I promise I'll be back posting on here regularly. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
That is all for now
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
2015 movies I'm looking forward to
Either I really wanna see these movies, or at this point, I'm on the fence. You can tell which ones I'm on the fence for by the messages in the parentheses.
February
Maps to the Stars
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
March
Chappie (giving you one more chance Blomkamp)
While We're Young
April
Furious 7 (I guess)
May
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tomorrowland
Aloha
June
Love & Mercy
Jurassic World (I guess)
Inside Out
July
Magic Mike XXL (kinda)
Terminator Genisys (just barely)
Ant-Man
Trainwreck
Pan (kinda)
Mission: Impossible 5 (maybe)
Southpaw
August
Ricki and the Flash
The Man from UNCLE
Straight Outta Compton
September
Jane Got a Gun
Triple Nine
Black Mass
Pawn Sacrifice
October
Steve Jobs
Crimson Peak
St. James Place
November
Spectre
Peanuts Movie
Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2
Creed (kinda)
The Good Dinosaur
The Martian
Midnight Special
Untitled Christmas Eve Project
December
In the Heart of the Sea
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Joy
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
February
Maps to the Stars
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
March
Chappie (giving you one more chance Blomkamp)
While We're Young
April
Furious 7 (I guess)
May
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tomorrowland
Aloha
June
Love & Mercy
Jurassic World (I guess)
Inside Out
July
Magic Mike XXL (kinda)
Terminator Genisys (just barely)
Ant-Man
Trainwreck
Pan (kinda)
Mission: Impossible 5 (maybe)
Southpaw
August
Ricki and the Flash
The Man from UNCLE
Straight Outta Compton
September
Jane Got a Gun
Triple Nine
Black Mass
Pawn Sacrifice
October
Steve Jobs
Crimson Peak
St. James Place
November
Spectre
Peanuts Movie
Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2
Creed (kinda)
The Good Dinosaur
The Martian
Midnight Special
Untitled Christmas Eve Project
December
In the Heart of the Sea
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Joy
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Ken, come on already! The Theory of Everything & Mr. Turner reviews
The Theory of Everything
It was surprisingly pretty solid. Redmayne was great.
Mr. Turner
I love the world of this film. I loved delving into the art world atmosphere that JWM Turner was in, but I felt a little too detached from the title character to really fall in love with this film.
I give both films a B, though I prefer Mr. Turner over Theory.
I know, I know. Where's the full reviews? Well, I've been busy and I just want to get 2014 done with already. No more 2014 movie reviews from here on out! The Oscars are next Sunday, then it's time to move on!
It was surprisingly pretty solid. Redmayne was great.
Mr. Turner
I love the world of this film. I loved delving into the art world atmosphere that JWM Turner was in, but I felt a little too detached from the title character to really fall in love with this film.
I give both films a B, though I prefer Mr. Turner over Theory.
I know, I know. Where's the full reviews? Well, I've been busy and I just want to get 2014 done with already. No more 2014 movie reviews from here on out! The Oscars are next Sunday, then it's time to move on!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
American Sniper, a short-ish review
American Sniper
It's been over a month since "American Sniper" initially came out and it seems the chatter surrounding the film has finally calmed down. Clint Eastwood's film has drawn the ire of liberals while simultaneously becoming a rallying cry for the right. Well, my position on the film will satisfy neither party.
I don't think "American Sniper" is a dimwitted film that justifies the War in Iraq. I also do not think it's a masterpiece of filmmaking. "American Sniper" is a competently made film with some very tense war scenes that delves into the heart and mind of a soldier, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), who is absolutely single-minded in his devotion to his country. Once he joins the Navy SEALs, he is their brother for life. He is absolutely committed to joining his fellow soldiers in combat, ultimately doing four separate tours of duty when all is said and done. But, those tours of duty comes at the cost of his family. Each tour is like a dagger in his wife's heart. Chris Kyle wound up becoming the deadliest sniper in American history, but that meant little to his wife, who just wanted her husband to come home and play with his kids.
Eastwood takes a very straight-forward approach to the material and it inevitably causes a bunch of problems, seeing as how the source material for "American Sniper" was actually written by Chris Kyle and adapted to the screen by Jason Hall who did everything he could to serve Kyle's story as faithfully as possible. So it just feels like we're missing a lot of nuance and complexity, as if we're not really being told the full story. The movie goes a little bit into Kyle's battle with PTSD and then, suddenly, pretends that it magically disappears towards the end of the film. And while I didn't expect the film to show how Chris Kyle died, the way it went about explaining Kyle's death felt weird, as if it's sugarcoating a heartbreaking story. Chris Kyle was killed by another former soldier who was also suffering from PTSD. By ignoring details such as that and taking a soft approach to Kyle's own battle with PTSD, "American Sniper" ultimately winds up feeling like irresponsible filmmaking. Eastwood treats Kyle like the war hero he was, but he fails to really drive home how soldiers such as Kyle were mentally affected when they were away from the battlefield.
By avoiding those key details, "American Sniper" ends up just being another average war film that does little to distinguish itself from other films of its genre. It may be making a buttload of money at the box office, but I can't help but feel that this film was a giant wasted opportunity.
Grade: C-
It's been over a month since "American Sniper" initially came out and it seems the chatter surrounding the film has finally calmed down. Clint Eastwood's film has drawn the ire of liberals while simultaneously becoming a rallying cry for the right. Well, my position on the film will satisfy neither party.
I don't think "American Sniper" is a dimwitted film that justifies the War in Iraq. I also do not think it's a masterpiece of filmmaking. "American Sniper" is a competently made film with some very tense war scenes that delves into the heart and mind of a soldier, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), who is absolutely single-minded in his devotion to his country. Once he joins the Navy SEALs, he is their brother for life. He is absolutely committed to joining his fellow soldiers in combat, ultimately doing four separate tours of duty when all is said and done. But, those tours of duty comes at the cost of his family. Each tour is like a dagger in his wife's heart. Chris Kyle wound up becoming the deadliest sniper in American history, but that meant little to his wife, who just wanted her husband to come home and play with his kids.
Eastwood takes a very straight-forward approach to the material and it inevitably causes a bunch of problems, seeing as how the source material for "American Sniper" was actually written by Chris Kyle and adapted to the screen by Jason Hall who did everything he could to serve Kyle's story as faithfully as possible. So it just feels like we're missing a lot of nuance and complexity, as if we're not really being told the full story. The movie goes a little bit into Kyle's battle with PTSD and then, suddenly, pretends that it magically disappears towards the end of the film. And while I didn't expect the film to show how Chris Kyle died, the way it went about explaining Kyle's death felt weird, as if it's sugarcoating a heartbreaking story. Chris Kyle was killed by another former soldier who was also suffering from PTSD. By ignoring details such as that and taking a soft approach to Kyle's own battle with PTSD, "American Sniper" ultimately winds up feeling like irresponsible filmmaking. Eastwood treats Kyle like the war hero he was, but he fails to really drive home how soldiers such as Kyle were mentally affected when they were away from the battlefield.
By avoiding those key details, "American Sniper" ends up just being another average war film that does little to distinguish itself from other films of its genre. It may be making a buttload of money at the box office, but I can't help but feel that this film was a giant wasted opportunity.
Grade: C-
5 year anniversary: a collection of every single one of my reviews
To celebrate Kenoncinema's five years of existence, I've decided to compile/link every single review I've done into one post. Some reviews were short, others were very long. Some barely count as reviews, and there are others that were actually posted from another site but was linked here. Altogether, I have written 225 reviews thus far. If you count the three top 100 lists of the '80s, '90s, and '00s... then that means I have written about 525 films in total. Is it cheating to count those lists? Maybe, but 525 is a big number. I like big numbers.
2010 reviews
1. Shutter Island - 2/25/2010
2. Alice in Wonderland - 3/11/2010
3. Hot Tub Time Machine - 3/13/2010
4. Green Zone - 3/13/2010
5. Get Him to the Greek - 4/20/2010
6. Robin Hood - 5/19/2010
7. Toy Story 3 - 7/3/2010
8. Karate Kid - 7/6/2010
9. Inception - 7/17/2010
10. Greenberg - 7/19/2010
11. Iron Man 2 - 8/2/2010
12. Cyrus - 8/2/2010
13. The Kids Are All Right - 8/2/2010
14. The Other Guys - 8/17/2010
15. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - 8/17/2010
16. The Ghost Writer - 8/17/2010
17. The Last Exorcism - 9/17/2010
18. Kick-Ass - 9/17/2010
19. Winter's Bone - 9/17/2010
20. The Town - 9/28/2010
21. The Social Network - 10/1/2010
22. Due Date - 11/11/2010
23. Despicable Me - 11/11/2010
24. Never Let Me Go - 11/11/2010
25. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 - 11/23/2010
26. The Fighter - 12/21/2010
27. Black Swan - 12/27/2010
28. True Grit - 12/31/2010
29. The King's Speech - 1/16/2011
30. Somewhere - 6/30/2011
31. Another Year - 6/30/2011
2011 reviews
1. Paul - 3/9/2011
2. Rango - 3/9/2011
3. Cedar Rapids - 3/21/2011
4. Source Code - 4/2/2011
5. Win Win - 4/17/2011
6. Thor - 5/10/2011
7. Bridesmaids - 5/16/2011
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 5/21/2011
9. The Hangover Part II - 5/26/2011
10. Super 8 - 6/11/2011
11. Midnight in Paris - 6/20/2011
12. Horrible Bosses - 7/10/2011
13. X-Men: First Class - 7/11/2011
14. Bad Teacher - 7/11/2011
15. 30 Minutes or Less - 9/21/2011
16. Contagion - 9/21/2011
17. Our Idiot Brother - 9/21/2011
18. Drive - 9/23/2011
19. Moneyball - 9/23/2011
20. 50/50 - 10/16/2011
21. The Skin I Live In - 10/16/2011
22. The Ides of March - 10/16/2011
23. The Descendants - 11/10/2011
24. The Tree of Life - 11/11/2011
25. The Muppets - 11/29/2011
26. J. Edgar - 12/2/2011
27. Hugo - 12/3/2011
28. Shame - 12/9/2011
29. Young Adult - 12/14/2011
30. The Adventures of Tintin - 12/16/2011
31. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 12/22/2011
32. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows - 12/30/2011
33. War Horse - 12/30/2011
34. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - 1/21/2012
35. Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2/6/2012
36. Margin Call - 2/6/2012
37. Beginners - 2/6/2012
38. The Artist -2/6/2012
39. Melancholia - 2/9/2012
2012 reviews
1. Haywire - 2/6/2012
2. Wanderlust - 3/1/2012
3. Friends With Kids - 3/9/2012
4. Jeff, Who Lives At Home - 3/16/2012
5. 21 Jump Street - 3/23/2012
6. Bully - 4/1/2012
7. Damsels in Distress - 4/13/2012
8. Cabin in the Woods - 4/16/2012
9. The Five-Year Engagement - 5/4/2012
10. The Avengers - 5/5/2012
11. The Dictator - 5/17/2012
12. Moonrise Kingdom - 5/27/2012
13. Prometheus - 6/17/2012
14. Magic Mike - 7/2/2012
15. Ted - 7/5/2012
16. The Amazing Spider-Man - 7/8/2012
17. Brave - 7/13/2012
18. Your Sister's Sister - 7/17/2012
19. To Rome With Love - 7/17/2012
20. Beasts of the Southern Wild - 7/21/2012
21. The Dark Knight Rises - 7/24/2012
22. The Campaign - 8/13/2012
23. Lawless - 9/3/2012
24. The Intouchables - 9/9/2012
25. The Master - 9/16/2012
26. Celeste and Jesse Forever - 9/16/2012
27. Looper - 10/8/2012
28. Seven Psychopaths - 10/12/2012
29. Argo - 10/13/2012
30. Flight - 11/2/2012
31. Skyfall - 11/10/2012
32. Lincoln - 11/12/2012
33. Life of Pi - 11/24/2012
34. Rust and Bone - 12/1/2012
35. Killing Them Softly - 12/1/2012
36. Silver Linings Playbook - 12/4/2012
37. The Deep Blue Sea - 12/13/2012
38. Zero Dark Thirty - 12/19/2012
39. The Hobbit - 12/19/2012
40. This is 40 - 12/21/2012
41. Les Miserables - 12/26/2012
42. Django Unchained - 12/29/2012
43. The Impossible - 1/11/2013
44. Sister - 1/24/2013
45. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - 1/24/2013
46. Amour - 1/24/2013
47. Compliance - 1/24/2013
48. End of Watch - 2/4/2013
49. The Invisible War - 2/4/2013
2013 movies
1. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III - 1/11/2013
2. Side Effects - 2/11/2013
3. Sound City - 2/18/2013
4. No - 2/18/2013
5. Stoker - 3/5/2013
6. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - 3/17/2013
7. Spring Breakers - 3/19/2013
8. Admission - 3/22/2013
9. The Place Beyond the Pines - 3/27/2013
10. Trance - 4/12/2013
11. Upstream Color - 4/12/2013
12. 42 - 4/17/2013
13. Oblivion - 5/1/2013
14. To the Wonder - 5/2/2013
15. Iron Man 3 - 5/10/2013
16. The Great Gatsby - 5/16/2013
17. Mud - 5/21/2013
18. Before Midnight - 5/28/2013
19. The Hangover Part III - 5/28/2013
20. The Way, Way Back - 5/29/2013
21. Frances Ha - 6/5/2013
22. Star Trek Into Darkness - 6/6/2013
23. This Is the End - 6/15/2013
24. Man of Steel - 6/20/2013
25. Monsters University - 6/24/2013
26. The Bling Ring - 7/2/2013
27. World War Z - 7/7/2013
28. Pacific Rim - 7/8/2013
29. Blue Jasmine - 8/1/2013
30. Fruitvale Station - 8/7/2013
31. Only God Forgives - 8/12/2013
32. The World's End - 8/26/2013
33. Elysium - 8/27/2013
34. Lee Daniels' The Butler - 9/3/2013
35. The Spectacular Now - 9/14/2013
36. Prisoners - 9/21/2013
37. Don Jon - 9/27/2013
38. Gravity - 10/7/2013
39. Captain Phillips - 10/17/2013
40. 12 Years a Slave - 10/20/2013
41. Blue is the Warmest Color -10/27/2013
42. The Counselor - 10/31/2013
43. Dallas Buyers Club - 11/8/2013
44. Thor: The Dark World - 11/9/2013
45. Nebraska - 11/17/2013
46. Catching Fire - 12/2/2013
47. Inside Llewyn Davis - 12/9/2013
48. Out of the Furnace - 12/13/2013
49. American Hustle - 12/15/2013
50. Her - 12/20/2013
51. The Wolf of Wall Street - 12/28/2013
52. Anchorman 2 - 12/30/2013
53. Lone Survivor - 1/15/2014
54. Philomena - 1/20/2014
2014 movies
1. Monuments Men - 2/8/2014
2. The LEGO Movie - 2/13/2014
3. Non-Stop - 2/27/2014
4. Bad Words - 3/6/2014
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel - 3/8/2014
6. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 - 3/10/2014
7. Need for Speed - 3/13/2014
8. Enemy - 3/20/2014
9. Muppets Most Wanted - 3/23/2014
10. Noah - 4/9/2014
11. Captain America: Winter Soldier - 5/9/2014
12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 5/9/2014
13. Neighbors - 5/17/2014
14. The Immigrant - 5/20/2014
15. Godzilla - 6/4/2014
16. X-Men: Days of Future Past - 8/8/2014
17. Edge of Tomorrow - 8/8/2014
18. 22 Jump Street - 8/8/2014
19. Boyhood - 8/9/2014
20. Guardians of the Galaxy - 8/11/2014
21. A Most Wanted Man - 8/15/2014
22. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - 8/17/2014
23. Life Itself - 8/17/2014
24. Magic in the Moonlight - 9/20/2014
25. They Came Together - 9/21/2014
26. Under the Skin - 9/29/2014
27. Obvious Child - 10/6/2014
28. Gone Girl - 10/10/2014
29. Whiplash -10/16/2014
30. Birdman - 10/22/2014
31. Fury - 10/31/2014
32. Nightcrawler - 11/1/2014
33. Interstellar - 11/6/2014
34. Two Days, One Night - 11/9/2014
35. Snowpiercer - 11/9/2014
36. Foxcatcher - 11/16/2014
37. Mockingjay Part 1 - 12/7/2014
38. The Imitation Game - 12/8/2014
39. Annie - 1/10/2015
40. The Interview - 1/10/2015
41. Top Five - 1/12/2015
42. Ida - 1/13/2015
43. Frank - 1/13/2015
44. Skeleton Twins - 1/22/2015
45. Calvary - 1/22/2015
46. Locke - 1/22/2015
47. Inherent Vice - 1/23/2015
48. Selma - 1/23/2015
49. A Most Violent Year - 1/25/2015
50. Chef - 1/26/2015
51. We Are the Best! - 1/26/2015
52. Men, Women, and Children - 1/26/2015
And I have 3 more 2014 movies left to review...
2010 reviews
1. Shutter Island - 2/25/2010
2. Alice in Wonderland - 3/11/2010
3. Hot Tub Time Machine - 3/13/2010
4. Green Zone - 3/13/2010
5. Get Him to the Greek - 4/20/2010
6. Robin Hood - 5/19/2010
7. Toy Story 3 - 7/3/2010
8. Karate Kid - 7/6/2010
9. Inception - 7/17/2010
10. Greenberg - 7/19/2010
11. Iron Man 2 - 8/2/2010
12. Cyrus - 8/2/2010
13. The Kids Are All Right - 8/2/2010
14. The Other Guys - 8/17/2010
15. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - 8/17/2010
16. The Ghost Writer - 8/17/2010
17. The Last Exorcism - 9/17/2010
18. Kick-Ass - 9/17/2010
19. Winter's Bone - 9/17/2010
20. The Town - 9/28/2010
21. The Social Network - 10/1/2010
22. Due Date - 11/11/2010
23. Despicable Me - 11/11/2010
24. Never Let Me Go - 11/11/2010
25. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 - 11/23/2010
26. The Fighter - 12/21/2010
27. Black Swan - 12/27/2010
28. True Grit - 12/31/2010
29. The King's Speech - 1/16/2011
30. Somewhere - 6/30/2011
31. Another Year - 6/30/2011
2011 reviews
1. Paul - 3/9/2011
2. Rango - 3/9/2011
3. Cedar Rapids - 3/21/2011
4. Source Code - 4/2/2011
5. Win Win - 4/17/2011
6. Thor - 5/10/2011
7. Bridesmaids - 5/16/2011
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 5/21/2011
9. The Hangover Part II - 5/26/2011
10. Super 8 - 6/11/2011
11. Midnight in Paris - 6/20/2011
12. Horrible Bosses - 7/10/2011
13. X-Men: First Class - 7/11/2011
14. Bad Teacher - 7/11/2011
15. 30 Minutes or Less - 9/21/2011
16. Contagion - 9/21/2011
17. Our Idiot Brother - 9/21/2011
18. Drive - 9/23/2011
19. Moneyball - 9/23/2011
20. 50/50 - 10/16/2011
21. The Skin I Live In - 10/16/2011
22. The Ides of March - 10/16/2011
23. The Descendants - 11/10/2011
24. The Tree of Life - 11/11/2011
25. The Muppets - 11/29/2011
26. J. Edgar - 12/2/2011
27. Hugo - 12/3/2011
28. Shame - 12/9/2011
29. Young Adult - 12/14/2011
30. The Adventures of Tintin - 12/16/2011
31. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 12/22/2011
32. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows - 12/30/2011
33. War Horse - 12/30/2011
34. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - 1/21/2012
35. Martha Marcy May Marlene - 2/6/2012
36. Margin Call - 2/6/2012
37. Beginners - 2/6/2012
38. The Artist -2/6/2012
39. Melancholia - 2/9/2012
2012 reviews
1. Haywire - 2/6/2012
2. Wanderlust - 3/1/2012
3. Friends With Kids - 3/9/2012
4. Jeff, Who Lives At Home - 3/16/2012
5. 21 Jump Street - 3/23/2012
6. Bully - 4/1/2012
7. Damsels in Distress - 4/13/2012
8. Cabin in the Woods - 4/16/2012
9. The Five-Year Engagement - 5/4/2012
10. The Avengers - 5/5/2012
11. The Dictator - 5/17/2012
12. Moonrise Kingdom - 5/27/2012
13. Prometheus - 6/17/2012
14. Magic Mike - 7/2/2012
15. Ted - 7/5/2012
16. The Amazing Spider-Man - 7/8/2012
17. Brave - 7/13/2012
18. Your Sister's Sister - 7/17/2012
19. To Rome With Love - 7/17/2012
20. Beasts of the Southern Wild - 7/21/2012
21. The Dark Knight Rises - 7/24/2012
22. The Campaign - 8/13/2012
23. Lawless - 9/3/2012
24. The Intouchables - 9/9/2012
25. The Master - 9/16/2012
26. Celeste and Jesse Forever - 9/16/2012
27. Looper - 10/8/2012
28. Seven Psychopaths - 10/12/2012
29. Argo - 10/13/2012
30. Flight - 11/2/2012
31. Skyfall - 11/10/2012
32. Lincoln - 11/12/2012
33. Life of Pi - 11/24/2012
34. Rust and Bone - 12/1/2012
35. Killing Them Softly - 12/1/2012
36. Silver Linings Playbook - 12/4/2012
37. The Deep Blue Sea - 12/13/2012
38. Zero Dark Thirty - 12/19/2012
39. The Hobbit - 12/19/2012
40. This is 40 - 12/21/2012
41. Les Miserables - 12/26/2012
42. Django Unchained - 12/29/2012
43. The Impossible - 1/11/2013
44. Sister - 1/24/2013
45. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - 1/24/2013
46. Amour - 1/24/2013
47. Compliance - 1/24/2013
48. End of Watch - 2/4/2013
49. The Invisible War - 2/4/2013
2013 movies
1. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III - 1/11/2013
2. Side Effects - 2/11/2013
3. Sound City - 2/18/2013
4. No - 2/18/2013
5. Stoker - 3/5/2013
6. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - 3/17/2013
7. Spring Breakers - 3/19/2013
8. Admission - 3/22/2013
9. The Place Beyond the Pines - 3/27/2013
10. Trance - 4/12/2013
11. Upstream Color - 4/12/2013
12. 42 - 4/17/2013
13. Oblivion - 5/1/2013
14. To the Wonder - 5/2/2013
15. Iron Man 3 - 5/10/2013
16. The Great Gatsby - 5/16/2013
17. Mud - 5/21/2013
18. Before Midnight - 5/28/2013
19. The Hangover Part III - 5/28/2013
20. The Way, Way Back - 5/29/2013
21. Frances Ha - 6/5/2013
22. Star Trek Into Darkness - 6/6/2013
23. This Is the End - 6/15/2013
24. Man of Steel - 6/20/2013
25. Monsters University - 6/24/2013
26. The Bling Ring - 7/2/2013
27. World War Z - 7/7/2013
28. Pacific Rim - 7/8/2013
29. Blue Jasmine - 8/1/2013
30. Fruitvale Station - 8/7/2013
31. Only God Forgives - 8/12/2013
32. The World's End - 8/26/2013
33. Elysium - 8/27/2013
34. Lee Daniels' The Butler - 9/3/2013
35. The Spectacular Now - 9/14/2013
36. Prisoners - 9/21/2013
37. Don Jon - 9/27/2013
38. Gravity - 10/7/2013
39. Captain Phillips - 10/17/2013
40. 12 Years a Slave - 10/20/2013
41. Blue is the Warmest Color -10/27/2013
42. The Counselor - 10/31/2013
43. Dallas Buyers Club - 11/8/2013
44. Thor: The Dark World - 11/9/2013
45. Nebraska - 11/17/2013
46. Catching Fire - 12/2/2013
47. Inside Llewyn Davis - 12/9/2013
48. Out of the Furnace - 12/13/2013
49. American Hustle - 12/15/2013
50. Her - 12/20/2013
51. The Wolf of Wall Street - 12/28/2013
52. Anchorman 2 - 12/30/2013
53. Lone Survivor - 1/15/2014
54. Philomena - 1/20/2014
2014 movies
1. Monuments Men - 2/8/2014
2. The LEGO Movie - 2/13/2014
3. Non-Stop - 2/27/2014
4. Bad Words - 3/6/2014
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel - 3/8/2014
6. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 - 3/10/2014
7. Need for Speed - 3/13/2014
8. Enemy - 3/20/2014
9. Muppets Most Wanted - 3/23/2014
10. Noah - 4/9/2014
11. Captain America: Winter Soldier - 5/9/2014
12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 5/9/2014
13. Neighbors - 5/17/2014
14. The Immigrant - 5/20/2014
15. Godzilla - 6/4/2014
16. X-Men: Days of Future Past - 8/8/2014
17. Edge of Tomorrow - 8/8/2014
18. 22 Jump Street - 8/8/2014
19. Boyhood - 8/9/2014
20. Guardians of the Galaxy - 8/11/2014
21. A Most Wanted Man - 8/15/2014
22. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - 8/17/2014
23. Life Itself - 8/17/2014
24. Magic in the Moonlight - 9/20/2014
25. They Came Together - 9/21/2014
26. Under the Skin - 9/29/2014
27. Obvious Child - 10/6/2014
28. Gone Girl - 10/10/2014
29. Whiplash -10/16/2014
30. Birdman - 10/22/2014
31. Fury - 10/31/2014
32. Nightcrawler - 11/1/2014
33. Interstellar - 11/6/2014
34. Two Days, One Night - 11/9/2014
35. Snowpiercer - 11/9/2014
36. Foxcatcher - 11/16/2014
37. Mockingjay Part 1 - 12/7/2014
38. The Imitation Game - 12/8/2014
39. Annie - 1/10/2015
40. The Interview - 1/10/2015
41. Top Five - 1/12/2015
42. Ida - 1/13/2015
43. Frank - 1/13/2015
44. Skeleton Twins - 1/22/2015
45. Calvary - 1/22/2015
46. Locke - 1/22/2015
47. Inherent Vice - 1/23/2015
48. Selma - 1/23/2015
49. A Most Violent Year - 1/25/2015
50. Chef - 1/26/2015
51. We Are the Best! - 1/26/2015
52. Men, Women, and Children - 1/26/2015
And I have 3 more 2014 movies left to review...
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Top 20 Films of 2014
KENONCINEMA'S TOP 20 FILMS OF 2014
Well, it's almost February of 2015 and, now that I have finally caught up on all the movies I wanted to see, it's time for me to do my year-end list. 2014 was a crazy year for me and looks like 2015 could be just as crazy, but I'm happy to tell you that KenonCinema is celebrating its five year anniversary this year. It's been a wild ride and while my blogging has been more sporadic in the past year, I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon. I hope I'm still doing this in 2020!
So, back to the list. This was incredibly difficult to put together. Seriously. Perhaps the hardest year-end list I had to do on this blog. What I decided to do this year is to expand this to 20 films instead of 15 or 10. It was way too hard to just do 10. Even when I expanded to 15, I was still not happy. It just had to be 20 this year. No other way around it. But, I've seen everything I wanted to see so I'm ready. I'm ready to dive into the incredible year that was 2014 and share my list with you.
So let's get on with it!
Honorable Mentions (in a lesser year, these would definitely get in the top 20) :
They Came Together, Mr. Turner, Blue Ruin, The Theory of Everything, Edge of Tomorrow, Frank, Snowpiercer, and Foxcatcher.
Most unfairly maligned movies of the year that I wish to give shout-outs to:
Godzilla (Didn't make my list, but I greatly enjoyed it.)
Noah (a wonderfully weird film, may have made the list if I saw it a 2nd time)
And now the list... for real!
20. Guardians of the Galaxy
Director: James Gunn
If not for the weak villains and a rote third act, "Guardians of the Galaxy" could have been the superhero classic we've all been waiting for. But hey, it's still an incredibly entertaining ride with a terrific cast and there are several moments within the film that genuinely thrilled me. James Gunn deserves a ton of credit for finding a way to embed his vision inside the massive machine that is the Marvel Universe. It's a superhero film with its own funky personality. I dig it.
19. A Most Wanted Man
Director: Anton Corbijn
Knowing that this was Phillip Seymour Hoffman's final starring role definitely makes "A Most Wanted Man" a much different viewing experience than normal. But it's even harder to process Hoffman's death, while watching this film, because you can clearly tell that he was still at the top of his game. His character, Gunther, carries a sadness and world-weariness to him. He's been in the espionage game for a long time now and you can feel his frustration with constantly being undermined at every turn. It all builds up to an unforgettable finale that will leave you frustrated---and that's exactly the point. "A Most Wanted Man" is a smart, well-crafted spy thriller that's not easy to swallow... for multiple reasons.
18. The LEGO Movie
Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
It's still amazing how directors Lord and Miller were able to make "The LEGO Movie" this good. A movie based on toys should never reach this level of excellence and yet, here we are. They didn't just create a movie that's hilarious and incredibly appealing to both kids and adults, they also made it look easy. "The LEGO Movie" has a balls-to-the-wall zaniness to it that doesn't let up throughout its entire running time, but what's even better is that this movie actually has something meaningful to say about childhood and growing up. It's hilarious, it's fun, it's silly, it's... oddly inspiring? Absolutely.
17. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Matt Reeves
You don't start to realize how basic of a film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is until you start watching "Dawn." How many times do we see sequels attempt to outdo their predecessor by going "bigger" and failing miserably? Well, "Dawn" goes bigger, effortlessly succeeding the previous film by miles. "Dawn" is so wonderfully complex and richly thematic for a Hollywood blockbuster, often blurring the lines between which species is more violent and barbaric. By the time Koba charges towards the humans while riding a horse and firing a machine gun, I was in cinematic heaven. It sounds silly, and it should be silly, but goddamnit, it worked. It all worked.
16. A Most Violent Year
Director: JC Chandor
I cringe whenever I see "A Most Violent Year" get described as a gangster film. Not even close. There are gangsters in the film, sure, but they're not the focal point here. Instead, JC Chandor has crafted an engrossing story about a man in charge of an oil company, trying his best to remain clean and legit in spite of the violence and corruption that surrounds New York City circa 1981. It's both a morality tale and a critique of the American dream. What does it take to get to the top, beating out your competitors in the process? In this world, it's almost impossible unless you get your hands dirty. Or bloody. "A Most Wanted Man" is about a cautious man who tries so hard to do everything right, but he lives in a city where that's just not possible. Watching that struggle unfold is incredibly compelling to watch.
So here we are. Yes, isn't this predictable? How many times has Boyhood been #1 on lists like these? So much so that it's actually received quite a bit of backlash over the past few weeks. Look, it's not Boyhood's fault that it's received this much attention. Linklater filmed the movie over the course of 12 years. That was shocking to people when the movie premiered at Sundance last year, but now people recite that fact in a sarcastic manner.
Nobody has done this before. Have people thought about doing it before? Sure, but they didn't and Linklater did. "Boyhood" has so much more going on than its gimmick. It has a story. The word "boyhood" has thrown some people off, but this film is just as much about Mason as it is about his mother, sister, and father. It's about family. It's about how a single mother managed to complete her education while simultaneously raising two children. It's about a father who was not mature enough to raise kids when he had Mason and Samantha, but over the course of time, he eventually does grow up and becomes the father that Mason's mother always wanted him to be. It's just unfortunate that his transformation happened too late.
And screw it, I identified with this film, I really did. It spoke to me in ways no other film ever has. It's not a direct mirror of my life and I am quite different than Mason, but there's an emotional truth to "Boyhood" that I very much identified with, and there are moments in the film that feel as if Richard Linklater was peaking into my life.
But "Boyhood" doesn't only work if you identify with the film, it's not a film that's saying "this is what everyone's childhood was like." That's not the case at all. Obviously, not every child grew up with divorced parents, or had just one sister, or grew up in Texas. To latch onto those surface details is to completely miss the point. "Boyhood" is about how time eludes all of us. It's about all the events that occur while we grow up, big or little, and how those events wind up defining us and make us who we are. It's a film that marvels at the passage of time and attempts to figure out the purpose behind all of it. And what's scary is the possibility that there's absolutely no purpose to this at all. That we grow up from children to adults, but we're really always children, deep down inside. Why do we become "adults"? What's the point of this crazy life anyway? Boyhood has these questions, but it makes no attempts to answer them because they are unanswerable questions. Still, they are worth asking, they're worth pondering about. And I will be thinking about "Boyhood" for a long, long time.
Well, it's almost February of 2015 and, now that I have finally caught up on all the movies I wanted to see, it's time for me to do my year-end list. 2014 was a crazy year for me and looks like 2015 could be just as crazy, but I'm happy to tell you that KenonCinema is celebrating its five year anniversary this year. It's been a wild ride and while my blogging has been more sporadic in the past year, I don't plan on slowing down anytime soon. I hope I'm still doing this in 2020!
So, back to the list. This was incredibly difficult to put together. Seriously. Perhaps the hardest year-end list I had to do on this blog. What I decided to do this year is to expand this to 20 films instead of 15 or 10. It was way too hard to just do 10. Even when I expanded to 15, I was still not happy. It just had to be 20 this year. No other way around it. But, I've seen everything I wanted to see so I'm ready. I'm ready to dive into the incredible year that was 2014 and share my list with you.
So let's get on with it!
Honorable Mentions (in a lesser year, these would definitely get in the top 20) :
They Came Together, Mr. Turner, Blue Ruin, The Theory of Everything, Edge of Tomorrow, Frank, Snowpiercer, and Foxcatcher.
Most unfairly maligned movies of the year that I wish to give shout-outs to:
Godzilla (Didn't make my list, but I greatly enjoyed it.)
Noah (a wonderfully weird film, may have made the list if I saw it a 2nd time)
And now the list... for real!
20. Guardians of the Galaxy
Director: James Gunn
If not for the weak villains and a rote third act, "Guardians of the Galaxy" could have been the superhero classic we've all been waiting for. But hey, it's still an incredibly entertaining ride with a terrific cast and there are several moments within the film that genuinely thrilled me. James Gunn deserves a ton of credit for finding a way to embed his vision inside the massive machine that is the Marvel Universe. It's a superhero film with its own funky personality. I dig it.
19. A Most Wanted Man
Director: Anton Corbijn
Knowing that this was Phillip Seymour Hoffman's final starring role definitely makes "A Most Wanted Man" a much different viewing experience than normal. But it's even harder to process Hoffman's death, while watching this film, because you can clearly tell that he was still at the top of his game. His character, Gunther, carries a sadness and world-weariness to him. He's been in the espionage game for a long time now and you can feel his frustration with constantly being undermined at every turn. It all builds up to an unforgettable finale that will leave you frustrated---and that's exactly the point. "A Most Wanted Man" is a smart, well-crafted spy thriller that's not easy to swallow... for multiple reasons.
18. The LEGO Movie
Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
It's still amazing how directors Lord and Miller were able to make "The LEGO Movie" this good. A movie based on toys should never reach this level of excellence and yet, here we are. They didn't just create a movie that's hilarious and incredibly appealing to both kids and adults, they also made it look easy. "The LEGO Movie" has a balls-to-the-wall zaniness to it that doesn't let up throughout its entire running time, but what's even better is that this movie actually has something meaningful to say about childhood and growing up. It's hilarious, it's fun, it's silly, it's... oddly inspiring? Absolutely.
17. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Matt Reeves
You don't start to realize how basic of a film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is until you start watching "Dawn." How many times do we see sequels attempt to outdo their predecessor by going "bigger" and failing miserably? Well, "Dawn" goes bigger, effortlessly succeeding the previous film by miles. "Dawn" is so wonderfully complex and richly thematic for a Hollywood blockbuster, often blurring the lines between which species is more violent and barbaric. By the time Koba charges towards the humans while riding a horse and firing a machine gun, I was in cinematic heaven. It sounds silly, and it should be silly, but goddamnit, it worked. It all worked.
16. A Most Violent Year
Director: JC Chandor
I cringe whenever I see "A Most Violent Year" get described as a gangster film. Not even close. There are gangsters in the film, sure, but they're not the focal point here. Instead, JC Chandor has crafted an engrossing story about a man in charge of an oil company, trying his best to remain clean and legit in spite of the violence and corruption that surrounds New York City circa 1981. It's both a morality tale and a critique of the American dream. What does it take to get to the top, beating out your competitors in the process? In this world, it's almost impossible unless you get your hands dirty. Or bloody. "A Most Wanted Man" is about a cautious man who tries so hard to do everything right, but he lives in a city where that's just not possible. Watching that struggle unfold is incredibly compelling to watch.
15. 22 Jump Street
Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
2014 really was a breakout year for Lord and Miller. With both "The LEGO Movie" and "22 Jump Street," they were given incredibly difficult tasks and still knocked each one out of the park. I'd argue "22 Jump Street" is an even tougher task given how many comedy sequels have failed in the past. But the brilliance of "22 Jump Street" is that it's actually a parody of "bad comedy sequels" and the film gets every detail right while still managing to work on its own merits. Plus, the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is just undeniable. The spark they created in the first film carries over perfectly to the sequel and the film just made me laugh from beginning to end. Here's to many more Jump Street movies!... just kidding.
14. Whiplash
Director: Damien Chazelle
Generally speaking, when a movie premieres at Sundance and a bunch of buzz surrounds it, you don't expect it to have brass balls. "Whiplash" has brass balls. It features two fiery performances: one from Miles Teller, and the other is from JK Simmons. JK Simmons has been getting most the credit for the success of this film, deservedly so, but Miles Teller definitely holds his own. His character, Andrew, will stop at nothing to become the best jazz drummer he can be. Not even a car crash can stop him. Terence Fletcher (Simmons) pushes Andrew to his very limits. Together, the two establish a very, very unhealthy relationship. One that benefits and fuels Terence's ego, but could very well be ruining Andrew's life. "Whiplash" asks, what does it take to be truly great? Then turns that question onto its head.
13. Calvary
Director: John Michael McDonagh
It's downright shameful how little attention Brendan Gleeson has received for his wonderful performance as Father James in "Calvary." Gleeson has been such a great character actor for so long; he's proved his comedic chops in "In Bruges" and "The Guard," but "Calvary" shows that when it comes to drama, he can hang with the best of him. There's a sadness and a darkness to Father James that's heightened even further when his life is threatened in the beginning of the film. "Calvary" is a film about a man who tries to find a way to make amends with a world that seems to have no use for him. This is some really powerful, moving stuff.
12. Two Days, One Night
Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
For each of its 90 minutes, you can feel Sandra's (Marion Cotillard) struggle in "Two Days, One Night". Here is a woman who's just been through an intense bout with depression. She's healthy now, she's ready to go back to work. But her bosses have given their employers a very difficult, unfair ultimatum: get a bonus and fire Sandra, or keep Sandra and get no bonus. It's incredible how the Dardennes brothers are able to take these simple plots and make them into something so layered and profound. Sandra has to find each of her co-workers and ask them to keep her job. It's a laborious process that just gets more and more difficult as the film goes along. By the end, while Sandra doesn't get the triumph you'd expect her to get, she still manages to walk away with her dignity in tact, and you can't help but feel proud for her.
11. Locke
Director: Steven Knight
Holy shit, this film. It still blows me away just thinking about it. Eighty-four minutes of Tom Hardy driving in a car and we get a movie that's this compelling and tense. Writer/director Steven Knight sets up the situation as simply as possible, then slowly adds more and more details to this character and his situation until you realize that this is a man that's on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. He makes a choice in the beginning of the film to turn left or turn right, and it's a decision that forever changes his life. I was following the movie along pretty nicely, but it's when Ivan Locke starts looking in his rearview mirror, having imaginary conversations with his dead father, that's when I was sold on the film forever. "Locke" truly is a demented film, in all the best ways.
10. Obvious Child
Director: Gillian Robespierre
There is a warmth to "Obvious Child" that radiates even if it's shot in NYC in the middle of winter. Jenny Slate gives a breakthrough performance as Donna Stern. She showcases both comedic and dramatic ability with equal grace and it's through her performance that the film is able to come across as naturalistic even if it does have familiar romantic-comedy tropes. Donna Stern is faced with a decision that millions of women have had to face before, a decision that thousands of women are faced with everyday. So often, in movies, only one side of this story gets depicted, but "Obvious Child" boldly goes the other way. Donna will have an abortion and her life will go on. Will there be regrets? Will she always be asking "what if"? Perhaps. But this is not a decision that defines her and it's not a decision that defines this movie. The movie keeps its lo-fi romantic-comedy tone in spite of this dark subject matter, and that's why it works so wonderfully. An excellent debut from Robespierre and, as for Jenny Slate, I'm completely sold. I will see anything that she does next, she's that good in this movie.
9. The Immigrant
Director: James Gray
Marion Cotillard has one of the most cinematic faces in movies today. There's just something so striking about her face that I can't look away. I'm captivated. And she gives a captivating performance here as Ewa, who's fresh off the boat from Poland, and hopes to have a happy life with her sister in the United States. That all changes once she catches the eye of Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix). While she waits in line with her sister on Ellis Island, her sister has been diagnosed with a lung disease and Ewa's nearly deported. Bruno saves her from deportation, but it comes at a cost. Throughout the entire film, Ewa has one goal: find her sister, save her sister. She goes through a whirlwind of emotions as she's forced into prostitution, but she never loses sight of that goal. Cotillard gives one of my favorite performances of the year and she's filmed beautifully in this film, which has that same brownish hue that's reminiscent of the flashback scenes in "The Godfather Part II." That's quite the comparison, I know, but "The Immigrant" is very much its own beast altogether.
James Gray has made a little name for himself with his films. They each have a very formal, classic structure with plots that are very much straight-forward but rich in theme, character, and atmosphere. "The Immigrant" feels like a culmination of all his previous efforts. He has topped himself, without a doubt. I can't wait to see where he goes from here.
8. Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
We get so many terrible third-rate thrillers, year after year, that when a movie like "Gone Girl" comes out, it's a real treasure. Fincher's been making top notch thrillers and dramas for over two decades now, but he's never been so devilishly funny and playful as he is with this film. My first viewing of "Gone Girl," my heart was in my throat when the twist came. Second time around was when I was really able to appreciate the thrill of it all. From the meticulously detailed police procedural of the first half to the batshit craziness of the second half, there's just so much to love and cherish about this film. At first, I was put off by the shift in tone halfway through, but I really came around when I saw it again. "Gone Girl" is really the best of both Fincher worlds. These days, no one crafts a procedural or a violent pulpy thriller the way he does, and we get both sides of him in this film. It's a marvel of craft and filmmaking and I enjoy every minute of it.
And yes, this is a funny movie. Perhaps Fincher's funniest. I've read so many people's complaints about how this film ends, but when I watched those scenes again, those are funniest scenes of the film. Darkly funny, but funny nonetheless. Rosamund Pike delivers a performance that should be getting her all the major awards, but that's not happening for some reason. Ben Affleck finally finds a role that we can all say that he's perfect for. Who knew that "smug douche who's hated by the media" would be the type of role Ben Affleck would be able to nail? Well, I guess we all did, but would you figure he'd be this entertaining to watch? Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit... it astounds me how perfectly cast this movie is.
7. Ida
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
No film that came out in 2014 was as perfectly shot as "Ida." That's a fact. There's a reason why this little Polish film managed to steal a Best Cinematography nomination at the Oscars. The shot compositions are works of art. Everything is framed just right. "Ida" is just this little 80-minute black-and-white, quiet, unassuming little film about an aspiring nun that uncovers some dark truths about the family she comes from. Similar to "Calvary," this film deeply explores its main character's devotion to God, but in "Ida," despite how dark this movie gets at times, Ida's devotion feels comforting and life-affirming. Despite all she's learned about her background and the new experiences she has outside the nunnery, her decision to go back and become a nun somehow feels like the right one. In many ways, "Ida" is a masterwork.
6. Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
In the midst of the film's goofiness and overall drugged out haziness, it's easy to miss how "Inherent Vice" is really a mournful lamentation for the times that have passed. Doc Sportello clings onto those times desperately because that's better than facing the reality of the times. In 1970, the promise of peace, free love, fun drugs, and happiness quickly transformed into fantasy, and the transformation was swift and brutal. "Inherent Vice" attempts to uncover why this transformation took place, and it's also a hilariously confusing detective noir, featuring great scene after great scene. I can easily see myself watching this one over and over when it comes out on home video.
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Director: Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson has been building towards "The Grand Budapest Hotel" throughout his entire career. With each film he's made, his characters have become more specific and his worlds have become more detailed. He's gotten to the point where he has no qualms about inventing an entire country, then inventing that country's history. What makes "Grand Budapest Hotel" such a resounding success is that it marries Wes Anderson's quirky, dollhouse style with real, legitimate poignancy. Gustave H.'s gracious hospitality is something that no longer exists anywhere else, according to the film. He represents a civilized society that's long eluded this country, and the world that surrounds the Republic of Zubrowka just continues to get worse with no end in sight. Decades later, the Budapest Hotel still stands, it's a shell of its former self. Gustave's former lobby boy, Zero, has remained the owner of the hotel for all these years, clinging on to memories that are now far in the past. The movie opens and begins on present day, where the hotel has been torn down. At that point, it's just a ghost and the only remaining proof of its existence is inside a book. Wes Anderson has created another "Wes Anderson film," sure, but it's one that is so laced with meaning and has such an incredible lightness in its style, it's like a tasty confection. And oh yeah, it's pretty goddamn hilarious as well.
4. Selma
Director: Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay was put in an unenviable position. Her last three films were these very small, low-budget indie dramas. The buzz she received surrounding her previous film, "Middle of Nowhere," was what landed her in the director's chair of "Selma." She went from a $200,000 budget to $20 million and she was making the first theatrical film that depicted Martin Luther King, Jr. That's a tall order in of itself. Then, you consider how tired the "biopic" genre has become in the past decade, and you realize the success of this film is even more impressive.
What makes "Selma" so great? What does it do right where other biopics go wrong? Because it sticks with a specific time period in MLK's life. Instead of the film spanning 20 years, it spans a few months. The march from Selma to Montgomery was such a crucial period of King's life and, together with screenwriter Paul Webb, DuVernay nails the complexities that surrounds the racial climate of the time. Nobody was perfect. The march succeeded but not without a few casualties along the way, and in the end, there was still so much that had to be done. Much has been made about the patriotism that's present in "American Sniper," but no movie that's come out in 2014, or in the past few years, has made me more proud to be American than "Selma." This country is not perfect, far from it. But change can happen. We can get better. We can make a difference. MLK did not embark on this Selma march alone, nor was it only African-Americans that marched with him. Thousands of Americans from various different backgrounds all came down to Alabama to march with Martin Luther King, Jr. Now that's patriotic.
3. Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy
What's great about my top 3 movies of 2014, and really my top 6, is that there's really nothing like these movies. They each bring something new to the table. In the case of "Nightcrawler," comparisons have been made to "Network," but really this film is very much its own entity. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance videographer that tapes crime scenes and submits the footage to news networks. Thanks to the cutthroat approach to his job, and his morally questionable ethics, Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) continues to rise to the top of his profession. And in turn, "Nightcrawler" becomes a searing indictment of the news media. Instead of coming off as overly didactic, however, the film takes a darkly comic approach to the subject matter and the results are thrilling. It all leads to a chaotic car chase scene that's one of the best action sequences that I've seen all year. "Nightcrawler" really delivers on every possible front imaginable, and it's exciting to watch an actor like Jake Gyllenhaal fully realize his talents and show us all a side of himself that we've never seen before. Kudos to Jake, and an extra kudos to Dan Gilroy, who penned one hell of a screenplay and has crafted one of the strongest directorial debuts since... well since his brother Tony Gilroy made "Michael Clayton" seven years ago. Man, those Gilroys are talented.
2. Under the Skin
Director: Johnathan Glaser
"Under the Skin" is a film that gives absolutely nothing away through dialogue. If you want to follow and understand this movie, you have to treat it as truly a visual medium. That's what I love about "Under the Skin." It's a purely cinematic film that's also disturbing, gripping, maddening, and sexy. Scarlett Johansson plays an alien who preys on random men, who are captivated by her beauty, and she collects their bodies for... meat? That part is left to the imagination, really. Like the film's title though, it's not about the surface of the film, it's about what lies underneath. "Under the Skin" is an examination and critique of the male gaze; it's about how it feels to be preyed as a woman, and it's about taking that power back. "Under the Skin" is an art film that excels on all fronts, but not just because of its themes, it's also very compelling to watch and I'm sure it'll only become more compelling on subsequent viewings.
1. Boyhood
Director: Richard Linklater
So here we are. Yes, isn't this predictable? How many times has Boyhood been #1 on lists like these? So much so that it's actually received quite a bit of backlash over the past few weeks. Look, it's not Boyhood's fault that it's received this much attention. Linklater filmed the movie over the course of 12 years. That was shocking to people when the movie premiered at Sundance last year, but now people recite that fact in a sarcastic manner.
Nobody has done this before. Have people thought about doing it before? Sure, but they didn't and Linklater did. "Boyhood" has so much more going on than its gimmick. It has a story. The word "boyhood" has thrown some people off, but this film is just as much about Mason as it is about his mother, sister, and father. It's about family. It's about how a single mother managed to complete her education while simultaneously raising two children. It's about a father who was not mature enough to raise kids when he had Mason and Samantha, but over the course of time, he eventually does grow up and becomes the father that Mason's mother always wanted him to be. It's just unfortunate that his transformation happened too late.
And screw it, I identified with this film, I really did. It spoke to me in ways no other film ever has. It's not a direct mirror of my life and I am quite different than Mason, but there's an emotional truth to "Boyhood" that I very much identified with, and there are moments in the film that feel as if Richard Linklater was peaking into my life.
But "Boyhood" doesn't only work if you identify with the film, it's not a film that's saying "this is what everyone's childhood was like." That's not the case at all. Obviously, not every child grew up with divorced parents, or had just one sister, or grew up in Texas. To latch onto those surface details is to completely miss the point. "Boyhood" is about how time eludes all of us. It's about all the events that occur while we grow up, big or little, and how those events wind up defining us and make us who we are. It's a film that marvels at the passage of time and attempts to figure out the purpose behind all of it. And what's scary is the possibility that there's absolutely no purpose to this at all. That we grow up from children to adults, but we're really always children, deep down inside. Why do we become "adults"? What's the point of this crazy life anyway? Boyhood has these questions, but it makes no attempts to answer them because they are unanswerable questions. Still, they are worth asking, they're worth pondering about. And I will be thinking about "Boyhood" for a long, long time.
Monday, January 26, 2015
I rented, I watched, I review: CHEF; MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN; WE ARE THE BEST!
Chef
You don't have to be a serious film fan to know Jon Favreau's filmography. The man directed "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2." He wrote and acted in "Swingers." He's also behind films such as "Elf" and "Cowboys & Angels." His background is indie film, but throughout the past half-decade, he's mostly been immersed in the big-budget blockbuster. If you notice, though, he was not the man behind "Iron Man 3." Why is that? Why did he step down from making that movie? Why would he follow-up a big blockbuster like "Cowboys & Angels" with a movie like "Chef"? Did he completely lose his mojo after "Cowboys & Angels" and now "Chef" is his way of getting that mojo back?
If you're interested in having any of these questions answered, then guess what? This is the movie for you! "Chef" is a very, very thinly-veiled metaphor for Jon Favreau's struggles with the studio system and his critics. How thinly-veiled? Well, Favreau actually stars in the film as Chef Carl Casper. Chef Carl is tired of serving the same old stuff and wants to put some art into his food, but the owner of the restaurant only cares about money and forces Carl to do things his way instead. Does that sound familiar?
Fed up with his job, Carl quits his job at the restaurant. With the urging of his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), they both take a flight to Miami with their son Percy, basically so that Carl can get his groove back. In Miami, he reintroduces himself to the local food there that originally inspired him to become a chef. While there, he decides to open up a food truck that serves Cuban-influenced cuisine and enlists the help of Percy as well as his former sous chef (John Leguizamo) to tour the southern half of the United States, serving food along the way, until they finally make it back to LA.
There are so many things about "Chef" that are so damn improbable, it's hard to keep track. Apparently, a heated exchange between Chef Carl and a top food critic in Los Angeles becomes so popular on the internet that it goes viral and Carl gets a lot of followers on Twitter as a result. Thanks to the followers, people are lining up in droves to eat his Cuban sandwiches because apparently this heated exchange has made Carl popular in far-away cities such as New Orleans and Austin, Texas.
Many movies nowadays treat social networking and the internet pretty awkwardly, and luckily "Chef" doesn't get too bogged down in that. Still, the idea that this random chef in Los Angeles would become this popular is just silly. You have to suspend your disbelief for the second half of the movie because it is just pure fantasy.
And yet, Leguizamo is fun. Emjay Anthony, who plays Percy, actually has great chemistry with Jon Favreau. Sofia Vergara isn't annoying as usual. Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Oliver Platt are all fun to watch. Despite the second half being totally implausible, it's actually where the movie saves itself from being a complete disaster. The first half of the movie is just way too self-referential and embarrassingly meta, once they finally break out the food truck half-way through, it's like a breath of fresh air. Seriously, everything before the food truck scenes should have lasted maybe 15 minutes.
It's weird though, right? Because, the second half of the movie is basically about Jon Favreau deciding to write and direct an independent movie so he could go back to his roots. The second half of "Chef" is about Jon Favreau making "Chef." Luckily, that last hour of the film is light and enjoyable, or else this whole movie could've turned out to be the most self-indulgent bullshit ever made. But yes, this is a nice little movie and I had a good time watching most of it. And hey, maybe Favreau will now stick to independent films since he has much more fun making them... no wait, he's currently directing "The Jungle Book," a big-budget Walt Disney film... nevermind.
Grade: C+
We Are the Best!
Bobo, Klara, Hedvig are three adolescent girls growing up in Stockholm, Sweden in 1982. All three have their various issues with their parents, school, classmates, and even themselves. Bobo and Klara get made fun of in school because they have short hair. Nobody even talks to Hedvig at lunch. Yet, these three girls manage to bond together through their love of music. The punk scene in Sweden might be in decline, but Klara and Bobo are so insistent that it's not dead, that they have decided to form a punk rock band of their own, despite not knowing how to play instruments. Watching lonely, sad Hedvig play guitar on stage during a talent show, they realize her talents would make the band complete.
But once they get together, it's not really about becoming a successful band or anything. Their punk rock band is really a means for Bobo, Klara, and Hedvig to channel their feelings and pent-up frustration. Klara is very conscious and weary about what's happening in the world around her, Bobo looks at herself in the mirror and doesn't think she's pretty, Hedvig's mother is a devout Christian and seems to have her daughter on a leash.
I love how three-dimensional these young girls are. I love how it sorta digs into the gender politics that goes into rock music. The trio thinks of themselves as a just a band, not a "girl band." They just want to rock out, but nobody seems to want to listen.
Director Lukas Moodysson crafts the film in a way that feels personal and intimate, as if we're eavesdropping into their conversations. It's almost as if we're not supposed to be in the room with them when they're hanging out together, but we're there anyway. When it's just the three of them, they show a side of themselves that they don't show to their classmates or parents. "We Are the Best!" is about how difficult it is to grow up as a teenager, especially for a girl. Especially if that girl isn't deemed pretty by society's standards. It manages to deal with all these issues while being a really enjoyable, often funny, little romp. While it may be a bit slight overall, I really did get a kick out of this movie.
Grade: B
Here's the good news about "Men, Women & Children": director Jason Reitman has officially bottomed out. So, he can only go up from here, right?
I hope so. For the most part, I'm a big fan of Reitman's first four films ("Thank You For Smoking", "Juno", "Up in the Air", "Young Adult"), but he has fallen off in a huge way with his last two efforts with "MW&C" being the biggest offender of them all.
"Men, Women & Children" is a hyperlink story about high school students and their parents, all of whom are addicted to the internet. Reitman takes the odd approach of letting this film play out as a 100% dead serious drama and it's a shockingly misguided and wrongheaded move on his part. The characters are lifeless, the drama itself is laughably melodramatic, and the film's linked by shots of the Voyager from outer space, coupled with the oh-so-unnecessary narration of Emma Thompson that's supposed to tell how insignificant we're all are in the grand scheme of things and how we lose real, human connections by getting so sucked into these laptops and handheld devices.
This movie is just a series of bad notes. These characters make so many idiotic leaps of logic that you'll want to punch the screen several times. Jason Reitman takes this overall approach of "the concerned parent" and the whole thing just feels like a giant pandering mess.
With his first four films, it was his lead characters who were the sardonic know-it-alls. With "Men, Women & Children," it's Reitman who's the know-it-all and he treats the audience as if we're a bunch of assholes. The movie's adapted from a novel by the same name so maybe it's not his fault, but he injects very little personality into each member of this ensemble cast. These characters, especially the teenagers, barely talk or act like normal human beings. They all make series of bad decisions because... the internet is bad. The movie's so simplistic in its approach and the plotting is so terrible that you'd think you were watching a lousy Lifetime movie.
Such a shame considering this wonderful, eclectic cast. Jennifer Garner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Adam Sandler, Ansel Elgort, JK Simmons, Dennis Haysbert, Kaitlyn Dever. It's really a great cast that does their best given the material, unfortunately they've all been wasted. I was very much in shock by how bad this turned to be, I didn't know Jason Reitman had this in him. I worry about what the future holds for this once-promising filmmaker. I'm not even mad about this movie, I'm just bummed.
Grade: F
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