Chronicle

CHRONICLE (2012) - Jan. 31, 2012
A well made found-footage film about a group of three high schoolers who, after coming into contact with some sort of strange alien artifact, find themselves slowly developing superpowers.  The film provides an intriguingly down-to-earth take on the superhero genre (kinda like Invincible, I guess), and seems to provide a slightly more realistic scenario for what would happen if teens wound up with superpowers (costumes and crime-fighting are somewhat unlikely).  The movie starts out quite well, but then lags a bit in its midsection -- there are probably a few too many scenes of the teens getting into general shenanigans with their superpowers, and even at a very short 84 minutes, the film feels a bit padded out.  However, the film recovers nicely with a finale that is flat-out awesome.  It's easy enough to see why director Josh Trank is now a front-runner to direct a Fantastic Four reboot, despite his relative inexperience.  ***

Kill List

KILL LIST (2011) - Jan. 30, 2012
About a couple of contract killers who find themselves drawn into some increasingly weird shenanigans, this was an odd film that veers into some serious WTF territory in its last act.  The film definitely doesn't unfold as you might expect, starting off more like a drama, turning into more of a thriller, and then finally taking a left turn into WTFville.  I enjoyed it, though I really should have held out for a copy with subtitles -- the strong accents meant that I missed a good chunk of the dialogue.  I definitely wouldn't mind watching it again, if only to see exactly how everything leads into that crazy ending.  ***

Hatchet II

HATCHET II (2011) - Jan. 29, 2012
Continuing right where the last film left off, this one sees a group of hunters heading back into the swamp in an effort to kill Victor Crowley.  Like the first one, this one had a bafflingly low-rent, flat, TV movie-esque style that really did not do the film any favours.  It also eschews anything even remotely resembling tension or suspense.  On the plus side, there didn't seem to be quite as much cringe-worthy humour this time (though there's still a fair amount), and there's lots of wildly over-the-top practical gore effects -- the one thing that this series really seems to have going for it.  Honestly, maybe it's my lack of experience with '80s slasher films, but the appeal of these movies (aside from the gore) just goes right over my head.  Is the gore the sole appeal?  **

Haywire

HAYWIRE (2012) - Jan. 28, 2012
A great spy thriller / action movie from Steven Soderbergh, about an agent who gets double-crossed by her superiors and who sets out to get revenge.  Soderbergh puts his distinctive sense of style to great use here, and combined with David Holmes' perfect retro score makes this a very, very fun film to watch.  Soderbergh also proves to be a fantastic action director, allowing the brutal action to unfold in mesmerizing long takes, and completely exploding the contemporary notion that action scenes need to be cut into oblivion to be exciting.  The film is also stuffed to the gills with great actors, and ex-MMA fighter Gina Carano admirably holds her own -- she's not the best actress ever, but she definitely has a certain amount of screen presence.  Good times.  ****

The Grey

THE GREY (2012) - Jan. 27, 2012
A superlative film about a group of guys who survive a plane crash only to find themselves fighting for survival against the elements and an angry pack of wolves.  Though I was expecting more of a straight-forward thriller, the film is actually quite dark and has a surprising amount of depth, and features some really top-shelf direction from Joe Carnahan (he's definitely forgiven for the mediocre A-Team).  It's also really well acted, particularly (and unsurprisingly) Liam Neeson, who brings a level of gravitas and pathos that I don't think a lot of actors could pull off (or at least not as well as he does it).  Carnahan does a great job establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of dread and forboding, and the film is actually quite tense throughout.  It's pretty great, and it definitely reminds me of why I thought Carnihan had so much potential after Narc.  ****

Vanishing on 7th Street

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET (2010) - Jan. 25, 2012
About a group of survivors who try to deal with the fallout after an unseen, shadowy force makes 99% of the population disappear.  The film starts out quite well, kind of stumbles a bit around the midsection, but then recovers nicely with some pretty tense stuff towards the end.  Though it's no Session 9, Brad Anderson's atmospheric direction is top notch, and the film is definitely worth watching despite some of its shortcomings.  ***

Ironclad

IRONCLAD (2011) - Jan. 24, 2012
A disappointing film about a group of soldiers who try to protect a castle from an evil king.  Though Jonathan English's direction was fine most of the time, he is absolutely terrible at action -- he mostly falls back on quick-cut/shaky-cam laziness, resulting in muddled, unexciting action.  The characters were mostly pretty good, though James Purefoy was oddly bland in the lead role (Purefoy can be an extremely engaging screen presence, so I blame the director on that one).  Brian Cox and Paul Giamatti are clear highlights -- Giamatti, in particular, is clearly having a lot of fun playing a scenery-chewing villain (there's one scene in particular, where he angrily explains why he has the right to be king, that is flat-out awesome and almost makes the whole film worthwhile).  **

Angel Face

ANGEL FACE (1952) - Jan. 23, 2012
A kind of bland film noir about a guy who gets tangled up with a woman who may or may not be trying to murder her parents.  Though the film was decently made by Otto Preminger (whose no-frills direction almost completely eschews the stylistic tropes film noir became known for), it's just never all that compelling, and it definitely overstays its welcome a bit.  **

Everything Must Go

EVERYTHING MUST GO (2010) - Jan 22, 2012
A rare dramatic turn from Will Ferrell, in which he plays a guy who, on the day he loses his job, goes home to find that his wife has locked him out of his house, and all of his stuff on is on his lawn.  The movie is solidly made and features a strong performance from Ferrell, but otherwise is not particularly memorable.  ***

A Dangerous Method

A DANGEROUS METHOD (2011) - Jan. 14, 2012
A really well made but kind of disappointing film about Carl Jung's complicated relationship with one of his patients, and his friendship with Sigmund Freud.  The film is very well acted, particularly Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen as Jung and Freud.  However, it's kind of slow, and extremely talky -- I don't believe it originated as a play, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did (okay, I just checked, and not surprisingly it did start as a play).  It does sort of feel a bit disjointed (it's basically one scene after another of people sitting around talking to each other), however it's well made and well acted enough that it is worth watching.  **1/2

The Adventures of Tintin

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (2011) - Jam. 8, 2012
About a young reporter who finds himself caught up in a mystery involving a model ship and years-old sunken treasure, this was kind of a disappointment.  It was enjoyable enough, and it actually started it quite well, but by around the half-way mark the film starts to peter out and really runs out of steam.  There is, however, one absolutely spectacular long take towards the end of the movie that's pretty much worth the price of admission alone.  Spielberg definitely still has some tricks up his sleeve, though I have yet to be sold on the ultra real mo-cap style employed by Zemeckis over the last few years, and here to somewhat better effect (it's slightly cartoonier than what Zemeckis is doing, but still a little bit too eerily real for my tastes).  **1/2

War Horse

WAR HORSE (2011) - Jan. 6, 2012
A really well made but way overlong film from Steven Spielberg about World War I through the eyes of a horse.  A lot of people are down on this movie because it's so unapolagetically old-fashioned, and ham-fistedly emotional, but I think Spielberg knew exactly what kind of movie he wanted to make, and he went for it with gusto (and I will admit, the film did make me weep like a little girl).  The last hour was pretty great, but pretty much everything that comes before it either feels completely overlong, or downright superfluous.  I think if this movie had been about 40 minutes shorter it could have been great, but instead it is merely good.  ***

Young Adult

YOUNG ADULT (2011) - Jan. 6, 2012
Another really well made film from Jason Reitman about an emotionally stunted 30-something writer of young adult fiction who decides to go back to her hometown in an attempt to win back her old high school boyfriend (who just happens to be a happily married recent father).  Though the main character does veer a little bit into Bad Teacher territory, in that she tends to be a little bit one-note in her bitchiness, she ultimately is a much more interesting character than the one in that movie.  It helps that Charlize Theron is very, very good.  However, the film really shines in the scenes with Theron and Patton Oswalt, who is surprisingly good and who brings much more depth to the character than you'd expect from the guy who played Spence on The King of Queens.  ***1/2

A Bittersweet Life

A BITTERSWEET LIFE (2005) - Jan. 4, 2012
Another superbly directed movie from Kim Jee-woon (I really need to watch I Saw the Devil again) about a guy who goes after his boss after he tries to have him killed.  Kind of like a shorter, more straight-forward version of I Saw the Devil, the film features some spectacularly violent, stunningly awesome action set-pieces that definitely solidifies Jee-woon as a way above average action director in my mind.  The characters/plot are fine, if nothing too special, and the movie does overstay its welcome a bit, but it's so well directed with such strong action that it really doesn't matter.  ***1/2

The Best and Worst of 2011

THE BEST AND WORST OF 2011

BEST:

1) Attack the Block
2) The Descendants
3) Drive
4) A Separation
5) Super 8
6) Hanna
7) The Tree of Life
8) The Artist
9) Cafe de Flore
10) The Innkeepers

WORST:

1) Ong Bak 3
2) Larry Crowne
3) Transformers: Dark of the Moon
4) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
5) Bad Teacher
6) Battle: Los Angeles
7) The Change-Up
8) Sleeping Beauty
9) In Time
10) Cowboys and Aliens

The Innkeepers

THE INNKEEPERS (2011) - Jan. 2, 2012
Another really effective horror film from Ti West, about a couple of employees at an old hotel that's about to close down, and the supernatural shenanigans that are afoot.  West takes his time with the characters here -- in fact, the first half of the film feels more like a low-key drama, and the horror stuff only starts to seriously kick in in the last half hour or so.  But it absolutely works, because the film is so well made, and because the characters and the performances are so good.  There's genuine chemistry between the two leads, and all the time spent making us care about the characters just makes the horror stuff all the more effective.  I think it's clear enough at this point that West is a serious talent (and, like with House of the Devil, Jeff Grace's memorable score is a highlight).  ***1/2