Quick Takes: "ParaNorman", "Miss Bala", "About Cherry", "Kung Fu Panda 2"

"ParaNorman" (First Viewing)

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell

That "ParaNorman" entered theaters with a mark against it for not being what "Coraline" was speaks to hint of insightful irony that comes into play for the film. It is, after all, about people who become chastised for being different, some in ways crueler than you would expect for an animated feature. I didn't walk into this with terribly high expectations, which was due largely to a juvenile pair of trailers that emphasized the film's seemingly hollow comedic values. All those judgments go out the window in the first moments of the film, showing a high camp zombie flick that's rife with inconsistencies and errors, and intentionally so.

"ParaNorman" has a very different feel from what "Coraline" was doing. The 2009 film from Laika benefited heavily from Neil Gaiman's boundless imagination fuelling a frightening design aspect to the film. The new film from Laika goes retro and pulpy with its scares, because it is mainly a comedy which has zombies in it as a function of its storytelling. It's working off of stereotypes, something usually frowned upon in cinema, but it works them in a way that's funny, endearing, and offers some mature twists on them. That raises a question of the film's content, which is comically of a more mature brand, but offers some legitimately terrifying moments.

Quick Takes: "Polisse", "The Kid with a Bike", "I Wish"

"Polisse" (First Viewing)

Directed by Maiwenn

"Polisse" opens with a table conversation where two untarnished young girls promise to always tell the truth. This is a mission statement that director Maiwenn was wise to take to heart, given that across the film's two hours are a handful of truly unnerving scenes that brings across the serious tragedy that the French Child Protection Unit deals with every day. These are not mere creations of the director's emotional whims, but taken from real cases that Maiwenn does well to recreate for the audience. Much like a commoner who is visiting the offices for a short period, these scenes come across as invasively piercing evidence of things we haven't the experience to understand; only the heart to cry for.

Child abuse is doubtlessly the heaviest topic that is dealt with in "Polisse", and the cases are given rather thorough and aggressive attention, though not by writer-director Maiwenne. Her characters do much of what we'd like to do, which is to express outrage overtly towards these horrible individuals. As for the film itself, it takes on a much more procedural approach to these events. There must have been more than twenty different cases shown throughout the film, and not all of them hit right at the heart the way others do. The abundance of these events nearly dulls the shock of some of the films more expressive moments. As focused as Maiwenn may be to get these events the proper audience, some would have been better left to the cutting room floor.

Quick Takes: "Ted", "Chronicle", "The Gold Rush", "Battleship Potemkin"

"Chronicle"

Directed by Josh Trank

Over the past few years, "found footage" has emerged most fully in the mainstream as a manipulative and tired tool for horror thrills, most effectively used in films like "Paranormal Activity", "Cloverfield", and most especially "The Blair Witch Project". This year in particular seemed to bleed them out of every orifice in the first three months, so much so that the "found footage superhero movie" just felt like another feature to throw in the pile. And so it stood for several months, and then when it was mentioned amongst the top 3 films of the year thus far according to Justin Jagoe and Alex Carlson of Film Misery... well, I didn't have an excuse to moan about how it wasn't worth my time anymore.

What surprised me wasn't merely the fact that it was good, but that it used both the found footage and superhero genres in peak form. From the first moment of the film, you see the role in which the camera plays in these characters' lives, and it's becomes not merely a gimmick. The "Chronicle" of the film's title doesn't merely allude to that single camera, but the abundance of material that's made so publicly available for people to see. In the film's third act the style goes rampantly, exhilaratingly all over the place, jumping from cameras of different quality and purpose, moving freely between them as a jarring document.

Quick Takes: "Rock of Ages", "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", "Haywire", "The Godfather"

"Rock of Ages" (***)

Directed by Adam Shankman

I teased this property feverishly in reference to Tom Cruise's film-owning performance as Stacie Jaxx, the rock star icon who serves symbolically to represent the dying light of rock and roll. What this film quite fervently and ridiculously protests is that while the time of rock and roll may be past, it is certainly not dead. Adam Shankman is the cinematic spokesperson for people foolishly chasing their dreams, having directed "Hairspray" and a couple episodes of "Glee", even. He's covered plenty of varying ground cinematically, given that most of his films do hold his staple gullible optimism against logic branding.

This film genuinely speaks for Shankman trying to find a leg into different, perhaps something darker waters, while sticking to his fun-seeking code. "Rock of Ages" does find its way into the story through a small town girl and a city boy, both of which are seeking stardom, but the music and adult characters take the baton from there. Tom Cruise is the exceptional piece of insane devotion that gives this film such a strong beating heart, but Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, and Paul Giamatti['s mustache] all nail their high-on-rock-fumes comic beats perfectly. File this one in the growing pile marked "shouldn't work, but joyously does!"

Quick Takes: "Up", "Monsters Inc.", "A Bug's Life", "The Incredibles"

"Up" (**1/2)

Directed by Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson

My oh my, how a single month in between can make all the difference. At the tailend of April I took this film as a lighter friend. What changed? In a word, me. To be perfectly honest, "Up" has aspirations of being something more intimately emotional, but there's a stillness to each shot that stuck out to me this time. The intimately hued color palette doesn't illusion the stillness of nearly every shot. It's as if Wes Anderson directed a Pixar film, and the small emotions simply don't come to the fore the way they used to. The narrative is there, but it all just seems odd and uninviting. For a film that's meant to feel like a waltz, "Up" is rather stiff.

"Monsters Inc."  (***)

Directed by Pete Doctor

This is admittedly Pete Doctor in an even more cartoony light, but there's something closer to reality about this film than his more recent endeavor. Maybe it's just a further sweetness to it, or maybe it's the real impact of a company forestalling societal collapse by use of children's fear. That is an interesting concept that they don't quite go into. They don't make it so clear that what they are doing is wrong, which is where my issue with the film comes in. It just seems like so simple a narrative stroke to add, but they only frown upon kidnapping of children. They don't bring it full circle to insight guilt into our main characters. Also, the relationship between Mike and Sulley is a little bit too inferred. Maybe that's what they're hoping to do with the prequel. I hope so anyway.

Quick Takes: "Dr. No", "Dark Shadows", "Journey 2", "Boardwalk Empire"

"Dr. No" (***)

Directed by Terence Young

James Bond is a rather stereotypical choice for Father's Day, but as somebody whose total Bond knowledge amounts to incomplete memories of "Goldfinger" and long past viewings of "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace", revisiting the beginnings of the property served more of a purpose. From the first moments, the trademarks of the Bond series, from the pre-credits prologue to the music video essence of it, all were stripped away. Though "stripped" may be an inadequate phrase, since they hadn't been in place yet. This was a film working on the assumption that this will be a simple cinematic series, when eventually it would grow to be anything but.

The plot is very simply, with Bond heading out to track down evil scientist Dr. No and stop him from destroying the world or something tantamount to that. We don't get so up close to Bond, the action, the chaos, or the emotions. Simple treasuries are all it seeks, and those simple treasuries prove absolutely fine for what they are. Ursula Andress only serves as visual treat for Honey Ryder, whose singing and speaking voices are offered to different actresses, though that's really all we need or ask for from her, and she fulfills that duty proudly. But let's not dally over the real attraction, which is Sean Connery in his prime. Illusions of where he would end up physically wash away the moment he's given time to speak. Bond is, quite simply, the coolest character on film, and Connery so perfectly embodies and acknowledges that.

Quick Takes: "Snow White", "Madagascar 3", "Return", "Romeo + Juliet"

"Snow White and the Huntsman" (*1/2)

Directed by Rupert Sanders

I took the effort to revisit Tarsem Singh's own take on the fable, "Mirror Mirror", before sitting in on "Snow White and the Huntsman", and though I don't wish to file comparison, it's pretty clear that the latter has much less enthusiasm in its cogs. I think it's pretty clear when a filmmaking crew is having fun, and when they're not. This film seems like rather drudging work. It takes real emotional effort to make something this cinematically dull. Lacking any color or levity, but not possessing any real emotional tether to proceedings, people die and battles wage, for no purpose. What's more, it feels like the actors are just too consumed by the ham of the dialogue and lacking intellect of the script to really put in any effort. This film just feels entirely effortless, and not in a positive manner.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (**)

Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon

Dreamworks has made a pretty good name for itself across the past few years for making wild and crazy films, filled with popping shenanigans, but not overtly kiddie as to not appeal to the adults. "Madagascar 3" shatters that a bit, throwing about the same shenanigans, but this time strictly playing to the children's crowd from which most of its box office is growing from. It feels like we're coming into a half completed story, and they don't feel the need to make us care about these characters any more. They don't put in nearly enough heart, which they quite oddly had plenty of in "Madagascar 2". It feels like a conclusion for the sake of concluding, and not for the sake of closure, or smart entertainment. The kids? They'll love it, and they already do. It's us who aren't gonna have a good time with it.

Quick Takes: "Alien", "Elena", "Mulan", "Minority Report"

"Alien" (**1/2)

Directed by Ridley Scott

This could very well cause to enrage people, and it already has if you follow my actions on twitter, but the moment I sat down to take on "Alien" for this week's TOP 10 SHOTS column, I realized it couldn't possibly work. Why not? Because there is so desperately little going on in this film. Ridley Scott is devoted to creating an intense horror aesthetic, and there's some truly honest effort there. But it only works, in this case, if we care about why this is happening, and who it is happening to. The characters are etched so thin as to offer nothing distinct about them. Them being there is a product of happenstance, like any other horror flick. There's just not that much cinematically to dig into. Don't worry, though, since you'll still have your share of Ridley Scott in this Friday's TOP 10 SHOTS column. It just won't be in the same vein as what Ridley's up to this year.

"Elena" (****)

Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Russia seems to carry with a heap of apocalyptic baggage that it just cannot seem to get rid of. Even in a film that holds absolutely no apocalyptic subject matter, the grim specter of massive and inescapable death looms heavy over. That's the definitive stroke that makes Andrey Zvyagintsev's third feature, "Elena", so much more than the chilling character study that it already is. Though the first ten minutes lull you into the belief that you're in for a contained story comparable to that of Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles", it really expands to being something rather more maniacal. It's Zvyagintsev's analysis of family boundaries that truly piques the interest.

Quick Takes: "Raging Bull", "Barry Lyndon", "Australia", "Inglourious Basterds"

"Raging Bull" (****)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

A rather important dot to be crossed off my gargantuan in scope list of films I have yet to see, "Raging Bull" is one of the films that Martin Scorsese is most famed for, and for rather good reason. The film is so meticulously, at times grotesquely, debasing of the title character's fame and ego. There are rather few non-essential factors in the mix of this film, the makeup being transformative, though still disconcerting, since there's the subtle feeling that Robert De Niro isn't supposed to look like that. The editing is so utterly veracious and aggressive, as with the best of sports-oriented cinema. De Niro's performance, so repudiating of redemption in favor of honesty to the point of destruction. Scorsese, only dialing up the flash and flair when it is truly and ultimately necessary, which is something he tends to forget nowadays. Damn near immaculate in its construction.

"Barry Lyndon" (****)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Quite easily the most overlooked and under-appreciated film in Stanley Kubrick's rather short pantheon of work, the small details and slow effectiveness of "Barry Lyndon" only really starts sinking in upon further viewings. Ryan O'Neal does seem to break the tradition of Kubrick-esq performances, but he more represents a Channing Tatum of his own time. His dramatic tendencies serve best in tight comedic terms, but not to the point of them being utterly superfluous. The extended sufferings of this character with no home, family, or true identity, is as entertaining as it is non-consoling towards its title character. The pace moves smoothly across with masterful deliberation on Kubrick's part. Never have such precise and finicky movements been shown with so much passion. Buckle under the emotional weight of a final scene dictating a character signing her name on a piece of paper.

Quick Takes: "Pulp Fiction", "Scott Pilgrim", "The Social Network", "Spirited Away"

"Pulp Fiction" (***1/2)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

I get the impression that "Pulp Fiction" is the most widely accepted of Quentin Tarantino's films, and it rather understandable to see why. The film rams out charismatic dialogue that doesn't cop to single-quote tactics, and is actually more of a dialogue between characters. In coming back to it, it is rather understandable to notice a slightly purposeless feeling about proceedings, since it renders characters quite easily dispensable in spite of their rather passionate segments. That being said, those segments are rather exciting pulp entertainment, like the title pronounces quite fervently. However, there's not so much more I can say that hasn't been said already. It's a rather simple film, to be perfectly honest and with no mark against it.

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (***)

Directed by Edgar Wright

I'd already relegated a great deal of skepticism post-viewing regarding this film, as is no doubt easy to happen with a film that has such an ardent following. In any case of that happening, a film is cheapened by the hype around it. All that said, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is a hilariously quirky ride, and among the few "quirky" films that manages not to turn me off. Usually "quirky comedy" is a condemning phrase, because it's all quirk and no passion in the works. Edgar Wright never goes quite to the level of passion, but he is rather invested, and as such this film isn't so hollow. It's quite fun, and worth it simply for Kieran Culkin's fantastically single-faced performance that soars further than it has any right to.

Quick Takes: "Fantastic Mr. Fox", "Sword in the Stone", "Dr. Strangelove"

"Fantastic Mr. Fox"

Directed by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson is one of those directors who appeals to the quirkier side of film direction, which is an area that quite often feels rather stilted and passionless to me. All that said, there is something about that style that translates rather well to animation, and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is such a pleasant surprise because of that. Filled to the brim with gleeful pointlessness, Anderson fills in the holes in the plot with some hilariously tucked human commentary. True, there are still scenes that ring not just utterly ridiculous, but have no purpose to actual film. That glaring fact that this is an artificial construct can be rather distracting at times, but Wes is just having so much fun with this new toy of stop-motion that you just get taken in with his exuberance about it.

"The Sword in the Stone"

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman

It's rather dismaying to revisit childhood films and find that they're rather massively lacking in story, character, and style. My memories of this film had been fond, until I started watching it again, at which point it paled to playing out not just predictably, but with no passion whatsoever. From the first moment, it feels like everything's already happened. You're generally familiar with the story, know what's happening, and the film doesn't even create any tension in that respect. Neither does it create characters that are at all endearing. Merlin is rather pathetically silly and pointless, and Arthur is just plain, dull, and rather pathetic. The film's a catalyst to turn people into animals, and not in a particularly interesting way. It's all to easy, and there's really no joy there.

Quick Takes: "Singin' in the Rain", "The Fountain", "Black Swan", "Toy Story 3"

"Singin' in the Rain"

Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

The first ten minutes of "Singin' in the Rain" are absolutely atrocious, and set a pretty foul taste for the ninety minutes to follow. I was actually rather uncertain whether or not I wanted to continue on with it. Then the film dials up the Donald O'Connor with some one-liners that were slaying enough to latch me on for whatever hijinks ensued later on. Once they dispose of the obnoxious setup, they really let go of serious inclinations and go haphazard with absolutely everything. All the musical numbers that have been so hyped up over history are absolutely winning in spite of the flood of dilution. Gene Kelly is an exceptional exuberance, and that pervades the screen in both performance and direction. It balloons into a powerful inadvertent drug-trip, like "The Artist" meets "Mad Men" meets "Inception".

"The Fountain"

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Can you believe that I've gone this far without having officially seen the film that split Darren Aronofsky right down the middle in terms of how people viewed him? I always worried that I'd fall into that negative category, but as it turns out this film is absolutely deserving of infinite praise. If you don't raise the stakes of your own ambition, you can't truly achieve the same heights as films such as "2001: A Space Odyssey". I'm hardly saying that this journey across time, fiction, and mortality is just as good as Kubrick's singular masterpiece, but it is at the very least comparable. Darren strives six years to get this film on the screen, and it prevails to stun several years after. Cruelty is a powerful tool at Darren's disposal, as are the gorgeously brittle and fascinatingly layered performances by Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman, respectively. "The Fountain" moves swiftly and strangely along its journey to a place of awe, and I can't help but wonder how one could feel negatively about having been brought there.

"Toy Story 3"

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Is it all just overheated fanaticism surrounding Pixar's closing to their first series of "Toy Story" that makes it seem so great? Is it the fact that it came out at a junction of when the people who grew up with it are also going to college? Is it any of those obvious reasons that could so easily serve as excuses? As it turns out, and I am quite happy to realize this, "Toy Story 3" is absolutely thriving as a piece of singular and self-sustaining cinema. I'm happy because I could have come back to it and find that it was just exaggeration of circumstances, but as it turns out the film is massively thorough in its study of a wide variety of characters.

"Black Swan"

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

It gives me rather great joy to revisit Aronofsky's shaking character-study "Black Swan" and find it not overrated, but given new and greater life through a different pair of lens'. The film I remember was one that was personal and quite shattering, but something that I never quite realized before was how hilariously cruel the film is. Though this may prove to incite rage amongst people I know who adore the film, the dancing of a ballet company is admittedly quite trashy. Vincent Cassel's director Leroy is trying to take "Swan Lake" and make it "visceral and real", which however honest a pursuit is still rather ridiculous and full of hubris.

I was really able to remove myself from the film this time around, and give it a sort of piercing look from a bent point of view. Quite often you think you've reached the heart of a film and you stop searching for meaning. "Black Swan" absolutely obliterates that and influences you to keep searching for meaning, which seems so elusive given a mindfully messy approach to it. It is quite a contemporary fairy tale, and as such rather dark and cruel to its characters. Each of these characters seems so exaggerated and positively nutso, the bi-product of an unreliable protagonist showing us her experience through her not-exactly-healthy point of view. It's still absolutely devastating, but more because of the film's cruelty in how these characters are represented and not what is done to them.

Quick Takes: "21 Jump Street", "Iron Man 2", "Captain America"

"21 Jump Street"

Directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller

Channing Tatum has been a massive anomaly and point of confusion since the start of his existence. He's not especially influential in his action roles, and plain sappy and dull in his romantic roles. The guy simply was not meant for serious work, so it's no mistake that "21 Jump Street" finally gives the guy something that he can thrive in. Spinning off of the old television show, it ultimately ignores that small fact to embrace something funnier and more interesting. The high school stereotypes of old have changed dramatically in years recent, and the power structure of schools is less and less with jocks, and more with charismatic members of band and drama.

"21 Jump Street" is not at all about intensity, and is more about two polar opposite personalities having to come to terms with aspects of themselves that they have not realized before. Jonah Hill often times falls to idiocy in comedic roles, but the man is on a mean streak recently. "Moneyball" showed that he had serious chops in him, and this film gives him some sweet and affectionate chemistry work between him and Tatum. As said before, Tatum is the guy who truly rocks this film. His typically dopey work is hilariously on time here, and the guy really is a born comedic actor. Don't be afraid to defame yourself Tatum. It may be where you belong! And Brie Larson is just darling. The girl had me at hello.

Quick Takes: "Iron Man", "Incredible Hulk", "Thor"

"Iron Man"

Directed by Jon Favreau

Did anybody else think it was an absolutely terrible idea to give this franchise to Jon Favreau? Don't get me wrong, because the guy got it started damn well. The first 90 minutes of this film are characteristic of the great film everybody believes it to be. The Stark character is very intriguingly placed in our world, and his purview is stated firmly as a go-between of military power and moral integrity. He's an idealist, but one that fits pretty firmly into a certain mindset that is closed off. He never questioned things, until his convoy was attacked, murdered, and him taken into captivity. That's where we see a dynamic shift in the character, and while Favreau may not be so interested in it, Robert Downey Jr. relishes it.

It's enough to have a chance for pure fun when Downey Jr. is concerned, and his natural comic timing hits best with the screw-the-script-we-have-an-outline-let's-improv-it mentality that the film takes on. The rest of the cast doesn't quite keep up, specifically Terrence Howard. He was no great loss, to be entirely honest. Gwyneth Paltrow, however, is rather adaptable to it. But all intriguing juggling of technology and morality work, until the Iron Monger moves in. As soon as the plot builds up the requisite villain, it loses its way. It simply doesn't know how to finish, and it ends up mindlessly action-oriented. No plot. No full-circle resolution to the arcs. It simply doesn't work, and that's what stops it from being Marvel's tops.

Quick Takes: "The Pirates!", "Pandorum", "Up", "Drive"

"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

Directed by Peter Lord

Believe it or not, there are requisites for an entertaining stop-motion animated offering, the main one being that it has to have a purpose for all its inane musings. "Wallace and Gromit" has been silly as all hell, but it's always found an organic explanation for existence. That's something that "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" lacks, is that through all the weird and zany misadventures of this crew, they never feel gleeful. They simply feel like they're there for the sake of the jokes, which often aren't all that amusing. The villain hates pirates because... she hates pirates. And the best thing about being a pirate is... Ham Night, apparently. The art of claymation gives it a slight leg up in the joy factor, but is it too much to go beyond the true bare minimum of narrative investment?

"Pandorum"

Directed by Christian Alvart

You may be wondering, what reason did I have for seeing this at all? Well, sometimes it's just there, and fact of the matter is that this is exactly the type of film my father raised me and my brother on. Sci-Fi Horror with no real purpose than to shock, which it really doesn't. We have all the requisite factors. The Earth is a non-factor, dead by now with nobody missing it. The attractive guy who survives with the attractive girl. The zombies, which they may not be since they're just suffering from space mutation, but they're zombies for all we care. They act the same as can be expected. And we have somebody who isn't who we think they are, and we can't say we honestly care either. Except this time, we kind of do a bit, but that's only thanks to a rare strong performance from Dennis Quaid. I was surprised by how effective his work was, but beyond that, this is a lot of the same gruesome nothingness that fails to enthrall much at all.

Quick Takes: "Cabin in the Woods", "Girls", "A Prophet"

"The Cabin in the Woods"

Directed by Drew Goddard

My thoughts on the much hyped "Cabin in the Woods" are difficult to state, not because I'm afraid of giving away spoilers. It's because the subject of spoilers has been so completely marring any reviews. If we're not even allowed to talk about the basic plot of the film, what's the point? A bunch of old corporate geezers send a bunch of high school teens into a death trap to pretty much reenact your typical horror films. If that's the master spoiler, what the hell am I spoiling? That's in the very first 15 minutes of the film. I wish I'd even known that before heading in to the film. It's nice to have some inclination of plot.

But how's the film? Not quite worthy of all the hype that everyone seems to allot it. Is it quite clever in its more humorous statements. Yes, and it gives the films a spontaneity that all the serious talk of spoilers attempts to deprive the film of. This isn't a masterful film, or something worth protecting. The surprises aren't based on plot, but on visual zing. Richard Jenkins' and Bradley Whitford's regular exchanges throughout the film give the horror backdrop such a lively nature to it. And when the third act festival of carnage begins, boy oh boy is it ridiculous fun. A few days ago, after I first saw the film, I had a less than soulful tune to things, and gave the film a C+ via twitter. Now? I think it's a keen and fun play on the genre, and deserves not to be raised to a standard it couldn't possibly live up to.

Quick Takes: "Wrath of the Titans", "Single Man", "Serenity"

"Wrath of the Titans"

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

We didn't need a "Clash of the Titans" remake. We didn't want a "Clash of the Titans" remake sequel. We got both, but in the latter's case, things aren't so bad as they might have been. Go ahead and beseige it for all its idiotic dialogue and dishevelment of Greek mythology, but "Wrath of the Titans" was a damn bit of fun. Obviously we still don't care about Sam Worthington, or the subsequent son he bequeathed. What do we care about? Crazy creature battles, Edgar Ramirez as the unappreciated Ares, Rosamund Pike giving a great deal of spunk to proceedings, and Ralph Fiennes just being amazing as per usual. It's cool. Nothing special, or worth putting your neck out for. Hell, it's really stupid. But I wasn't out for blood this time.

"A Single Man"

Directed by Tom Ford

I'm taking a sociology class on consumption, and until I revisited this film, I didn't really know what I wanted to write my final paper on. Obviously this isn't the sperm of consumerist culture, but positional consumption and experiential consumption do play an at least dissectable role. But my viewing didn't come out of search for a proper film for class. It came out of deep heartache to be reunited with one of the sweetest, most gorgeous, and subtly heartbreaking films of the past couple years. Colin Firth had much deeper emotional waters to traverse in "A Single Man" than he did with the lackluster and irritating "The King's Speech".

Quick Takes: "The Grey", "John Carter", "In Bruges"

 

"The Grey"

Directed by Joe Carnahan

It is so satisfying when a film goes up against typical expectations and proves them wrong to the deepest degree. It's been habit to treat Liam Neeson vehicles without any serious inclinations. Remember how stupidly fun "Unknown" turned out to be, even though it was still by most counts an awful film? "The Grey" is not in that similar situation. As a matter of fact, from the very first moment of the film, you are encouraged to treat it with the same heart and attention you're expected to bring to a Pixar film. We meet Ottway at a drought in his life, with implications towards an unfulfilled past and pessimistic current state of being. And then we get one of the most brutal and intense plane crashes in a while.

Carnahan doesn't stray away the brutal horror of the world they're in. The characters pitted against the wild aren't trained killers or badasses in any way at all. They are at first merely stereotypes, and I had a feeling that the film was about to head downhill. And then it didn't, and as the film goes on and the stakes get more highly raised against them, they shed the facades they've worn out in "the world", not to survive, but to live. There is a heavy distinction between the two. This film is surprisingly harrowing, and even had me crying on more than one occasion. Survival isn't important, but the human soul is. Liam Neeson is strong, but from my opinion it is Frank Grillo who really knocks it out of the park, particularly in one scene. You'll know it when it happens, and the film won't feel the same after.

Quick Takes: "Arrietty", "Weekend", "Fargo", "My Week with Marilyn"

"Arrietty" (1st Viewing)

Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

I've kept myself out of the theaters for most of this year, simply because there hasn't been anything to lure me out of the Oscar season, with this being the single exception. Last year was a truly sad year for animation, and we didn't get everything that we deserved. Dreamworks was at a level of dispensable fun, and Pixar on a level of materialist carnage without proper justification. I had similar feelings about Studio Ghibli as of late, which has degraded to the levels of films like "Ponyo" and "Tales from Earthsea". I can say rather confidently that Hayao Miyazaki is able to bring the studio back to their intimate roots in the most subtly fantastical of ways.

In terms of conflict, "Arrietty" ("The Borrower Arrietty" or "The Secret World of Arrietty" in some countries) is very much scaled back. The objects of life and death lay in the background of philosophical concepts the film plays properly with. The relationship between Arrietty and Sho is much like the relationship of a rebellious young woman and a young boy dealing with traumatic events with dashes of optimism and the desire of being necessary. It's a very intimate story, not about friendship or family, but the desire to live a happy life in a world that doesn't care. There are political connotations to this story that are quite touching. The miniaturized characters cause for a fantastically maximized scale for the house the borrowers live in, and it's especially attentive in terms of sound design and absolutely gorgeous animation, like a moving still-life given the full cinematic treatment. It would be a joy to see this film inspire a generation of illustration majors from it.

Quick Takes: "Chocolat", "No Fear, No Die", "Down by Law"

"Chocolat"

Directed by Claire Denis

It's a piece of irony that a course called "Women and Cinema" focuses around films with predominantly male casts, but I'm actually quite pleased that the course I'm currently taking decided to revolve around a particular blind spot in my cinematic intelligence, that being Claire Denis. I've made no secret of my affections for "White Material", so going back to her directorial debut, also set in Africa, it's hard not to notice similarities in terms of tone. Denis has never been an obvious or rather outspoken director, and you can tell that in her interviews. She's not an exuberant presence, and is rather reserved when you consider how devastating some of her films can be.