The Beasts of the Southern Wild

This summer has been packed with box office hits (The Dark Knight Rises) and art house favorites (Moonrise Kingdom). However, one film stands out as not only the best film of the summer, but one of the top films of the year, The Beasts of the Southern Wild. Based on Lucy Alibar’s play “Juicy and Delicious”, Hushpuppy is a six-year old girl trying to survive in the squalor of her Delta, post-Katrina, home by attempting to find her mother, while her father, Wink, is dying of heart failure. Despite his alcoholism and embittered attitude, Wink teaches his daughter how to become independent by living off the land and water.                                                                          

 Like Mike Nichols and Sam Mendes, Benh Zeitlin has created a directorial debut that is sure to be a modern masterpiece as time moves on. Zeitlin managed to create a dark and beautiful film by mixing the cinema verite style of John Cassavetes while honing in on Hushpuppy’s nightmarish/wide-eyed imagination that mirrors the work of Terry Gilliam. Zeitlin’s guerrilla styled filmmaking is complimented by his own musical score with its suspenseful pizzicato passages and Appalachian-styled sequences that echo T-Bone Burnett’s Southern-infused film scores from Crazy Heart and O Brother, Where Art Thou?

                

In addition to the incredible filmmaking is an incredible cast of unknowns, who deliver astonishing performances from start to finish. Quvenzhané Wallis is awe-inspiring as the young, tenacious Hushpuppy. Only six-years old, Wallis delivers a moving performance of shifting from childhood to adulthood through pain and hope. New Orleans bakery owner, Dwight Henry, is incredible as the stubborn and sickly patriarch who manages to teach Hushpuppy the importance of standing strong in a sorrowful world through love as tough as nails.

                 

The Dark Knight Rises might have been explosive with its quarter of a billion dollar budget, but with a cast of unknowns and a budget under $2 million, The Beasts of the Southern Wild is proof positive that you don’t need to be swayed by dazzling special effects and star power to get a profound response; you can easily be moved to tears with a heartfelt and harrowing tale, such as this film, that will leave you speechless when the credits roll.      

Four out of Four Stars

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final chapter in the Christopher Nolan-directed trilogy, has risen by succeeding in delivering an exhilarating mix of fast-paced action that does service to the DC Comics, yet falters when Christopher Nolan tries to tie all the loose knots from the first two Batman films under his direction.  As gifted as a director and writer Nolan is, it seems that the mix of branching off into philosophical/political commentary within the confines of a straightforward superhero film has made this film, like his previous two, fall through the cracks. Having said that, The Dark Knight Rises stands out as the best film in the trilogy.                                                                                                                                                                   
Eight years after the death of Harvey “Two-Face” Dent, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lives as a billionaire recluse in similar respects to Howard Hughes after being the patsy involved in Dent’s death. Wayne goes back into the role of Batman after the muzzled behemoth, Bane (Tom Hardy), plans to destroy Gotham City and its inhabitants after collaborating with the burglar beauty, Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman (Anne Hathaway).  Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) battles the internal pain he suffered in the previous film, while mentoring Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young police officer who is part of a dying breed of honest members of law enforcement.                                                    

Not to give too much away, the film blends together the current events of discontent, such as the financial crisis of 2008 and the Occupy Wall St. movement, with overarching perspectives over society being plunged into a dystopian nightmare that mirrors that of the prophetic words of Karl Marx and Anthony Burgess. At the center of the philosophical hedge maze is Nietzsche’s rhetoric made manifest, (i.e. “staring into the abyss”, “Humanity is a tightrope tied between animal and superhuman”) through the prison system that echoes a similar visual interpretation from Midnight Express. As deep and prophetic as it sounds, Nolan’s philosophical smorgasbord is overshadowed by the instant gratification of explosions, one-liners, and fight sequences that seem like shot to shot remakes of Scorsese’s Gangs of New York and Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, without the gore and propaganda of the latter film.                                                                                                                                                   

The silver linings in the distorted clouds are the performances delivered by a superb cast. Christian Bale goes through the gauntlet of physical and emotional pain as the embittered Bruce Wayne. Tom Hardy may not size up to the flamboyance of Heath Ledger when he played the Joker, but his performance as Bane is dark, yet campy, as his voice sounds like a muzzled Sean Connery. Anne Hathaway is zesty and riveting as Catwoman, as she stands conflicted in her philosophical principles of the capitalist class system. Fresh from playing exiled spy in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Gary Oldman goes back into the role of Commissioner Gordon with sheer energy combined with the subtlety of his Oscar-nominated role as George Smiley. Rounding off the cast is a sharp-tonged Marion Cotillard, an always reliable Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine giving an emotionally stirring performance as Batman’s right-hand man, Alfred.                                                                   


Despite the conflicted loose ends to plot points and Nolan trying to throw everything but the kitchen sink, The Dark Knight Rises is a satisfying end to Nolan’s three-part symphony to Bob Kane’s comic book series; it may feel compacted by having everything shoved into a two hour and forty minute time frame, yet it still holds out as an entertaining blockbuster coated around a philosophical bubble.        

3 out of 4 Stars

Darkness Over Aurora

I remember asking my high school history teacher about his views over the release of United 93, and if it were "too soon" for audiences to digest the horrific acts of violence witnessed by the world on September 11th. He responded by saying that film-goers don't like to be challenged by reliving events of such tragedy; if anything, films are an escape from the harsh glimpses of reality. Reality and tragedy combined this past Friday when James Holmes, a 24-year-old University of Colorado graduate student, threw smoke grenades into an Aurora, CO movie theater and fired an automatic weapon killing 12 people and wounding several others during the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
      
As theories and speculations have erupted, and continue to be spouted, by pundits and specialists in the last 48 hours over the safety of going to the movies, it is necessary to remember the lives of those lost, as well as those who were physically and mentally wounded by the senseless acts of violence. Then again, all acts of violence are senseless. Despite what happened in Aurora, no one should have to fear for their life when all one wants to do is bask in the comforting glow of the movie screen and enjoy their favorite films either by themselves, their family and friends.

Oscar Hangover

I've never really gave my two cents after the Academy Awards since starting this blog, but at the request of my fellow film fanatics, here it goes. This year's ceremony was predictable and enjoyable at the same time. Billy Crystal rehashes the same gags with dry wit as he had done the eight previous times he's hosted the awards, which is a relief from the asinine ceremony last year when James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted.

In terms of the award highlights, I was taken by Christopher Plummer's acceptance speech for best supporting actor when the 82 year old legend gazed at the award and said, "You're two years older than me, where have you been all my life?"

The second highlight of the evening was Asghar Farhadi's film A Separation winning best foreign language film. The Iranian filmmaker emphasized the importance of the country's culture in the midst of political rumblings between the West and Iran; "They (the Iranian people) are happy not just because of an important award or a film or a filmmaker, but because at the time when talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture."

The sighs of disappointment came during the handout of the Best Actor and Best Actress awards when Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for her performance as Margaret Thatcher over Viola Davis' stunning performance in The Help. As for Best Actor, I was content to see Jean Dujardin win for his silent role in The Artist, yet I was secretly hoping Gary Oldman finally received the gold for his chilling portrayal of George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The peak of the evening was when The Artist won Best Picture, being the first silent film winning the high accolade since the first Oscar ceremony in 1929. In particular, Michel Hazanavicius' acceptance speech included three people in his life "Billy Wilder, Billy Wilder, and Billy Wilder", which was an homage to Orson Welles responding to who were his favorite filmmakers when he remarked "John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford".

After the gold and backslapping season, the 2012 film season looks bright. This summer, I look forward to seeing Terrence Malick's next two films, Voyage of Time and his untitled romance starring Jessica Chastain and Rachel McAdams. On top of that, Wes Anderson returns to the screen with his summer camp film Moonrise Kingdom starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and Bill Murray (who else?). The highly anticipated film at the top of my list is Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master, which is based around religion in 1950s California. Will it be bigger than There Will Be Blood? Time will only tell.

2012 Oscar Nominees: The Critic's Picks

Yesterday, the nominees for the 84th Annual Academy Awards were announced. It was a great year for film. When I say that, I don't mean it was nine months of filth and three months of quality movies, but it was a nice spread of great films from late spring to the present, which are being honored with nominations. As usual, I'll give my two cents over who should get the Oscar in the categories of acting, directing, and best film whilst griping about who was left out of the category (0r not).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Berenice Bejo- The Artist

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Janet McTeer - Alfred Nobbs

The best supporting actor/actresses are usually dead set after the Broadcast Film Critics have made their choices. In this case, Octavia Spencer is sure to win as the rebellious housemaid in The Help as her performance had a mix of sass, attitude, and heart that blended well with the rest of the cast. No doubt that she will get the top honor.

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn

Jonah Hill - Moneyball

Nick Nolte - Warrior

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Winner: Christopher Plummer gave an incredible performance in Beginners as a widower who reveals to his son (Ewan McGregor) that he is gay on top of struggling with terminal cancer. His performance is calm as his presence is on and off screen. Plummer, whose career has ranged from classic roles in The Sound of Music to The Insider, gives a subtle and heartfelt performance to a film that is luckily getting more recognition since its under-the-radar release last summer.

Who got left out?: Patton Oswalt for Young Adult. Although Jason Reitman's film is flawed in its storytelling, Oswalt gives a dark and funny performance as a former high school student who shares a few glasses of home-brewed bourbon with Charlize Theron.

Best Actress:

Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis - The Help

Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn

Winner: Viola Davis for The Help. Davis gave a remarkable performance as Aibileen Clark, a housekeeper to the head of a racist family in Mississippi, circa 1963. She doesn't grandstand, yet sets the tone for a woman wanting respect, whilst holding on to her dignity.

Grips and Tangents: The Hollywood Foreign Press renewed my hatred (what else is new) for awarding best actress to Meryl Streep. She already has two on her shelf on top of the Kennedy Center Honor she received last month for a performance that has British film critics baying over and American audiences squirming over her role as Margaret Thatcher. Don't get me wrong, she succeeded with imitating Thatcher, but Oliver Stone would've made a more bombastic biopic than what was on screens last month.

That being said, the biggest robbery of this year was Tilda Swinton not getting nominated for her stunning performance in We Need To Talk About Kevin. It was bad enough she didn't get praise by the Broadcast Film Critics or the Golden Globes, but could the Academy have given some clemency for giving Swinton the nomination?

Best Actor:

Demian Bichir - A Better Life

George Clooney - The Descendants

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Winner: Its boiled down to either Clooney or Pitt in the eyes of those who didn't hit the independent theaters last month (No offense to the performances they gave on screen). However, I think Gary Oldman deserves the Oscar for his chilling portrayal as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Oldman's timbre has ranged from being Sid Vicious, Dracula, to a drug dealer who thinks he's black, yet has not received one nomination. The subtlety and intonation in his voice sounds like he's reciting Shakespeare, rather than John le Carre. If anything, Oldman deserves the honor rather than the aforementioned actors.

Best Director:

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

Michael Hazanavicius - The Artist

Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life

Alexander Payne - The Descendants

Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Winner: If only they awarded all the nominees for the great films they've produced this year. If I had to chose, its a neck-to-neck race between Hazanavicius and Scorsese for both films paying homage to the origins of film history, an age before sound came into the picture. If Scorsese wins, I'm sure The Artist will win Best Picture and vice versa. Either that, or it could be clean sweep. However, in my hearts of hearts, it would be nice to see Malick in the flesh holding an Oscar.

Best Picture:

The Artist

The Descendents

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

War Horse

Winner: It can boil down to either The Artist, which would be the first silent film (well, almost silent film) to win an Oscar for Best Picture in over 80 years, or Hugo. There is no dead set winner in this category since the blend of nominated films have been worthy of the praise each has received.

Well, tune in on February 26th to either agree or disagree with my picks, or write your choices for the illusive statue; the stuff dreams are made of (or damaged).

Top 5 Films of 2011

As the year draws to a close, its a time to look back and reflect on what I think are some of the best films of the year.

5) Bridesmaids

Kristen Wiig of Saturday Night Live fame co-wrote and leads this laugh-out-loud comedy on the virtues and insanity of planning a wedding. The film has a feminine surface with a raunchy layer proving that comedy is not always in the hands of men who know how to fluff it up (case in point, Hangover 2) as it gives the lazily drawn wedding films, like Bride Wars and 27 Dresses, a stiff middle finger with hilarity and earning a spot as one of the most surprising and funniest films of the year.

4) The Adventures of Tintin

Steven Spielberg gives just service by adapting Herge's classic comic books of the young journalist, his dog, Snowy, and the inebriated Captain Haddock uncovering the secrets of a lost treasure. The 3D animated adventure emphasizes Spielberg's staying power as one of the great blockbuster filmmakers and compensating for the loss of his last venture into adventure with the fourth Indiana Jones movie.

3) We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lynne Ramsey's third motion picture and one of her most praised films about the struggle and acceptance of evil in society as a mother (Tilda Swinton) attempts to move on after her son committs a school shooting. Swinton gives one of the best performances of the year, as well as Ezra Miller giving a chilling performance as Kevin. The Oscar is definitely in Swinton's favor for Best Actress.

2) The Tree of Life

Seeing a Terrence Malick film is like seeing a meteor shower; it happens very rarely and hits you when you least suspect it. Tree of Life focuses on the life of a family in 1950s Texas whilst segueing into a stunning look at the beginning of life and the cosmos that is as visually and aurally intoxicating as Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain give exceptional performances as the polarizing parents raising their three sons, while Sean Penn plays the older version of one of their sons reflecting on his troubled childhood. It may be overwhelming at first glance, but so is 8 1/2, Doctor Zhivago, and other masterpieces that have tested audiences and critics.

1) Hugo

Martin Scorsese takes a giant leap from the mean streets of gangsters and into the world of 3D with his adaptation of Brian Selznick's story of a young orphan (Asa Butterfield), who lives within the walls of a Paris train station, trying to complete a robot first developed by his demised father. Whilst building the robot, Hugo and his literary friend, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), try to discover the private life of Isabelle's guardian, Georges Melies (a stunning Ben Kingsley), and the legacy of films he had left behind. Scorsese's film is not just a step forward into the world of 3D filmmaking, but a history lesson for all ages on the birth of cinema and how the past should never be forgotten as the medium advances into new territory. It is this blend that makes Hugo one of the best films of the year.

Hugo

When the phrase, “kid movie” comes to mind, especially during the holiday season, it’s easy to groan at the perpetual fluff being unleashed in the theatres (Alvin and The Chipmunks, Arthur Christmas, etc.). However, when you notice that a kids’ movie is directed by Martin Scorsese, you think that he’s lost his mind. But with Hugo, Scorsese has created his first family-friendly and heart-warming film about the history of the movies.

Based on Brian Selznick’s award-winning book, Hugo tells the story of a French orphan (Asa Butterfield) living in the walls of a train station in Paris, circa 1931. When Hugo is not fixing the clocks in the station, he is trying to fix a machine his father (Jude Law) was working on before his untimely death. Fixing the mysterious device becomes difficult when Hugo encounters Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley), the bitter owner of a toy shop who catches Hugo stealing his tools and the cold-hearted Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) who arrests children without their parents to save them. Helping Hugo along the way is Georges surrogate daughter (Chloe Grace-Moretz), an adventure seeking girl who helps Hugo unlock the secrets of Georges’ descent into misery.

Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace-Moretz give incredible performances as the bright-eyed wanderers venturing in and around the elaborate train station. Kingsley’s emotional performance as the passionate filmmaker-turned-miserable store owner Georges Melies adds to the roster of some of his best performances (Gandhi, Sexy Beast). Cohen adds the laughs to the film as the bumbling inspector, with his Borat mustache and high-brow antics toned down for the audience.

I’m not a huge fan of 3D movies. When I saw Toy Story 3, I couldn’t help but take my glasses off to enjoy the brightness of the film rather than the dim and tinted glow of the screen. However, it was still a good movie and I had that same attitude before I saw Hugo. However, within the first minute of the movie, I was stunned by visual designs of Dante Ferretti, the sharp lighting by Robert Richardson and slick camera work helmed by Scorsese. In essence, my preconceived notions of 3D films withered away during this 120 minute love note to cinema. Scorsese, the polestar of film preservation, manages to introduce to younger audiences the work of a bygone era (Griffith, Porter, the Lumiere Brothers) mixed with homages to Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton with state-of-the-art cameras. Despite the ebb and flow of films as an art form, Scorsese’s Hugo manages to create the perfect marriage of art and entertainment as he has successfully done for over 40 years.

Four out of Four Stars