth experimenting with love. Moonrise may be more awkward and less earnest than Anderson’s other films but the healthy dollops of whimsy, beautiful framing and star supporting cast make it better than most other films of the year.

6. The Dark Knight Rises

Although excessively lengthy and sorely missing the Joker, The Dark Knight Rises is a perfect conclusion to one of the best trilogies of all time. It’s unrelentingly dark and surely not for kids but it continues the exploration of the Jungian hero’s journey in the post 9/11 era. And say what you will about Bane, but he is the first legitimate threat to Gotham’s throne in terms of both his brutish physique and terrorizing mindset. This is a true epic whose sprawling length and exhaustive story closes out the Bruce Wayne account in grandiose manner. While others may herald Nolan’s other Dark Knight crusade as his finest, this closing chapter is nonetheless cathartic.

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

An exercise in knowing how to make the little things matter, Perks is a touching film that’s earnest and understated on all fronts. It didn’t hurt that this one came out of nowhere and yet managed to stick with us throughout the year. Although the story of struggling through school and finding your place has been done before, it hasn’t been done with such genuine honesty. Going forth, this is the guidebook for investing an audience in a relatively minor story.

4. Looper

An imaginative sci-fi thriller chock full of hauntingly memorable moments. This is a study in the dark and imaginative film noir that doesn’t suffocate the audience by pandering to their needs.The character motivations are admirably strong and it all takes place in a really fleshed out and lived in future world more similar to the grime of Children of Men than the sleekness of 2001: Space Odyssey. Daringly original, Looper plays by its own rules but isn’t afraid to break them. It’s undeniably refreshing to see a film that so aptly balances cerebral ideas and good old fashion shoot-em-up sensibility.

3. End of Watch

It would be a vast understatement to refer to this film as the best of the “buddy cop” films. Instead let’s call it what it is: a powerfully acted, genuinely funny, heartbreakingly emotional piece of film with pitch perfect chemistry between the two leads. While the whole found footage format may be growing tiresome for some, it’s used effectively and poignantly here resulting in our being witness to a realism that escapes most film. Michael Pena walks out of this feature giving the most under-appreciated performance of the year.

2 . Silver Linings Playbook

David O’Russell proves once more that he is a true master of character drama as this is pure magic that cuts to the heart of the human condition. It’s brutally blunt, funny, insightful and real. It tenderly deals with mental illness without a thick coat of gloss and the performances are all top notch. Jennifer Lawrence is truly magnetic, Bradley Cooper is showing a new and promising side and De Niro has finally stopped calling it in and delivers a truly visceral character. Although society labels Silver Lining Playbook’s subjects as “crazy,” we could all learn a lesson about open and honest communication from them.

1 . Django Unchained

Django represents all that’s great about cinema–it’s daring, smart and challenging without being
pretentious and groveling. This splatterfest symphony has all the earmarks of a Tarantino film-flashy superimposed text, snappy dialogue, terse banter, larger than life characters and an emotional revenge narrative- but it uses the backdrop of the slave-ridden south to expose the nastiness of our nations past. The sad truth- this is pulp fact, not fiction. While it’s not for the faint of heart- be prepared for torrents of blood and no short measure of the “n-word”- Django Unchained is that rare
masterpiece that will have you laughing out loud one moment and in jaw-dangling horror the next.

For my full review click here.

 

So in recap:

10. Bullhead
9. Lincoln
8. Prometheus
7. Moonrise Kingdom
6. The Dark Knight Rises
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
4. Looper
3. End of Watch
2. Silver Linings Playbook
1. Django Unchained

Well there you have it. What were your top 10 of 2012?

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Out in Theaters: LES MISERABLES

by Posted in Out in Theaters 1 Comment

“Les Miserables”
Directed by Tom Hooper
Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried,  Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks
Drama, Musical, Romance
PG-13
158 Mins

Tom Hooper‘s all singing, all dancing Les Misérables is in a word: long. Based on the musical of the same name by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, which was adapted in turn from Victor Hugo‘s 1862 novel, this massively scaled production features a whopping 49 musical numbers that fill the entirety of the film’s 160 minute runtime.

Les Misérables charts the 33 year transformation of Jean Valjean from convict to factory owner to adoptive parent as he runs from the shadow of his former self and uptight lawman, Inspector Javert, in search of redemption.

Hooper experimented with the novel idea of recording all the songs “live.” Instead of going the traditional route of pre-recording songs in a studio and lip-singing along for the feature, all of the songs were belted out in front of the camera and used for final cut. This unique approach to the feature film is surely original and allows the actors an unbound freedom to emote in the moment but the end result is extremely uneven.

The film starts strong with some outstanding acting and powerful musical numbers but immediately illuminates an obvious fact: some of the performers pipes aren’t quite up to snuff.
From the opening number, “Look Down,”  the vocal capacity of Hugh Jackman seems limited. Although he’s no stranger to musical theater- he won a Tony for “The Boy from Oz” in 2004- he just doesn’t possess the power and intensity to fit the bill of the trumpeting ballads of Jean Valjean. Don’t get me wrong, Jackman is a terrific actor and has a palpable intensity burning behind his eyes but he’s just not a terrific singer and that’s all this film is about.

Most insulting however is Jackman’s unorthodox handling of the revered tunes he’s handling. It’s one thing to adjust a piece of music in order to make it seem more natural and suiting for the silver screen but he so drastically alters the melodies and time signatures that few of the pieces he performs actually feel like songs. To call it butchery isn’t a far stretch.

Another questionable bit of casting is Russell Crowe who fills the shoes of the least empathic law officer alive- Inspector Javert. Crowe again is a top notch thespian but his singing capabilities failed to impress. He didn’t go out of a ten note range and everything from him sounded flat and spark-less. For a character  written with a drastic arc, he just wasn’t very compelling and I felt little to nothing towards him for the entirety of the film.

On the other end of the spectrum is the stirring Anne Hathaway. It’s no wonder why the trailer for the film features Hathaway’s powerful rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” as it is both the emotional and musical climax of the entire film. She jolts life and chills into the number with an intoxicating finesse and has all but solidified her position as front runner for Best Supporting Actress.
However once her little ditty is over, no other piece of acting or singing ever quite reaches those highs again…and this is only thirty or so minutes in.

Entering it’s second act, the film begins to drag on and by the final act it’s running on fumes. Jackman’s acting with the eyes technique grows tiresome and his apparent lack of musical timing becomes more and more egregious especially in light of Hathaway’s triumph.

The final 100 minutes is rounded out by a number of supporting cast that are equally hit or miss.

Amanda Siegfried, who plays Valjean’s adopted daughter Cosette, suffers from an egregious case of Snow White syndrome, peddling a grating soprano that wears thin in her mere introductory moments. Her lover counterpart Marius, played by Eddie Redmayne, however offers a moving performance and actually does his tunes justice as does his secret admirer, Eponine (Samantha Barks.)

The consistent saving grace of the film though is the delightful pairing of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as a duo of slimy innkeepers turned sewer rats. Although their singing isn’t top notch by any standard, they never were expected to be and they crank up the comic relief, offering it up in generous heaps.

What it all boils down to is a picture without a man at the reins. Hooper quite obviously had massive aspirations but I can’t help but feel that they got away from him time and time again. If you’re executing a strictly musical adaptation of a widely known piece go with actors who can kill it in the vocal department. Crowe and Jackman were quite obviously miscast as the leading men and largely lack the chill factor that makes these musicals actually work. Everything is cracked up to 11 but there is the no backbone tying everything together.

Ultimately, Tom Hooper’s experimental Les Misérables is a jigsaw of performances with no central momentum that is both exhaustive and exhausting.

C

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Out in Theaters: DJANGO UNCHAINED

by Posted in Out in Theaters 2 Comments
“Django Unchained”
Directed by Quentin Tarantino 
Starring Jaime Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Walton Goggins, James Remar
Adventure, Drama, Western
165 Mins
R

 
 

Quentin Tarantino tactfully draws back the shade on the dark underbelly of America’s great shame- slavery- and the result isn’t easy to swallow. Django Unchained is an ugly, gruesome, ruthless film…and I loved every second of it.

The uncharacteristically chronological narrative follows the journey of ex-slave Django (Jamie Foxx) and his bounty hunting liberator (Christopher Waltz) as they attempt to free Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from twisted plantation owner and mandingo curator Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio.)

This splatterfest symphony has all the earmarks of a Tarantino film- flashy superimposed text, snappy dialogue, terse banter, larger than life characters and an emotional revenge narrative- but it uses the backdrop of the slave-ridden south to expose the nastiness of our nations past. The sad truth- this is pulp fact, not fiction.

While we can conjecture about the historical accuracy of the film, it’s probably all more true than we’d like to admit. Tarantino sweeps the most unpalatable of human nature from under the rug and into our faces and we can’t help but watch paralized. In an interesting juxtaposition to this years similarly-themed Lincoln, Django may not be the history lesson we want but it’s probably the one we deserve.

Without the vast talent of its cast, Django may have fallen flat and lost its emotional oomph. Thankfully, every performer in this sprawling epic places their definitive stamp on their varied roles with great success.

Waltz is easily the highlight, not only of this film but of the entire year, as he chews up the scenes with masterful gusto. He has a mysterious way of making you listen to his each and every word, perfectly slung like the sweet-talking gunfighter he is. Waltz is the ideal vessel for Tarantino’s trademark dialogue and their pairing is a perfect marriage we can hope to see prosper for many years to come.

Foxx plays the titular Django with swagger and style. He’s a no-frills badass with a crystal clear motive and he executes his worthy mission with trigger-happy snark.

In a career first, DiCaprio assumes the role of the villain and is downright venomous.  A highlight of the film involves him and Waltz in a confrontation about a handshake that will be sure to leave you shaken and wowed.
 

And last but not least is Samuel L. Jackson, who hasn’t been this good since his unforgettable turn as Jules in Tarantino’s sophomore phenomenon- Pulp Fiction. This nasty-hearted head house-slave may not be spouting Ezekiel but his conniving ways are equally malicious and chill-inducing.


As should be expected, there are moments where Tarantino is overindulgent- I could have used about five minutes of riding horses through various landscapes and a couple unfitting musical numbers edited out- but it’s all a part of a great and sprawling film that’s not only highly stylized but injected with a urgent sense of purpose. Plus, has gangster rap ever played better in a feature film?

While it’s not for the faint of heart- be prepared for torrents of blood and no short measure of the “n-word”- Django Unchained is that rare masterpiece that will have you laughing out loud one moment and in jaw-dangling horror the next.

 
All the performers involved are hitting their mark with pitch perfect bravado and Tarantino once again proves that he’s the king of cinema.