It's been a while since I've last posted, and I've decided to make this a monthly blog, to do my watching and listening and report back on the end of the month on the great, awful, and everything in between. Let's get started!
Best movies I saw in January:
I wanted to name a best film, but there were two so outstanding that I couldn't decide.
Co-winners: Mud and Her
One is an Oscar contender, the other could have been in a weaker year. One deals with the tall tales that children believe, the other with how real a relationship with an invisible entity can be. They're both extremely entertaining and suspenseful, but in completely different ways.
Her is the Oscar nominee, of course, and throughout the film I was thinking how fine a line Spike Jonze walked in making this film. I could imagine seeing this in the late 80s, Theodore Twombly (played subtly by Joaquin Phoenix) carrying a gigantic cell phone around (as the film is set in the "near future" and typing away in front of a green computer screen, cursor blinking. It would have been played more broadly for more laughs (there are funny parts, but Her is not truly a comedy).
Or in today's world, Theodore could have been played by a smirking Steve Carell, whose friends mercilessly tease him about falling in love with his operating system (a very advanced digital assistant). (And mind you, I'm a fan of Carell, but we're in a time where Adam Sandler comedies make kajillions of dollars. Subtlety is not a money-making adjective).
But the film portrays the life cycle of a real relationship, and in this near future the relationship between a man and his digital assistant is not scorned (well, for the most part). As Samantha's programming becomes more advanced, complications arise for both parties, and the resolution is heartbreaking.
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Mud, on the other hand, is not a love story, but about the difference between what teenagers believe they know and the actual truth. Ellis and Neckbone are two teens without stable home lives (Neckbone is being raised by his uncle and his parents' marriage is falling apart. The two venture out on their boat to an island and happen upon Mud (Matthew McConaghey), who tells them that he's trying to reunite with his love Juniper.
There's more to the story than that, including a murder, but the two friends choose to believe that love is the motive and keep on helping Mud. Ellis in particular doesn't show much fear. He operates on instinct, and a few times his impulses land him in precarious positions.
I liked how Mud illustrates that the line between young adult and adult can be very thin, especially when young adults unwittingly throw themselves into very adult situations. McConaughey is excellent as the enigmatic Mud, and Tye Sheridan is memorable as Ellis.
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Worst Film of The Month:
The Heat
2014 didn't start out well. The Heat was the first movie I saw, and what a mess it is. Melissa McCarthy's character is so obnoxious in the opening minutes that I nearly stopped watching. It's a very shrill film. McCarthy's character stays loud and obnoxious throughout, and Sandra Bullock plays a very tightly wound detective. It's supposed to be sort of a odd-couple sort of thing, but neither character is anywhere near likeable.
The film could have worked much better if both the defining characteristics of both main characters were toned down a bit. McCarthy has shown that she can do oddball and endearing simultaneously. Perhaps that'll happen in the sequel, but I won't be rushing out to the theater to see it.
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Others:
Best movies I saw in January:
I wanted to name a best film, but there were two so outstanding that I couldn't decide.
Co-winners: Mud and Her
One is an Oscar contender, the other could have been in a weaker year. One deals with the tall tales that children believe, the other with how real a relationship with an invisible entity can be. They're both extremely entertaining and suspenseful, but in completely different ways.
Her is the Oscar nominee, of course, and throughout the film I was thinking how fine a line Spike Jonze walked in making this film. I could imagine seeing this in the late 80s, Theodore Twombly (played subtly by Joaquin Phoenix) carrying a gigantic cell phone around (as the film is set in the "near future" and typing away in front of a green computer screen, cursor blinking. It would have been played more broadly for more laughs (there are funny parts, but Her is not truly a comedy).
Or in today's world, Theodore could have been played by a smirking Steve Carell, whose friends mercilessly tease him about falling in love with his operating system (a very advanced digital assistant). (And mind you, I'm a fan of Carell, but we're in a time where Adam Sandler comedies make kajillions of dollars. Subtlety is not a money-making adjective).
But the film portrays the life cycle of a real relationship, and in this near future the relationship between a man and his digital assistant is not scorned (well, for the most part). As Samantha's programming becomes more advanced, complications arise for both parties, and the resolution is heartbreaking.
______________________
Mud, on the other hand, is not a love story, but about the difference between what teenagers believe they know and the actual truth. Ellis and Neckbone are two teens without stable home lives (Neckbone is being raised by his uncle and his parents' marriage is falling apart. The two venture out on their boat to an island and happen upon Mud (Matthew McConaghey), who tells them that he's trying to reunite with his love Juniper.
There's more to the story than that, including a murder, but the two friends choose to believe that love is the motive and keep on helping Mud. Ellis in particular doesn't show much fear. He operates on instinct, and a few times his impulses land him in precarious positions.
I liked how Mud illustrates that the line between young adult and adult can be very thin, especially when young adults unwittingly throw themselves into very adult situations. McConaughey is excellent as the enigmatic Mud, and Tye Sheridan is memorable as Ellis.
_______________________________________________________________________
Worst Film of The Month:
The Heat
2014 didn't start out well. The Heat was the first movie I saw, and what a mess it is. Melissa McCarthy's character is so obnoxious in the opening minutes that I nearly stopped watching. It's a very shrill film. McCarthy's character stays loud and obnoxious throughout, and Sandra Bullock plays a very tightly wound detective. It's supposed to be sort of a odd-couple sort of thing, but neither character is anywhere near likeable.
The film could have worked much better if both the defining characteristics of both main characters were toned down a bit. McCarthy has shown that she can do oddball and endearing simultaneously. Perhaps that'll happen in the sequel, but I won't be rushing out to the theater to see it.
__________________________________________________________________________
Others:
- I was disappointed in another Oscar contender. David O. Russell's last film, Silver Linings Playbook, was my favorite film of 2012. Every scene seemed to crackle, so many memorable sequences, and I was really looking forward to American Hustle, especially with the stellar cast it boasts. I never felt connected to the story or the cast, however, so it just seemed kind of long and somewhat entertaining. With all the big names, I think my favorite character was played by Louis CK, although Amy Adams has a couple of knockout moments.
- I admittedly didn't stay awake for all of The Queen of Versailles, but it's a strange documentary. David and Jaqueline Siegel are planning on building the largest house in America. David owns Westgate Resorts, a lucrative time-share business, and the Siegels live very large. They both believe that they deserve to have the largest house, as they've worked for it. Everything's all set for them to start building, but then the economy tanks, the business takes a hit, and suddenly life isn't so rosy. Life after the downturn takes a toll on the Siegels, and the aftermath feels like reality-show finger-pointing.
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