lahaine

Not nearly as good as his previous works; The Descendants is Alexander Payne

Phyllida Lloyd

We Need to Talk About Kevin is maddeningly brilliant film. It's a great blend of style and substance thanks to Lynne Ramsay, who directs the hell out of this movie. A mother's recap of the events leading up to her son's high school massacre was very well executed on so many different levels. On one level; Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller did great work in their respective roles as mother (Eva) and son (Kevin). On another; the wildly structured, horror inspired screenplay and film editing were quite interesting. And on a final level, the subtle yet detailed sound mix placed the viewers right in the movie. This was simply a very good film.

David Fincher's return to serial killer territory is a welcome one, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an excellent crime thriller and one of year's best films. The modern day master of tension crafts an abrasive yet engaging movie, which tells the popular murder mystery story in an eclectic way. It can be considered an improvement from the Swedish version thanks to intriguing storytelling, the more detailed focus on the investigation and the portrayal of some characters. The crafts in this film were also top notch from its atmospheric score to its pulp film editing. Rooney Mara gives an edgy performance as the iconic Lisbeth Salander (applause) and I've always had an issue with Blomkvist's character but Daniel Craig did a good job portraying him in this adaptation. Despite my enthusiasm I'm not certain how thrilled I am about a sequel to a movie of this sort, but I'll wait and see how it goes.

Its hard finding the words to describe how wonderful this film was. The Artist is an enjoyable piece of work that has a simple, yet impressive story. It boast beautiful visuals:- from its lavish sets, to its bold black&white cinematography. Though simple the story was translated to the screen well by director, Michel Hazanavicius, who also handles its vintage black&white and silent-film elements very well. The plot a silent film star who's unable to transition to the new medium of talking **** clever use of inter titles and sound (and lack there-of) in key sequences adds an interesting paradox to the film and its plot. It did drag a little in the second act, but it picked up again thanks to the silent performances. With that said, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo are excellent, after all, action speaks louder than words.

Drive is a uniquely crafted art-house "action" film that acts as a perfect opposition to the adrenaline-laden Mission Impossibles,Transformers and many more. It follows a quiet stunt/getaway driver (Ryan Gosling) and his conflict with dangerous criminals after trying to assist a friend in a robbery. Nicolas Winding Refn's direction is Hyper-stylized; he evokes thought through nuance and creates tension through silence. The editing is bold and the cast did an excellent job, particularly Gosling and Albert Brooks. Its pace may leave some bored, but it will leave others (like myself) intrigued.

I really tried liking Moneyball, but in the end I couldn't succumb to this. I'm obviously in the minority who didn't enjoy this film that much, but I can admit it was a well meaning film and Pitt gives a decent performance. Despite what people may say, the movie does go into detail with baseball and its statistics. Its easy to assume that a sheer lack of interest in baseball contributed to one's dislike for Moneyball, but that's not the case, it goes a little deeper than that. The story seemed a bit formulaic and the movie was quite longer than it needed to be. It had some sharp dialogue work, but the movie on a whole didn't 'wow' me in any way.

Though I honestly wished Spielberg went into grizzly and challenging territories (much like he did with Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan), how can one not enjoy War Horse. Spielberg went on autopilot when directing this film; with all the familiar 'Spielbergian' charms and sentimentalism layering the story. This came at the expense **** look at the horrors of World War I, however the bulk of emotion that loomed elsewhere in the story was almost enough to compensate. The film was handsomely produced with bold cinematography, and a pounding sound design amongst other things. The film was quite good, and its self awareness made it even better.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a very slow burning spy thriller. Its slow pace may bore some, but I think it was an effective way of composing this elaborate plot and allotting the broad cast a fair amount of screen time. With that said, good job to the writers and editors. Its lack of kinetic thrills was a disappointment, but its labyrinth of a plot is enough to keep most people intrigued. Gary Oldman leads the cast with an understated and complete performance, and the textured cinematography and art direction also deserve a mention. I felt certain plot-lines were ultimately unnecessary, but Le Carre should be pleased with the adaptation.

I'm no fan of the first Sherlock Holmes flick, and now the second installment only reduced my liking of the film series. This is definitely a Guy Ritchie film, it has boisterous action, choppy editing and what not, which does nothing to advance its already mediocre plot. The "humor" is quite corny and lacks comedic timing, and the script itself was a miss. Polished production designs and efforts from the cast are not enough to save this one, as it was one big mess.

Young adult is a dark comedy done more than right. Delusional, diabolical, sad, are all characteristics that permeates through our flawed-hero, Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), who is trying to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now a family man. Reitman's direction is subtle and effective, but the real star here is Diablo Cody, who writes a pitch-black character study that goes outside conventional story telling. The other star is Charlize Theron, who delivers a convincingly "unlikable", cool, and complex performance. This is not the sort of film in which characters grow and change for the best, it takes a different route (for better or worse), which is why it boldly stands out from the rest.

"Wow!". I'm genuinely surprised by how well this film turned out. I was fooled into believing this would be a dull, family drama, but 'A Separation" is extremely engaging. Its serious, intelligent and simply a very satisfying viewing experience. The deterioration of a marriage and ripple effects it has on the family and individuals outside the family is wonderfully evoked through assured film making and a string of wonderful performances from the foreign cast. The movie flows and unfolds with good timing and closes with one of the finest conclusions of the year. This is simply a very good movie.

If your looking for sentimentalism or deep character development this isn't quite the movie your looking for, Tintin, however, is an exhilarating thrill ride from start to **** this picture, Spielberg seeks mainly to entertain, not necessarily teach or challenge his viewers. This "Indiana Jones-esque" film is fast paced and filled with very witty dialogue, charming characters and a clear yet compelling story. It is visually stunning; much effort was evidently placed on the animation and detailed sound design; the editing and 'cinematography' also gave it a very cinematic look (kudos to that single shot chase scene) and John Williams gives another exceptional score. Despite these positives, the movie is quite exhausting: there was non-stop action-adventure with very little time for air. Yes, that's right, Tintin could have done very well with more development, to fully flesh out the characters and add more weight and depth to the solid story. The narration needed more patience, but, the movie was way too much fun to let this get in the way too much.

I finally took time out to see Bridesmaids, and plain and simple: It wasn't worth it. This is commonly cited as the female version of the Hangover, and I can see why; Its loud, raunchy and most of all it's Overrated. The movie is sluggish and filled to the brim with simple minded, toilet humor. It has some laughs here and there but overall the humor was forced (eg. the food poisoning scene). Story-wise, the movie may have been fine, but this was overshadowed by all the mess. It is also bizarre that Mellisa McCarthy is getting this much attention, for a substandard, useless performance.

Albert Nobbs feels like a forgotten film, that was dusted off and pulled straight from the 90's (no offense to the 90's). The premise of a woman taking extreme measures to survive in the World is an intriguing one, but the writers, director (and whoever else had creative input) went absolutely no where with it. The love triangle was trite and the film itself was tonally void. The movie starts of well with establishing plot and character, but spirals down to blatant predictability, and something absurdly anti-climatic. Glenn Close seems to be heading for an undeserved Oscar nomination for her stiff performance as Nobbs 'himself', and an even worst nomination for the song she wrote for the film. I must admit McTeer did good work with what she was given, but the movie falls flat. It wasn't necessarily awful, but it was very unimportant, and incredibly ordinary.

I'm surprised this didn't get better reviews from critics, as it was very entertaining. Carnage is a small movie that runs in real time, and only consists of four characters in an new york apartment. All this works well, thanks to its fresh and witty screenplay, and primal performances from our four principles: Winslet, Foster, Riley and Waltz. Christoph Waltz was probably the finest of the bunch, maintaining a chilly, aloof demeanor while the others slip into disarray. Jodie Foster gave a slightly exaggerated performance, but overall they were all fun. The abrupt ending did some serious damage to the overall movie, but its epilogue saved it.

This is was an interesting one, though something was highly questionable about it. Hugo was a very meaningful movie that gets into the heart of the characters and the meaning of cinema itself. Any movie buff should see this, as its a testimonial to the history film making and film preservation, which is evidently very important to Mr. Scorsese. This is one of Scorsese's most technically lush films, boasting exceptional art direction (which needs an Oscar), nice cinematography and some decent costume designs. And finally Asa Butterfield did well and the supporting players were all good, particularly Chloe Moretz (as usual) and Ben Kingsley. With all that said, something that I genuinely questioned was the true quality of the movie's screenplay. It was very unbalanced, and the first half was a quite drab (despite having an interesting premise). The movie could have definitely used a a serious rewrite, but overall it was a good, and well made film.

J. Edgar is actually a pretty sloppy movie, trying to disguise itself as a heavy hitter. For someone this important in American history, I seriously think the focus of this biography should have shifted considerably. The movie should have been about the man's rise into power, and the major events and a few controversies that occurred during his reign. Unfortunately we got something which was gimmicky. Allot of its technical attributes were quite good, but thanks to its foggy storyline, the potentially good editing work fell flat. As for the controversial makeup work, I have mixed feelings about it. The work on Naomi Watts (who also gave a good performance) was excellent, Di Caprio was inconsistent, and Hammer's makeup job was awful and stunted his performance. The movie wasn't boring though, things were kept moving and dialogue was good, but the film itself was an ultimate misconception, I probably could have done without seeing it.

This is an exceptional piece of independent cinema. Margin Call tackles the '08 financial crisis in the shrewdest, most charismatic way possible; with its brisk story telling, cool character development and a satisfying close. Chandor's direction made this a tangible, thrilling and understandable yet complex viewing experience; clearly outlining the root of the disaster and its unfortunate consequences. Its also important to mention the ensemble cast, who all gave powerhouse performances in this small movie. Very well done.

As a fan of indie-films I tried liking Like Crazy, I even thought the last 30 minutes of it was okay. However, the entire two-thirds of this movie just wasn't doing it for me. The story itself just wasn't that spectacular, and the director didn't do much to make the movie itself spectacular. It showcased some free-flowing editing that added a stylistic touch, but ultimately it did the characters little justice as we weren't given the time to empathize with them. The film was basically a slideshow, that hinted at events, but never fully realizes it. Despite the film being emotionally void, I did appreciate the performances which were naturalistic and true, but wasn't enough to save this movie from mediocrity.

The word "friend" is used loosely in this tense political thriller. It allows for surprises, twists, turns and leaves you questioning who to trust in this ensemble. The Ides of March was an extremely entertaining fair. Its smart, well structured, startlingly cynical and filled with a series of good performances. The film started fairly slow though, but it gradually and effectively picks up pace, and Clooney's revelatory directing delves into the harsh realities of campaigning and dirty politics itself. This is a solid film by any means.

Just saw A Dangerous Method and I liked it for the most part. It showcases the early years of psychoanalysis and the rise and fall of Freud and Jung's friendship. Cronenberg's straight-forward direction makes this film unfortunately bland, but adds subtle nuance to the solid story and all the characters. With that said, the film was very reliant on its precise script, and the actor's success at playing complex characters. What Cronenberg really did well, was to draw out strong performances, particularly from Keira Knightly, who was my favorite part of this movie. I cringed at first by her overly-dramatic performance in the beginning, but I liked it, and I like her performance more as she progressed and developed. She deserves some award recognition for this psycho-sexual performance, for sure. The pale direction didn't allow for much great technical attributes, but it did have some precise production designs. Overall; solid, good movie.

Melancholia is a rightly titled spectacle that follows a family in the final days of human existence. Its a sweeping science fiction melodrama that I would probably find difficult to watch again, but remains a strong film due to its dense story telling and deep character studies. And deep those characters were; Gainsbourg and Sutherland played their complex roles with skill and precision. And special applause to Kirsten Dunst who gives a powerhouse performance, it would be a shame if she does not receive some awards recognition this year, despite the atypical nature of the movie. This is simply a very good art-house film, that challenges its viewers.

Don't let my mixed reaction fool you, Real Steel was a real pleasure. It surpassed my expectations, and I must say, my expectations were quite low. This is one of the few movies which turned out better than its 'sobby' premise suggests, though slightly so. It was a 'people-person' film. It had a decent story line, that unfortunately fell prey to predictability, but still managed to pay off a bit. It also had a charismatic cast who you couldn't help but root for. The robot sound designs were fantastic adding weight and, most importantly, character to all these different types of boxing machines. On the negative side, it was a film that's only really good for the moment; it doesn't stand out much in any way. It fell victim to many cliches (as mentioned before) thanks to its by-the-book approach in telling the story. And most of all it wasn't very ambitious; in other words, it didn't strive to go beyond what it was meant to be; which was a mildly entertaining action flick.

I'm happy to call this Terrence Malick's Magnum opus. The Tree of Life is a thought provoking and symbolic art film; it may even leave one questioning how significant their actions are in the big scheme of things. Malick's audacious direction paid off, making this not only a challenging piece of work, but also a wonderful viewing experience, from start to finish. Its arresting cinematography and visual effects are abstractly stitched together by master film editors; and its heavenly soundtrack keeps things flowing. Desplat's score was unfortunately demised by its under-use, in the actual film. The most effective and memorable pieces of music came, courtesy of, classical composers from way back. Also, this may possibly be Pitts career best performance, and Chastain illuminates as his submissive wife. I won't jump on the band-wagon and call this the best movie of the year just yet... and its surely not pretentious (as its detractors state); I do believe it will resonate for years to come (as its polar reviews also suggest). I'm looking forward to see how this does next awards season...

The Help is a racially themed film that's probably a bit too pretty and crowd pleasing. Getting down to the gritty meat of the matter would have been a far more effective way of telling this story, rather than the fluffy-comedic style we get; sprinkled with instances of tears and drama. Despite this, its light tone made it quite entertaining and the instances of drama were natural and fluid. Its colourful cast shines, particularly Dallas Howard, Davis and (the adorable) Jessica Chastain. And the colourful character-serving costume designs shine as well. Comparing this flick to the Blind Side is an insult. Despite its light material, it dealt with the racial matter with a bit more depth rather than the blatant charity root (taken by the Blind side). This is an okay movie with a lot of personality but it could use a bit more heft.

The stupidity of this movie isn't what make it bad. The fact that it actually think its smart, is what makes this movie so dismal. Sitting through it was a difficult experience, not even Saldana's beauty and effort could save it. In fact it only makes it more difficult to watch as she's wasting talent on a movie that should have been made for tv. Colombiana is a cliched-ridden mess, with poor dialogue that would make the best of actors look horrible. The movie crumbles as the story progresses, and its surely one of the summer's loudest light-weights.

In 2009 it was Star Trek, in 2010 it was Inception and now in 2011 Rise of The Planet of the Apes conquers as the smartest, most thrilling blockbusters of the Summer (hands down). Though initially skeptical of the story, everything was well executed; particularly the means and reasons behind the apes' uprising; With a semblance of time and high shock value to boot. Through stylish direction and astonishing visual effects (which needs to win the VFX Oscar next year) Serkis' performance is excellently captured adding humanity and depth to our lead ape. The 2001 remake pales in comparison to this and the original films will always remain classics. This goes down as a satisfying reboot to a long running franchise and I'm eager to see what awaits in its future.

Captain America was a watchable movie, thanks only to its campy/retro style and its mildly charming cast. The script was lazy and quite mediocre at best, with inconsistent dialogue, very little semblance of time and a plot that only skimmed the surface of what could have been achieved in this world war 2 adventure flick. In one instance; montages were used to show the captain and his team's earlier missions, rather than detailed scenes showing such missions (which was unfortunate). Such script weaknesses caused underdevelopment in both the story and characters. The score was perpetual and annoying, and the acting was okay (with the exception of Weaving and Jones who were quite good), but luckily; the simple character arcs and the romance between our leads, added a little to these 2 dimensional characters. The retro production of this movie won me over completely and its pulpy qualities were nice to watch as its hardly being done now. The comic book movies of this summer comes to an end, and I must say it was a pretty average group of movies (ranging from horrible to 'okay'). I may forever be baffled as to why this film got such good reviews. But its technical attributes are easily the best of the 4 comicbook films. but it surely wasn't the best, artistically.

Could this be the best movie of the year? Well, so far, at least... Midnight in Paris is one of the smartest, most creative movies of the year, that certainly met my high expectations. Allen's verbose screenplay is funny, ironic and appropriately mysterious, which supplements the 'lack-of-explanation' behind Gill's time traveling adventures. The whimsical cast is luminous, particularly Corey Stoll whose receiving little traction for his small, but booming performance as Hemingway; stealing all the scenes he's in. The story-telling is a triumph, teaching one to appreciate the present for what it is, despite all that is going on. All this works well with the fine production, particularly its cinematography and time altering costumes and sets. There's not much to complain about here... 2 thumbs up.

Coming from a non-harry potter fan, this was a decent film and a suitable finish to a series that spans an entire decade. It acts well as the climatic third act to the slow-burning, exposition-filled set up, of the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Its a well paced, action packed adventure with dazzling visual effects (possibly the best visual effects of all the harry potter films) and a deft sound mix. It also excels artistically with the usual good performance from all our stars and a brisk screenplay that narrates the bombastic plotline with relative ease. Being the finale, it would have been pleasing if a bit more screen time was given to many of our secondary characters and most of all, a lengthier epilogue would have given it a better conclusion. This definitely won't go down as a classic, but it does well at wrapping up a memorable collection films.

Michael Bay has graced us with another air-headed, action-trash-of-a-film. It improves on the second (which isn't saying much), and remains inferior to the 1st film. Good visual effects and sound... but that can't save it from being one of the worst movies out this summer... I regret seeing it.

Easily one of the finest movies I've seen so far this year. It has a distinct style and an effectively told story thanks to its economic screenplay, flavorful direction and shrewd editing. The story becomes a bit more emotional as the movie progresses; as it takes issues in the story (such as teenage angst, marriage and mortality) more seriously and deals with them with greater depths. However, the filmaker was able to maintain the quirkiness and light humor throughout the film, with very little effort. This movie is surely not for everyone, but it sure was good.

Going into this I wasn't expecting much, after Ratner (X3) and Gavin Hood (Wolverine) criminally butchered and maimed the exceptional work Singer started in the first 2 X-men movies. I expected a hat-trick of disappointment. Though it didn't measure up to the first two films of the series (X-men and X2:Xmen united), X-men first class was still a good and well thought out movie. It lacked the cerebral qualities of the first two film but was still a smart flick, far smarter than the adrenaline-laden X3 and Wolverine. But that's enough comparisons... The brisk narrative and story telling in this film was effective, as it covered much ground, tackling a solid cold-war era plot, and took the time to re-introduce old characters and introduce new ones. Mcavoy and Fassbender excel as Xavier and Magneto (respectively), keeping in mind that they had big shoes to fill. Despite these high points, the inconsistencies in the X-men universe and the back story of our main characters, amongst other minor technicalities did bother me. And though entertaining, I doubt this is a movie I would still be talking about for weeks or even days to come... Its one of the better summer films in theatres now and earned it's good review scores and I won't hesitate to give it one myself

I must say, I was quite disappointed with Super 8, I was expecting allot more from an Abrams/Spielberg collaboration. After seeing films such as Cloverfield and Star Trek, Abrams skills as a producer and Director (respectively) is without a doubt good. In fact, Abrams did an okay job directing super 8, by drawing good performances from the young cast and successfully mimicking the aesthetics of Spielberg's work of the 70's and 80's (like Jaws and E.T. just to name a few). But unlike Spielberg's work he failed to tell a good story, which leads to the downfall of this well produced film, Its Screenplay. It was underwritten, causing viewers to witness a half-baked plot being unfolded and care little about our characters by the end of it all. It eventually lead to a climatic mess, which is unfortunate, as it was really working with a good cast and a good premise. Despite these artistic misshaps it was an entertaining, well-meaning summer flick with sweeping visual effect and well constructed action pieces. Despite my disappointment, It would be wrong to give this anything less than 5 because it wasn't bad... It was an okay movie.

This was an absolute thrill ride that boasts a terrific cast (all of them good), snappy editing and a viscous sound design. I'm not an action or spy movie fan (though I did like the bourne series) but this one stood out. The story was involving and well told, and Wright's direction was very well executed, adding nuance and a unique visual style to what could have been your ordinary-everyday action flick. And also special mention to the chemical brothers for there techno-inspired score, which added to the trippy visual style of this film.

This is anything but a bad **** at the some time it wasn't that fantastic iether. While it had fun quirks (particularly between thor and the main human cast), decent action sequences and a surprisingly compelling villain (loki), the movie in its entirety didn't quite measure up. The story was fairly good but not great, the cgi-driven art direction was a bit cheesy, and the plot that centred around gods wasn't as grand and epic as it could have been. Overall a fun summer flick that I didn't regret seeing