I think this catches me up for the year. The Oscar-nominated films I watched justt prior to the awards in the Spring, but never posted reviews. The last three I saw this week. I'm not one to dole out 4s, 4.5s, and 5s very easily, so I sincerely believe all of these are worth checking out.
Les Miserables (2012) – This is a film jumps off the screen and screams high budget and high talent, but it too often comes across as an exercise in Holywood self-aggrandizing and excess and becomes something less than the some of its parts. Despite the poor singing and hammy acting of Crowe, the film rests on a surprising performance by Jackman, an “I swear I just have dust in my eyes” moment by Hathaway (who delivers what has to be one of the finest single singing performances in film history), a cast of competent young actors, and a welcome turn for Sacha Baron Cohen. Hatahaway’s “Dream” bumps this a half letter grade.
Grade: 4/5
Zero Dark Thirty –
The Hurt Locker is probably my favorite war film of the 21st Century thus far, so my expectations for this subsequent Bigelow film were high. While it didn’t reach the same level of gut-punching action mixed with introspection as that Oscar-winner, it was still a competently made, smartly written, and engaging thriller (no small feat for a film based on a plot audiences knew the ending of). I’m probably in the minority of viewers that felt that the film’s high tension and high interest points came in the scenes leading up to the last half hour instead of in the green laser-drenched finale. I found the unfolding of the backstory behind the raid to be compelling spy stuff in the vein of
Syriana or
Munich, which is high praise. Well cast, well acted, and well directed: this is the work of a fantastic director on cruise control at the height of her career.
Grade: 4/5
Django Unchained – I now have an honest answer to the question “What’s your second favorite Tarantino movie?” An excellent script loaded with razor-sharp wit, ball-to-the-wall action, unease, homage, inside jokes, etc. – this film has everything I look for in a QT film working in perfect harmony. In truth, the last thing I was looking forward to was another “revenge film” from Tarantino, as it seems he’d fallen into something of a rut with these types of characters and this type of plot (
Inglorious Basterds is probably my least favorite QT film, for example). Here, though, he shows he’s finally mastered the revenge film and, I hope, will now move on to something else. Foxx is amazing, the directing is properly familiar and fresh at all the right moments, the soundtrack is its own distinct character, the audience is thrown into a range of emotions, and the film almost has to induce giant grins by the end.
Grade: 5/5
Silver Linings Playbook – Memorable performances by competent actors who do much more with a so-so script than it deserves. It’s the odd film where DeNiro isn't the one who shines as one of the better actors, but here Lawrence, Cooper, and Weaver all easily outdo him and create characters that make you forget who you are watching (in fairness, DeNiro can’t completely shake the persona of “DeNiro” in most roles he plays). Not a fun movie to watch, but a movie that people who like to watch acting done well will enjoy.
Grade: 4/5
Lincoln – It’s a shame that Spielberg has so often shown us that he can make mesmerizing, risky, expectation-defying films because every time he makes merely a “very good” film, it feels like there’s a lost opportunity. This, like
Hidalo before it, is one such film. Day-Lewis is as good as ever as Lincoln, and the film’s success rests largely on his broad shoulders. Fortunately he puts in a gripping turn, often making you appreciate Lincoln in ways that myriad other retellings of Lincoln and his life have not. Maybe it is the consequence of sharing the screen with Day-Lewis, but I though Sally Field was a poorly cast and poorly realized Mary Todd. Spielberg handles pacing with aplomb (a true feat for a film this long), he builds tension and introduces levity with masterful skill, and provides a blueprint of sorts for future biopics of major historical figures.
Grade: 4/5
Despicable Me 2 – The first
Despicable Me was a welcome surprise of a new IP in a stagnating animated film landscape, which is something sequels can’t aspire to. So, my expectations for this film rested more on the strength of the series’ established characters than it did on the nuances of the film’s plot. With that mindset in place, I felt the film expertly delivered. The characters are great and the situations they find themselves in are well crafted. It seems clear that the animators studied the greats of cartoon slapstick. Timing, expression, sound, and visual exaggeration have to line up just perfectly for slapstick to work just right, and they nailed it time and again in this film. Bravo. Comedy abounds, forgiving a plot I’ve already largely forgotten.
Grade: 3.5/5
Pacific Rim – I’ve made no secret in the past here of my love for Guillermo Del Toro’s work and the visual feasts he provides for audiences. He knows how to both create mesmerizing effects and – most importantly – how to show them to the audience in a way that provokes awe and admiration for craft. He understands: action scenes don’t need shaky cams and quick cuts, supernatural moments don’t need warped scaling and endless POV, and heroic moments don’t require scores louder than the explosions. These tenets, which Del Toro picked up on long ago (the
Hellboy films remain some of the best-made super hero films), are on full display in
Pacific Rim. The action scenes are some of the most intense and well made I’ve seen in any effects-heavy action film in the past decade or more. The fights are fast and well choreographed, the lighting and color provide a sense of style and atmosphere, the panning/zooming are well timed and placed, and the film shares more with the visual style of stuff like
Jurassic Park or
The Empire Strikes Back than it does with 1960s Japanese monster films or Bay’s
Transformers films. The main actors and central plot are little more than serviceable, but that’s absolutely fine in what this film is shooting for. That said, there is a nice side plot in Hong Kong with two actors (whom I won’t reveal here) that is much more interesting and fun than that which drives the primary narrative. This probably is getting a half point more on the big screen than it would deserve on the small screen, but it is likely my movie of the summer for 2013.
Grade: 4.5/5
Seven Chances – I regrettably have seen very few of Buster Keaton’s oeuvre beyond
The General, and catching this for the first time on TCM the other day made me remember that I need to remedy that situation. A feast of sight gags and clever bits, the film builds to a crescendo throughout and had me busting a gut by the end. Keaton’s trademark deadpan and athleticism are on full display here, and both work together function as a kind of “slow burner comedy” for the silent era. If you have an hour to familiarize yourself with Keaton and his work, this would be a great pick.
Grade: 4/5
now to go update my master list...
