On the march to the end of the season, with only four more major releases to go for 2013, I crossed two big ticket items off the list with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug offering just the brand of disappointment I was crossing my fingers against and Inside Llewyn Davis which has been growing on me all week since seeing it. But the really miraculous part of this week is how much great cinema I’ve seen at home. I can’t remember watching a string of films this solid in a long, long time and I’m a happy camper for it. I guess that’s what happens when you sign up for Netflix disks and pop on a collection of films you’ve been waiting to see. So let’s hop into all the goodies I watched at home.
THE HUNT (2013)
A ceaselessly powerful movie that’ll have you in fits of frustration, The Hunt is anchored by yet another career-defining performance from the always brilliant Mads Mikkelsen. It’s surely not the most accessible film of the year – it’s a Danish film about allegations of child molestation – but it explores victim psychology and crowd mentality with gripping truth. As school teacher Lucas (Mikkelsen) is accused of abusing one of his students, who so happens to be his best friend’s meek, doll-nosed daughter, we’re the only ones who know his innocence and see the town explode around him, acting against him at first with social rejection and later, violence. As things escalate and Lucas becomes an outright pariah, you’ll want to scream at the television. But every time you want to point the finger at someone or other, you find yourself slipping into their mindset and understanding where they’re coming from. In an impossible situation such as this, it all comes down to what we’re willing to believe and who you’re willing to trust.
A-
A PROPHET (2009)
Jacques Audiard‘s tale of a young French-Arab man rise inside the ranks of a prison mob is brimming with intrigue and stands as a sort of European Good Fellas. A gradual rise of power the likes of A Prophet will surely bring a slew of comparisons to Scorsese’s wok and for good reason. Audiard captures a similarly telescopic broadcast of a life, filtered down into a two-hour-plus film but still feels complete and massive. But he distinguishes his own style in the many off-kilter camera moves, intoxicating fuzzy screenshots, the use of language as a chess piece, all the while dividing the film up into succinct chapters that usually revolve around the introduction of a new character. Aided by an epic breakout from Tahar Rahim, A Prophet is a confidently made mobster movie that stands amongst the best.
A
O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU (2000)
I’m almost ashamed to say that I have never sat down and watched the entirety of O Brother Where Art Thou but it feels good to get it off my chest. Thankfully, it lived up to the high praise I’ve heard sung by hipsters and movie critics at large. Once again giving a story, which is a straggly update on Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’, a whole new set of legs than any of their previous work, the Coens continue a string of encyclopedic work that knows no bounds and dares journey into just about any territory they please. The hypnotic music, literary references, and band of stooges all help to carve a niche film the likes of none other that is easily recommended to just about anyone interested in music, comedy, or antiquity.
A
LAURENCE ANYWAYS (2013)
If you’re going to see one three-hour French-language film about star crossed lovers acclimating to a sexual identity crisis this year make it Laurence Anyways. First of all, you’ll sound so much more sophisticated when you one up all those wanna be know it alls babbling over Blue is the Warmest Color. Secondly, it’s a better film. With staggering performances from its two leads, decadent set and costume design, a throbbing score, and zesty direction, Laurence Anyways reaches emotional highs and blistering lows that only something this real and yet surreal could accomplish.
B+
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