Kissellian

I went into this move with high hopes. I love quirky. I like horror comedy. I like non-standard narration. I like Paul Giamatti. The problem was that this never added up to anything. It was a series of gaping plot holes strung together for no apparent reason. It did make me chuckle occasionally, but more in the I-can't-believe-something-so-absurd-is-happening way than something actually being funny. Again, I have not read the books. I can only assume that this series of events had some sort of internal logic in them.

Silver Linings Playbook has great acting, some wonderful scenes, and overall characters who you root for. The problem is that this doesn't all come together. It feels like by adding another few scenes might have brought everything together. But in the version I saw in the theater, something was simply missing.

I was raised Catholic, so when I sat down to watch We Have a Pope, I suspected the critics who had been lukewarm to this movie just didn't get it. Sometimes high hopes lead to poor reactions, and that may be why I found We Have a Pope to be the most disappointing movie I'd seen during 2012. On the whole it wasn't funny enough to be a comedy and neither profound or complexly human enough to be a good drama. The basic plot starts with a papal election where it is clear that none of the eligible cardinals really want the job. Then a cardinal who wasn't considered favored is elected. At first he goes along with this, but right before his elevation is announced, he balks. Because the new pope hasn't officially introduced himself to the people, no one else can do it and all of the cardinals must remain shut in the Vatican until he changes his mind. All of this is fodder for some hilarious moments or profound statements about faith and human psychology and power. However, We Have a Pope wastes all of these opportunities by shying away from all the difficult questions this situation calls up. The new pope doesn't doubt his faith and never manages to articulate a reason for his refusal more complex than he's not up to the job. The movie meanders along to an ending which is only shocking in that it took two hours to arrive at the place we had been fifteen minutes in. The only bright spot in this slog is an intramural volleyball game between cardinals from different geographic regions. Spoiler: Oceania scores a point!

The Impossible is based on a true story of a family who were vacationing in Thailand during the 2004 Tsunami. From everything I've read, other than changing their nationality from Spanish to British, the story is almost spot on as told by the mother of the family. That's why accusations of coincidentality I've heard leveled at this movie are far off base. After a few scenes setting up a loving although imperfect family dynamic, the movie veers headlong into tragedy. The minutes picturing the tsunami and family members dragged along by its force are incredibly visceral. I found myself wincing multiple times. However, after these harrowing minutes, the movie goes on to show the incredible will to survive and how tragedy can bring out the best in people. The story that unfolds is both emotionally satisfying and bittersweet. Before seeing The Impossible I had mostly heard the acting was wonderful and the politics execrable. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor both do great work, but the real star is Tom Holland who also has to hold up for more screen than any other character. As for the politics, the goal of the film is obviously to tell the story of a single family who were vacationing in a resort area of Thailand. Therefore, it is unfair to accuse the film of not showing the thousands of Sri Lankans who were also killed. That being said, because of these accusations I expected to only see whites almost throughout the movie. However, this was not the case. One of the most heart-wrenching scenes in a heart-wrenching movie were the scenes of lost children without parents who were a mixture of races. How could anyone see this and accuse the movie of thinking only whites were the only victims of the disaster? While not a movie for people with weak stomachs, The Impossible is well worth the time of anyone who is interested in the triumphs that can come out of tragedies.

Klown is a dark, bawdy Danish comedy following three deeply flawed, yet somehow sympathetic, male characters on an ill-fated canoe trip. In general, I like Danish comedies, and while not nearly as genius as the movies written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, this had its great moments. The main character Frank is on a mission to prove to his girlfriend that he could be a good father, but since doing so involves kidnapping her per-adolescent nephew to take him on "Tour de **** Frank's efforts are ridiculous. But what made this movie far more enjoyable than it might have been is that by the end you're not really laughing AT Frank anymore but cheering him on as his efforts to connect with the boy become ever more extreme. I recommend Klown to anyone who is not easily offended by risque humor and enjoys comedy with a different rhythm and aesthetic than main stream Americana.

I had only heard good things about the Kill List, so going into it I was expecting something fairly amazing. The basic premise is that an out-of-work, ex-soldier hitman who screwed up his last job gets a final chance to prove himself. The basic difference between this and many other films with similar premises is that he has a wife, a son, and a best friend, also a hitman, who is there to make sure he doesn't screw it up. First, while I don't usually have much problem understanding British movies, I couldn't understand much of the dialogue in the opening scenes and had to rely on what I'd read about the plot to replace what I can only imagine was backstory. When the action started, I began to enjoy watching the main character begin to lose his composure as the mysteries of this job unfolded. I was along for the ride until the very end. I had expected some closure, some explanation of the weirdness the climax had built up to, but instead there was merely a shock and then it was over. I still have no idea why most of the events occurred or what the motivations were of those standing in the background pulling strings. I am still scratching my head at all of the positive reviews out there, many of which echo my confusion. For some reason, they're simply not that concerned about it, but for me it ruined what might have otherwise been a unique and enjoyable thriller.

The Decoy Bride is an inoffensive romantic comedy. I laughed out loud several times, but I can't say I was surprised by anything while watching it. I mostly saw it because I'm a huge David Tennant fan. He wasn't at his best (some critics' accusations of him merely going through the motions have merit), but Kelly Macdonald almost makes up for it. She is brilliant, charming, and not your standard Rom-Com heroine as a mildly desperate small-island girl on the hunt for an eligible bachelor. My final say is if it looks like something you might enjoy, you probably will, but it is in no way spectacular enough to win over anyone who doesn't like romantic comedies and is doubtful of it going in.