Movie Reviews

So the last movie I reviewed here I saw in October, have to rectify that a bit.

Take Shelter - a small indie drama about a man (Michael Shannon) who starts having apocalyptic visions and thinks he's going crazy. I was very absorbed in it and surprised a few times. Shannon's performance is amazing and he really deserves an oscar nomination though he isn't appearing on too many lists so far. Jessica Chastain played his wife and this was one of several good roles for her in her breakout year (which is almost comparable to Edward Norton's three films in 1996). The cinematography is quite good. The ending is debatable, but after some debate the group I saw it with liked it better.

Let Me In - is the US remake of the wonderful swedish film Let The RIght One In. Yes it's good and yes the small changes made are reasonable, but the original is still a bit better.

The Debt - is a slightly odd spy thriller. It begins in 1997 and most of the middle is a flashback to 1965 when three mossad agents were tracking down a Nazi war criminal in East Berlin. The younger versions are played by Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Marton Csokas. The older versions are played by Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. That's quite some cast and yes that's Jessica Chastain pulling off a young Helen Mirren. A few people I spoke to agree that Ciaran Hinds was miscast as he looks more like Csokas than Worthington. I liked the flashback story and the modern story was ok though it seemed a little foolish (in an almost comedic sense) at the end. I think also the moral debate about killing a nazi war criminal versus bringing him back for trial isn't as powerful as it used to be, and yes, that's a bit sad.

Margin Call - is a dramatization of the beginning of the current financial crisis. It follows 24 hours at a firm which is probably JP Morgan though loosely. An analyst is laid off, a young former rocket scientist looks at his work and realizes that the firm has substantially more risk than they thought. The issue is raised to higher levels of management throughout the night until a decision is made to sell off the risk, saving the firm but probably destroying the entire market. The cast is excellent: Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci are the kind of actors you want in these rolls and Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker and Demi Moore all hold their own nicely. I think if you didn't understand the crisis this would give you a bit of a sense of what happened, but you're probably better off seeing the documentary Inside Job. I liked the smart dialog and performances, but maybe it's too soon to dramatize this.

From the Sky Down - is a documentary of the making of U2's album Achtung Baby! I didn't love the album and didn't like the documentary though it made me appreciate the album a bit more. It went on too long and didn't say enough.

Made in Dagenham - is a historical drama about a 1968 strike of female workers at a Ford automotive plant in Dagenham England. I hadn't heard of the strike, but women were listed as unskilled labor and were paid less than the men. They wanted to be listed as semi-skilled and paid a fair wage. They ultimately succeeded and this was the beginning of the equal rights movement. Sally Hawkins played the women's leader who had to work against management and against the male union leaders. It's a little slight, but still well done. Hawkins is always great.

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas - was much better than the second installment and not quite as good as the first. I thought the setup took a little long but the second half was very good. Neil Patrick Harris was hilarious and I think everyone will want a Wafflebot after seeing this film. Good dumb humor.

Melancholia - is proof that adding a plot to Tree of Life doesn't make it a better film. I liked Tree of Life and really didn't like this Lars von Trier film. Kirsten Dunst suffers from depression and that happens even on her wedding day and even when the world is ending. Her sister doesn't suffer from depression and the second half of the film is centered more on her. I guess we're supposed to compare and contrast but I just didn't care.

The Descendants - was okay but I don't understand all the rave reviews. George Clooney is a native of Hawaii and a father. As the film opens his wife is in the hospital, after an accident, dying. Clooney has to take care of his young daughter and deal with his teenage daughter who's away at a boarding school (for a reason). As the film progresses we learn that the mother wasn't a saint and track how a big family real estate deal is going through. Clooney is getting serious Oscar consideration for this role and I don't get it. Since we didn't ever see the mother being good, I had a hard time relating to her or the family's loss. Clooney at times played the role in his Coen brothers comedic style, particularly when running or hiding behind hedges, which seemed completely out of place. Otherwise he seemed fine in his everyday slub kind of mood but I didn't see anything great about it. I found most of the characters to be underwritten with one surprising moment of depth given to each of them that just ended up seeming out of place. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

My Week With Marilyn - is based on an autobiography of Colin Clark. One of his first jobs was as the third assistant director on the film The Prince and the Showgirl. Basically he was a gofer, but as a result he spent a week with Marilyn Monroe. There's no way to know how much of the story is true but it doesn't matter. This film is all about Michelle Williams amazing portrayal of Monroe which is sure to get an Oscar nomination and quite possibly a win. She nails the star persona and is as riveting to watch as Monroe was. The standard complaint about the film is that the main story isn't that believable and the main character isn't interesting. I don't think either were as bad as critics made out, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie-making aspects and it's all about Williams anyway.

Outrage is a Japanese crime thriller by Takeshi Kitano that got a fair amount of indie buzz. It was pretty good, but had a lot of characters, mostly in the same suit, all getting angry and killing each other. I found it a little too confusing at times as a third party (well organization) was manipulating two other organizations against each other with the police thrown in for good measure. The ending seemed obvious and the violence a bit harsh at times, but otherwise ok.

The Secret of the Kells - came out of no where to get a Best Animated Film Oscar nomination last year. It's fine fantasy adventure story for kids with some very unusual, interesting and beautiful visuals. If you have young kids or love animation, see it.

Due Date - is trying to be an updated Planes Trains and Automobiles with Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifinakis. It doesn't succeed, goes on too long, and as you might expect, gets the tone wrong a few too many times.

Jackass 3 - Friends saw it and said they really liked it so I caught it on cable. I had had never watched the series but for me it was similar to the first two films. I found myself laughing uncontrollably at about a third of it. I mean really uncontrollably. I was thinking why am I laughing at this, or I shouldn't be laughing at this but I was, out loud, a lot. About another third I just didn't find funny and about another third I found too disgusting and had crossed the line. I get that when pushing boundaries like this it's easy to go too far. I wish they would have edited it down more removing the stuff that was too far. I also get that everyone's line is different and they probably did remove some stuff. I don't want to know about that. If you can handle it, great. A friend said the great third was completely worth it to him and I (almost) agree.

There, that gets me to the middle of December, I'll do another post soon with a lot of the end of the year releases. I'm surprised, but so far this year I've stayed on course and have seen one movie a day. We'll see how long that continues.