3 days, 3 reviews, 3 paragraphs

I've spent the weekend catching up on many of this year's Oscar contenders, here are my short and sweet reviews of 3 films still in theaters:

The King's Speech

This is a very, very British film starring Colin Firth as King George VI. His wife, the queen, is played by Helena Botham Carter who has proven that she is actually able to act in a role that isn't psychotic. I would love to see her continue to branch out from her typecasting because she really does have legitimate acting chops. All the actors in this film do a fantastic job, Colin Firth is definitely in contention with James Franco and Jesse Eisenberg this year for Best Actor (the Hollywood Foreign Press certainly agrees). Geoffery Rush's character of Lionel is one of the most entertaining character I've seen this year. The plot may deter some as it doesn't seem particularly exciting but give this film a chance. It is a legitimately interesting film with a great sense of humor about it.

Final Score: 9/10

Black Swan

I suspect a large percentage of the male viewing audience for this film will be drawn in by the promise of Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis' sex scene. I would say that that is unfortunate but at the very least it ensures a larger audience for this very good film. Aronofsky's signature style is present here once again, and you can have no doubt that this film was made by the same director of Requiem for a Dream. Unfortunately that ends up begging a comparison between the two – and Requiem is the better film. Natalie Portman proves herself here, showing that in the hands of a competent director (read: not George Lucas), she is able to act with the best of them. I was very impressed by her performance in this film and very pleased to see her win a Golden Globe tonight. Mila Kunis was also fantastic in her role and I hope to see her in more dramatic films. This is not a film about ballet, but its appearance as such will likely hurt its popularity.

Final Score: 8/10

The Fighter

2010 appears to be the year of great “based on a true story” films. The Fighter takes its place among others like The King's Speech, 127 Hours, and The Social Network. Being from New England – I particularly enjoyed how accurate the depictions of Lowell, MA were in this film. By accurate I of course mean as a town full of crack dens. Christian Bale and Melissa Leo both deserved their Golden Globe wins this evening as they both pull out great performances. Marky Mark does a good job in the main role but it is definitely his supporting cast who shine. Christian Bale is a joy to watch and is magnetic in his character, quite the improvement for a man famous for acting like a bat with throat cancer. There were better films this year but this was a great boxing film I'd definitely recommend.

Final Score: 8/10

If you want to see True Grit, it would be all right.

True Grit is the Coen Brother's latest film and the second adaption of the 1960s novel of the same name. The first film adaption starred John Wayne in his first Academy Award winning role, Jeff Bridges plays what was once Wayne's character in this film and he fills those shoes well.

The Story
True Grit follows a teenage girl, Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), on her quest to avenge her father's killing at the hands of a drifter named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). To this end, she hires a local marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), who has a reputation for taking no prisoners. After some initial...conflict.. they set off after Chaney, occasionally in the company of a Texas ranger, LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who plays the fool but is in fact quite good at what he does.

The Execution
Bridges, as usual, pulls out an excellent performance. I am of the opinion that any movie in which you watch Jeff Bridges stumble around drunkenly is well worth the price of admission no matter what happens in the rest of the film. The other actors are no slouches either. Steinfeld is a definite match for Bridges and it is no surprise that she has already been nominated for an award from the Screen Actors Guild. She fits the role like a glove. Matt Damon's performance and character were reminiscent of Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine in Inglorious Basterds, which I'm okay with. Both characters even butcher a Romance language in hilarious ways. Brolin has almost no screen time but he doesn't disappoint in the time he has.

The cinematography is clean and well done. Nothing extraordinary but it is good. The script is brilliant and full to the brim with comic relief. True to form, the Coen brothers tread a very fine line between comedy and drama and the film is better for it. Few directors can make a film that contains both this:

...and some truly draining emotional moments without there being any feeling of  mood whiplash. It all seems natural. Even the above character, while hilarious, never appears to be a complete departure from the film world.

There is nothing revolutionary about the film, but it is extremely well executed. The Coen brothers obviously have a love for Westerns and I hope that they continue making them. Go see True Grit, you won't regret it.

Final Score: 9/10

7 Favorite Films of 2010

I'm going to start this off with a disclaimer that there are very many films that were released in the past year that I have not had the chance to see. As such I feel unable to call this a "best of" list. Full disclosure, I've not yet seen the following films that have appeared on many other lists: Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, The King's Speech, True Grit (seeing later this weekend, plan to review), Black Swan (going to see as soon as I can), The Kids Are All Right, Waiting for Superman (pre-ordered DvD), or How to Train Your Dragon

That said, the following list can likely be taken with a grain of salt as a ranking of the BEST movies this year. I'm omitting quite a few for the simple fact that I'd either overlooked them, they were on limited release, or I was just too busy to ever see them. Despite this, none of the films I'm about to list are slouches by any stretch of the imagination and can definitely stand up as some of the best movies this year.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Based on the graphic novel by Brian O'Malley this was an extremely fun and quirky video-game inspired film from the very talented director, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). Michael Cera is back as Michael Cera, but thats not always a bad thing. Is it an Oscar worthy art film? Nah. Is it an extremely fun watch that is endlessly quotable? Yes. See it.

6. Kick-Ass
I've already reviewed this film earlier, and I stand by what I said about its brilliant subversions of clichés and non stop fun action. Its brutal, its fun, and it is punk. I still find myself quoting this movie. See it with some friends and you won't regret it.

5. Soul Kitchen
One more comedy film before getting into the "serious" films. This is a really fun German comedy from the director Fatih Akin. It is actually a 2009 film, but it didn't reach the states until this year so I'm going to include it. The film chronicles the life of a restaurant owner of Greek heritage living in Germany, its a wacky farcical comedy done well. Also: the soundtrack kicks some major ass.

4. Inside Job
This is a great documentary that will have you shaking in rage by the end. Details step by step how world finances basically went in the toilet in 2008. Very well done and despite being much longer than your average documentary seems to zip right by. It never gets boring.

3. Inception
Christopher Nolan's second best movie of his career (behind Memento). This is a man who has yet to make a particularly bad movie. I've expressed my issues with his Batman films but at the end of the day, when Batman Begins is the worst film on your resume you are doing something right. This is a completely absorbing mind-bending film and really the only problem I have with it is that its still too logical. With the endless possibilities of dream worlds there still seems to be too much structure and order. Either way though, its a great film.

BONUS, what do you get when you combine the acclaimed video game Psychonauts with Inception? Something amazing:

2. 127 Hours
Danny Boyle is another director who never seems to disappoint. It takes a lot of talent to pull off a film that is almost entirely set in one location with just one character without it become boring. Not only is that character in just one location, but they can't even move! Despite this, Danny Boyle's film never drops a beat. There is always something going on. James Franco is a real contender for an Oscar this year. You will leave the theater with two things: a new appreciation for life, and a profound fear of Scooby-Doo.

1. The Social Network
I was excited for this movie since the moment it was announced. David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, and Trent Reznor collaborating on the same film? It was like a dream come true. I was not disappointed. The screenplay is absolutely brilliant and all the actors did phenomenal jobs. It still pains me to say this... but Justin Timberlake should win Best Supporting Actor this year. He was that good. This film stands among the great biopics and in truth one of its only failings was that it was still a bit too nice to Mr. Zuckerberg. If you haven't seen it, go see it now.

Aaaand thats a wrap. I know I've made some Oscar predictions here, but I'll hold off on the rest until I've had a chance to catch up on some of the other movies that are causing a buzz among critics. Think I'm all wrong? Spot on? Need some tweaking? Feel free to comment.

Shutter Island: Doesn't Feel Like the First Time

Shutter Island is a movie that has received mixed reviews for one reason: its not a classic. Scorsese is in an uncomfortable position where every single movie he makes is expected to be a masterpiece of the medium. This doesn’t mean that Shutter Island is a bad movie, in fact its very good and higher quality than the majority of films I’ve seen in the last year. I first watched it when it was released in theaters and loved the experience – leaving the film I proceeded to discuss the various interpretations of its endings for hours before finally coming to a conclusion. It was fantastic.

There is a fatal flaw on a second viewing however: you know where its going. The slow build-up and conspiracy that made it so interesting to see when it came out in theaters is exactly what hurts it on DVD now. The first time you are watching it you are too confused by what is going on to be bored, there are all these strange things happening and you are trying to piece together what exactly is going on. Its like LOST but with an actual plot-line to follow. This makes for an amazing first time viewing where you are hanging on basically every word for a clue about whats happening. The second time around though you’ve already spent your time dissecting every little thing and now you are just waiting to get to the absolutely fantastic last couple scenes which blow everything else out of the water. Its a grand finale which ruins subsequent viewings.

Don’t get me wrong – if you haven’t seen this movie you should definitely go out and watch it right now and be ready to have your mind blown; but you might not want to buy it. I’m not even saying that you can’t watch it a second time but I would hardly expect you to be singing along with Foreigner’s classic “Feels Like the First Time” afterward. The writing is fantastic, the acting is brilliant, and the cinematography is a beautiful shade of film-noir. If you’ve not yet seen it then you are in for a tremendous experience – and I’m going to rate it for that first time viewing, its unfair otherwise.

Final Score: 8/10

Originally Posted: July 8th, 2010

Don't Forget the Milk

I am a procrastinator. I think the best evidence of that is that I haven’t updated this blog in almost a month. I have so many different things going on at any given point that a lot of it generally gets forgotten. This is where the app I’m going to talk about today comes in.

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

Remember The Milk is a fantastic web-based application which is almost certain to keep you on task. It basically functions like a To-Do list on steroids. Not only can you input the different tasks and projects you have coming up, complete with due dates but you can also set priority of the projects, sort them by theme (work, study, personal, etc…), and have the program send you alerts  by e-mail, IM, or text message. I currently have mine send me an e-mail an hour before anything is due as well as an e-mail at 9am telling me all the tasks I have due that day. Its great.

The really nice thing is that even though its web-based you can still access it while you are offline and it will merely sync back up when you get an Internet connection. This provides the flexibility of use from your own computer or from any other internet enabled computer. You can also send tasks in an e-mail to the service and it will automatically add them, meaning that you can just send in a task from your smartphone (if you have one).

I forgot the best part: This is completely free.

Its not my style to write positive reviews of things but this is a piece of software that has been remarkably useful for me and I recommend everyone give it a try. My only gripe with the program is that it focuses a bit too much on keyboard shortcuts, but its easy to get the hang of it. (Protip: “^” sets the due date, “!” plus a number sets the priority, and “#” sets the task list)

Final Score: 9/10

Advanced Getting Things Done with RTM: http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2008/05/guest-post-advanced-gtd-with-remember-the-milk/

Originally posted on: April 7th, 2010

Kick-Ass Lives Up To Its Name

I had the great fortune to see Kick-Ass in theaters on Friday and its quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen in theaters in months. The plot follows a nerdy High-school kid named Dave Lizewski. One day and without any real reason he decides to become a superhero mostly because nobody has done it before (that he knows of). However, unlike the typical story that starts with this sort of premise – Dave is not a natural. In fact, he fails utterly. This is why the movie works.

The movie excels in taking various cliches and messing with them to create an entirely new experience. The best way for me to describe this picture is if the Watchmen and Superbad had a baby… and included an 11 year old assassin girl. Dave may be the main character but its not going to be the titular Kick Ass who gets the most applause from audience members… that will almost definitely be Hit Girl. This 11 year old foul-mouthed, mass murdering girl caused the audience I saw the movie with to applaud at least 10 times. The character is absolutely captivating and shocking.

Trying to describe why this movie is so good is actually very difficult because a lot of its greatness is in its energy and sheer punk aesthetic. This is a film made by people who don’t give a fuck about social mores and nothing is off limits. Its an entirely ridiculous blending of the superhero movie with the comedy, and it’ll be one of the most amusing theater going experiences you’ll have. My experience with watching Kick-Ass can only be compared to one other theater-going experience: Grindhouse on opening weekend. It may not be the most technically impressive movie but there is enough cleverness and energy there to keep you thoroughly entertained. Well worth the ticket price if you aren’t easily offended.

Final Score: 9/10

Originally posted: April 19, 2010

Dances with Space Cats

I know that James Cameron’s Avatar has been out for a long time already. I hardly expect that anyone is going to be reading this who hasn’t watched it already so expect spoilers ahead. Though honestly, if you’ve seen Pocahontas then you already know the plot anyway.

Lets get started: Avatar sucks. Here are some reasons why: Plot is cliché, dialogue is cliché, acting is porn-quality. James Cameron spent upwards of $300 million dollars to deliver us a film with spectacular visual effects and a story that is as intellectually stimulating and complex as a straight line. We’ve seen this movie before: Pocahontas, Last Samurai, Dances with Wolves, etcetera. We aren’t going to be surprised by what we see, in fact its a fair bet that we already know the major plot-points from the very beginning.

Most people I’ve informed about my hate of this movie respond: “Its not about the story”. Bullshit. Film is a storyteller’s medium – if you don’t tell a good story than you don’t have a good movie. I’ve never heard someone say “This is a really good book – even if the story sucks”. I guess that’s because you can’t really be distracted by the shiny pictures of a book.

Response #2 to my hate: “Its entertaining, its not art. Don’t look at it as art”. Fair enough, and I wish I could. I understand there is a difference between movies made for entertainment value and art films – I accept that and judge accordingly. However, since James Cameron keeps treating his film as if it were the goddamn Mona Lisa – I’m forced to judge it based on his intentions. The fact that it was even nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (which it luckily didn’t win) is enough to warrant a judgment on artistic and intellectual merit. This film is simplistic to its very core.

Considering that almost everyone knows that the plot is thin, I’ll focus on some less common gripes with the movie:

World-Building
I’ve heard a lot of people claim that the level of world-building in this movie is amazing. I seriously have to wonder if these people saw the same movie I did. The creation of his world and the races within them was absolutely lazy. Alright, so he sets the movie on some distant moon that takes over 5 years just to reach from Earth. Somehow, on this distant planet, there is an almost entirely humanoid race who developed technology suspiciously similar to that of many indigenous people of the world. I understand it is a metaphor but Aliens are supposed to be ALIENS. Not only is it absolutely ridiculous that they would have developed bows and arrows but it is ridiculous that the Na’vi would be entirely humanoid despite evolving in an entirely different environment. Basically, all Cameron did was make a more beautiful version of earth with inconsistent laws of physics (floating mountains??) and threw in an alien race who are just a hodgepodge of indigenous cultures mixed together with nothing original added in.

Message Destroyed by Ending
Kudos to Cameron for making a movie which spends the majority of its time developing a message of peace and environmentalism and then throwing that whole concept out the window because explosions are fucking awesome! The climactic battle scene isn’t some bittersweet reflection on the horrors of unavoidable war. This is Cameron’s inner 13 year old boy imagination let loose on the screen in an OMG SUPER AWESOME BATTLE!!1! Hell, there aren’t even any consequences to the damn thing… every important character who died was forgotten about by the end because they were just so damn happy. Hollywood ending, that’s a wrap folks – wait for the next movie when its all war and we don’t need that pesky exposition getting in the way.

Racist
My biggest problem with Avatar is that at its very core – its a racist film. It appeals to our guilt as Westerners for the horrific things we have done in the past. Of course, the best way to do that is to have a white guy come in and save the day for native people who couldn’t make it on their own. Think about this: white guy takes over an entirely new Na’vi body, integrates himself into their culture, and becomes their strongest and smartest warrior in a matter of months. In fact, the Na’Vi are so naïve (note the anagram) that it is only noble white man Sam who realizes that he can tame the big, bad dragon by jumping on it from above. Are you fucking serious? How can it be okay for Joe-shmoe white guy to become better at being an Alien than the fucking Aliens are? Its White Man’s Burden pure and simple – we feel good because its us who are there to save the day and help the poor, helpless, backwards people who just aren’t as advanced as us. Obviously no native people could defend themselves on their own – we’re too superior for our own good. Its amazing how we can still manage to be racist even when we’re actively trying not to be.

Summing This All Up
In the end, Avatar is a film of contradictions. It is a film meant to “revolutionize storytelling” yet has a generic story. A film that promotes cultural understanding while still making whitey the best of all. A film that teaches peace and how awesome war is. A film that cost $300 million to make but isn’t worth the $10 to see. If you want to see a movie that uses alien encounters as a metaphor for our racist and xenophobic tendencies then go watch District 9 – its a lot better. And to be honest, I thought the aliens in that film looked much more realistic.

Final score: 4/10

Originally Posted on March 15, 2010.