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.




 

Mr. Matt's Awards: Most Unusual Film, Most Disturbing Film

Most Unusual Film:  Holy Motors

Holy Motors is a French film that follows a day in the life of Monsieur Oscar, a gentleman who bounces from being a beggar to a motion capture actor to family man.  He changes appearance dramatically in between stops in a limousine.  Holy Motors is a very strange yet captivating film, one that needs multiple viewings in order to understand all that happens.  There's some graphic violence and nudity in the film, as well as an incredible musical interlude in the middle.


Most Disturbing Film: Compliance

Compliance was shown at the Milwaukee Film Festival, and during the film's introduction, the audience was told that there were numerous walkouts during showings at other festival screenings. Several audience members did the same in Milwaukee during Compliance, a film in which a prank caller gets a fast-food manager on the line to investigate an alleged theft by one of the restaurant employees.  The caller intimidates the manager into interrogating and searching the employee, and the manner in which the employee is treated during the investigation by a manager who doesn't ask any questions about the caller is stomach-turning, as is the frequency that these incidents happen.  Not recommended for the faint of heart, and there is nudity in the film. 

Mr. Matt's Awards: Worst Music Release, Worst Song

Reviewing music can be both a pleasure and a chore, depending upon the quality of a music release.  A couple of albums have been stellar, some good, some forgettable, and there were a couple that made me want my time back and made me wish my memory of them could be erased. The award for worst music release goes to:

Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, The Lion The Beast The Beat

Full review:  http://thisnthatmatt.blogspot.com/2012/06/lion-beast-beat-grace-potter-and.html


Horrible, horrible lyrics and not a sincere moment during its running time makes this one stand out as most awful.

Runner Up:  Phillip Phillips, The World From The Side of The Moon

Full review:  http://thisnthatmatt.blogspot.com/2012/11/phillip-phillips-world-from-side-of-moon.html

______________________________

Worst Song:  "Turntable", Grace Potter and The Nocturnals

A song about hooking up using stereo equipment terminology. 

 

Mr. Matt's Awards: Best Music Release, Best Song

Best Music Release:  Bear Creek, Brandi Carlile
Best Song:  "100", Brandi Carlile

There's just a wide-open, free ranging sort of vibe that courses through Bear Creek, beginning with "Hard Way Home", which sounds more country than anything's done and more country than anything else on the album, but several memorable songs make Bear Creek the best thing that I reviewed in 2012.  "Save Part of Yourself" manages to be longing and fun, "Keep Your Heart Young manages to be old-fashioned, yet not affected, and "Rise Again" concludes the album on an uplifting note.  But the best song of 2012, in my opinion, is "100" (a live take is shown below).  It's another longing song from Carlile, who seems to be especially good at writing them, but with a pulsating beat to start and a cello solo to boot, it's an incredible listen.

Live from Bear Creek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPEfnXiQ0ts

Regular version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS6wXth2bEA

Runner Up, Best Music Release:

A fantastic release from Dave Matthews Band, Away From The World

Runner Up, Best Song: " The Riff", Dave Matthews Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbakG_HZgCc

Take This Waltz

Take This Waltz

Director: Sarah Polley

Stars:  Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Luke Kirby

Summary:  Margot (Michelle Williams) strikes up a relationship with new neighbor Daniel (Luke Kirby).  Daniel seems to offer some much needed excitement for Margot, whose marriage to Lou (Seth Rogen) lacks spark.

Rated:  R (nudity, language)

Mr. Matt's Take: 

This was an exasperating film to watch, mostly because it wasn't all that believable.  Lou and Margot's marriage shows signs of being in trouble throughout the film, but since there's no backstory as to how they fell in love, it's hard to root for the two characters to stay together.  They don't really talk to each other, except in very forced and uncomfortable ways (such as the most extreme way one of them would kill the other), and Lou actually pours cold water every morning on Margot during her shower, which for some reason she either chooses not to believe or doesn't put two and two together.  So when Daniel (a rickshaw operator, by the way) shows up, it's hard to wish against Margot's happiness and isn't all that shocking when she gets closer and closer to Luke.  The only problem with that is Margot's character isn't very likable either (she's supposed to be a "free spirit", but that involves things like sticking her fingers into Lou's mouth while he's talking on the phone during an important conversation).  Just a warning as well- the film earns the R with a locker-room full of full frontal nudity, as well as some explicit scenes later in the movie.  I guess that warning would apply more if I could recommend this movie, but I really can't.