THE AVENGERS (2012) movie review

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As a little girl, I dawned the red pillowcase, diaper-pinned to my t-shirt, and ran the kitchen declaring that I was Wonder Woman. Day 2, same cape: She-Ra. Then Supergirl. My brother was He-Man, Spiderman, Superman, Batman…the classics. What we both would have given for a broader knowledge of the Marvel world.

Thor wields his trusty hammer! Iron Man boasts his metal wit. The Hulk explodes with anger.
Captain America leads the charge as the eldest and fittest of the group. It looks like an ad for a fitness place. Scarlett Jo, as Black Widow, could potentially teach the best kickboxing classes, if not Zumba. Hawkeye would be the yoga instructor. He’s the perching observer with great aim. Fury could…check people in with his eye patch and brunette model assistant. Why was she there?

Phil is a favorite with his kindly voice and hero worship. I get that he represents each of us = he is the “every man,” but I was a little lost on his sacrifice making all the difference.  Oh, Loki tries to escape his Daddy issues but cannot.

Despite these few idiosyncrasies, I do believe that this film lived up to the hype and won fan fav of the year. It’s not just the ever-fans who paid to see this. This is a film for all as it can boast good good-guy fun, a clean rep, and enough explosions to keep us jumping, cheering, and conquering evil. From one pillowcase caper to another, see this showstopper and walk away as I did: feeling like I could run faster, jump higher.

WAR HORSE (2012) movie review

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Spielberg, no doubt hoped for an epic. I’m sure that equestrians and fans of Spielbergian battle sequences will find this film perfect. A trusted, film-loving friend of mine dedicated herself to 3 viewings of this film in the theaters. She loves all things Cumberbatch and Hiddleston. Agreed. They are lovely. If only I could dream in such cinematography. Gorgeous in every frame, of course.

I however, found it lacking in story and character development…possibly my two great musts in film love. It was hard to empathize with the horse. The facial expressions were hard to read. Perhaps a method actor?

Other characters came and went so quickly, we barely had time to buy in. Most seemed interesting, but doomed. And, all were tragically doomed.

WWI feels redundant at best, neck deep in trench muck. Not even the great creator of Band of Brothers could make this war seem a worthy front for fighting.

One scene stood out from the rest, making a moment of life-changing film watching for me. It was worth the rental and the whole watch for me. The horse is tangled in barbed wire between the two front lines. A momentary truce is called, white-flagged to save the horse. Two soldiers, one German and one British, meet and greet and chatter congenially while working together to set the horse free. They wish each other well and walk back into battle reminding the other to keep his head down. The beauty of this moment, of peace and good will, mingles in the odd confusion of duty and conflict between brothers at war.

THE VOW (2012) movie review

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Only an original or neatnik knock-off Nicholas Sparks could tempt us into the theaters wooing us like a candyman into the heart of chick flick central. Does it end well? No. Is it well acted? Not really. Does Channing Tatum take his shirt off? Yes. Yes he does.

So we drive shamelessly to theaters to tempt and tantalize and torment ourselves with lies that one completely selfless, artistic, immutable, soft-spoken, generous, heterosexual, charming, chivalrous, chiseled, constant, all-loving, perfect man exists for each of us off-screen.

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (2012) movie review

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EXTREME  stream of consciousness:

thrust, pain, 9 – 11, wander, wonder, fall and falling, alone to wander, never swing, sell, consume, buy, drink, speak! scream, play, sell, cry, dust, play, spell, chart, graph, organize, know, hear, listen, speak, spell, sell, know, known, No.

LOUD  contrasts:

I stop in NYC on a busy street and hear a buzz of voices, traffic, horns, businesses, etc. There is no real quiet in the city. It’s the price you pay for city life. Some love it.

The blunt contrast is my Uncle’s farm on the prairie in Minnesota. Stop and stand there in the tall grass of that dark earthy place and stay long enough, you’ll hear the wind moving the grass, crickets, and perhaps the distant freeway.

I think this film is about Asperger’s syndrome. It could have coincided with any tragedy in a boy’s life, but in this case, 9 – 11 in New York offers setting, a mere marker on a map to anchor the boy’s quest for illumination.

INCREDIBLE performances:

I’m shocked that the boy, Thomas Horn, (winner of the 2012 Kids Week on Jeopardy) wasn’t recognized by the academy for this genius performance. He shows the inner struggle perfectly – the irony of the why in grief. Responses to grief are as unique in execution as speech: individualistic in  dialects, accents, cultural biases, colloquial norms.  We do not have answers for questions like why people die and why it hurts. We cannot explain it to adults, let alone children. We are all learning how to help one another. And young Oskar Schell, despite the unique way that he sees the world, carrying his tambourine into the living rooms of strangers, will not find answers either.

CLOSE-ups:

This film plays like a hymn. Four or five verses with a similar melody, without choruses to break up the consistency. It perhaps needed a chorus or two. The consistency of tension and grief in this film is exhausting. I suppose it enforces a new empathy for a syndrome that requires monotony, routine, pattern, and sameness. I do love the scenes with Max von Sydow. He is precious, beloved.

My favorite verse in this hymn is a scene that sums up the whole film.  The boy visits Viola Davis, asks for iced coffee, and throws out elephant facts as she cries. He takes her picture even after she says no.

I love parallel moments in film, and when he finally breaks and asks a stranger for forgiveness, I am broken too. This film does have the power to move people, to help us see strangers as people of stories and loss and hope, like us. It helps us relate to those we cannot hope to understand. It give us hope to see and swing and laugh and live another day.

 

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000) movie review

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Infantile cravings, though innate, can overcome and potentially destroy if unrestrained by maturity and self-control. The hunger pangs of this film by Darren Aronofsky grow beyond craving to obsession. As with any drug, a lingering pleasure, a momentary satistfaction is reached. One exhales only to take in new air, new breath of disappointment in a high as yet again unfelt, unreached. Intake. In. Take. Take. Take. Take in.

Seizing. Seizing again. This film is a seizure-worthy kaleidoscoping journey through addiction and self-destruction.

Four stories intertwine, lifting and falling, hushed then screaming. They emote, but are guarded. They lie so constantly that they can’t decipher truth. Jared Leto, son front and center, dreams of a middle-to-upper class life and believes that selling drugs can get him there. It’s his get-rich-quick scheme. That’s all. His best friend can help him get there, as he’s well connected. His girlfriend, Jennifer Connolly, loves him dearly, but when push comes to shove, will offer her body in exchange for the drug she loves more. Leto’s mother, played by Ellen Burstyn , finds herself possessed with a vision of television fame, which claims her as she tries a simple prescription weight-loss drug to melt away the ever-present desire for food. She is always hungry, and her constant need to feed is quickly replaced with pills. If one works, more must work better. If one hit works, more must be better. Just try a little. But more is never better. Cravings replace longings and turn to obsession in each story. All four end as they came into the world: in fetal position clutching all that they have left and believing the lie that they are going to be okay.

If our lives are our personal requiems, we require many voices. The music crescendos with conflict and slows to harmonious tinkles when peace returns, if peace ever returns.

This film is one of dissonance and hunger. Death, the innevitable outcome. Methods in this case involve meth, heroine, loneliness, pride, and greed. See this film if you are ever tempted by drugs. You’ll hate the idea, the constant craving pains, the need on replay, the ache for more. This film exhausts, distresses. I can’t watch it again. I had to watch some of it in fast forward. No amount of love can replace the gutteral instinct to use. And this film makes drug use of every kind despicable with only one outcome: suffering. Beware: the journey is very real and disturbing. Violence, drug use, sex, nudity – all in the rating and possibly underplayed by the “R.”

HUNGER GAMES (2012) movie review

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Reality TV becomes social political commentary in the 2012 film Hunger Games.  It’s a bruital Truman Show with show hosts, sponsors, and producers ruling like a mythological godhead. Then like in the Gladiatorial arena, the thumb lifts selecting life or death.

No. I haven’t read the books. Now I don’t think I can. I almost walked out of the theater three times. There I sat, knowing conceptually that the games were a Shirley Jackson-esque Lottery ending in murder, but the promise of a “bloodbath” was sure to be fulfilled and suddenly more than I could take. It felt like seeing Clint Eastwood‘s Million Dollar Baby. I knew it was about boxing, but I’d forgotten until I was sitting there in the theater that girls would be punching each other in the face. Certainly, the director handled the carnage in Hunger Games like a Bourne or Bond film with fast hand-held camera shaking around the action followed by a montage of dead children. Dead children. Children murdering children. That’s what this film is about. I’m wrecked, disgusted, befuddled. Why the hype? Why the encouragement? Why will we all take time to see this? From concept to box office, however, this has not been a hard sell. Why?

It released at midnight, and I saw it less than 24 hours later. As I’d hoped, the theater was full of fans, the best and worst crowd to see a movie with because they know what is coming and because they know what is coming. I heard anticipatory sobs before pivotal deaths happened.

Okay. So, it’s brilliant. It’s a could-be post-apocalyptic America. It’s the French Revolution. The commoners must rise up against the aristocracy. Big Brother must not win despite his sci-fi magic dogs and hallucinogenic killer bees. So, the people must fight. Sacrifices will be made. A hero must rise up. The chosen hero is Katniss Everdeen. She will be a symbol of relief and freedom. She cheated the games – a true tribute. I love that she only fights defensively and ever out of mercy. We love her first for breaking small rules, for showing skills with a bow, for loving her sister, for parenting her family, for surviving. We love her would-be boyfriend for loving her, for his beauty. Oh, that Hemsworth family…

Casting is possibly perfect. Woody Harrelson endears himself like he hasn’t since Cheers. His character redeems the story – a true mentor who knows well the special world of the arena, a true coach and friend. I like that his character is messy, honest, crude, and trustworthy.

Lenny Kravitz steps in as the stunner with heart.Stanley Tucci, as usual, can do no wrong. Wes Bentley‘s facial hair stands alone. I love him. Well done, costuming and make-up.

Even young Josh Hutcherson stands out as a precious Peeta. I believe that he loves her and always has. Lovely. And, Jennifer Lawrence remains the new it girl.

 

Donald Sutherland, as always, gives the cast credibility. I’d cast him as F.D.R. someday, the beloved father and strong politician. These characteristics make Sutherland a viable villain as well. He calmly tends his roses as we figure out that he‘s the thumb calling life or death. He’s the dictator offering a socialist hope while disguising a communist regime. The quintessential line of the film is his. He comments that the only weapon greater than fear is hope. Katniss represents the hope for the common people, those still starving to death in prison camps beyond the gates of the golden city. War will be the inevitable outcome of these Hunger Games, but I hope the war doesn’t manifest off-screen in evermore gratuitous youth violence.

JOHN CARTER movie review (2012)

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Dedicated to Steve Jobs, this high budget, high concept film essentially offers another cowboy meets aliens film with far less gimmick but a lot more Disney. It feels a bit like Return of the Jedi meets Prince if Persia meets Avatar. Watch for legitimate Jedi allusions. It was a blast. Decent writing – its far cleverer than I presumed, funny and pretty classy.

Riggins returns as a warrior with nothing left but self interest and gold lust until one day…the inciting incident of this film transports you from High Noon to Tatooine.

This title role was originally created one hundred years ago as a sci-fi novel series. John Carter, as a character, is truly likable.

His strong female counterpart, though beautiful with a sultry dark voice, would be better cast as antagonist, or sister, or queen of hearts, or the one-scene seductress. The character feels monotone at best, but I think I’d fire her costume designer first. Another odd choice was the robed Mark Strong – classic bad guy since he dawned the cloak and angry eyes in the first Sherlock. He’s back, bald, still bitter, and holding all of the cards. Otherwise, casting was lovely from Cranston to Church, (as in Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame who plays Powell, a Civil War scoundrel, and Thomas Haden Church who voices one of the inhabitants of Mars).

Fortunately, the title role does for this film what he did for Friday Night Lights. He looks good, adds heart, and fights until he wins the day.

DOWNTON ABBEY – – TV Series (2010-2012)

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Pronounced “Dow’tn,” it’s a place and a people. This castle is the Crawley family home. The proper lines are drawn between the titled and the subordinate, and rarely in film or TV do the twain meet. Here at Downton, however, the lives of the separate sets intersect in all ways proper and improper.

Just give in already. Everyone, from your sister and your co-worker Jim to your friend’s great Aunt Ruby, has been telling you to watch it. This once small show about a large English estate and the hierarchy of its inhabitants has become a delightful pastime, another family to feel for, a set of characters that you don’t have to feel guilty for judging.

Cast perfectly, they all seem normal and somehow more tangible than most period characters. They are real people from a surreal time in history. Each lasting character has proven him or herself flawed in some way or another so we become kindred, drawn in.

We relate, celebrating  triumphs and weeping loss along with each one. Certainly some characters feel less so, almost cartoon, existing as entities completely evil or entirely good. And a few storylines wane exhaustive while others hold us, keep us paying for Netflix, keep us wondering if Matthew and Mary will ever figure it out.

Go ahead. Get sucked into Downton for a little while. You’ll see a different take on historical events like the sinking of the Titanic and WWI. You’ll gain perspective for a culture that we anglofiles already glean from and emulate. We know who we are. We woke up at 4am to watch the wedding. We care about the pomp and propriety. We long for a bit of that in our lives. But, when it comes down to it, we haven’t really decided which side of the estate we can see ourselves on. Would we bear the boredom, the censure, the responsibility of those who stand still to be dressed for dinner? Or, would we wear the worker greys, sweep the soot, and serve the food with snark and sass in each step up those creaky Downton steps.

Oscar Predictions 2012

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Confession: my Oscar picks rarely match the Academy’s choice winners. I can’t help it if I’m a sucker for the underdog. But, loving a loser in this case still means loving a nominee. Second runners up dodge with dignity but remain eternal favorites.

BEST ACTOR nods to Brad Pitt‘s tux,  but George Clooney should take it home for his distraught dad in The Descendants. Gary Oldman is still too creepy despite his beloved Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight. In the end, Jean Dujardin will accept in French for his perfect Gene Kelly joi de vivre in The Artist.

SUPPORTING ACTOR? Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn.

Though The Help will put up a good fight, this Oscar for BEST ACTRESS belongs to Michelle Williams for her Marilyn Monroe. And Jessica Chastain is up for playing my favorite character in The Help, but she should have been nom’d for Tree of Life.

It seems the true battle cry will rise up between the DIRECTORS – all deserving. The Artist Michel Hazanavicius, The Descendants Alexander Payne, Hugo Martin Scorsese, Midnight in Paris Woody Allen, The Tree of Life Terrence Malick.

Malick may not show, Payne may be all show, Allen would dance the jig if he got it, H will bring the dog along, but the night will belong to Scorsese.

Hugo might just take BEST PIC’s statue home. But I believe that all the feel-good films that fight or first will sit it out while the little, lower budget, love song of a silent film The Artist takes first.

It’s a good year for Oscars and a decent year in film. They open with the red carpet, and the show begins at 4pm, Feb. 26. Download a ballot and cast your votes, or get the Oscar App free this week.

THE ARTIST (2011) movie review

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I knew that I would love it. I had a feeling.

What I didn’t expect was the trick to the senses. All visual but so stunning that you focus on the characters, forgetting that they are colorless and silent and more reminiscent of Dorothy’s life pre-Oz. I assumed it would feel like Singin’ in the Rain, but this felt more like Life is Beautiful. You fall for characters while reading their lines on the screen. Movie magic indeed.

You have to listen with your eyes, and when a tinkling or buzz or clomp breaks the silence you are stunned – awakened by sound. You dream in film score now that you hear its beauty. Thank you, Ludovic Bource, for the original music of this film.

The Artist romances your senses, enabling empathy for an era of beauty almost forgotten: for flammable film reels, the glamor of the silver screen, of penciled in eyebrows and beauty marks, of stick-on-mustaches below twinkling eyes, of alert and responsive audiences, of characters who break the fourth wall until you feel kissed in your plush theater seat. The stars of this film: Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo enchant and entertain.  True stars. So, the brilliant and unsung Artist of this film is its creator: (Writer / Director) Michel Hazanavicius.