The Impossible

— Naomi Watts’ performance in “The Impossible” is incredible and the movie itself is enthralling and emotional. Telling the story of one family in the 2004 tsunami keeps things focused but you can’t help but think about the hundreds of thousands of other affected lives. The special effects are amazing and the sound and make-up are amazing too. It also isn’t just Watts who makes the film. Ewen McGregor does a good job too, as do the actors playing the three children, especially the oldest son. You have to cringe at the horror of the tsunami and the turmoil that follows, but it’s the unspoken love, determination, compassion, and quiet courage that make this film worth seeing. Given a chance, it’ll affect you deeply, even if you’re only seeing things through one family’s eyes.

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[2012. 114 min. Directed by J.A. Bayona. Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and Tom Holland.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/movies/the-impossible-with-naomi-watts-and-ewan-mcgregor.html?_r=0

Silver Linings Playbook

— “Silver Linings Playbook” has something for anyone – a dysfunctional family, OCD, bipolar disorder, separation, bereavement, promiscuity, and a title that gives us hope there may be a silver lining. Bradley Cooper proves to be much more capable than I’d thought he could be and Jennifer Lawrence is wonderful. This is an odd romance, maybe even a romantic comedy, that’s well crafted, engaging, and satisfying. Well worth seeing.

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[2012. 122 min. Directed by David O. Russell. Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker.]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/dec/11/best-films-2012-silver-linings-playbook

Les Miserables

— I went to “Les Miserables” not certain what I’d think, but I was suckered in without much kicking or screaming. It seemed a little plodding at first, but then this is during the oppressive and depressive French Revolution. Once the characters are all accounted for, they worked on me until they had me by my heartstrings--the actors really were awfully good and the direction really was awfully grand. Tom Hooper has created an oversized film, almost rejecting the confines of the stage, and then served up very intimate moments with songs so emotional you have to go with it. True, the "to love another person is to see the face of God" them is only slightly more sophisticated than “love means never having to say you’re sorry”, but that’s okay, it’s all part of the experience that’ is, as NPR says, “misery and music blended for the big screen”.

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[2012. 158 min. Directed by Tom Hooper. Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, and Eddie Redmayne.]
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/24/167624491/in-paris-misery-and-music-blended-for-the-big-screen

Django Unchained

— Saw “Django Unchained”. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of “Pulp Fiction” or “Jackie Brown” or the “Kill Bills”, even though most of my friends were, but with “Inglourious Basterds”, I saw the light, thinking it was his first great film, “Django” is even better! It has great dialog, great casting, and the ability to walk the line between farce and reality perfectly. It has the usual amount of spurting blood, but that’s just Tarantino. Sometimes you’re not sure you should be smiling and try not to laugh, but if you’re in a dark theatre, you don’t have to spend much time worrying about where Tarantino’s taking you until the film ends and you’re there. Definitely worth seeing if you’re not worried about the blood and language.

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[2012. 165 min. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson.]
http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/django-unchained-20121213

Life of Pi

— Saw “Life of Pi” on Monday. It’s a fine example of the value of a great director. It’s beautiful and captivating with CGI that’s amazing (adds meaning to “Tyger Tyger, burning bright…”). Gorgeous as it was, when it was over I didn’t give it another thought.

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[2012. 127 min. Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, and Adil Hussain.]
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/how-did-they-bring-the-unfilmable-life-of-pi-to-our-screens-8393738.html

Hitchcock

— Caught “Hitchcock” yesterday and enjoyed it but, in a year with many very good films, it just doesn’t make the cut, even if Anthony Hopkins' acting does. Helen Mirren is perfectly adequate and, even at that level, she can still hold her own. Sadly, the two, main female supporting stars are mostly terrible. The film covers a short portion of Hitchcock’s life but it is a fascinating peek, even if it is a little bumpy. I think movie addicts will find it of interest, and I now intend to find out if Hitchcock’s wife, Alma, was really as impressive as presented in the film, but I would have preferred a film with better acting, a little more subtlety, and a lot more fact than fantasy.

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[2012. 98 min. Directed by Sacha Gervasi. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, and Toni Collette.]
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/23/entertainment/la-et-mn-hitchcock-movie-reviews-critics-20121123

Anna Karenina

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[2012. 129 min. Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Keira Knightly, Juda Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.]
— Remember that feeling during the first half hour of “Moulin Rouge” when you realized you were watching something so different, so clever, so interwoven that you were fascinated and liking it? Well, I had the same feeling about “Anna Karenina” – interwoven, not a musical but unfolding with a rhythm all its own, an attention to details and set design that gave it a flow, a tight and clever script that allowed it to move from stage to the larger world and back again, and good actors too, but somehow it fell a little flat in the middle and I lost patience with nearly everyone and wondered if screenplay writer and director had just run out of steam or if we were supposed to accept a slower pace as things unraveled as befitting the unfolding storyline. By the end, it hooked me back again, regaining my interest, and I think it’s something worth seeing and marveling at its theatricality, but by breathing new life into an old story, I think the characters lost their motivations and, with it, my sympathy.

http://www.focusfeatures.com/Anna_Karenina

The Sessions

— Some pretty funny lines in “The Sessions”. Enough to make you at first feel a little Catholic guilt about your laughter until you realize everyone in the film is a grown-up and upfront about what’s happening. There are many more emotions underneath this subtle, low-key film that touches your heart so gently you almost don’t realize you let it take hold of you. In my previous life I’d been familiar with “Breathing Lessons”, a wonderful film about the same person, Mark O’Brien, that won the Academy Award for short documentary. “The Sessions” moved me very much and the remarkable performances by Helen Hunt and John Hawkes deserve the bulk of the credit. It’s well worth seeing.

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[2012. 94 min. Directed by Ben Lewin. Starring John Hawkes, Hellen Hunt, and William H. Macy.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/movies/the-sessions-with-john-hawkes-and-helen-hunt.html