About Time

A perfectly nice time-travel romance in which absolutely nothing goes wrong. The main character learns he can time-travel, he uses it to correct awkward moments in his life, roll credits. In most time-travel scenarios there’s a least some fear that you’ll... A. Run into yourself in the past, or B. Change history in some unchangeable way. The stakes should be a little higher here. I kept waiting for the wife to find out that many of the moments in her life were premeditated. That the man she married was not the perfectly smooth version that she knew. I was hoping that there would be a conversation about this, and this would create some trouble for the intrepid, time-travelling British hero. But, nope. Life is pretty easy for this dude. And ultimately, with all of this sci-fi ability to change the world right in the palm of his hand, it turns out  happiness is about playing one more ping-pong game with dad.

Dallas Buyers Club

Thankfully, filmmakers of Dallas Buyers Club know how tragic the AIDS epidemic was, especially in the 80’s. But they also understand that you’re at the movies and there’s only so many facial legions and dying people you can see before it starts to get depressing. With that in mind, the focus is put squarely on the shoulders of Matthew McConaughey’s deft depiction of schemer Ron Woodroof and his sneaky but noble efforts to defy the FDA and bring relief to AIDS patients. This movie is truly an indictment of the FDA, and filmmakers never hold back from portraying them as villains. But once you get past your anger about how these people were treated and/or neglected, McConaughey’s charm is the glue that holds the story together. His personal journey from a slime-ball/bigot to an advocate and hero is first-class.

The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

An exciting and strongly-made chapter of the young adult saga. There are sequences that are masterfully suspenseful and make for a fun night at the movies. But there’s something missing from the big picture. If “The Hunger Games” is a reality TV show, then depicting the blood-thirsty audience might help add context to the politics of this. The movie’s focus on Katniss, although powerful, feels insulated from the rest of the universe that they’re fighting for. Filmmakers presume that the audience understands the politics of the outside world, but seeing it would add all kinds of welcome dramatic weight. Nevertheless, when the poisonous fog rolls in, you’ll be clutching your popcorn with white-knuckled fervor.

Inside Llewyn Davis

This is not my favorite Coen brothers movie, but there are moments of pure lunacy that I love. Most of these moments involve a golden cat, which symbolizes something akin to chaos. It’s as though the Coens decided that, after nailing a logistically complicated western, True Grit, they needed to find some kind of cinematic challenge; something that had never before been attempted. “I know! Let’s make a movie prominently featuring a cat!” …and let the chaos ensue. But there’s more to this movie than the cat. It’s a strange, existential, Homer-esque musical, featuring bittersweet and solemn versions of folk music anthems. There’s love all over this movie. There’s a love of music, a love of New York, a love chaos, a love of movies, and as stated, a love of cats. It’s beautifully made and worth seeing, but it may not resonate with non-cynical types because of its cyclical grimness.

The Face of Love

This maudlin romance starring Annette Benning feels like an update to the 1993 Jodie Foster movie Sommersby, which is a remake of the French movie The Return of Martin Guerre. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with a romance about widows and mom-types, this particular version of that story did not appeal to me at all. I think I would rather see Ed Harris yelling at people instead of being all kissy-kissy.

Nebraska

The surprising thing about Nebraska is not Bruce Dern's canny performance as the cranky, old coot. Dern is a revered Hollywood character-actor and odds are the role of a lifetime would come his way sooner or later. What’s truly surprising and new about Alexander Payne’s road-trip dramedy is Will Forte. Comedy, the character-based, SNL type improv, is hard. Forte did his time and practiced his craft, sometimes playing characters you roll your eyes at and jump on the fast-forward button. (see "The Falconer") But as part of an ensemble he learned to listen and to “give and take.” And the give and take between him and Dern as father and son is pure and laudable.  The road trip aspects of this reminded me of Sideways and About Schmidt, two movies I loved. Nebraska was a little to bleak and bitter-sweet for me to fawn over it unabashedly, but it’s the best version of its kind of thing, and well-

worth seeing.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

A really, really good (almost great) biopic featuring and strong and dignified performance by Idris Elba in the title role. The drama forgoes a Forrest Gump style “history’s greatest hits” and instead focuses on Mandela’s personal relationships and the different fighting styles between him and his wife. The result is a highly emotional drama, but one that may leave audiences wanting a little more historical resonance.

Congratulations!

An attempt at a Samuel Beckett/Waiting for Godot comedy of absurdism. As the jokes become more and more stale, one realizes that the movie was made by stoners for stoners and anyone else watching will be left feeling jerked around. Thumbs way down.

Thor: The Dark World

When the invading aliens spoke gibberish and the audience was shown subtitles, I realized that the Shakespearean Ice Giants from Kenneth Branagh’s first movie were long gone, and that the latest chapter of "Thor" wouldn’t be about the invaders or the plot. It’s about Thor’s relationships with his father, his brother, and the woman. And that’s not a bad thing. It doesn’t make for a lot of world-ending jeopardy or juicy, comic-book mayhem, but it strengthens Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of Thor so he’s not just a ruggedly handsome douche-bag in a cape. It’s an enjoyable and entertaining chapter of the saga, even if the stakes are low.