TV Roundup

It's the loose-end roundup!  These are items that I haven't yet reviewed, so better to get these off my chest sooner than later.

TV:




Go On:  Early on, this series teetered between the heartfelt and the ridiculous.  While the swings haven't been as dramatic lately, there are still too many ridiculous moments (In the most recent episode, Tyler James Williams was trying on a wedding dress because he is apparently Lauren's body double) to call this a quality series.  Matthew Perry's character is alternately sincere and grating, and the supporting cast has been pretty cartoonish.

Rating:  0.25



The Mindy Project:  The theme song is short but catchy ( catchy enough to start humming at the most random moments), and this show has steadily grown on me.  The Mindy Project features Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor from The Office), but also features an ensemble that works really well together and has had some laugh-out-loud moments in recent weeks.  This is one to check out.

Rating so far:0.75



Parenthood:

Parenthood finished a most exasperating season.  There were many storylines that were tied up in the season (series?) finale, including Kristina (Monica Potter) battling cancer, Julia and Joel attempting to make adopted son Victor feel like one of the family, the adventures of Max (Adam and Kristina's son, who has Asperger's) as he goes through high school, and Amber dating a veteran dealing with PTSD.  There's always a lot going on at once, and a lot of talking going on at once, and for the most part, Parenthood handled it all well.

What Parenthood didn't handle well was Lauren Graham's Sarah.  In a steady relationship with Mark (Jason Ritter), Sarah begins to work with photo shop owner Hank (Ray Romano).  Early in the season, Hank kisses Sarah in the dark room.   Sparks didn't fly at the time, but Sarah finds herself spending more time with Hank, even changing plans she'd met with Mark to attend a wedding. There didn't seem to be a real chemistry between Sarah and Mark, but the show persisted in thrusting them together, throwing her relationship with Mark into danger.  Romano's character at first seemed like an OK fit, but by the end, Romano seemed only to be using the very lower parts of his voice, making his appearances almost painful to watch. 

The last couple of episodes were more promising, so hopefully the series stays alive, and hopefully without Romano.

Rating:  0.50

Les Miserables

Les Miserables (2012)

Director:  Tom Hooper

Stars:  Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway


  There were so many reasons that this could have been a very long movie for me.  For one, I'm not a huge fan of musicals.  For another, nearly every line of the film is sung.  It's nearly a three hour movie.  Put all those together, and it's a three hour musical film where nearly every line is sung.  Definitely not my cup of tea, and yet it worked very well for me.

 Hugh Jackman said in an interview with 60 Minutes that he felt that this was the role he was always preparing for, and it comes through from the very first scene.  The intensity burns out of his eyes throughout the film.  His character, Jean Valjean, is pursued by Inspector Javert (Crowe) for breaking probation, and the scenes involving the two are among the best in the film. Crowe seems like an odd choice for a musical, but after the initial distraction of hearing him sing, his intensity propels the film.  Hathaway's singing alone is worth the price of admission (and worth the price of the soundtrack).  Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (a Tim Burton favorite in a Burton-esque role) are ghoulish as thieving innkeepers.

It's a bit wearying to sit through so many songs, but the stars make Les Miserables a memorable film.  It was a brilliant decision to have everyone sing live- it would have been a far different film if the performances were dubbed.  Definitely recommended.



 

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Wreck-It Ralph

Director:  Rich Moore

Voice Cast:  John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch


I grew up with Nintendo in the late 80s and worked with family and friends to defeat Bowser in the Super Mario Brothers series.  Never once did I consider how Bowser must have felt about being the bad guy, or how Zangief felt about being battled repeatedly in Street Fighter 2.  Wreck-It Ralph digs into this issue from the perspective of Ralph (Reilly), the destructive giant in the fictional video game Fix-It Felix.  Ralph's job is to destroy a building so that an arcade player can use Felix (McBrayer) to fix up the damage.   After 30 years, Ralph is tired of living in a garbage dump and shunned while Felix is treated like royalty by the building's tenants after the game shuts down for the day, so he seeks to become a hero and decides to jump games. 

Wreck-It Ralph is a fun movie to watch, especially for gamers of the Nintendo generation.  It's most fun when it follows Ralph through the different games and as he hops between games through an imaginative arcade behind-the-scenes system.  The voice cast is very funny as well; McBrayer uses his Kenneth vocabulary to make Felix particularly amusing, and Jane Lynch's Calhoun (an action-hero character) is sharp-tongued but also has the saddest backstory in her game. 

I liked that Wreck-It Ralph makes the point that realizing who you are and not changing that is the best way to go.  What prevents the film from being great is the sub-plot involving Vanellope, a girl that Ralph meets when he jumps into Sugar Rush (a racing game). King Candy wants to prevent her from racing because she's a glitch in the system, and a glitch might keep players from playing Sugar Rush and get the game shut down for good.  This subplot bogs the film down a bit, but overall it's a fun and imaginative experience.

Be sure to catch the short before the film- it's quite beautiful.

Take Shelter (2011)

Director:  Jeff Nichols

Stars:  Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain

Rating:  R


Take Shelter was the second straight movie I've seen with Michael Shannon, and I chose it largely because his performance as a corrupt cop chasing a ticket to a large amount of cash in Premium Rush was so entertaining.  In Take Shelter, Shannon plays Curtis, a husband and father who begins having visions.  The first one involves a tornado and a dog attack, and it results in Shannon putting the dog outside.  Subsequent visions and delusions lead Shannon to believe that something catastrophic is going to happen, and he starts obsessively working to fortify a tornado shelter in his backyard, much to the consternation of his wife Samantha (Chastain) and his co-workers.

Meanwhile, Curtis's construction job will provide the opportunity for his daughter to undergo cochlear implant surgery, but his coworkers begin to see that something's not quite right, and this threatens his work, which in turn threatens his family life.

Take Shelter is a kind of  horror movie, but the horror and suspense revolve around Curtis feeling that something horrible is going to happen and that his feelings aren't normal.  The film very effectively portrays the isolation that mental illness involves, and even after Curtis seeks help, there's then the helplessness that both Shannon and Chastain exude throughout the last half of the film that is so heartbreaking.  The film leaves viewers with the question:  is Curtis mentally ill or utterly consumed with protecting his family?

Rating:  1.25- the performance of Shannon as a sincere husband and father who knows that his behavior isn't right is compelling, and Chastain as his exasperated but dutiful wife make this a standout film.




-2: Awful, avoid at all costs
-1: Not good at all, not recommended
0: OK, has some good qualities
1: Definite recommendation, very good experience
2: Outstanding, highly recommended

Premium Rush

Premium Rush (2012)

Director:  David Koepp

Stars:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon

Plot:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Wilee, a New York city bike messenger.   Wiley winds up with a valuable ticket and is chased by Bobby Monday (Shannon), who has a use for said ticket.

Mr. Matt's take:  In the middle of Oscar season, it's good to see a fun film, and Premium Rush definitely fits that description.  I really enjoyed this movie because of the bike chases, the cool visuals (several times, we see through Wiley's eyes what would happen if he chose a particular route), and in particular Michael Shannon's performance- I think he's the true star of the film, as he plays a comical yet not cartoonish villain.

Mr. Matt's rating:  0.75.  Not groundbreaking, but an entertaining experience.

Rating system:    -2:   Awful, avoid at all costs
                          -1:   Not good at all, not recommended
                           0:   OK, has some good qualities
                           1:   Definite recommendation, very good experience
                           2:   Outstanding, highly recommended.

 

Hope Springs

Hope Springs (2012)

Director:  David Frankel

Stars:  Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell

Rating:  PG-13

Plot:  Kay (Streep) and Arnold (Jones) have been married for 31 years.  Each morning, Jones is served the same breakfast, kisses his wife on the cheek, goes off to work, comes home, falls asleep in front of The Golf Channel, then retires to his room.  A frustrated Kay wants a real marriage, finds a couples specialist online, and books a trip to Hope Springs, Maine for a weeklong treatment.

Mr. Matt's take:  Hope Springs can be a painful film to watch- it's an intimate look at a marriage gone numb because of the lack of effort and communication, and putting it all back together involves a lot of effort and traveling through once-familiar but now-foreign territory brings old wounds to the surface.  The film does an excellent job of showing how Kay and Arnold wind up in Dr. Feld's hands, and Streep and Jones deliver gritty, realistic performances.  There is no magic cure for what ails Kay and Arnold, and their gains never come easily.  I highly recommend Hope Springs, as uncomfortable as it can be to watch.

Mr. Matt's Movie Awards

Here are the rest of my awards for 2012:

Best Special Effects:



The award goes to Chronicle, a film that progresses from silly and funny uses of special effects as its teenage characters harness (or attempt to harness) their special powers to a stunning ending sequence when one character's troubles lead to misuse of powers.

Runner Up:  The Avengers










Best Leading Pair:

This was a year that featured several films with great chemistry between leading characters.  The winner this year goes to Jared Gilman (Sam) and Kara Heyward (Suzy) of Moonrise Kingdom.  They both play troubled kids- Sam's an orphan who runs away from the scouts because he's been corresponding with Suzy, who has behavior issues.  They meet each other on a New England island and have an adventure, one that shows them mature beyond their years, yet still kids.

Runners Up: 
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
                   
Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

 

Worst Leading Pair:  Mark Wahlberg and Ted (Seth MacFarlane), Ted

More on this later....




Best Actor:  Denzel Washington, Flight

Washington's performance as alcoholic hero pilot Whip Whitaker was gripping from start to finish.  Whitaker begins the film doing drugs, drinking, and carousing mostly naked with one of the flight staff, then manages to land a defective plane, then spirals out of control under the influence.  He manages to land the plane, but it's often hard to watch him so out of control afterwards, denying that he has a problem and declining help as others try to stop his descent.



Best Actress:  Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook:

There's an undercurrent of suspense throughout this film, but SLP is a completely different experience after Pat (Bradley Cooper) is introduced to his friend's wife's sister Tiffany (Lawrence).  Tiffany has a bravado that allows her to stand up to just about anyone, yet an empathy and vulnerability that make her and Pat both compatible and combustible. 

Early in the film, Pat has an episode at the doctor's office when he hears Ma Cherie Amor.  The song sends him to a bad place, and there's a scene later where he hears it and starts to freak out and Tiffany guides him through it- it's such a tender scene and kind of unexpected at that point from such a supposedly tough character, but then again Silver Linings Playbook is full of such surprises.



Worst Film:  Ted

I realize that there are worse films out there than Ted, but it's the most obnoxious and least funny film that I saw all year.  Mark Wahlberg (John) and Ted are the worst on-screen pair of the year, as Ted brings out the absolute worst in John, which Lori (Mila Kunis) won't tolerate anymore.  Ted is basically a bad episode of Family Guy on screen, with Mila Kunis playing Lois instead of voicing Meg, and both Ted and John as Peter.  Just all around crude and obnoxious stuff.


Best Film:



This was so close for me and it's almost 1 and 1A because each film has a leading couple with such unique and great chemistry, so I'm going to have to go with Silver Linings Playbook over Moonrise Kingdom because the subplots in Silver Linings seem stronger and the supporting characters more entertaining.