Best Picture Pact: Silver Linings Playbook

So, I had seen this trailer about a million times in the last month or so and, honestly, who can resist a romcom with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence? It's made an impressive $18 million so far despite only reaching 371 theaters so far since opening three weeks ago. Luckily one of those theaters was my regular theater for indie fare.

The movie is about a man recently released from a court-ordered stint in a mental institution, played by Bradley Cooper, who comes home to rebuild his life and reconcile with his estranged wife. He moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver, and soon meets an equally crazy mysterious woman, played by Jennifer Lawrence. They decide to help each other by competing in a dance competition and working to get Cooper's marriage back on track. Actually, if you want the entire movie synopsis check out, http://www.themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/silverlinings.html, which was written by Yours Truly. 

I wasn't surprised to learn that this movie was adapted from a novel as the characters and plot follows a sort of novel-esque pattern. It's actually hard to put into words, but I left the theater thinking, 'I bet that would make a good book'. There were unique characters with some extreme personality quirks that worked together and the plot advanced in the same way you'd expect a novel to. I guess what I'm trying to say is that under different circumstances (i.e. different director, actors, cinematography etc), this movie could've been quite generic and boring. Fortunately, the actors were ridiculously superbly awesome with their characters that it felt natural and not like it was pulled from a book. A little hyperbolic? Perhaps. The plot did have some very fortunate coincidences in it, but overall everything felt very smooth and realistic, even though things seemed to progress a little quickly. Yes, it was a light mental illness movie and the characters were cute-crazy instead of scary-real-crazy, but I didn't care because I was walking into a semi-romantic-comedy and not a depressing mental illness movie. 

The soundtrack was pretty spot-on. especially the Alabama Shakes song, 'Always Alright'. Oh, yeah and a Danny Elfman score. There was also a lot of hand-held camera work which worked perfectly with the intimate feel of most of the scenes. The pacing was perfect in the humorous spots and the more serious. There was a lot of great decisions made in this movie. It's from the same director who did The Fighter (David O. Russell), so I can't say I'm surprised there. He let the comedy take over in the right spots and left it to the actors for the drama. There was also a very nice balance between the comedy and drama making it the right kind of dramedy, which is of course my personal favorite genre. 

Jennifer Lawrence was at the top of her game in this movie. Her diversity, at least in the handful of roles I've been lucky enough to see her in, is just incredible. Aside from looking great in the movie, she really jumped into this character and made it a real character instead of the female protagonist. I'd read that other actresses, such as Rachel McAdams, Kirsten Dunst, Rooney Mara, and Elizabeth Banks, were considered and Anne Hathaway was actually cast but had to drop out. I'm a pretty big fan of Anne Hathaway but honestly, I can't see this character being as likable as she was while still retaining her flaws with any other actress. She brought her hardcore-ness to the role while (amazingly) somehow bringing vulnerability at the same time. I'll say that this is probably my favorite role of hers to date. Bradley Cooper on the other hand, was also superb. He had the difficult task of making mental illness look normal and un-cliched. His character also had to grow and develop in the movie, in a natural way. It is a movie after all and with the exception of maybe one pivotal cliched scene, he got it right. He brought subtle humor with his timing and delivery in a different way than I've seen before. Robert De Niro brought a vulnerability to his role as well which is something I haven't seen from him in quite some time. I especially enjoyed Jacki Weaver's role as the wife of Robert De Niro. Her comedy and balance to the crazy around her just added to the overall greatness of the film. 

In the end, I think the plot was decent and had only a couple of cliched ultra convenient parts but what really brought this movie to life was the actors and direction. The movie was vivacious, fun, depressing, and crazy. They obviously saw the potential from the script and ran with it. I'd say it had a pretty good balance between the comedy and drama with maybe a teensy tiny bit more comedy than drama. That being said, the demographic audience may be slightly more female than male, but really anyone who enjoys a good dramedy with ultra good-looking actors will enjoy. "I'm not going to ask you any more questions about that. How many people did you sleep with?"

Update: This movie has been (rightfully so) nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and therefore has become part of my pact to view all nominated films. I'm extremely happy with all of the acclaim this movie has received, given my love for the film. Personally, I'd love to see it win but I can't really give even an educated guess until I've seen the rest. 

Hick

So, I had remembered hearing about this movie awhile ago because I've been a huge fan of Chloe Moretz ever since Kick Ass and more importantly, Let Me In. This movie got a very small limited release in theaters back in May (so small that even boxofficemojo doesn't have it's stats) and then found it's way to my local Redbox where I gladly picked it up to watch.

The story follows a 13 year old runaway, played by Moretz who leaves her alcoholic parents back in rural Nebraska in the 70's and attempts to hitch her way to Las Vegas. She quickly meets Glenda, played by Blake Lively, who takes her under her wing as they travel west.

I really didn't know much about the plot before I saw the movie, but according to all of the cast/crew interviews on the DVD extras (yes, I'm one of those that watches that stuff) they all loved this screenplay so much and raved about how great it was. It was adapted from a book of the same name and the author of the novel penned the screenplay as well. The story tricks you into thinking in the beginning that this is going to be the normal road trip movie with wise characters who come in and impart some kind of wisdom into the main character's life. In no time at all, we learn that the characters that our protagonist meets have much more to learn about life than our 13 year old runaway. The story also abandons it's road-trip theme for the majority of the movie. I was a little amazed at how none of the characters seemed to realize the inappropriateness of their relationships with respect to a girl who is only 13. The last quarter of the movie, took me completely by surprise and everything became quite surreal. At first, I did not like the way the last quarter of the movie went down but then I realized that we were seeing things from a 13 year old's point of view and one who received her education from movies and had a flare for the dramatics. I think the last quarter of the movie can be up for your interpretation as to the true events. The same can probably be said for the whole movie. It does give some credibility to the grandiose dramatics of the characters she meets.

The cinematography was simply fantastic. The colors were so beautiful in all of the scenes and everything was framed perfectly. The makeup and wardrobe were also especially cool and retro for the movie.

Chloe Moretz was exactly what I expected; awesome. I really enjoy all of her performances and she's still so very young. It's crazy. Blake Lively was pretty good as well. I don't think I've really seen her in anything, but her character was so dramatic that she pulled it off, even if her twang was very thick. Eddie Redmayne proves why he is so incredibly talented and versatile. I have not seen him play the same character twice, ever. He can take on these completely different characters with ease and can do a pretty much flawless American accent at the same time.

In the end, the movie completely surprised me. Serves me right for judging the movie by it's cover. It was a very dramatic tale and it had some very disturbing aspects if you think about it, but those parts were just played with a shrug and the characters didn't seem to dwell on any of that stuff at all. It's really only after you've finished the movie when you take a second look and realize the characters had some really questionable morals. It was pretty memorable and entertaining. Amazing screenplay and story? I'm not convinced there, but I didn't read the screenplay...."Dear God, please don't let that old man die. - yet."

Perks of Being a Wallflower

So, yes I had been uber excited to see this movie for what felt like ages and had legitimate pangs of sadness when I learned that Austin was not included on the initial limited release and I would have to wait another few weeks! I was excited mostly because Emma Watson is so awesome, but also because the movie looked fun/cute/unique. It's made about $7 million already after making it's wide release only last week.

The movie was written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, who also just happened to pen the source novel. It centers around Charlie, a shy and introverted high school freshman played by Logan Lerman, who is quickly taken under the wings of two upperclassmen, played by Ezra Miller and Emma Watson. It spans the ups and downs of his first year of high school and his new friends' last year.

This movie can loosely be defined as a 'coming-of-age' high school story. It is somewhat unique in that the main character is in his freshman year while the others are in their last year. The dramatization of the typical teenage life are a little more subdued than in say, Can't Hardly Wait. This felt a little more grounded in reality. The characters, while flawed, were incredibly likable and you became easily invested in them. Even the antagonists were ultimately likable. The familiar teenage stereotypes were mostly abandoned for something that felt more real in this story. It was also set in the early 90's which just adds to coolness. The ending did feel a little too 'wrapped up' for my taste, but hey it is a movie after all. I will be reading the source novel as soon as Barnes and Noble ships it to my local store, (I'm one of the few that prefers to read the books after viewing the movie). I did read that the ending was changed for the movie, so I'm interested to see how the original ending is.

Obviously the soundtrack was ultra cool, which is a requirement nowadays for any decent indie movie. I've had Come On Eileen stuck in my head for about three weeks now and have been listening to the entire soundtrack on Spotify. The editing was super smooth and the storyline was incredibly easy to follow, even with the instances of non-linear plot. There was enough time given to character development instead of just following plot advancement. The 'drug scene' was edited so well that it really helped the audience to feel what the character was feeling instead of just giving the audience slow motion double vision.


I honestly don't know how you can not like Emma Watson. I think one of the main reasons I was looking forward to this movie was to see her in pretty much her first post-Hermoine main role. She can carry a movie. She did fantastic in this role and you really felt she was your friend at the end of the movie because you knew her character so well. In a side note, she did a pretty stellar job with the American accent. Logan Lerman had just the right balance of naivety and maturity to make his character come off without being annoyingly innocent. It was as if his character was much more mature than his peers in some aspects of his life but then much more naive in the more obvious ways. I'm not sure if anyone else could have pulled it off without becoming annoying or unbelievable by the end of the movie. The only thing I didn't like was it seemed they had too much makeup on him throughout the movie, but that could've just been my poor eyesight. Ezra Miller had the task of keeping up most of the comic relief in the film and did a rather nice job. Out of the characters, he was unfortunately the most stereotypical however he was given some complexity. I thought it was rather awesome that Johnny Simmons and Mae Whitman were both in this movie (and both did stand-ups jobs with their smaller roles), because as I'm sure everyone already caught, they were both in Scott Pilgrim! Score on the movie connection.

Anyway, I ended up tremendously enjoying this film but I am the demographic audience (a young female). While I would not come close to defining this movie as a chick flick, it was set in high-school which almost always narrows it's audience greatly. While the characters were dealing with events and situations in a high-school setting, it was not about those events but instead about the characters and how they related to each other. With it being set in the past, I think it can appeal to a slightly larger audience who lived through that time. It really was a fun movie and you will really cherish your own friends by the end of the movie. Oh, and did I mention there is a Rocky Horror Picture Show reenactment? "We accept the love we think we deserve".

Samsara

So, I had wanted to see this film since seeing the trailer at the theater a couple months back and knew that I had to experience this movie on the big screen. It's the 'first feature film since the 70's to be shot entirely on 70mm film'. The movie has earned about $2 million so far despite being released in only 70 theaters.

The movie does not have a narrative and is instead a series of images gathered from around the world over the course of five years.

I enjoyed that there was no agenda to the selection of images, or at least there wasn't an apparent one. Everything was amazingly beautiful and most of the imagery was from countries other than America. There also really didn't appear to be much connection between the images. There was no intended message other than the wonder that is our world.

The images were just ridiculously beautiful. The crazy shots in some of the sequences must've taken ages to set up and some of them I can't even wrap my head around how they got the angles they got. I enjoyed the fact that they didn't just set up a tripod in a foreign country and shoot. They mapped out their shots and got loads of overhead crane and dolly shots. As much as I enjoyed the rolling crane shots, it did become a bit repetitive by the end because they used pretty much the same two angles for every image. I would have liked a little more variety considering I was basically watching a slideshow for 1.5 hours. The score was a little cheesy for my taste.

Well considering that the people selected to be in the shots just stared at the camera as it moved closer, they did a great job. Again, that got a bit repetitive.

So overall, it was 'an experience'. I don't think it can be appreciated on anything other than the big screen. It was a little awkward to sit in pretty much silence for that long inside the theater, and as much as I wanted to get into this film, I did find myself a tiny bit bored due to the repetitiveness of the shots. But even still, it deserves tons of respect for the work and determination it took to get this thing completed.

Margaret

So, I saw this little gem from Redbox because it was an indie movie starring Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Allison Janney, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Broderick, and Matt Damon. The secret True Blood fan inside of me won out and I rented the movie. Thank goodness I only spent 1$ on this movie. It's a little sleeper from writer/director Kenneth Lonergram. I'm sorry, did I say 'little'? I meant it's a 2.5 hour sleeper from the same writer of Gangs of New York, I should've known. Technically it's a movie from 2011 that found it's way to 14 theaters and made a whole $14,000, just missing the mark of it's $14 million budget.

The story centers around Lisa, a 17 year old school girl played by Paquin, who witnesses a tragic bus accident in which a woman dies. She lies to the police about the circumstances of the accident in order to save Mark Ruffalo's job. She later has a change of heart and sets out to right her wrong.

The premise of the story, not to mention the impressive cast, gives the movie a really great foundation to start with. Unfortunately, the story was all over the place during the two and half hours of drama and dialogue. If the story had been greatly condensed and the numerous tangents (I'm not even sure I can call them subplots) removed, the story would have been extremely better. I should probably give some backstory to this whole fiasco called a movie. Everything was shot back in 2005, but for some reason Lonergram could not/would not finish editing the darn thing. Two law suits and a depleted budget later, he finally passed the job off to someone else who, from what I can tell, just put everything they got on film into a semi-sequential order. Hence the lengthy running time. Obviously, something happened after the filming of this movie that just ruined the entire thing. The story felt like an adapted play, in the way the characters were not tied to their environments and there was an incredible amount of dialogue. As good as Broderick was in the movie, his character needed to be completely removed from the story. He had no point in either advancing the plot of bringing anything to the story. The same can be said of the father of the main character.

Obviously, the editing had many issues. It seriously felt like they just put the scenes in order and called it a day. It's also apparent they had given up on the soundtrack, color correction, and pretty much everything else in post.

The actors did a pretty good job. Before I found out the movie was shot in 2005, I was pretty impressed that Paquin played a teenager so well, but now that's void. She did have some nice heavy scenes in which she did a great job. Allson Janney was also pretty spectacular in her four minutes of screen time.

So apparently, something went completely awry after the filming of this movie. If things had panned out as the director had hopefully originally planned, this could have been a decent drama. Unfortunately, it was a complete mess of a movie. "Because, this isn't an opera! And we are not all supporting characters to the drama of your amazing life!"

Celeste & Jesse Fprever

So, I had wanted to see this movie since hearing about it recently from a great friend. I want to say that it premiered at Sundance, but don't quote me on that. I do know that it's a first time writing effort from the amazing Rashida Jones and her writing partner Will McCormack. It stars Jones with Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts, and some other great actors. It's brought in about $2 million from it's widest release of 586 theaters so far. According to Jones, it was the movie that took forever to make, but thankfully it found it's way to Austin about a week ago and I was finally able to see this little gem.

On the surface, the movie is about a pair of married best friends, Jones and Samberg, who are going through a divorce but still spending every minute together as best friends to the dismay of their closest friends who think their behavior is unhealthy. Through some sudden events, they must both deal with their true feelings and needs while they face the fact that they are actually going through a divorce.

It's an unconventional break-up story, for sure. It almost reminds me of Breaking Upwards but with more more substance and a smoother story. The dialogue was ridiculously fantastic. Need an example? When Jones' character corrects Emma Robert's on the correct use of the word regimen, she replies 'thanks, Scrabble'. Okay, well maybe it's better seen in context. Some of the scenes felt improvised, but even if they were, the dialogue was still fantastic. The two main characters were written as so crazily cute you could not help but root for both of them. There was a looooot of comedy in this movie, yet it still retained it's solid 'dramedy' status. I think it's specific genre should be a comedic dramedy. I really enjoyed the exposition in the movie in that we learn so much by assuming they were at one point in their relationship only to suddenly realize we were completely wrong. The characters learn and change etc. It feels realistic, but it does hit on several truisms and cliches of the world. The ending was only slightly weaker than the beginning, but most endings are. It didn't feel slapped together or given a nice hollywood ending either as some movies are prone to do.

The beginning sequence, which told pretty much the entire exposition through still photos, was pretty fantastic and fresh. The soundtrack, shallow depth of field, warm lighting, and perfect use of jump cuts were exactly what I like to see in my independent comedic dramedies. There are some great song choices in the movie, but since one of the writers is the daughter of Quincy Jones, who would expect any less?

Hopefully Rashida Jones starts to get the recognition she deserves. Or more of the recognition she deserves, any Parks & Rec fan already loves her, I'm sure. Or Office fans. Andy Samberg played the character with just the right amount of humor needed and left his over-the-top antics back on the SNL stages in New York. Emma Roberts and Elijah Wood both became their characters and added to the charisma of the entire film.

My official opinion: This was an uber cute/funny movie. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg had some crazy chemistry and the feeling of a natural ease between the two. The scenes with both of them in it were priceless. I'd love to see her pen more scripts in the future. "You don't always have to be right . . . even when you are".

Sleeping Beauty

So, I had heard about this movie all the way back when they were casting for the lead role and everyone had an opinion. Well originally Mia Wasikowska was cast but was replaced by Emily Browning when she dropped out to do Jane Eyre. I'm a fan of Browning's as I was one of the few who really enjoyed Sucker Punch and her terrific performance in it. I had however pretty much forgotten about this movie until I saw it last night while perusing the Netflix inventory. The movie comes from Australia from first time writer/director Julia Leigh.

The story, which shouldn't be confused with the recent trend of adapting fairy tales to make them more modern or dark, revolved around a young college student, played by Browing, who holds various jobs seemingly to pay for her expenses due to a codependent absent mother. She gets pulled into a world of secret perversions of the rich who desire lingerie-clad caterers and then ultimately a sleeping girl to do as they wish in bed. Browning finds herself caught up in this world and the audience is there for the ride.

Well I believe that Julia Leigh's favorite directors must be David Lynch or even Von Trier. The story was not as extreme as any of theirs and did have a linear storyline, it just raised more questions than answers. The atmosphere was dark and Browning's character was quite complex even though she kept a reserved facade. The sexual perversions of her clients were met head on in the script and was almost hard to watch at times, but through the cinematography it somehow kept it's air of elegance. Quite an oxymoron. While watching the movie, I was looking for answers and getting slightly confused. It was only after finishing the movie and looking back in retrospect was I able to see all of the questions and subtle clues that were given but left mostly up for our own interpretation.

The camera movements were smooth and the lighting soft and warm. It really did create a dramatic elegance to the film which contrasted greatly with the world the character was diving into. I think it was a smart choice.

Browning deserves loads of respect for this role. She was completely and utterly vulnerable in most of her scenes. A couple of the bedroom scenes were hard to watch and I can only imagine the bravery needed to do that. Besides the obvious, she somehow was able to pull off her performance with a cool and unemotional exterior while showing the audience that she has complex inner turmoil from subtle movements or actions. Her performance was definitely the pinnacle of the movie. The other actors showed bravery as well and I'll give some props to the old men who bared all for this movie.

Well, this movie is without a doubt not for everyone. There's actually no sex scenes in the movie, rather loads of nudity and perverse situations. Aside from the obvious, the movie also doesn't really answer any of the questions that it poses, instead it gives subtle clues that are left to your interpretation. It would make a great film to dissect. I think there were a lot of smart choices made in the movie and Browning's performance should add greatly to her resume. My admiration for the elements of the movie didn't match my entertainment as a whole. It's almost as if I enjoyed each element on its own but not necessarily the way it fit as a whole. That makes perfect sense, right? "The fear of death is the world's biggest hoax".

Daydream Nation

So yes, another Netflix instant movie. I really need to get out more. I passed over this movie a couple of time before deciding to watch the trailer. It promised to be a re-imagined Juno and the trailer made it look pretty interesting. Normally I'm on the fence about Kat Dennings, but I thought I'd throw caution to the wind and watch this movie. It's a 2010 movie from first time writer/director Michael Goldbach and stars Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Andie Macdowell, Josh Lucas, and Ted Whittall.

The movie centers around Caroline Wexler, played by Dennings, who moves from the city to a small rural town to finish her senior year of high school. She reminisces about 'the year that everything happened' from love triangles, serial killers, industrial fires, car accidents, and smoke-outs all the while navigating a small town high school.

There's a lot of plot in the movie but with the aid of the super slick editing, the story is tremendously easy to follow and quite entertaining. We're given numerous subplots, but they're believable and not overbearing. Denning's character's social commentary is so biting and witty, it was easily one of the best parts of the movie. Much like the social commentary found in Juno, but other than the fact that they're in high school, there's not many other comparisons I can draw between the two. Denning's character is flawed and she knows it yet she doesn't claim to be more than she is. Her character's attitude is really entertaining. The other characters are flawed as well and some already know while other learn it throughout the movie. There are different series of connected events, but they don't feel as contrived as most movies of this nature. The story-telling was superb in this film, which I believe was a combination of the screenplay and an awesome editing direction. The characters were quirky enough to be believable and entertaining without becoming a one-dimensional stereotype (in most cases). The quirkiness is nowhere near the amount piled unto Juno's characters. It is a highly fictionalized plot driven movie, but I ended up really enjoying it.

The cinematography, editing, sound, lighting were all perfect in the movie. The scenes were framed beautifully and the insert close-up shots were just perfect with the mood of the movie. There was slick editing with title effects, split fame, jump cuts, etc that just moved the story at the perfect pace without being confusing or over the top. You could see the pre-planning of the shots in almost every frame. Almost every single actor in the movie was extremely good-looking and with the softly diffused lighting in some of the scenes, they looked even better. The choice to use a warm color palette with some of the darker scenes was perfect in setting the mood. It created some dark plot points without getting overly dramatic and deep. Also the soundtrack, which was dominated by Metric's Emily Haines, was top notch. Her song, Telethon, fit perfectly in the scene it was used and is now on my ipod.

I really really enjoyed Kat Denning's performance in this movie. I just may have jumped off the fence and became a small fan. She did play pretty much the same character she usually does, but this time it fit with the character. The way she delivered some of her lines was so original it made the dialogue even better. Josh Lucas did a fantastic job playing the same character but having a completely different persona depending on his public and private persona. I also really enjoyed the performance of Reece Thompson's as he was able to pull off the geek/stoner while still making you want to be his friend. Apparently, Andie Macdowell doesn't age. One of my favorite performances in the movie, was from Ted Whittall who plays Denning's father. His role was quite comical and his rugged handsomeness was icing on the cake.

I ended up really enjoying this movie. Perhaps because I came in with low expectations, but nonetheless it was seriously entertaining. It was a fast-paced plot driven movie with superb social commentaries. I wouldn't exactly compare it with Juno, but maybe a Juno meets Mean Girls meets Scott Pilgrim? Something like that. I really don't know where the Juno meets David Lynch meets Donnie Darko comes from that's on the cover of the movie. "I'm not here to save you, I'm the main character of my own life".

Race You to the Bottom

So, this was another movie on my Netflix instant binge. Netflix said it was a independent drama about two best friends who give in to their growing attraction for each other, despite the fact that they both have boyfriends. It was a small movie from 2005 from a first time director, Russell Brown. The lead actress won an award for outstanding actress in a feature film at a small festival in Los Angeles.

The film picks up with two best friends/lovers, Maggie and Nathan, in the midst of an affair they are having together as they travel to Napa for a weekend trip as Nathan is a travel reporter. Yup, that's about it.

The story surprisingly picks up after the affair has already begun, which was somewhat disappointing. I am a girl after all and do enjoy the stories about the tension between two almost lovers. Sadly, we missed that in this movie. The course of the movie takes place over a single weekend, something else I think that hinders the story. We really don't get to learn much about the characters. We're thrown into the middle of the relationship and only get a couple of tiny cutaways to how they met. Both of the characters were self-centered and really could see nothing wrong with their affair or how they were treating their significant others. It was okay because Nathan was really gay, right? It wasn't that convincing. The plot action felt rather forced. Apparently they'd been taking these getaways quite often but this one was different, because . . . well there was no reason really, but somehow they destroyed everything in the meantime. Unfortunately, the ending felt rather thrown together. I feel like I'm being too negative. The story had a lot of potential. I think if they would've increased the time span of the plot and/or given us more character development, it would've worked better. Some of the dialogue was rather witty and insightful.

The movie was filmed quite nicely. It gave us that bohemian view of L.A. that, while somewhat fictional, is nice to look at. The shots were framed nicely and the colors were beautiful in the locations. The cinematography was above par compared to the other elements of the movie.

Amber Benson, who plays Maggie, won an award for her performance. Out of the characters, she was easily the most believable. Unfortunately, with microbudget movies sometimes some of the quality must be sacrificed. All of the actors were very good-looking, however they just weren't as believable as the characters they were trying to portray. Cole Williams, who plays Nathan, didn't quite pull off the self-confident charisma of his character. He gave a much more vulnerable portrayal which did not fit with the dialogue/actions of his character.

I think it was a nice effort with lots of potential. It was almost as if there was an argument behind the scenes about whether they wanted to do a run-of-the-mill romcom or a quirky indie romance. It just didn't pan out. I personally, didn't see the motives behind the character's actions most of the time and therefore the believability of the movie was lost. "I like my women aggressive and my men passive".

Attenberg

So, thanks to a Netflix recommendation I saw this unique film from Greece. It was made back in 2010 and was their submission to the 2012 Oscars for their foreign language entry. It's won 7 awards from various small film festivals around the country as well. I'm a sucker for foreign language movies if they have the little film festival olive branch thingys on the cover. Throw into the mix the story revolves around an awkward female hermit and I'm in.

The story is a character study revolving around Marina, a 23 year old Greek girl who's father is slowly dying of cancer. She's been brought up to live as a hermit with little contact to the outside world, save her best friend, Bella, who matches Marina's awkwardness with promiscuity. Marina finds herself opening up to the world as she must deal with her father's matter-of-fact atheist views in a small abandoned factory town.

I really enjoy how foreign films are not afraid of silence or sexual taboos. That being said, they were plentiful in this film. Marina's character was not a She's All That awkward, where she wears glasses but is secretly pretty cool. Her character was truly awkward and inept with social norms, be it carrying a conversation, kissing, or even the way she eats. There was enough plot action to keep this movie out of the mumblecore genre (which I'm not a huge fan of). The father-daughter relationship in the movie was written rather superbly. You really saw the connection through these characters.

The movie felt as though the director took the actors around to different locations and just filmed them some of the times. None of the shots looked planned out at all. There was very little framing, lighting, or anything typical of pre-planned cinematography. Most notable would be the handheld camera work and very jumpy rack focusing. While this type of cinematography veers to the raw side and some might be put off from it, I think it helped to give realism to the characters. Being a character study, it's about the characters and not the sets or plot. I think it was a smart choice by the director, although it may have also been due to the budget.

There was a genuine connection between these actors on screen. I must say that it portrays one of my new favorite father-daughter film portrayals. The actress that plays Marina, Ariane Labed, was a standout in the movie. In fact, two of the seven awards were for her performance. She somehow brought an air of innocence and extreme maturity to the role. There were some quite intimate scenes she had to do and pulled them off without hesitation. The three other main actors were right up there with her.

Even with the limited resources, this was a nice little movie. As with most independent foreign movies, there are some 'taboos' in the movie that won't appeal to certain mainstream audiences (example, I couldn't find an accessible picture of the movie cover that didn't cut off the bottom). "So much is said with one look the first time you meet a gorilla".

Wanderlust

So I had been hearing about this movie for awhile but mostly because of the real-life couple, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. When I heard it also had Paul Rudd in it and was a rated R comedy, I was on board. It opened back in February and only brought in about $20 million so far. It's produced by Judd Apatow, Ken Marino, Paul Rudd, and the writer/director of the movie, David Wain (who also did Wet Hot American Summer). Those producers along with the other actors in the movie, Malin Akerman, the guy from MASH (Alan Alda), and some others, it had to be a good movie right?

The premise is about a New York couple, Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, who lose their jobs right after buying a "micro-loft" in the West Village and end up driving down to Atlanta to live with Rudd's brother, played by Marino. Along the way, they find themselves an an "intentional community" (a.k.a. commune) and become interested in the wacky characters they meet.

Well the plot tries to be unpredictable with the sharp turns it takes from scene to scene, but overall it was pretty predictable. The characters were rather one-dimensional but I wasn't really expecting much depth to begin with. The problem was that some of the characters were just too over-the-top and lost some of their humor, (i.e. Justin Theroux (the leader), Kathryn Hahn (the bitch), and Kerri Kenney (the Swedish single mother?)). There was some good one-liners in there and an uber-funny scene where Paul Rudd talks to himself in the mirror, although I read that was improvised on set and not in the script. The story was adequate as was the humor.

The movie had so much potential right out of the gates. It had these super funny jump cuts with great edits to the credits and music and made jokes in themselves. Unfortunately, this editing style was forgotten after the beginning of the movie and the humor relied completely on the actors. The beginning was great and the rest of the movie, technically speaking, was generic.

I'm a die-hard fan of the Friends cast and will usually go support their movies. Jennifer Aniston did a pretty good job although most the funniest parts were her facial expressions. The drug scenes was almost not believable, as was the topless protest scene. Paul Rudd was Paul Rudd. I literally lol-ed at the mirror scene. I dare you not to. I didn't find Justin Theroux very funny as his character was too eccentric. Malin Akerman should have been given more scenes because she was probably the funniest out of the 'ensemble' characters. Oh, except Ken Marino and his wife which were adequately funny as well.

So, in the end, there were some funny parts throughout, a strong beginning, and good-looking funny people. It had the same vibe as Wet Hot American Summer, but since there were two main characters, the ensemble humor felt forced and contrived, but it did have some really funny parts in there. It's almost as if it tried too hard to write funny characters instead of letting the actors make the characters funny in their own way. It was okay. "Thanks, what is it? It's some sticks with orange peels glued to them".

Friends With Kids

So, I had very high expectations for this film since there were four actors from Bridesmaids, one from Parks and Recreation, and I have generally enjoyed Jennifer Westfeldt's writing in the past. The movie was released back in March and made it's way into about 640 theaters across the country and brought in about $7 million. It's written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also created Kissing Jessica Stein and Ira & Abby.

The plot is centered around a platonic couple who love each other just not in that way, played by Westfeld and Adam Scott, who decide to have a baby together and split the responsibilities in order to avoid the pitfalls of their friends' marriages, played by John Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Christopher O'Dowd (who were all in Bridesmaids together). Megan Fox and Edward Burns are also in the movie.

Well, I was under the impression this was going to be an ensemble comedy with social commentaries about the nuances of relationships with and without children. It actually turned out to be a romantic comedy with some ensemble scenes strewn along the plot. There was some humor and some social undertones but I would categorize the plot as more of a dramedy with the rest of the cast and a romantic comedy with the two leads. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it wasn't entirely disappointing. The characters were mostly believable and entertaining to watch. Westfeldt's dialogue, as always, was much better than the generic filler found in most romcoms. In the grand scheme of things, the plot was rather cliched however it didn't follow the same formula to get there as most do.

The pace of the movie was a little choppy, however this was probably due more to the time span of the plot instead of the editing choices. The soundtrack was pretty great and I'm actually going to look up the soundtrack and spotify it after this review. Set design and wardrobe was very pretty.

The movie made it past just being 'eh' because of the ridiculous amount of talent in these bunch of actors. Personally, I would have loved for it to focus more on all sets of the friends, but Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt are so darn charismatic that I enjoyed their scenes together as well. I had read in an interview that Wiig doesn't consider herself a comedian (I think, I could be thinking of someone else) but she really showed her range in this role and was still awesome. Since most of the humor and social commentaries were from the interactions between the four friends, that was the most entertaining part in my opinion. The romantic comedy between Scott and Westfeldt was entertaining as well, but in a different way. Also these two pretty much make you feel inadequate as a parent.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. Not as much as I was planning to, but it was still way above the normal romcoms with billion dollar budgets. The critics seem to be pretty split on the movie as either a romcom with filler or smart and witty. I think it had elements of both and was entertaining. I think this would mostly appeal to chick-flick lovers and/or parents. "Would you rather die of a long slow disease or watch the love of your life die of a long slow disease?

Safety Not Guaranteed

Well, somehow I had not heard of this movie at all as of two weeks ago. Luckily, I have some of the best friends around and one of them, thankfully, told me about this wonderful movie and went with me to see it in one of the few theaters showing it's limited release. It's a little indie comedy that's currently showing in 46 theaters, one of them being the Regal Arbor in Austin.

The movie is from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine and from first time writer and director, Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow. The story follows a magazine reporter, Jake Johnson, and two of his interns, Aubrey Plaza and Karan Soni, as they investigate the man who wrote the classified ad looking for a partner to go back in time with, played by Mark Duplass. It's a totally made up story about the totally real-life classified ad.

The writing was superb in the film and the dialogue had oh about one million great quotable one-liners. The characters were flawed, likable, real, funny, and just all around great. The story didn't follow the expected hollywood arches and plot lines and it was quite refreshing. The first half of the movie did have a faster pace than the last half but was barely noticeable and certainly didn't affect the likability of the overall movie. There were some genuine scenes in the movie about the connections between the characters and there were also some really humorous scenes thrown in there without ruining the genuine feeling of the plot and characters.

The movie had the shallow depth of field in a lot of scenes which I've come to expect and love from these microbudget indies. The soundtrack was also pretty great. The time was taken to frame the scenes as to capture the feeling and tone of the action taking place, instead of just doing close-ups, mids, and wides to advance the plot along.

Aubrey Plaza rocked my socks off in this movie. I loved her performance in Scott Pilgrim and she's also my second favorite character from my new favorite TV show, Parks and Recreation. She is an expert at dead-pan comedy and plays the part well in this film. In addition to the funny moments she pulled off with ease, she also had some really genuine dramatic parts in there as well. Jake Johnson, who is officially impossible not to like, was also great. There were many douchebaggery aspects to his character but you couldn't help look past his faults because he's just so damn likable. I hope these two do more movies together! Oh, Mark Duplass was pretty fantastic as well. Even though his character was most likely certifiably crazy, he was still so sweet and awesome. Oh, and look out for a Kristen Bell cameo and a little cameo from the actual dude who wrote the real classified ad!

I really like the movie. I had high expectations and wasn't disappointed one bit. It was a super cute movie. It's definitely for the audience that likes these little subdued quirky movies. It's listed as a 'sci-fi comedy' because of the time-traveling aspect but the movie is really just about the connections we make with people and what's really important in life. "Have you ever faced certain death? If it was so certain, I wouldn't be here, would I?" "There's no sense in nonsense, especially when the heat's hot".

Dark Shadows

So I hadn't heard much about this movie until I saw a trailer a couple weeks ago with Johnny Depp and Chloe Grace Moretz in it and I decided I needed to see this movie. Oh, and my best friend got engaged at this movie - well before this movie. I went and sat through the entire movie and nobody proposed! The movie has already surpassed it's $150 million budget by racking in about $191 million worldwide in about three weeks so far.

The movie is based on a dysfunctional family headed by a centuries-old vampire and was apparently based on a tv show that I've never heard of before. Chloe Grace Moretz and Michelle Pfeiffer play part of the cursed Collins family. Helena Bonham Carter and Jackie Earle Haley also play characters in the movie and there's even a cameo from Alice Cooper himself.

From the trailer I had seen, I was expecting a completely satirical parody of the vampire genre - thankfully, this was not the case. While the script was dripping with satire, it was believable and comedic without being overbearing. It was the always fun dysfunctional eccentric family comedy on vampire steroids. While the ending was a little untidy - the rest of the plot was pretty great with only a couple of jumpy lags here and there. The dialogue was quite clever and each character's dialogue fit their personality. There were lots of great one-liners.

The soundtrack was amazing - but it was set in the 70's so that's only natural. The effects, cinematography, and set design (especially the set design) was great. It had hints of Tim Burton without being overbearing. The set that the built for Collinswood was amazing. Apparently they built a model that was 1/3 of the actual size to accommodate filming. How cool is that?

Johnny Depp was great as always. Say what you will, but he's a superb character actor. He was reserved enough to be believable without being overly eccentric. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter were in their element. Chloe Grace Moretz was extremely funny and awesome.

In the end, I thought this was a great movie. It was two hours of fun packed into one movie. Who doesn't love the eccentric dysfunctional family movie? Now imagine vampires, witches, and werewolves thrown in there? Of course you want to see that. "This is Barnabas Collins and I'm pretty sure he just called me a hooker".