Room

4 out of 4 Stars

Lenny Abrahamson's new film, Room, is a harrowing, intense, and stunning tale of survival. Brie Larson plays Joy, a woman who lives in a confined space with her 5 year old son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay). After spending over seven years in the confined space, known only as "Room", Jack helps his mother escape. Throughout the film, we see and hear Jack narrate his interpretation of the world in the room. It isn't until he escapes that he experiences the real world with new eyes and sees the toll it takes on Joy when she reunites with her parents (Joan Allen and William H. Macy). 

 Jacob Tremblay is incredible as Jack; he gives a naturalistic and moving performance that cuts deep into this tale of sorrow and hope. Brie Larson gives a career defining performance as Joy. Like Jack, she is a survivor who treads between vulnerability and perseverance when confronting her past. Joan Allen gives one of her best performances in years as Joy's mother as she tries to heal the wounds she and her daughter have endured since her disappearance. 

Abrahamson, who directed last year's quirky and moving Frank goes deeper into the psyche of isolated people and how they try to adapt to a new world. His collaboration with cinematographer, Danny Cohen, is ingenious as the camera exemplifies the state of confinement Jack and Joy endure similar to Catherine Deneuve's experiences in Polanski's Repulsion. As Jack's perspective of the outside world grows, the camera captures more of an expansive view of the world. 

Room is difficult to watch without breaking out a few tissues. Not since Beasts of the Southern Wild has there been a film that has captured a child's perspective of the harshness and beauty of the world. This is, by far, one if the most endearing films of the year. 

Junun

3 1/2 out of 4 Stars

Junun, the new documentary by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a visual and aural treat for music lovers and film lovers alike. In February of this past year, Anderson went to Rajasthan to film the recording sessions for Jonny Greenwood's new album with Israeli composer, Shye Ben Tzur, and several Indian musicians. Anderson, only armed with a digital camera he managed to get through airport customs, captures the creative and radiant energy of the musicians as they record despite constant electricity problems. During their brief reprieves from recording, the musicians meditate and go into town to tune their instruments while Anderson follows them with his camera.

Although the film is fifty-three minutes long, Anderson brilliantly captures every second of the beauty of Rajasthan and the music with unbridled curiosity. Greenwood, the wunderkind guitarist for Radiohead and composer for Anderson's films, pensively plays with his guitar while Ben Tzur sways and sings getting lost in the music as the audience gets lost in the film.  This is Anderson's first documentary and film shot entirely in digital format and he plays with the digital camera and tests the limits of how far he can capture the ethereal aura of Rajasthan whether it be filming a circle of musicians in a 360 degree shot or strapping the camera to a drone and flying it around. Along with the dizzying and stunning cinematography, the film celebrates the union of different musical genres with the same vibrant energy as Wim Wenders did with The Buena Vista Social Club. All and all, Junun is a joyous spectacle of sound and vision.

Sicario

4 out of 4 Stars


Sicario, the new film by Denis Velleneuve, is a jaw dropping, knuckle-whitening experience. Emily Blunt plays an ambitious, chain-smoking FBI agent assigned to work with the DEA in bringing down drug cartels along the US/Mexico border. As soon as she sees the unorthodox methods used by a swaggering cowboy of a DEA agent (Josh Brolin) and a soft-spoken, yet intense protege (Benicio Del Toro), her outlook on going by the book falls along the wayside. Meanwhile, the film goes back and forth to the daily routine of a hard-drinking local police officer in Mexico going about his private duties leading to a surprising third act in the film.

Not since Traffic has such a film showed the drug trade in an unflinching and suspenseful manner. At times, the film goes into sensory override as you feel and empathize with the anxiety and pressure Blunt's character faces throughout the film. Velleneuve, who gained strong praise with his 2013 film, Prisoners, ups the ante by keeping you on the edge of your seat thanks to Talyor Sheridan's sharp screenplay and Roger Deakins award-deserving cinematography by showing the gore and fury of a world filled with corruption similar to his work with the Coen brothers, be it through close-circuit television sets or night-vision goggles.

Benicio Del Toro gives one of his most darkest and strongest performances in years as Alejandro. His world-weary presence and soft-spoken demeanor is underestimated by a compulsive drive similar to De Niro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Emily Blunt is great as she successfully walks the tightrope between being a no B.S. FBI agent and a lonely woman whose only merits she holds dear are loyalty and integrity. Josh Brolin brings out a wild and beautifully crass performance as a DEA agent who thrives on chaos like a stilted flower relying on rain to survive.

Velleneuve's harrowing vision on the war on drugs is complimented by Johann Johannsson's ominous score as you go into this two-hour abyss of action and suspense. Sicario is nothing short of riveting and raw that it stands head and shoulders over previous films that have dealt with geopolitical themes like Zero Dark Thirty. The film is not preachy as previous drug-war films as Velleneuve objectively looks at the thin blue line between honor and corruption.

Black Mass

3 out of 4 Stars

Black Mass is a straightforward and faithful adaptation of Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neil's book on the infamous Boston gangster, James "Whitey" Bulger and his partnership with FBI agent, John Connelly. From 1976 to 1994, Bulger and his Winter Hill gang ruled the streets of South Boston with violent intimidation and Irish charm. As Connelly, a childhood chum of Bulger's, takes the credit for taking down the Italian Mafia, Whitey's criminal enterprise grows along with his psychotic tendencies. As the body count grows, so does the suspicion over how deep Bulger has the FBI in his back pocket.

Scott Cooper does a solid job in diverting from the tropes of the Scorsese-styled gangster flick by presenting Boston's criminal underworld with a composed and chilling style similar to Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle.  However, the film does veer off into domestic, eye-rolling melodrama reminiscent of Donnie Brasco. Fortunately, the melodrama is overshadowed by the documentary-styled narrative penned by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth along with the crisp and steady cinematography of Masanobu Takayanagi.

Johnny Depp gives a good and non-glamorous performance as Whitey Bulger. Apart from a stake dinner scene reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's flamboyant gangster in The Departed, Depp shies away from a Gonzo-esque performance as he invokes fear with his piercing blue eyes and rough exterior. Australian actor Joel Edgerton swaggers onto the screen as John Connelly with a mix of bravado and paranoia as the FBI agent who made a deal with the devilish Bulger. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as Whiteys brother and state senator who tries to look the other way when his brother is in the newspapers. Rounding up the cast are some memorable performances by Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, and Rory Cochrane as Whitey's crew.

For publicity leading up to the film, Warner Bros. made Black Mass look like a cross between Heat and The Town, yet the film is calm and reserved to some extent.  Even though there's nothing that really jumps off the screen, the film is a solid piece that combines journalistic inquiry into Boston 's criminal underground.