The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Only if Mitty forwent the entire point of the movie. Had he ignored his inner adventurer and instead stayed in the office, this could’ve been a contender. If he never went looking for the sanctimonious Sean Penn on the mountain he would’ve never tried to teach us the overtly simplistic and ultimately insulting lesson that life is about life. Not since Into the Wild (directed by Sean Penn from his mountain perch) has such a finger waging message been shoved in our face via the silver screen. Damn shame too as there is so much to like about Mitty and his secret life. (more…)

Her (2013)

An Emos Terminator. After the initial response to Scarlett Johansson as the disembodied AI/OS wears off, you’re left with the building blocks of a romantic comedy, minus the comedy. There is poetic humor here, just not the kind you’d typically find in a romantic comedy. Not the first time the idea of falling in love with an AI has been explored either. See Robot & Frank, AI and even Moon to a lesser extent. She is incredibly lovable and you’re missing something if part of you doesn’t fall for her, but it’s a gimmick, a big idea gimmick, but a gimmick nonetheless. That’s all fine and good and there is a large audience out there who love their love stories and they’re bound to love this one. Thankfully Her has something for the rest of us as well. The world where this gimmicky love story takes place is transportive. (more…)

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Rich white men behaving badly for nearly three hours would be a more accurate title. Not as catchy though. Scorsese’s Christmas comedy is overweight, coked up and luded out. Problem is, it’s funny. Shouldn’t be, but it is. Was embarrassed at my laughter and attempted to stifle it on numerous occasions, but failed every time. Was it the overt Goodfellas undertones that seduced me? Jonah Hill’s overbite? Maybe DiCaprio dusting off his inner Gilbert Grape performance for his Quaalude scenes that got me going? Unfortunately it was all of these things and more that caused me to cover my mouth in horror (albeit gleeful horror) as spontaneous laughter spewed forth.

It should be noted that this is the director’s first feature since the children’s movie, Hugo. You have to look back to 2006’s The Departed to find a Scorsese movie with men doing bad things.  With that in mind you get the feeling that he was scratching a seven year itch and having a great time doing so. (more…)

American Hustle (2013)

“He’s just doing Scorsese.” “He’s too obsessed with the period.” “The women outshine the men.” These are all things that have been uttered in my presence and much to my chagrin. All true statements, but none of which detract from what very well may be the best film of the year.

The nearly perfect  Eggplant Scene in True Romance remains my favorite of all time. In just over ten minutes of cinematic perfection the viewer feels, I mean really feels: fear, intensity, humor, joy and ultimately sadness and despair. American Hustle took just under 138 minutes, but all of these same emotions were worked over by the end. Many movies can cause laughter, sadness and or fear, but to nail so many and to do it so effectively without the use of violence is something to be respected.  (more…)