nickgreene11

Mud is an awesome movie. It's portrayal of the Arkansas wild is great, and the performances are spot on. Matthew McConaughey as Mud is worth watching on its own right. This movie just gives you such a great sense of what it is to live on the river, and so the first hour feels like a sensory feast. It's around the second act that the plot begins to strain, but definitely a film worth watching, and a refreshing piece of American cinema.

I don't know if I'm missing something here. I felt like the Avengers had it's moments, but they were moments. The movie was predominantly stupid, which is frustrating. I watched the avengers act like children. I watched both the avengers, and the bad guys make dumb decisions. Hawkeye, you blew up one engine with an arrow. Why not blow up two, or three, or four? Oh, okay. You're going to hack the system to shut down the other one. Right. And I feel like this would be acceptable, if the film owned up to it. If there was some reason that being dumb was okay. But it didn't major plot twists were created, and solved on mistakes, jealousies, and blunders. That's a lot less fun than cleverness.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Argo is a great story that sells itself on the fact that it is an insane, but true story. It's a good movie, but it really isn't great in any capacity. The performances were on, but afflec's distance felt forced. The story was interesting, but very predictable, and very Hollywood (I guess that might be part of the point, so we'll let that pass). There wasn't anything bad in Argo, in fact, you could say it was flawless. However, I don't feel it did justice to the historical situation, and that something was indeed missing. In a year that didn't include Zero Dark Thirty, I might not be looking for that extra something, but I digress.

Kathryn Bigelow's ability to portray the moral complexities of modern warfare in a way that feels fresh and even handed, is worth recognition. Her biggest accomplishment is never letting the audience forget that warfare involves humans doing awful things to other humans. The soldiers aren't faceless brutes, and Al Qaeda isn't reduced to religious fanatics. Everybody's humanity is preserved, which makes the violence that more haunting. That being said, the film is more shallow than The Hurt Locker, probably because the narrative is of a bigger scope, which allows less screen time to delve into the psyche of the characters.

Django is a classic in my mind. It falters in the arena of plot, the final climax feels far more contrived than natural, but apart from that, the film is spectacular. The characters/performances are incredibly entertaining. All of them are. Cinematography is gorgeous, and fitting. It's a good time to be had, just leave your thinking cap at home.

A disclaimer before I make my review: this is the first iteration of Les Miserables I've ever seen. The film showcases spectacular performances, headed by Anne Hathaway's heartbreaking portrayal of Fantine. Others who deserve sure praise are: Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, and Samantha Barks. That being said, the film struggles hold the performances together. Hooper's decision to record the audio live on set surely helped push these performances to their peak, but it feels like it constrained the way he shot the film. In order to get these great performances, we get a lot of close, continuos shots, which hinders the film from feeling "cinematic". Another adverse effect: star power seems to have influenced how much screen time each character gets, sometimes to a fault. Some characters, namely Eponine, get swept under the rug, and don't get the time they need to fully touch the audience's hearts.

The strength of this film lies in the golden script, and wonderful cast. Daniel Day Lewis brings a certain livelihood, and genuine charm to Lincoln that makes you disappointed in current politics. It brings the same love for a classic hero of American folklore, but at the intimate level, where you love the man, not just his words. I give the writers absolute credit for focusing on the messy way slavery was eliminated. Not in an epic battle of good and evil, but through messy politicking. Also, there is nothing quite like hearing congressmen dishing out insults in 1860's American speech. There is a certain distance in the film which prevents it from being this year's best, but nonetheless this is a rare, charming, gem that should not be passed up.

Campy to a fault, For a Good Time, Call... takes an unorthodox subject, phone sex, and lays it on top of a plot which checks off every single cliché in film about friendship. The two protagonists were flatter than cardboard cutouts, introduced more as caricatures than characters. The only exception was Justin Long's character who's quirkiness stole our attention every time he was on screen. A story with no struggle, and no point, dictated by the horrible soundtrack.

Samsara is an incredible collection of moving images, a poignant portrayal of human life in the third millennium. It covers the humorously absurd, the depressingly cruel, and stunningly beautiful traits of being a human. Almost every shot in this film is something you've never seen before, even if it's a shot of a local Costco, or highway. The camera's lens captures what the human eye can't see. I'd agree that sometimes it is a little didactic, and relentless with its social criticism, but you won't mind because you'll be too busy soaking up everything you're seeing. The human subject is never treated as a pawn in the filmmaker's argument, instead every pair of eyes is allowed to exist in front of yours. A spectacle in every sense of the word.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is in a club of one. One of the most unique films I have ever seen. With images of post-Katrina New Orleans, and the poverty of the Southern Wild, you would expect some high-nose social criticism, but you don't get any. The result is an honest narrative of beautiful simplicity. A coming-to-age story that uses no clichés as crutches, and tells the story that ultimately all of us will experience. Although I can't say I was enjoying it throughout, the ending, is one of the most moving sequences in cinema I have ever seen. With its powerful score and beautiful images, this film will leave you feeling fulfilled.

This film is okay. Everything you expect, nothing you don't. List all of the superhero clichés and you'll find them. It isn't a smart movie in any aspect. Bad dialogue, questionable cutting. What frustrates me the most is all of the missed opportunities to take this rich universe and say something meaningful with it. Where it has the opportunity to soar, it strolls and plays it safe.