Hitchcock

This did nothing for me. It’s not bad. There’s nothing wrong with it. But there are no real stakes. Hitchcock is the master at the beginning and the master at the end. The script tries to inflate the notion that Hitchcock was worried his wife might be having an affair, but that doesn’t play out in any kind of dramatic or compelling way. So it’s a nice piece of history, but ironically there’s no suspense. The HBO movie about Tippi Hedron, The Girl, was much better.

Silent Night

A remake of the old, schlocky horror movie Silent Night, Deadly Night. The cast was decent but hammy. The script, at least, made sense. The problem is there’s no theme. Or no effort to showcase a theme. And when you have Santa going around murdering people, there should be some kind of point about commercialism or Christianity or something. But there’s no subtext. Just Santa murdering people. Not that there's really anything wrong with that, per se...

Skyfall

Yep. Saw it again. Certain things that seemed stupid the first time I saw it made a little more sense this time. But pace is significantly slower the second time, too.

Life of Pi

Ya know that scene in Cast Away when Tom Hanks and Wilson set sail from the island on that little raft? Now imagine if that scene was two hours long. That’s The Life of Pi. Yes, it’s beautifully made. But I’m not sure I GOT it. Was the mom an orangutan? Is it all a metaphor for something? I’m also not sure that Pi was really the most interesting guy in the world to spend two hours with. Pi yelled at the tiger a lot, but both he and the tiger had less personality than Wilson. Aw, heck. I’m being nitpicky. It’s a beautifully filmed movie by Ang Lee and company. I just didn’t have the transcendent experience I was thinking I was supposed to have. I thought it was kind of slow.

The Silver Linings Playbook

One of my favorite movies of the year. I’ve considered myself a fan of crazy David O. Russell for years, but I thought The Fighter was a bit overblown. There’s no good reason why this should have worked. It’s a weird mix of drama and comedy, sports and dancing, mental health and romance. It’s a hodgepodge and it could have gone horribly wrong. BUT IT DIDN’T. I’m not sure why! Everyone involved is walking a tightrope and at the end of it all, I felt SO FULFILLED. I felt so satisfied. I knew I had just seen a great movie. Again, I’m not sure why. But in the way that salmon sushi and cream cheese shouldn’t work in Philly rolls, but it does, the same holds true for the Silver Linings Playbook. There’s video proof that David O. Russell is an out-of-control, hot-tempered asshole. But hot damn, the guy can make a movie. Highly recommended.

Wreck It Ralph

This did nothing for me. Ralph's existential crisis gets sidetracked and the story shifts focus to another character and her problems. Voiceover work is strong, and the animation is sublime. But the script, which attempts to appeal to too many demos, is a mess.

Flight

This is not about airplanes and it’s not about flying. It’s about alcoholism. Denzel sinks his teeth in, embodying his toxic, barely functioning addict with consummate purpose. Supporting roles are strong too, including Kelly Reilly as a drunk whose moment of clarity comes before Denzel’s. The subject of alcohol will give us humans infinite volumes of art for eons to come. Nothing profoundly new is depicted about the complicated subject in Flight, but the honest portrayals are worth seeing.

Skyfall

The script is paper-thin. It’s less of a plot and more like just one, long sequence. One long, wildly implausible sequence. But man, they shot the hell out of this. Every frame is beautifully rendered. It’s GORGEOUS. But thin. Maybe the thin plot helps it translate better in all the different territories and cultures? Maybe that’s why it’s the highest grossing Bond movie ever? Maybe?

Lincoln

It’s a well-made history, akin to Amistad or Munich. The primary focus is not on Lincoln but instead on the 13th amendment and the mélange of characters who helped Lincoln and voted for it. All the talk has been about Daniel Day Lewis, but it’s the supporting parts that make this interesting: Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, Lee Pace. It’s a movie about policy, which means that some of the big, climactic scenes involve men voting, which isn’t all that suspenseful since we know what happens. As good as it is, I didn’t feel like it was some transcendent, trail-blazingly original drama. It’s not that risky, and therefore, not that emotional. But it’s Spielberg’s best movie in years (Are we counting Tin-tin?)and a hearty and fulfilling enterprise.

Antiviral

The son of David Cronenberg makes his debut with this goopy, icky essay on celebrity obsessions. Some of the sci-fi concepts and ideas about celebrity culture are really cool, but man, oh man this thing is SLOW. It would be a modern-day masterpiece if they would just pick up the pace!

Cloud Atlas

It’s an unusual movie because I enjoyed it, but I couldn’t tell you the story or the plot if I had a gun to my head. It’s a bit like Malick in that way, it’s a movie driven by theme. And even the theme is a little vague. Overcome your prejudices? Stand up to the status quo? Improve yourself, one lifetime at a time? Despite this ambiguity, it’s a fun movie to watch. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and the rest of the cast disappear into their multiple characters, with the help of amazing makeup. It’s beautifully made. Every shot is carefully nurtured. The music is great. It doesn’t feel three hours long. But again, I’m not sure what it’s about, though I’m grateful to The Wachowskis for trying something original. As Greg Hobson says, sometimes you just have to swing for the fences.

Holy Motors

I hated this. It’s a plotless, pointless mishmash of pretentious European art-house bullshit. It seems intent on angering, excluding and irking. It’s too bad, because some of the locations and production resources were pretty cool. There's also a nice bit from Kylie Minogue. It’s a shame it was all wasted on this jerk off.

The Impossible

It reminded me of one of those fantastic Irwin Allen disaster movies from the 70’s. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are great as the disaster victims, struggling with their own injuries, surrounded by death, and confounded by the chaos and confusion during the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Naomi Watts especially shines in an unselfconscious role as she tries to lead her son to safety and survive her own severely icky injuries. Although it’s based on an amazing true story, there are brief moments of this that seem a little sappy. The music swells too much, some people cry a little too hard, and there’s a conspicuous lack of subtlety during certain key moments. Nevertheless, it’s emotional when it needs to be and casts some light on a worthy topic.

John Dies at the End

By far my favorite movie to come out in a long time. It’s like Bill and Ted’s meets a Richard Kelly movie. Two funny stoners, possibly alive, possible dead jumping through time and dimensions. Paul Giamatti listening to the story bemused, and finally, screaming. It’s an adrenalin rush of surreal insanity, a brave leap so far from convention, it deserves some kind of award just for existing. Big kudos to Don Coscarelli and company.

The Man with the Iron Fist

The RZA obviously has huge love of old martial arts movies. So much so that he tried to make one. It’s clear the love is there, but yow! The cutting and pacing are completely wonky, weird and choppy. It’s like they turned a 6 hour cut into a two hour cut and decided to remove all the plot explanations to save time. It feels more like a coming attractions trailer than an actual movie. It’s fun though, and will please many a martial arts fan and/or stoner for years to come.