The Family

— I’d hoped for more from “The Family”, a Luc Besson film with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfieffer, and Tommy Lee Jones. Billed as a dark comedy/thriller about a former mob boss and his family hiding in the Witness Protection Program, it has a decent premise and decent actors, but the plot is kind of linear, the comedy a little scare, and the pace a little uneven. With these actors, it should have been more clever, but at least it was something other than the slapstick, angst-ridden, overly dirty humor of summer-release, teen comedies. It was vaguely enjoyable but also pretty forgettable.

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[2013. 111 min. Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D'Leo, and Tommy Lee Jones.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-family-2013

Rush

— I’ve never had much interest in Grand Prix, Formula One, or any other kind of racing, but I respect Ron Howard as a director and he didn't disappoint me with “Rush”. It isn’t the racing, but the two main characters and their dissimilarities that are the focus, raising lots of questions about respect and self-respect, friendship, value, motivation, beauty, and bonding. Oh, and there’s a good bit of car racing too, made even better thanks to great cinematography. Early on I wondered why anyone would like either of the two main characters but, over time, even I found them both a bit more charming, more intricate and principled than I’d thought, but that may just be the allure of boys and their toys.

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[2013. 123 min. Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Daniel Bruhl, Chris Hemsworth, and Olivia Wilde.]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10281663/Rush-review.html

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

— I’m not sure why I didn’t see “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” in a theater when it was released, but I didn’t. It may have been some notion that a “young-adult” novel wouldn’t satisfy. Not so! I watched the DVD last night and was pleasantly surprised by the memories of adolescent and “young adulthood” that are still within me, ready to be tapped by a film like this one.

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[2013. 102 min. Directed by Stephen and Ezra Miller. Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Dylan McDermott, and Kate Walsh.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower-2012

Prisoners

— “Prisoners” is a well done crime thriller with flawless acting (Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhall, Vliola Davis, and Maria Bello, Paul Dano and Terrence Howard) by director Denis Villeneuve, who caught everyone’s eye with the incredible “Incendies”. Scenes are taut or touching, sometimes a violent enough to make you clench your fists, and sometimes sinister or creepy, all with interesting religious overtones. It does the genre well and is definitely worth seeing, although it is not a film for kids or the squeamish.

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[2013. 153 min. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Viola Davis.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/movies/prisoners-stars-hugh-jackman-and-jake-gyllenhaal.html?_r=0

Blue Jasmine

— Oh Woody, thank you for “Blue Jasmine” (along with most everything else you’ve done since 2005). And Cate Blanchette, thank you for being in “Blue Jasmine” (along with many of your other films that make up a pretty odd body of work). Blanchette is outstanding in a role that sometimes creates uncomfortable laughs but runs the gamut from fragile to wacky to weird and back again. Almost everyone does a great job – and particularly Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, and Bobby Cannavale. There’s something almost off balance in the witty and perceptive script—some scenes are acted more in the tradition of a stage play than a film, sometimes verging on overly melodramatic, sometimes soft and intimate, but always walking the line perfectly. It’s a wonderful film!

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[2013. 98 min. Directed by Woody Allen. Written by Woody Allen. Starring Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard,, Sally Hawkins, Louis C.K., Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Dice Clay.]
http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/movies/cate-blanchett-stars-in-woody-allens-blue-jasmine.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The Butler

— It’s hard not to get caught up in “The Butler”. Even as it moves along feeling oddly like a made-for-TV movie with A-list actors, I was sucked into this crowded, ambitious film where two of the main characters happen to be witnesses to nearly every key civil rights event. While the father overhears candid white house discussions with a stoic face, the son is sitting at the lunch counter in Memphis, on the Freedom Rider bus firebombed in Alabama, and with Martin Luther King, Jr., just before he was assassinated. The sequence from one event to the next was so predictable that I wasn’t surprised by the next scene, but it didn’t matter, I was still moved by the struggle and by the validity of the viewpoints. I would have been happier if the film had ended when father and son both realize the pivotal role the other played in the struggle (at a rally against apartheid, of course), instead of tying things up too neatly, but that’s just me. It’s well worth the viewing and always worth remembering that, nearly 50 years after the March on Washington and King’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, the fight for equal rights continues.

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[2013. 132 min. Directed by Lee Daniels. Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, and Cuba Gooding, Jr.]
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-15/news/41412198_1_lee-daniels-the-butler-wil-haygood

Elysium

— “Elysium” is an example of a good director whose talents don’t include making use of veteran actors or large budgets. Admittedly, I came to the film expecting it to surpass “District 9”, one of the better sci-films of the last few years. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Instead, it reminded me of “In Time” with more of a social conscience. I never really liked its proletarian hero (Matt Damon) whose motives were decidedly more selfish than based on helping the 99%. Worse, I may have been more sympathetic to Jodie Foster in spite of her inability to bring much depth the two-dimensional character she plays. The special effects are wonderful and it’s worth seeing as one of a group of dystopian films, some with more merit than others. If you must see it, wait for it to be streamed or on DVD, or choose instead to see something like “Blade Runner”, “Looper,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “12 Monkeys,” “Moon,” “Brazil,” “Minority Report,” “Children of Men,” “The Matrix,” “Robocop,” or “Mad Max” or “Road Warrior” first.

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[2013. 109 min. Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharito Copley.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/elysium-2013

Fruitvale Station

— “Fruitvale Station” is a carefully crafted tale about one man whose senseless death sparked riots in 2009. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t be drawn in by this portrayal of a complex and flawed young father whose sharp edges and tender tendencies both appeal and irritate. This isn’t a one-dimensional look at a social issue, but a way into the issue through one tragic incident and its backstory made more accessible. It is well worth the price of admission.

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[2013. 85 min. Directed by Ryan Coogler. Starring Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, and Octavia Spencer.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fruitvale-station-2013