The King's Speech

Director: Tom Hooper
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

A very British film, The King's Speech is contained and yet slyly funny, showcasing a wonderful ensemble cast and skilled leads and telling a compelling story throughout.  While I'm unsure whether it fully warrants the accolades for best film, the actor categories could be healthily flushed out by the cast of this movie!

It's 1925, and George V (Michael Gambon) delivers a Christmas speech to his subjects, which, at that point, constituted 25% of the world (!).  In the same year, his younger son Bertie, the Duke of York (Colin Firth), attempts to deliver a speech to subjects assembled at Wembley Stadium, to disastrous effect.  Unable to make it past the first couple lines because of a pervasive stutter, Bertie crumbles under pressure and succumbs to his absolute physical and verbal discomfort. 

We pick up with Bertie again in 1934, the absolute royal.  Haughty, proud, disdainful, and with an apparent speech impediment for his Rs as well as his stutter, he has sought help from a speech therapist. This man fills Bertie's monarchical mouth with marbles, and promptly gets fired. Fed up and believing he is beyond help, the Duke declares "No more."  His wife (Helena Bonham Carter) politely dissents, and seeks the help of one Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a poor, out-of-work actor and speech coach.  In their first session, Logue immediately quells the inherent power struggle between the two men; he insists on addressing each other by first name, addresses the issue of payment, and maintains that he has as much choice about taking Bertie on as a client as Bertie himself.  "My castle, my rules," he smiles.

Through initial resistance, the two persevere and ultimately triumph over difficult tongue twisters ("I am a thistle sifter. I have a sieve of sifted thistles, and a sieve of unsifted thistles, because I am a thistle sifter") and discover a past riddled with absentee parents, unfair societal pressures, and a withholding nanny who wouldn't feed Bertie for days.  Bertie battles his inner hang-ups, which include a tendency to fill mental pauses with profanity (the ensuing scene, riddled with swears, is what got the film its R rating and won my allegiance -- it's absolutely hysterical).  They strike up, dare I say it, a friendship.

And then Bertie's older brother Edward (Guy Pearce) abdicates the throne in order to marry his mistress, the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson.  Just in time for World War II.

Bertie, again, crumbles... then ascends the throne as George VI in December of 1936.  At this point you realize you have never seen him get through a full speech in the whole film, as they cut away after he starts stammering within the first few lines.  You pull for him in an unexpected way, as his character, kindness, way with his children, and loving marriage make him a sympathetic man, unfairly burdened by a cruel linguistic affliction and a selfish, shallow brother.

Firth is simply astounding as Bertie, and I'm putting my money on him for Best Actor.  Rush is charismatic, feeling, and funny, and Bonham Carter sparkles with dry wit, affection, and kindness.  Featuring a great soundtrack, and a stellar supporting cast, including Jennifer Ehle, Anthony Andrews, Derek Jacobi, and Timothy Spall, The King's Speech is subdued, but not to be missed.

Love and Other Drugs

Director:
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

There are elements of this film that show a relationship in a very real light.  There are other elements that  make me want to hurl.  Luckily, the former wins out, overall, and what you leave with is a sneaking smile and a desire to hold on to your honey.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jamie, a pharmaceutical salesman who meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), an early-onset Parkinsons patient in an exam room while shadowing her doctor.  Romance inexplicably blooms in the typical RomCom fashion.  She hates him first, then warms to him, reveals her illness, injured dating past, and subsequent difficulty in letting people in.  He forgoes his playboy ways in favor of take out food and midday sex -- although, in this film, it's pretty much all sex all the time -- and starts to fight for her in ways that are new even to him.  Things go awry, but he realizes his mistake, then drives his Porsche at dangerous speeds alongside a bus in order to win her back in a sweeping, successful romantical gesture.  Awww.

There is an interesting interwoven commentary on our drug-seeking culture and its origins, showing us the other side of doctors' offices -- the side where secretaries sleep with salesmen, which influences which samples are available to hand patients, the side where doctors enjoy a handout as much as the next guy, where quotas are more important than the humans that make them, and the side where illness affects the younger, stronger, faster just as much as the old.  The way we view illness is also called into view, with Maggie ultimately embracing the idea of living with a disease.

Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have great chemistry and even better bodies.  The gratuitous nudity is easy on the eyes, and their witty dialogue and tender moments seem realistic and attainable while still maintaining that movie magic.  You can have their love, just probably not in the same sick loft she's set up in.  Judy Greer turns in yet another fantastic performance as the second female lead, and Josh Gad is hysterical as Jamie's hapless younger brother. 

I'm not convinced anything in this movie is award- or even purchase-worthy, but if you catch it with a friend or from the couch, your afternoon or evening would still qualify as well-spent.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt. 1

Director: David Yates

Year: 2010
Rating: ***

Here you have it, Potter fans: the penultimate installment of Harry's adventures! As we settled in to the theater the day after Thanksgiving, there was admittedly a part of me that didn't want it to start because that would mean the end was that much closer... 

We pick up with the crew at the beginning of what should be their 7th year at Hogwarts.  Instead, the Dursleys leave Harry alone at Privet Drive, Hermione wipes her parents' memories clean, and Ron and his family prepare for Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow.  Evil brews everywhere else, as Voldemort and his Deatheaters plot their attack on Harry & Co. for the day he turns 17.  Of humorous note is the scene with the 7 Harrys.

As the Ministry is infiltrated and the wizarding world starts to crumble, Harry, Hermione and Ron set off to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, as instructed, albeit cryptically, by Dumbledore.  Along the way, they discover the Deathly Hallows, and grapple with whether to add that to their quest.  This journey brings them all over the UK, using Hermione's amazing extendable handbag and the Weasley's extendable tent.  Our heroes link up with Kreacher and Dobby, penetrate the Ministry for an afternoon, and test themselves in a way school never could.  The themes get increasingly more adult as the books go on, and the movie version is no exception - friends die, characters kiss, and the fear factor just about triples along the way.  The tension between Ron and Hermione, by the way, is simply delicious: "Are you still mad at him?" "I'm always mad at him." Love it!


This movie definitely moves quickly at times, potentially leaving non-readers in its magical wake.  The effects and motivation for curses and plot twists, while exhaustively explained in the book, is slightly less clear on screen, despite their best efforts.  The characters are, of course, compelling, the effects are awesome, and to their credit, the filmmakers seem to have included the most vital bits of the book.  My one complaint, and this is as much for Ms. Rowling as much as for the movie makers, is that the complicated history of wandlore is not explained until the last third of the book and, subsequently, doesn't make it into Part I of the film.  It feels like too much to save til the end, but so be it.

Particularly well done is the tale of the three brothers, which unfolds during their visit to Xenophilius Lovegood (played hauntingly by Rhys Ifans, a personal fave).  Also dramatic and visually powerful is Ron's encounter with the necklace horcrux.  Rupert Grint does a wonderful job, as always, with Ron; his loyalty tested, his ego in shreds, his speech upon rejoining his friends is simply beautifully delivered.  Harry and Hermione's visit to Godric's Hollow is creepy, thanks to Hazel Douglas, the old lady they got to play Bathilda Bagshot (and whoever did her make up), yet also poignant as he revisits the scene of his infamous attack.  Excellent throughout, as always, are James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George, and Evanna Lynch as Luna.  Voldemort is suitably scary, although I admit that I'm constantly bothered by the fact that Ralph Fiennes (who I usually love!) sounds like he has a perpetually stuffy nose!  A villain with a cold, in addition to a cold heart...

I'm excited for Part II!  I went back and re-read the remaining chapters, and there's still a lot of action ahead!

The Social Network

Director: David Fincher
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

"How long have you been on Facebook?" Jess asked me the other day.

"Since my Junior year of college."  It was odd to consider a time, not actually so long ago, when the site was not so integral to daily social life.

"Wow! Whoah." she said, shocked, having just (reluctantly) joined earlier this year. 

"It was different then," I said.  "Just for individual schools at a time, and you had to have a .edu email account, and... I dunno. It was a little more - "

"Exclusive?" she asked.  I nodded.  "Is that in the movie?" she followed. 

"Um... kind of."

Facebook and its relationship with "exclusivity" features prominently in the movie, just not necessarily chronicled the way Jess was asking.  The Social Network is a-swirl with the concept - who can join what club, who can get into what school, who can create an idea, who can join a website, who can get a date, who can win a lawsuit. Who can be a billionaire.  And while it tracks the progression of Facebook, from exclusive to entirely accessible, the movie focuses much more on the human connections -- or missed connections -- that came into play in order to create the site in the first place.

We meet Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) on a date with a BU undergrad at the Thirsty Scholar (up the street from my house, holla!), ending in disastrous disses and singledom.  Furious, he heads back to his dorm at Harvard and creates the "Facemash" using an algorithm created by his roommate Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) for a class.  The faces of two coeds appear side by side, and the viewer clicks on the one they find hotter. Coupled with a blog post bashing his ex and comparing her to swine, Zuckerberg presents as juvenile, bitter, and socially impaired.  That he went on to create the ubiquitous site that turned "friend" into a verb is an irony entirely embraced by the film.

Upperclass twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) catch wind of the Facemash and recruit Zuckerberg's programming skills to help them launch an online dating site for Harvard students. The movie follows the series of events through the lens of the (real life) lawsuits that ensued betwixt the players.  At some point, Zuckerberg agreed to help the Winklevii.  He also simultaneously launched The Facebook with the help of three friends, which took off and became what we know it to be today with the help of Napster creator Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), leaving the twins furious at the theft, as they see it, of their idea.  As they argue, stern-faced, over copyright, the concept of "exclusivity" and exclusive right gets bantered around ad nauseum - and yet, as Zuckerberg ends up so succinctly saying, "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook. A guy who makes a nice chair doesn't owe money to everyone who has ever built a chair."

On that ill-fated date, Erica (Rooney Mara) chastises Zuckerberg, saying "Dating you is like dating a stairmaster." An apt analogy, Eisenberg is indeed a ball of frenetic energy, motoring through his lines in a robotic monotone, with borderline-autistic tilts of the head for emphasis. His delivery, in addition to the fraught interactions between him and the other characters, benefits from Aaron Sorkin's amazing writing.  While it's a film about computer nerds, it comes alive on the screen like a fast-paced mystery/action/betrayal/revenge flick.  Fincher's famous exactitude makes for a clean, clipped, driving pace that adds an air of exhilaration throughout. Garfield is wonderful as the friend-turned-business-partner, and even Timberlake sparkles with an impish genius (although he's the epitome of a casting upgrade - Sean Parker should be so lucky!).

This film does not attempt to psychoanalyze Zuckerberg, although it certainly doesn't portray him in the most flattering of lights. It's hard to ignore the underlying anger portrayed as a potential motivator for his character.  Eisenberg positively seethes with contempt for the entitled twins and their upper class upbringing, and his relationship with women is pictured as dysfunctional at best. 'Duardo even asks, at one point, "How do you do this thing where you manage to get all the girls to hate us?" As his vitriolic derision of Erica pours forth, you can't help but cringe at his ire.

Insetad, the film questions, much more openly, the concept of intellectual respect - Mark has none for Erica, none for BU, none for the twins, none for their lawyer, and ultimately shows questionable judgment even in the treatment of his friends.  And, disturbingly, underlying it all is an eerie sense that he's justified. He's right. He did invent it. He is smarter. He wins.  But does that entitle him to treat people the way he did on his way to the top? 

The Social Network is an engaging, well-written, well-acted movie that I'm certain you'll enjoy.  In no way, however, do I think it tells the whole story.

Catfish

Director: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

Well, this movie is certainly not "the Hitchcock film Hitchcock never directed," as advertised in the preview.  And I think that's not actually a bad thing, although I reserve the right to feel a little disappointed anyway.  For those of you who haven't seen it, I'll try to continue without spoiling it.

Nev Schulman works as a photographer in New York City and shares office space with his filmmaker brother and another friend.  These two had the presence of mind to capture the unfolding story of Nev's  life over the course of 9 months in 2007.  One of his pictures, published in the New York Sun catches the eye of Abby, an 8-year-old artist in Michigan, who recreates the image in oil paints and mails it to Nev.  They strike up a friendship, and through Facebook, Nev becomes acquainted with her mother, Angela, stepfather, older sister Megan, and more.  His friendship with Megan blossoms into a long distance romance, fueled by text messaging, online chatting, phone conversations, and artistic exchanges -- he sends digital images of his work, and she sends digital recordings of her original music.

After he discovers that the songs she has been sending are actually recordings of other artists, already uploaded to YouTube and other such sites, Nev confronts Megan -- online -- who gets very upset.  He, in turn, gets suspicious and understandably freaked out.  He and his buddies decide to make their way to Ishpeming, Michigan to find out what exactly has been going on. 

This fills the first 40 minutes of screentime, and is about what you can glean from the preview.

The preview, mind you, plays on the assumptions of the audience.  It does so by including that reviewer's quote, automatically associating -- however erroneously-- the film with Hitchcock and the thriller genre, and playing up the suspenseful trip to Michigan.  This abuse of expectation is a trend continued in the remaining plot of the actual movie.  That said, from the beginning, Catfish advertising warned the audience not to trust things as they seem.  That the real meat of the movie lies is what unfolds once they arrive, and that you can probably never guess how it does so, is exactly the point of a preview.  I suppose, in that sense, any disappointment is unjustified.

However.

The preview absolutely makes it seem like this film is going to be on a similar level as recent gory horror movies.  What ensues after the 45 minute mark is horrifying, but certainly doesn't fall under the film genre of the same name.  This incongruence can have a couple different effects.  The adolescents in the theater were laughing.  At least 5 couples left early.  The rest of us sat, somber, as the story unfolded and revealed not gruesome hacksaw murders, but lives dismembered nonetheless.

Was it the film I expected?  No.  Is it okay, if rare, to have a movie-going experience these days where you can't predict what will happen?  Of course.  Was it worth seeing? Yes.  Have I thought about it since? Yes.  Did I immediately re-check the privacy settings on my Facebook page?  Yes.  Could you wait, and rent this?  ... Yes.

The Kids Are All Right

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

Seems like this film has been met with either "Love it!" or "Hate it!" responses across the board, yet I actually fall in the middle.

Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) live what seems to be a storied life in the suburbs of LA, mothering their two children, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), fathered by a sperm donor years ago.  Nic is a busy doctor with a bit of a drinking problem, while Jules is getting a landscaping design business off the ground after years of puttering around at various occupations.  In a house full of love, laughter, and seemingly "normal" familial issues, the boat is rocked with the kids decide they'd like to meet their bio-dad.  Paul, played by Mark Ruffalo and the frog who seems to have taken up permanent residence in his throat, is a polarizing player for this previously perfect pair - Nic doesn't like him much, and Jules... well, Jules ends up liking him quite a bit.  The dynamics between all of them make up the meat of this complex story, leaving viewers with mixed emotions and not, necessarily, all right.

Bening and Moore are simply amazing, as award show circuits are sure to reflect.  Each portrays the complicated nature of being half of a partnership, with love, anger, loyalty, the search for self, and exquisitely nuanced moments alone and together.  They each commit to their character's flaws and make them wonderfully real.  They're aided by director Cholodenko's minimalist approach, who chose to go light on the make up with a casual, messy wardrobe and set-dressing style that helps to create the reality of this family's life. 

This movie seems to be stuck between two philosophies, however.  On the one hand, it's "The Lesbian Movie."  On the other, it seems to want to be the "This Could Be Any Family Movie."  That the family is headed by two women is alternately celebrated and downplayed.  Jules' dalliance with Paul seems to undermine the first, while simultaneously highlighting the second, in the fact that infidelity and midlife crisis can be a universal grief, regardless of sexual orientation.  My unsettled feeling throughout and at the close might be credited to this conflicted stance about the message they're trying to send. 

Some scenes are quite funny in both content and delivery by the actors.  When Nic and Jules confront Laser to have "The Talk," it's absolutely hysterical to watch them try to explain, then overexplain, then retract, and ultimately embarrass pretty much everyone in the process. 

I admittedly rolled my eyes when they tried to take issue with "straight women playing lesbians" in porn -- how's Warren Beatty treatin ya, Annette?  And Bart - how's he doing, Julianne?  Who's "inauthentic" now? I can only imagine this intense irony is (real live lesbian) Cholodenko's tongue-in-cheek jab at Hollywood's tendency to cast that way (90% of the recurring cast of The L Word, anyone?), but it also calls into question whether an actor needs to be gay, or straight, to portray, authentically, a character's journey.  But that's another entry for another time.

That said, The Kids Are All Right presents a very frank, occasionally sad, layered, at times joyous, and ultimately pretty realistic portrayal of the ups and downs of coupledom.  Ooh! Also... look out for Yaya DaCosta, of America's Next Top Model: Cycle 3 fame, as Paul's assistant and sometimes-lover. 

The kids are, ultimately, all right, and the family will be too. 

Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

In another Nolanian creation of deceptive reality, Inception presents a world where dreams and thoughts are permeable, and extractors can hack into your head and steal an idea.  As the title indicates, Leonardo DiCaprio's character Cobb is offered the chance to attempt to reverse that process -- instead of extracting an idea, he should plant one.  The premise alone is simple enough, but the carrying out is quite complex.  The film unfolds through many high speed chases through the multiple layers of the subconscious, which, in some people, is quite literally defended -- by armed people, or rather, projections.  It's ultimately a psych student's playground, not quite broken down for everyone else.

Cobb, accused of killing his wife, Moll, has been banned from returning to the United States and ever seeing his children again.  He works as some kind of thought stealing agent, breaking into the heavily guarded minds of high up business execs and stealing their most protected secrets.  The premise of this is that, in a suggestive, created state, apparently, when you even mention the word secret, a person creates a place in that alternate reality that contains their deepest secret -- which, if you're a talented thought stealing agent, you can then hack into and steal.

I'm not going to attempt to summarize the plot further, except to say that, if you had to read the last paragraph twice you're probably not alone in your confusion.  It's an interesting, complexly conceptualized concept of a film, acted well, directed suitably jarringly, and certainly causing quite the stir online and already in the Awards circuit. 

Perhaps most interesting of all, to a word nerd like me, are the character names.  Ellen Page plays the architect hired to create the detailed land- and cityscapes of the imagined worlds of the minds they break into.  Her name, not so subtly, is Ariadne.  Constantly spinning a web defining the blueprints of each world, Page does a fair job, but pales in comparison to Marion Cotillard in the role of Moll.  Presented as the elusive, negative force in Cobb's life, it's again not so subtle that the French actress's character name sounds like "mal."  In the last really obvious bout of wordplay, Cillian Murphy plays Robert Fischer, the businessman selected for the ultimate plan.  In a potentially ironic commentary on chess and who exactly is a pawn, it struck me as somewhat funny that his name was a derivative of Bobby Fisher.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Also showing up in strong supporting roles are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine, who has apparently forgotten that he was supposed to retire after The Cider House Rules.  It's DiCaprio who shines, however, in the enigmatic lead role.  Keep an eye on his spinning top.

The special effects are awesome, and the acting fair.  If you're a Nolan fan, certainly see this, likewise if you've ever read anything about Freud's topographic theory.  It definitely makes you think.  Hard.  I, for one, can say definitively that, having seen this, my frown lines have deepened.  I had to think harder than I have in months -- and I'm in graduate school :(  for someone who doesn't have to go to 1500 classes a week, maybe that's not a problem.  I found myself returning to the plot for days after, and trying to further deconstruct the many ideas put before me.  Typical Nolan, I s'pose...

Crazy Heart

Director: Scott Cooper
Year: 2010
Rating: ***

"Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try," urges the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated song The Weary Kind*, from which this movie draws its title.  This song is just one of many** haunting and memorable songs on the soundtrack to this tale of the flawed genius of Bad Blake, a washed up, alcoholic country sanger-songwriter played by Jeff Bridges.

Bad makes his living driving, belt unbuckled, all over the Southwest to two-bit gigs in bowling alleys and bars, pissing in a water jug and chain smoking as he goes.  He sweats and drinks his way through his shows and his life, playing the same old songs from earlier in his career while fighting via phone for a new record deal.  A rare interview with rookie music columnist Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) sparks a relationship of sorts, with Bad quickly taken in by her open attitude and cute li'l kid, Buddy, and she taken in by his raw talent.

His raw everything else soon threatens even their most optimistic of moments, and Bad is forced to seek sobriety by the ugliness of his actions... and his friend Wayne, played by a theater-wide-gasp-worthy Robert Duvall.  (Boo Radley! Who knew he was in this?!)  A few catchy songs and life lessons later and he somewhat rockily reunites with his now-famous protégé, Tommy Sweet (mfb favorite Colin Farrell) and the elusive record deal becomes tangible.  The scenes between the two of them ripple with equal parts rancor and respect, see-sawing precariously between the two.


The oft-unrewarded Bridges could certainly get the Oscar for his dogged portrayal of Bad Blake; his measured cadences in song and speech, bone-deep ache, and ultimate ability to reclaim himself are pitch-perfect.  His story is not one of complete happiness, nor should it be; I could honestly have used a little more of the bad, especially his struggle with overcoming his significant addiction to alcohol (don't tell me one stint in rehab is all it takes).  This presentational flaw is the fault of Cooper, however, and not Bridges, so he could be taking home a naked man come March.  He and Farrell do all their own singing, and, although neither should rush off to seek a singing career (although Bridges already did... oops!), both amply portray the most touching aspects of their characters through these musical moments.

Crazy Heart is worth catching, despite its scattered flaws; like its title character and those who love him, y'all should be able to see the good through the Bad.

*The winning version of which was recorded by Ryan Bingham -- the real one, not the character played by George Clooney in Up In the Air... 

**My personal favorites were "Falling and Flying" and "Hold On You."

It's Complicated

Director: Nancy Meyers
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

Let it be noted that I saw this movie in a theater packed with a mostly-65-and-older crowd, and I definitely think that influenced my viewing experience.  They LOVED this movie.  I liked it.  I can see how I might have stopped at 2 stars were it not for the absolute joy of laughing along with a whole audience of grandparents.  It's endearing, what can I say.

Jane (Meryl Streep) has been divorced from Jake (Alec Baldwin) for 10 years, originally instigated by his cheating with a younger woman whom he then married.  It has taken Jane about that long to get over him and adapt to her single-with-3-adult-children life, and she has even started to flirt a bit with her cute architect Adam, played relatively seriously by Steve Martin.  At the graduation weekend of their youngest son, however, the Js meet for drinks and later land (loaded) in bed.  There begins an affair of their own, as they both realized that there are some residual feelings from their previous union -- and some new ones as well. 

As the slap dash story unfolds, Jane starts to casually date Adam while continuing to casually copulate with Jake.  Her oldest daughter's fiancee Harley (John Krasinski) finds out about the liaison, leaving him with some excellent comedic moments and dialogue which he handles like a pro.  Love him.  Things come to a head when Jake decides to move back "home" and we're "treated" to a nude scene, but despite it all, we get a sense that it all works out in the end.

Things of possible interest:
1.) Meryl has multiple cooking scenes, making one wonder how well her own family has been eating, what with her forays as Julia Child and now Jane Adler. 
2.) Meryl has occasion to utter both the phrase "Turns out I'm a bit of a slut!" and "I prefer a lot of semen."  Deal with that as you will. 
3.) Steve Martin really does look like my dad. 
4.) The house in this movie is gorgeous. 
5.) Alec Baldwin is seriously chunky.  And yet the media has somehow skipped the "Baby Bump Baldwin?" headlines.  Too bad.

This is a fun one, folks.  Not one I would put at the top of my list for Oscar season if you have other stuff you want to catch, but if you have a free afternoon and want a li'l laugh, check it out. 

Up In the Air

Director: Jason Reitman
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

In an appropriately-timed release, Jason Reitman's follow-up to Juno offers less quippy, equally apt commentary on the economic situation our country faces, and the individual lives affected by downsizing -- on both sides of the spectrum, to a certain extent.

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a fast-talking, credit card-carrying businessman with membership in countless hotel frequent-user clubs and close to 10 million American Airline miles.  And that's about all he has.  Whatever doesn't fit into his suitcase doesn't seem to fit into his life, and between cross-country trips to fire people, he lectures on exactly that -- how to lighten your backpack in life.

Did you catch that his job is to fire people?  In an interesting twist, his company (headed by Reitman staple Jason Bateman) has hired an upstart Cornell grad named Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) to streamline their firing model.  She has come up with a fire-by-video-chat method that would cut the company's excessive travel budget significantly -- and effectively cut the Cloon's relevance significantly as well.

In a searing scene, Ryan proves that he and the firing process are not ready to be streamlined by Natalie -- what could her computer terminal angel of doom do if the subject walked away, for example?  Instead of prompting his boss to fire her, however, his critique sets up a shadowing trip, where Natalie follows him on his next trip around the country, learning about his process and honing hers.  Her presence significantly impedes him in his scheduled liaisons with Alex (Vera Farmiga), a like-minded businesswoman.  Natalie's wide-eyed innocence encourages him to actually teach her, but also makes him start to question the lack of human substance in his life.

A few gems in this movie include the opening sequence and song, the throw-away Amelie reference, and the prevailing humanity of Ryan and Natalie.  I was shocked, for example, to find myself rooting for Ryan and his methods, thinking "Yes, it's much better to be fired in person.  What could she be thinking?!" and only afterwards thinking, "Wait... they're still getting fired!!"  But for all her prissiness, Anna Kendrick does a good job of combining the ambition of Natalie with her inexperience.  She's very real.

Although I'm not entirely convinced that this movie totally deserves all the nominations it has already garnered, it's definitely a good film and worth catching in order to make your own call.

Invictus

Director: Clint Eastwood
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

This is by no means Clint Eastwood's most amazing directorial stint, but it ain't too shabby.  Serious props go to Morgan Freeman for an uncannily good portrayal of Nelson Mandela, and to Matt Damon for an excellent attempt at the South African accent required of his role as Francois Pienaar, the rugby captain.  I admit I giggled every time he said "Focus!" as that word was perhaps the easiest to fudge (tee hee), but other than that it was quite good!


The movie opens with Mandela's 1990 release from prison, then quickly skims over the next few years and straight to his 1994 election.  Faced with a strained post-apartheid nation still grappling with interracial tensions, Mandela's surprising hard initiative is to unite the country in supporting the rugby team, the Sprinboks, in the upcoming Rugby World Cup.  As it was to be hosted by South Africa in 1995, they had qualified by default without actually being very good.  He enlists the aid of Pienaar to motivate the team to train hard enough to actually stand a chance in competition.

Filled with moving recollections of his time in prison and stirring bouts of the rather intense sport of rugby itself, Invictus is captivating because of the amazing energy of Mandela himself -- done seriously well by Freeman (who, it is said, is the only actor Mandela ever wanted to play him on film).  Eastwood knows how to do his research, and every detail of this movie is spot-on -- from the ambiance of each office and home, and even the stadium where the games are played, to the accents, music, and general energy of the country at the time.

The title derives from a poem Mandela shares with Pienaar, which he found particularly inspiring while incarcerated.  Written by William Ernest Henley in 1875, and meaning "invincible," the text follows:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Like I said, not too shabby.

The Blind Side

Director: John Lee Hancock
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

Sandra Bullock finally takes a role that is remotely age-appropriate in this flick based on the life of Michael Oher, an NFL Raven.  Although it flirts with the whites-as-saviors stereotype, the fact that it actually happened redeems it in my eyes.

The Touhy family lives a favored life in the suburbs of Tennessee; dad Sean (a hatless Tim McGraw) had a successful sporting career and now owns a dozen or more fast food restaurants, and Leigh Anne tears things up as an interior decorator -- made clear by random moments when Sandra hollers into her cell phone in a very determined and powerful manner.  Their daughter Collins is a preppy little cheerleader, and their son SJ manages to out-zing even the best of comics through his gap-toothed smile and freckles.  Everyone looks put together and straight out of a, well, movie.  Until...

Michael (Quinton Aaron) and a friend are allowed to attend their Christian school, despite abysmal academic records, mostly for the promise of their athletic ability.  This would aid a sincerely ailing football team, led by Ray McKinnon -- one of the few actors who has made it despite seriously awful looks (check out Deadwood to see (a) an awesome show and (b) McKinnon moonlighting as an afflicted preacher in the wild West).  This assumption is based on a one-on-one scrimmage on a basketball court where the two boys -- gasp! -- make every shot!  I know, I know, this sounds a little Remember the Titans, but stick with it, folks.

On a dark and dismal night after a school event, Michael's looming frame, walking by the road in the driving rain, is spotted by the Touhys.  Leigh Anne quickly discerns that he has nowhere to go.  She takes him in, sets up some sheets on their couch, and only briefly wonders whether he'll steal everything in their house.  His good-natured presence and appreciation for anything remotely resembling a family outshines whatever worries she harbors, however, and his effect on the family ends up being quite touching.  After he officially moves in, they eat all together for Thanksgiving for the first time, for example, and pull together to cheer for him as he attempts to get his grades up and learn the game of football so he can actually be the aforementioned help to the team.  Several abbreviated and confusing flashbacks cue us in to the fact that Michael has, indeed, experienced a painful, unstable, and traumatic childhood that he is not eager to remember or revisit once offered a way out. 

What follows is an unexpected drama over which college he will attend, and how he's going to get in.  Kathy Bates makes a mostly-unremarkable appearance as his tutor, but this movie is mostly Sandra's -- with a few crucial chuckle-worthy scenes going to Jae Head as SJ.

Having seen it the day after Thanksgiving, I admit I may have been more prone to finding it heart-warming and tolerable than some, who may get hung up on the aforementioned stereotyping... but in my opinion, it was refreshing to see Sandra playing a mom instead of an ingenue, and overall an enjoyable film.

Where the Wild Things Are

Director: Spike Jonze
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

Be not perturbed, Wild Thing purists. Be still. This movie is not the book... but that's. o. kay. I found that it rather expands Max's journey to include a wider breadth of emotion, growth, and ultimate understanding for the little guy... and us.

Max (Max Records) is the younger of two children who clearly idolizes his older sibling, has a lot of powerful emotions that he doesn't always know how to deal with, and a vast imagination that alternately serves him and scares him with its unfolding depths. Fully enrolled in the school of unruly boyhood, he chases his dog with a fork, hollers at the top of his lungs, traipses snow through the house, and clambers upon the table when told he must eat frozen corn for dinner. He also, however, shows his prowess for storytelling, craves a mere glance from his sister, and nourishes a rather dear relationship with his mom (the effervescent Catherine Keener), tugging affectionately on her stocking toe from beneath the table in what clearly serves as a gesture of comfort for them both. When he runs away, therefore, finally overtaken by the hurtling unfairness of a day of miscommunication, we've already started to sail the emotional waves along with him...

Max arrives at the island of the Wild Things amidst a storm, a poetic set up for his entry among the beasts. What ensues is a glorious trip through the ever-changing feelings of childhood, framed by the building of a fort for Max and the Wild Things to live in together. The strength of this movie lies in its ability to take you there with Max, so that you're feeling the kind of joy you felt when you were 7 -- and then the sadness, the hurt, the confusion, the glee, the awe... the wonder. For me, the plot was irrelevant; what matters is that Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers found a way to recreate those unadulterated feelings that Maurice Sendak tapped into so many years ago, over and over again.

About halfway through, things get a little too far from childhood for my taste. Max and his Wild Things are a little darker now than they may have been when Sendak conceived of them in 1963. If I were making this movie, I think I would have stuck with the original text in a voiceover and merely extended the action in between -- without dialogue, and without naming the beasts. As it has been done here, they do seem to go on and on at times with their bickering, robbing the story arc of its underlying imaginative innocence a bit. The Wild Things look as they should, though, for the most part, if not quite as cuddly as I always personally imagined them to be. The thing is, everyone has their own vision of this book and how it all goes down, so to take the film to task for not exactly fitting mine is unhelpful.

There will always be an untouchable place in my heart for my own version of the Wild Rumpus and how exactly Max triumphs over the Wild Things to become their king. Having seen this movie has not interfered with my love of the book and my own inner Max (because you better believe he exists). In addition to that, I can honestly say that I am generally satisfied with this joyous, well-intentioned interpretation of an old classic.

See this.

Be still!

(500) Days of Summer

Director: Marc Webb
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

The full-voiced narrator warns you from the beginning that this is not a love story. Perhaps this says something about me, but it actually comes closer to my kind of love story than other, more typical, Hollywood schmaltz. This is a story of awkwardness, intensity of feeling, doubt, pain, recovery, and joy in between, worth seeing for its refreshing, postmodern take on a relationship.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, all grown up from his turn on 3rd Rock... and 10 Things I Hate About You, plays Tom, who falls in love with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). The camera makes sweet love to her arresting blue eyes and dark hair as Tom walks us through the progression of their relationship in non-chronological order. Although the time frame jumps around, it's not confusing, as the narration is clear and reinforced by quasi-animated line drawings indicating the setting.

The overarching question posed is whether we are meant to be with one person and if fate plays a role in our finding them; Tom believes yes to both and yes to Summer, while she isn't quite sure. Not-quite-love-story drama understandably ensues, at one point featuring a particularly funny satire of the musical in Central Park scene from Enchanted.

Although the ending may not satisfy everyone, romantic or feminist alike, it certainly isn't overwhelmingly trite or conveniently and unrealistically tied up with a bow. Her costumes are covetable, the soundtrack is spot-on, and you may find the questions lingering for a while when you return to your less-whimsical life.

Away We Go

Director: Sam Mendes
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

Finally, a movie that shows a loving couple that just loves each other. They don’t cheat on each other, or yell at each other, or fall inexplicably out of love with each other… they just love each other.

And it’s not boring.

My fiancé, John Krasinski, does a typically cute job playing Burt Farlander, an insurance-insurance salesman with a pregnant girlfriend, trying to make things stable before the arrival of their baby. Maya Rudolph (exquisitely costumed by John Dunn) deviates from her SNL funny-lady role and does well as Verona, the level-headed and relatable mom-to-be.

As they search for a place to settle, they visit friends and family in various cities, assessing the merits of each – with varying levels of dissatisfaction. It seems everyone has advice to give and different ways to offend, either through their own child-rearing or their impertinent questions for our wayward travelers. Without compromising their own values and with some alternatingly funny and heartwarming moments along the way, Burt and Verona find their way home… in more ways than one.

This movie boasts a stellar female cast – each time a female character came on screen for the first time, I found myself saying, “I love her!” Catherine O’Hara makes the most of her time as Burt’s mom, Allison Janney makes you cringe as Verona’s despicable, insensitive ex-boss, Maggie Gyllenhaal satirizes the au-naturale earth-mother type, and Melanie Lynskey (of Ever After fame – the nice stepsister - you probably recognize her) tugs some heartstrings as the friend struggling with the aftermath of another miscarriage.

Propped up by a soaring soundtrack by Alexi Murdoch, this movie has potential to be to the mid-30’s crowd what Garden State was to the mid-20’s: a soul-searching look at where we are, how we got here, and where to go next.

Up

Director: Pete Docter & Bob Peterson
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

I have one word to describe this movie: Wackadoodle. Seriously. It's the latest of Pixar's string of touching, fun, incredibly well animated movies... and if you ask me, they're straying further and further from reality... and quality. Who knows, you could see this movie and think it's great, but for me it was just a little... wackadoodle.

The movie begins in the childhood of Carl, an eager young boy who idolizes a world renowned explorer named Charles Muntz. Charles flies a blimp, retrieves cool skeletons from all sorts of exotic places, and is a national hero -- until he produces the skeleton of an animal that archaeologist insist can't exist. Mr. Muntz disappears in his blimp, vowing not to return without the animal itself. Carl continues on his freckled way, eventually meeting up with Ellie, a feisty little lady with similar interests. Here follows my almost-all-time-favorite movie montage, taking us through their eventual marriage and lifetime together. Seriously, I cried. The first two and a half stars are purely for this first 10 minutes.

We pick up with an aged Carl, a grumpy, lonely old man being kicked off his plot of land by city developers and being simultaneously plagued by Russell, a local boyscout trying to earn his "help the elderly" badge. (Props to Pixar for screening their first racially-ambiguous main character, PS!) Needless to say, shit goes down, and Carl and Russell end up sailing off in his house tied to 50-bajillion helium balloons, heading for South America.

What follows is just nuts. They end up meeting up with some kind of bird that looks like the rainbow vomited all over it, a whole fleet of talking dogs that are actually kind of creepy, and ... wait for it... Charles Muntz!! Only now he's crazy, and homicidal, and lives in a cave with the talking dogs!!

See it if you like, but you could leave after the montage and get as much out of it as if you stayed for the whole thing.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Director: Gavin Hood
Year: 2009
Rating: ***

That is a Huuuuuughjackman! In this action-packed homage to comic book royalty, the bearded one strikes again, this time with a little more filler regarding his patchy history. Hugh is suitably large (actually, shockingly so) to pull off the title character's legendary brawn, and Liev Schreiver (as Sabretooth) and Ryan Reynolds (as Deadpool) don't seem too shabby either... All three could knock you out with a neck vein, it seems.

Movies like this should come with a guide, however, since I found myself wishing I had more knowledge of the comic itself. Many characters go unnamed, or quickly named, and for those of us who didn't grow up reading and watching X-Men, the references were lost. Also, many mutant capabilities are left unexplained, leaving me similarly in the dark about their relevance. Gambit, for example, finally makes an appearance in his first X-Men film (after being cut from the third and only rumored to have been in the 2nd), but his abilities and such are left relatively unexplored... Perhaps fodder for another Origin?

This movie is exactly what it should be, however... (although an R-rating may have left us with more of Hugh in less clothing... which is always acceptable). It's fast-paced, full of fun fight scenes, cheesy one-liners, and lots of gratuitous facial hair. Well, gratuitous hair in general, actually. I hope they keep this up with the backstories, cause I think it's pretty fun.

Stay to the end of the credits though, yo! Theaters show 1 of 2 different spoilers, so you will only catch one. Ours let us know that a supposedly-dead character is... NOT. dun dun dunnn...

The Wrestler

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Year: 2008
Rating: ***

The gem of this movie is Mickey Rourke, as I'm sure you've heard if you pay any attention to movie buzz. For a while, apparently, Nicholas Cage was set to star as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, and good lord if that had happened, I can assure you this movie would not be receiving the acclaim it has been enjoying this awards season. Mickey Rourke himself is the perfect combination of vulnerable, charismatic, bumbling, well-intentioned, tender, and broken-down, and it translates perfectly to this role. Were anyone else in this leading part it would lose its authenticity and relatability; so, well done, Darren, for fighting for Mickey!

The film opens over a montage of posters and promotions for Randy "The Ram" as he wrestles various other ridiculously-named foes; he's clearly been a success in his field, and the air of nostalgia is thick right from the start. We cut to him in a dressing room 20 years later, looking pretty awful in his neon green spandex with stringy bleached blond hair cascading over his 'roidtastic shoulders. The camera literally follows him through a match, slinging his overly-muscular body through elaborate stage-fighting moves before emerging victorious to the cheers of an enthralled crowd of mullet-men. Randy heads home to his trailer, and we see the weekdays of his life; slinging boxes at a generic mega store, living alone out of his van when he gets locked out for not making rent, entertaining the kids of the neighborhood with his friendly bear demeanor, and dropping in to visit a favorite stripper (Marisa Tomei, acting the same as in every other role she's ever taken) at the local "Cheeks."

The story isn't even remotely original: washed up has-been struggles to remain relevant while seeking to maintain and rebuild relationships that have fallen by the wayside. There is something refreshing, however, about Rourke's portrayal, making it poignant and avoiding a sense of staleness. Evan Rachel Wood is unremarkable as his estranged daughter, but in his scenes with her, Mickey brought me to tears. Despite all the reconstructive facial surgeries brought about by his own foray into professional wrestling, he still conveys true emotion with an openness and vulnerability that showed me immediately why the Academy is jonesing to award him this year.

The film looks honestly at the ultimate fate of a person who has capitalized purely on the physical and what happens when things start to break down. While it definitely follows a well-trodden path, it does so in an unassuming way that manages to avoid the typical clichés. I liked the end for its ability to leave things (literally) up in the air, as it were.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2008
Rating: ***

I don’t usually like Woody Allen movies. I think he’s extremely self-indulgent and has been riding on his laurels for a while now. Also, regarding his new “muse,” how hard is it to find inspiration in pointing a camera at one of the most beautiful women of all time? I’d be more interested in what could come out of being inspired by a tougher subject than Ms. Johansson.

This movie, however, I liked. Sure, there was the character that behaved exactly like Woody (the neurotic and spastic husband who shows up unannounced to hinder the sexual encounters of Vicky, to her great displeasure), but he stayed away from most of his other go-to cinematic props. The dynamic between Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem was enough to captivate me throughout; PeNay-Nay’s amazing at creating an unbalanced, passionate, impulsive character and making her relatable instead of alienating. Even Scarlett was less wooden than I usually find her to be. The film realistically acknowledges the twisted logic and situations between lovers, friends, spouses, and acquaintances, and doesn’t try to wrap them up with a bow but rather lets them simmer their way through the difficult times too.

Definitely liked this, probably purchasing it.

The Dark Knight

Director: Christopher Nolan
Year: 2008
Rating: ***

Holy Heath Ledger, Batman! What a fantastic performance, worth every bee’s bit of buzz. While the movie itself seemed a tad long (I checked my watch, I admit) and a bit like it contained two separate plots, I was utterly captivated by his devotion and commitment throughout. I sincerely hope he’s at least nominated, although a true Oscar win for a box office biggie like this one seems like a bit of a stretch, despite the sentiment surrounding his death. But anyway, every second of his screentime was riveting and makes the movie one that is certain to end up on my shelves next to its predecessor.

As for the cons, Christian Bale’s voice was ridiculously over the top and started to grate on my nerves immediately, but he’s pretty so I got over it. (Side bar: how come the one scene featuring him shirtless also featured a solid display of the special effects crew’s bruises and scarring mechanisms!? Unless I’ll be getting to kiss those boo-boos, I want to see him nekkid and flawless, thank you.) Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I usually love) felt out of place as Rachel (a character I honestly care nothing about anyway); I’d much rather see her in the likes of her "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Secretary" roles. I also felt distracted in the scene between her and Heath, as I found myself wondering if they were about to kiss and then thinking that Heath would have kissed both GyllSybs. Weird. Aaron Eckhart never convinced me that he could have made her fall in love with him, and Two-Face’s plotline seemed excessive and irrelevant to the progression of the movie.

About halfway through, I remembered that Gary Oldham is an actor whose work I always mean to check out more thoroughly. Cute little plot twist for his character though; I was definitely sad when they wanted me to be sad – I’m being vague for those of you who haven’t seen this.

All in all, good action flick, seriously sick acting by one dearly departed craftsman, and the interesting promise of more to come for The BatMan.