AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY  3.3***

 

 To begin with, this is a very dreary movie….. not dreadful,  but dreary and sad. It may be the only movie you’ll ever see with Julia Roberts without her million dollar smile. There is no smiling, no joy and no feel-good in this movie.

 

It  is  the story about the Weston family. A family that gives new meaning to the word “dysfunctional”…it  puts it on a new level of bitterness and heartbreak. It begins with the disappearance of patriarch Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) which  serves as the emergency that brings the family together at the family home in Osage County in the  hot month of August. Grief and uncertainty have seemingly little impact on Violet (Meryl Streep), his bitter, cancer-stricken wife with an unholy dependence on prescription drugs and cigarettes.  In what one soon gathers is characteristic form, Streep doles out bile and loathing to her three daughters: strong-willed Barbara (Julia Roberts), whose marriage to writer Bill (Ewan McGregor) is slowly disintegrating; dutiful Ivy (Julianne Nicholson),who has been living at home with her parents but has finally decided on a better future with her cousin Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch); and flighty Karen (Juliette Lewis), who turns up with her new sleazy businessman-fiancé Steve (Dermot Mulroney) in tow.

 

The blistering portrait of a family in breakdown comes sharply into focus, cracks and all,  when Streep presides over a post-funeral dinner-table sequence, both tension-filled and horrifying, a sequence that may be one of the most exhilarating, awful scenes you'll ever see constructed out of insults, secrets and shame. Streep hurls abuse at each of her family members with the expertise of experience, switching from poisonous to sympathetic in a beat of her hateful, broken heart. They react in varying ways: Roberts with a white-hot rage, Nicholson with a tremulous sweetness that explains why she never managed to free herself from her mother's strangling grasp and Lewis with a “ love cures all” response  which is ridiculous since she’s a dingbat who has been desperately looking for love, usually in all the wrong places.

 

Meryl Streep gives one of the best performances of the year as the pill-popping, mean old lady who is constantly bullying her family members until she can't possibly torment them anymore. The things her character says are gut-wrenching but Streep's performance is so soulfully heartbreaking that you can almost forgive her. She certainly earned her Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Julia Roberts gives a very simple, brutally raw performance as  the strong-willed daughter.  She's an un-glamorous spectacle to see  and is deserving of her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. The rest of the ensemble is incredible as well regardless of their screen time

 

As good as the performances are they don't outshine some flaws in  the movie.  The drama is at times too heavy-handed to the point where it pounds you over the head when a slap in the face would suffice.

 

A good way to describe this movie is that if movies could have babies, and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof" had a baby with "The Big Chill" and that baby grew up and sold its soul to the Devil, that movie would be "August: Osage County." This is ensemble human misery unveiled, pulled open wide, and made more poignant by how well it is done. Consider yourself warned.

 

Rated R for language including sexual references, and for drug material.

 

Clark

 

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT 2.5***

 

    The Jack Ryan character in this movie has little to do with the Jack Ryan depicted in the Tom Clancy novels. In the books and the other movies,  Ryan is a CIA analyst who ends  up having to do some dangerous field work. In this movie, they try to  make him a Jason Bourne wannabe, which doesn't make much sense keeping in mind Ryan's lack of experience doing such dangerous field work.  

 

Here Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is a student in London who, after witnessing the news of 9/11, enlists in the U.S. Marines. During one mission, his helicopter gets shot down and he gets badly injured. While he's in rehabilitation, he meets the movie's generic love interest, Doctor Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley), and CIA agent Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner). Harper is amazed by Ryan analytical skills and enlists him into the CIA. Ryan starts working undercover on Wall Street looking for signs of terrorism.  He eventually  finds out about a villainous Russian, Viktor Chereving (Kenneth Branagh), who plans to destroy the U.S. economy following a disastrous 9/11 type terrorist attack. For this first movie, the filmmakers decided to try to tell the “how he got to be” story of Ryan.  As with most movies of this type, the primary problems  come down to the script. It’s just we've seen most of this stuff before, and done much better.

 

Chris Pine playing himself for the umpteenth time actually makes for a pretty good Jack Ryan, and Kenneth Branagh is convincing as the Russian Villain and also does a competent job of directing a rather generic action movie. K Knightly and K Costner are okay for what they have to work with.

 

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit ends up being a somewhat lame excuse of a reboot that will end up in the Walmart discount bins a few months after being released . Might be worth to checking  out on TV only if for free or a few dollars just for some good action.

 

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language.

 

Clark

her…3.8***

 

         “Her” is a fascinating though somewhat traditional  love story. What makes it fascinating is that the romance is between a man named Theodore ( Joaquin Phoenix) and his computer Operating System ( OS) named Samantha ( the voicing for Samantha is by Scarlett Johansson). What makes it somewhat traditional is that the different phases  relationship are familiar and understandable .. we can identify with them and their feelings.  The premise of the story may sound bizarre on paper, but in execution “Her” is far more sweet than creepy. The film radiates warmth and intelligence, and there is a fair amount of witty humor to ensure that it never becomes too self-serious. It has an engaging style and there's a certain poetic yet whimsical quality to the dialogue .

 

 The timeframe is the not too distant future.  Theodore is at the end of a painful divorce. He has a few friends but is lonely and looking for a meaningful relationship . He becomes interested in a new computer that has an OP that talks and interacts with the owner. This is the world's first artificially intelligent OS … and it is intuitive and can learn as it goes along. It’s also the traditional computer with an expanded Goggle-type wealth of knowledge and  also keep up with all of Theodore’s computer related items… emails & texts, appointments, daily schedule, etc. .

Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha. . They start spending a lot of time together.. day and night.. they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others can’t… but how does she, how can she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with her.. an OS. Also Samantha is trying to understand and deal with her own  “love” for him ??

 

 What does it mean to be human? And if we create near-humans what is our responsibility to them and what is their relationship to us? The movie presents and deals with these themes very thoroughly, intimately and believably.
“Her” is in the near future, but everything we see is within reach now: the isolation and starkness of the "business district," the oppressive scale of the architecture, and the need for continuous connection to remote voices or machines.  

Pitch perfect performances and direction by Spike Jonze ( he also wrote the screenplay) kept me intently in the story. The locations, cinematography and even the  music wonderfully shine in  this film.  Jonze is a master story weaver at the top of his game. Joaquin Phoenix is utterly and touchingly credible as the lonely somewhat nerdy guy. All  the other cast members including Amy Adams do an outstanding job... But the real star of the movie is Scarlett Johansson who  performs utterly convincingly though she is never seen since she is only a computer voice… but what a voice.

 

This delightfully intimate and non-violent film  is more emotionally involving than even Enough Said (one of 2013's best romances) because the interaction between the software and the man is all verbal, no glimpse of the gorgeous Johansson allowed. The closest they come to a physical relationship is when they engage in “telephone sex” which gets hot and heavy… and what makes it more intense is that the screen goes completely dark during this the verbal sexing scene. It makes you realize how connecting with a live human is so much a mind thing which is  one of life's great gifts, orgasm or not.

This is an amazing, unique, magical film that I would recommend to everyone and I’m pretty sure that you will not have seen anything quite like it before. ( I REAL:LY enjoyed this movie)

Rated R for language, sexual content and brief nudity.

Clark

NOTE: Samantha Morton was originally the voice of Samantha. She was present on the set with Joaquin Phoenix every day. After the filming wrapped and Spike Jonze started editing the movie, he felt like something was not right. With Morton's blessing, he decided to recast the role and Scarlett Johansson was brought in and replaced Morton, re-recording all the dialogue and Joaquin returned to be on the set with her.

12  YEARS A SLAVE  4.0***

 

      Director Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" will sail into the awards season with the wind at its back. An excellent cast, a sensational script, first-rate directing and a soundtrack ( Hans Zimmer) filled with gospel music all point to many nominations and probably awards. This is without doubt one of the best pictures of the year… a truly remarkable film! !

The story is based on the true experiences of a free black man, Soloman Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), married with children. More than 20 years before the Civil War, Soloman is seduced by promises of excellent money into leaving his home in Saratoga, NY, to journey to Washington DC. While slavery is a fact of American life at the time, and it is legal to own slaves in the Southern States, Soloman's life in New York is a universe away, until he wakes up in chains, is shipped to Louisiana and sold into slavery. He is  bought by the comparatively kindhearted Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) before being passed on to the sadistic landowner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender)  The harsh treatment of slaves and the outrageous notion of human beings as property is the subject explored in this film.

Hollywood doesn’t do many films on slavery and Director McQueen is uncompromising in his approach to the subject. So, among other things, get used to the constant use of the “n” word. The camera gets up close as the audience watches the blood and flesh torn from the backs of slaves tied to whipping posts. There are moment-by-moment reminders to the slaves that they have no rights. The many ways in which slavery dehumanizes people are considered: a mother is torn from her children as the family is sold to different owners; a husband will never see his family again; horrid working conditions; educated blacks must hide their literacy from the owners; any form of defiance is met with strokes from the lash; every human comfort, every expression of human decency is denied to the slave for a lifetime; every form of cruelty directed at the slave is acceptable because they are property not fellow humans. I don't recall seeing such a graphic depiction of slavery in any other film.

 

The acting is phenomenal. Chiwetel Ejiofor is incredible as Solomon Northup, bringing a level of depth and emotion to the character that few actors could. He will be nominated for Oscar’s Best Actor  award and is probably the favorite to win. Michael Fassbender  will also be nominated for Best Supporting actor and stands a good chance of winning.. He's outstanding in his role as a slave owner, making the character completely despicable and also showing the severe mental and psychological problems that this person clearly had. The supporting cast all do excellent jobs as well including Lupita Nyong'o (She will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress), Benedict Cumberbatch,, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti and Brad Pitt.

The movie is not a pleasant ride. It will make people uncomfortable to see the cruelty and inhumanity. Director McQueen must have intended to create such violence and unrelenting malice so that we could feel the shame of slavery. This movie may be a harrowing experience, but it is an absolute crucial must-see. Not since Steven Spielberg's” Schindler's” List twenty years ago has a film shown history in such a haunting and unforgettable way. This film, while very brutal, is an incredible story of human spirit when it, as Solomon says, doesn't want to just survive, but to  live.

Rated R for violence/cruelty, some nudity and brief sexuality.

Clark

NOTE: Filmed entirely in Louisiana at 2 plantations and in New Orleans.

THE WOLF of WALL STREET  2.5***

 

 

          If you've seen Martin Scorsese’s “The Goodfellas” or “Casino”, then you'll better understand the “The Wolf of Wall Street”. This is another tale of a criminal whose ambitions sweep him away into a debauched world of dirty money and sex, out-of-control substance abuse, endless lies, a troubled family life, and a downward spiral of corruption that inevitably leads to his own undoing.  Based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort - the real-life stock broker who made millions by selling shoddy stocks to average Joes - the film showcases one seriously messed-up slimeball of a man. The film maintains a close and intimate focus on the man as he rises to power, suckers thousands into his schemes, and then lives a life of extreme excess. And it is extreme: the whole film becomes laden with drugs, sex, superficial luxuries, material things, and characters who want nothing more than to take and consume everything. The sheer corruption becomes almost unbearable. I understand that the excesses are supposed to show the danger of an out-of-control American dream but here the excesses are way too much and too often repeated.

 

Before I go any further , and talking about excesses, this movie unbelievably got an “R”’ rating.. it should have been “NC-17” or  “X”. There are many, many sequences with strong sexual content (often involving intercourse, masturbation and “the Monica Lewinsky” ), graphic nudity (full frontal female nudity and almost the same for the males), considerable drug use of all kinds( especially cocaine) and  heavy, continuous profanity throughout (it set a new record ( 506 times) for the use of the “F” word or derivatives). So, if you go, you go forewarned.

 

I didn't like Wolf of Wall Street for a number of reasons. It was very repetitive and ultimately boring.  The film is way too long (3 hrs), with more than a dozen scenes that could have been eliminated because they didn’t add anything to the story flow.  Way too much. Sex.....tons of it. This film is pretty well soft porn…. but it is also about as sexually exciting as watching a Zamboni polish an ice rink and about as cold. Drugs.....tons of it. Think of “Scarface” levels. Vulgarity....way worse than” Bridesmaids” and much less humorous. The movie had a bit of humor, especially towards the end, but the characters were not developed and many chances to deepen the movie were missed.  

 

There were some really good scenes:, the entire crawling sequence was a master-work along with the food choking part; his first encounter with the FBI on his yacht, especially him throwing the lobsters; his relationship with his employees;  the showdown between him and his second “trophy” wife, and the way it gets physical and cold; the training sessions with his first group of employees; and when he’s  arrested by the FBI.. Also, the acting of Leonardo DiCaprio is not in question here; nor, for that matter, are the performances of his supporting cast, most notably Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, who play his business partner and second wife, respectively. Strong performances abound by those three  and others as well. In the case of DiCaprio, one could argue that this could be one of the top movie portrayals of his career. He probably will be nominated for Oscar’s Best Acting award.

As you can tell I did not like this movie but nor did I hate it. I wanted to like it but the negatives outweighed the fine acting.

Clark

 

 

Here are my Top Ten Movies for 2013 based upon the ones I have seen.  Also, they are ones that I enjoyed the most for various reasons which may not always include those with the highest artistic value. They are ranked in order of the best to the 10^th best with a tie for 10^th.

( NOTE: I have not seen: 12 Years a Slave; All is Lost:  August Osage County; Nebraska; Wolf of Wall Street; Her; Inside Llewyn; Blue Jasmine…. most of which will be up for Oscar’s Best Picture)

 

1.       Saving Mr. Banks

2.       Gravity

3.       Captain Phillips

4.       Philomena

5.       The Heat

6.       Prisoners

7.       The Butler

8.       Enough Said

9.       Dallas Buyers Club

10.    American Hustle

 

Honorable Mentions

 

Now You See Me

“42”

Man of Steel

The Way Way Back

Rush

Instructions Not Included

 

 

Let me know if I missed seeing a gem of a movie or if you disagree with my preferences… remember though that I’m only listing those I’ve seen .

 

 

Clark