Movie Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (1/17/2012)

I didn't really know what to expect with this one - obviously a Big Important Film about 9/11, pretty good cast, based on a popular and acclaimed book, but middling reviews - so when I got a free ticket, I knew I would at least get my money's worth.  I really liked it - it's difficult watching the grief ripple through everyone's lives, but the actors do a great job of expressing the pain.  Parts of the story are a little too neat, and others have holes, but I can overlook the minor flaws with so much else keeping my attention.  It took me back to the Houston hotel room where I watched that morning unfold, and I can't tell if I like it more or less because of that.  Thomas Horn was excellent as the young boy, and Tom Hanks makes an idealized father come across as real, but the entire cast delivers strong performances.  It's worth seeing even though (perhaps because?) it takes you so strongly back to 9/11.

4/5

Movie Review: Carnage (1/16/2012)

I once saw the traveling company put on the play Art featuring Judd Hirsch, and then saw a local company's version.  The local company was fine, but the national cast amazed me by how much they added to the words. Similarly Carnage is just a filmed play, but with actors you could watch all day.  Each actor grips the audience in turn as the two couples dig ever deeper into their assumptions, their fears, and their 18-year-old scotch.  Christoph Waltz impressed me most, but I couldn't tell if that was his acting, or just that I'd never seen him on screen.  The ending felt gimmicky, but while I enjoyed the dialogue, it's just about the actors, and that's why it was great.

4/5

Movie Review: Contraband (1/14/2012)

Mark Wahlberg in a heist story?  You don't say!  As with all of his other movies, Wahlberg plays the guy you'd want in charge of your criminal activity - would love to see one of his crews up against Ocean's Umpteen.  Giovanni Ribisi is striving for Heath Ledger's Creepy Villains legacy - does anyone else remember him as the kid next door from My Two Dads?  It tends to make me laugh when he's being violent and unstable.  Kate Beckinsale, as always, fades into the background, and the less you notice her, the better the movie is.  The story had a couple of twists, but nothing outstandingly memorable.  Contraband is an enjoyable movie, one of the better January offerings.

3/5

P.S. When I see the trailer for Man On a Ledge, I hear Reese Witherspoon saying the title like her line "...a baby.  In a bar."  Am I the only one?

Movie Review: Young Adult (1/2/2012)

Finally - I'd been waiting to see this for a few weeks!  And it didn't disappoint- Diablo Cody's screenplay is as clever as Juno, but without the whiplash pace.  The movie is funny, but starts off with the main character's dark oddities, and just descends ever deeper into her psychoses as well as the darkness she exposes/reveals in those around her.  It refuses to wrap up any of the characters or their problems at the end - it's more a slice-of-life anecdote than a Story.  For non-Charlize fans, she does an excellent job in this one.  For non-Patton-Oswalt fans, do you exist?  Really?  I don't believe it.  I really liked Young Adult - it's still haunting me a couple of weeks later.

4/5

Movie Review: We Bought a Zoo (1/1/2012)

I did not expect this to be my first movie of 2012, but I got bailed on for Young Adult and ended up going to see Matt Damon mail one in.  His role had a little more oomph to it than I expected it, and I really enjoyed the movie.  I wouldn't call it great, but animals are always fun, and the young daughter lights up scenes without smothering them.  Especially if you need to occupy kids and don't want to sit through boring Tintin or whatever else kids will watch, this is a good option.

3/5

The Best of Flicks, The Worst of Flicks

I saw a few movies worth mentioning while on hiatus.

The Social Network: Excellently written story about the beginning of Facebook.  No idea if it's true, don't care, loved the script and the characters.  Well-directed, too, to keep the viewer moving along in what's basically a story about nerds and lawsuits.  My wife got to give me the "yeah, that's you" look many times, although sadly not in the getting-rich scenes.

Catfish: People lie.  Even on Facebook.  Even about sex.  That doesn't make them interesting.  I just saved you 90 minutes of your life - use it well.

Never Let Me Go: I've never thought of a movie as haunting before.  Good acting and writing, solid if predictable story, it's affected me more as I've reflected on it than it did in the theater.  If you don't like sad movies, avoid it (not spoiling the ending - the story is just relentlessly grim).

Get Low

Get Low is an independent movie (although it was playing at a local Tinseltown) set in Depression-era Tennessee.  It features Robert Duvall as a hermit who wants to buy his funeral service, except he wants it while he's still alive.  Duvall is excellent as always, and Bill Murray as the funeral director expresses himself more diversely than I expected, even better than his role in Lost In Translation.  The acting is incredible even beyond those two, and the photography takes advantage of great hill country.  (What can I say?  I like trees.)

Unfortunately the story doesn't shine as strongly.  It makes sense, which probably puts it in the top 10% of movie scripts, but the tension and mystery build to a revelation that doesn't expand the drama, merely sufficing to fill in the gaps.  The ending isn't bad, it's just not what you might think the rest of the story promised.

The acting alone is worth the price of a ticket, but enjoy the ride, because that's all you'll get.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I usually read a book before seeing its movie, but I walked into this one blind.  And I loved it.  It makes fun of so much - comic books and video games are the most obvious targets, but indie rock bands, actors, vegans, boys, girls, Canada, the satire knows no bounds.  Frequent comic-book stylings might turn some people off, but they melded perfectly into the experience.  The actors won't win any Oscars, but none of them distracted from the story (except possibly Michael Cera's hair, which was still part of the story), and Ellen Wong handled The Three Faces of Knives Chau superbly.  The story was so good that I plan to buy the graphic novel to see which of the hinted-at subplots were fleshed out originally.

I wouldn't call this movie a must-see, but it entertains consistently for most of its screen time.  Laura thought it got a little boring after Evil Ex #3, but I enjoyed the different styles of stories and fights behind the other Exes.  I give it 7 out of 10.

(Whew - midnight deadline to get something up has been reached!)