Amour

— “Amour” is a perfect film experience, but this intimate and devastating look at love and aging isn’t an easy film to watch. It linkers on scenes, just as one of the main character’s illness lingers, and the images are all a little gray and mostly shot in fading light without background music. The action is all indoors, private and hidden from the young and active. The skilled Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva tell much of the story in their looks and movements, as well as their quiet conversations. They cope and are both fragile and stoic, and we watch their tender and tortured love, unable to turn away and wishing the situation was less real. The film deserves the awards and accolades it’s received, but don’t think this is the light and easy love we grew up hearing about. It’s the hard part of love that can leave you feeling devastated.

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[2012. 127 min. Directed by Michael Haneke. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, and Isabelle Huppert.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/amour-2013

Side Effects

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[2013. 106 min. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.]
— If you’ve already seen all of the Oscar-nominated films that interest you, check out “Side Effects”, the Steven Soderbergh film in theaters now. The film is a little slow getting started and I was worried it would languish throughout, but once Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Rooney Mara manage to get us up to speed, the film works very well. It’s worth keeping the plot secret since it’s good to be surprised every now and then by a mystery/thriller. Probably not as impressive as some of Soderbergh’s other films, but still well-crafted and a cut above many...and an entertaining and intriguing ninety minutes.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/side-effects-20130206

Zero Dark Thirty

— I’m never sure what to do with dramatizations of historical events. I’m reasonably good at spotting the line between fiction and reality, and at understanding fictional characters are just that, but when someone as gifted as Katheryn Bigelow crafts a dramatization, it does change my perspective about what really happened. “Zero Dark Thirty” deserves all the praise it’s gotten but it really isn’t my favorite kind of movie. It was successful in drawing me into the narrative, but in the end it’s taken us inside a complex event that’s interesting mostly because Jessica Chastain manages to show so many sides of a complex person. I’d choose “Argo” over “Zero Dark Thirty” for most enjoyable dramatization of 2012, but both are exceptional films.

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[2012. 157 min. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Starring Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Jason Clarke, and Kyle Chandler.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/movies/jessica-chastain-in-zero-dark-thirty.html?_r=0

Beasts of the Southern Wild

— I watched “Beasts of the Southern Wild” on DVD and liked it much more than I had anticipated. There’s a Terrence Malick “Tree of Life” vibe to it that caught my fancy. Quvenzhane Wallis is captivating as well, although I suspect it helps that she has very little dialogue and lots of voice-over. It’s a beautiful, touching, fanciful film and, if you missed it in theaters, rent the DVD. It’s a wonderful experience.

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[2013. 93 min. Directed by Benh Zeitlin. Starring Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry, and Levy Easterly.]
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/beastsofthesouthernwild/

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

— It took me long enough but I finally saw “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”…at an IMAX theater. The action was amazing and constant. It takes a while before the journey begins, but once it gets going the dwarves and hobbit are being chased much of the time; it is hard not to be immersed in the experience and taken in by the action and fine direction. Even though it isn’t really my kind of film, the nearly three hours went by quickly and I was fascinated by the IMAX experience. Luckily, even the less technical elements were handled adequately.

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[2012. 169 min. Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis.]
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2012/12/17/121217crci_cinema_lane

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