Hugo

It’s Scorsese’s first movie without Leo DiCaprio in about 12 years. (I’m not counting documentaries.) If you held it up to any of his other movies, you’d be hard pressed to find any similarities. And as much as I loved After Hours and greatly admired The Departed, this might be one of the best movies in his career. There is a love of kids, a love of movies, and a love of making movies fused into Hugo at the subatomic level. There is such a love of things here; it’s more Spielberg than Spielberg. He’s fortunate to have, as his source material, many of his storyboards and conceptual drawings already finished. Every camera move he’s ever done in any movie ever has led him to this point. It’s hard to tell where the computer assist takes over for the actual movie camera. The result is a technical masterpiece. I did find the pace to be a little inconsistent. Important moments that require some breathing room breeze by, while frivolity seems to be lingered upon. (I find the pace of Boardwalk Empire to be a little pokey, too.) Emotionally, Scorsese definitely seems more comfortable evoking fear and anger, rather than sentiment. But the design, the color, the movement and the acting left me astonished. Even the 3-D was good! It wasn’t too dark. When he dies, which will hopefully be a long time from now, and the entertainment press plays all the clips from his films eulogizing his great body of work, it’ll be hilarious to see clips of Hugo along side Taxi Driver.

A Dangerous Method

A slightly boring and talky costume drama about Freud and Jung and their relationship with one particular patient. However, it’s Cronenberg, so thankfully it does get a little kinky. But only a little. The cast here is great. There are intimate and fully realized portrayals from all the leads, including an expert range of restraint and emotion from the new leading man Michael Fassbender. Kiera Knightly also manifests a startlingly honest and barely-controlled crazy person, a victim of abuse who benefits and then shares the techniques developed by Freud and Jung. The movie explores but never judges the complicated relationships that shrinks can have with their patients, back to and including the very first of the head-shrinkers. A more interesting history than drama, it’s worth seeing, but only after a coffee or two.

The Descendants

He doesn’t make a lot of movies, but when he does Alexander Payne always delivers. He’s done satires and dramedies to perfection. Descendants is no exception. Payne and his casting team seem to be as careful with casting the supporting players as they are about casting their leads. There are great performances all around, including a revelation by Judy Greer. But, it’s not meant to be as funny as his other movies. In fact, there are many moments that are quite sad and serious, dealing with death, grief, betrayal, and the very serious matter of the Hawaiian heritage. Is it Payne's best? Nope. Sideways still holds that title. Is it Clooney’s best? Nope. But he’s still great in the movie as the sturdy, average dad. But it’s really good. Payne, the cast, and the crew take their story-telling really seriously. They respect their audience and I have nothing but gratitude.

Immortals

The stakes are always high when gods, demigods and titans battle for control of the Earth and its weakling population. It’s hard to imagine the battles of gods, but the all-form-and-no-function director Tarsem has a lot of fun when the battles wind up in cramped narrow hallways and elaborately carved caves. Mickey Roarke was deliciously rotten as the power-hungry villain, and the rest of the cast managed not to embarrass themselves. I couldn’t really summarize the plot if I had a gun to my head, even minutes after the movie ended. But it was fun to be in the moment and watch as one demigod beheads another demigod, as the deep crimson blood flies in slow motion across the screen to the tune of some important-sounding music.

The Skin I Live In

I’m not sure I followed the plot very clearly. It IS in Spanish, after all. But as near as I can figure it, Antonio Bandaras plays a surgeon whose daughter gets raped. He kidnaps the rapist and surgically turns him into a woman and then has sex with him/her. I’m sure this is symbolic or meaningful or something, but I couldn’t really follow what was going on.

Jeff Who Lives at Home

After a barrage of depressing movies at AFI Fest this year, the relief of seeing something upbeat was immeasurable. Jason Siegal is perfect as the apathetic and impressionable hero. Against type, Ed Helms plays the dickhead here, and his self-reflecting journey is PROFOUNDLY better than anything in those Hangover movies. Susan Sarandon has never been better as a mom open to new things. The cast is superb and the concept is profound and builds to an exciting and fitting conclusion. The comedy is heartfelt the overall feeling after the movie is positive. The Duplass brothers, the mumblecore gurus behind this, did q&a after the show, and they both came off as kind of douchey. Maybe they were just tired. Or maybe they save up any warmth or gratitude for their movies. At any rate, I liked it.

Melancholia

The first half of Lars von Trier’s latest is like a gloomy version of a Neil Simon play. Kirsten Dunst is spectacularly bi-polar as she tries to smile and dance her way through her wedding, but behind her eyes there’s a crushing despair. It’s a fierce performance, and something different than anything else she’s ever done. The supporting cast is also good, including a surprisingly solid turn from Kiefer Sutherland. Visually experiencing the movie is a bit like watching a Malick nature opus. “The Tree of Death” perhaps? At times, the pace is brutally slow, but sublime acting and visuals keep you engaged until the big finish. The movie seems to be saying that it’s okay to be depressed. Depressed people will be the ones most equipped to cope when the world ends, as it inevitably will.

Into the Abyss

The movie is much more specific than the title suggests. Into the Abyss chronicles a particular case in Texas; a crime ten years ago that lead to murder. The criminals confessed, and they’re interviewed along with many other people associated with the case. The friends of the victims and the friends and family of the culprits are all interviewed in a pretty standard “60 Minutes” fashion. Though the movie is skillfully made and definitely sheds light on larger issues about execution, it doesn't make you very sympathetic for the killers or the victims. But there are family members of the victims whose suffering will never end, and even they have their problems with capital punishment. It’s a serious and worthwhile documentary from Werner Herzog, but it could be saved for home video.

Rampart

Woody Harrelson and an all-star cast make this familiar tale of police corruption intriguing and watchable. The personal life of this narcissistic sociopath is explored considerably and the drama there is good. But how do you end a movie like this? You can’t really, not in any satisfying way. So the cup is almost full here, but maybe a quick review of Shakespeare could have given Woody’s corrupt cop the tragic ending he deserved.

Dragonslayer

A sad but compelling doc about a lowest of low-level pro skateboarder Josh Sandoval, as he struggles with poverty, drugs, alcohol, and parenthood. It’s reflective of the nation’s housing bubble that abanonded houses with empty pools make for the best skating. Therefore, a direct result of economic collapse is more skaters. I found this movie heartbreaking, but an important work of art that helps put my own life in perspective.

The Dish and the Spoon

Mumblecore muse Greta Gerwig pouts, drinks beer, and mopes her way through this meditation on infidelity. It’s emotionally ambitious and there are enjoyable moments, but there are also times where it draaaaags. Weak logic defines the resolution, too, which may be realistic, but it’s not all that surprising. And if you’re going to depress me with all of this gloominess, the least you can do is upturn my expectations a little.