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Django Unchained 2012
A Tarantino film always improves on multiple viewings for me, and I can't help but feel this one will do exactly the same. This is his most ambitious film in terms of theme and satire, but it's also his most gratuitous. There's so much going on here story-wise, variants, blips, blurbs, and where he concentrates sometimes I can't help but feel he could've concentrated elsewhere. Despite its great performances, wit, and fun, it seems like he never got a hold of of the film in the editing room. Still, he's working with wildfire here; there's a spark here that just wasn't with Inglourious Basterds.
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The Avengers 2012
With a few minor complaints in tow (clunky-ish beginning, Hawkeye's usage), Whedon has finally created a Marvel movie that can stand above what Marvel has done so far and be classified "a great piece of work." He balances the whole cast with humor and ease, while providing an ample story to go along with it, great set pieces for a great look, and a delicious villain in Loki to top it off. I'm especially impressed with his handling of Captain…
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The Dark Knight Rises 2012
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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The Dark Knight Rises 2012
Review to come after second viewing
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Drive 2011
There will not be a cooler movie released this year. No question. Nicolas Winding Refn's European sensibilities mixed with odes to American B-cinema is sloshed around to perfection here. It runs on a bare story and script, but ts substance is the myriad of styles its evoking: from the Euro colors, to the 80's type vibe in the soundtrack, to the indie type smiles and silences, to the B-movie love applied to cars and jackets, gory violence, and really bad…
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Skyfall 2012
The word "epic" feels far past cliche at this point, but I think it applies at least in a minor way when we've seen Bond films done in almost every fashion except this. Mendes and his team stepped up the game. Like with Casino Royale, this feels like another reboot for the series, but instead of just going with something solid, they sought more, roping in some of the best of the business across all filmmaking fronts to elevate Bond…
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Argo 2012
I think it boils down to this: it's just a damn great movie. I could sit and here and type and try to analyze why, but I don't think there's a need. Sometimes a film doesn't transcend anything, but is exactly what it is and is terrific at being just that.
Affleck crafts an impeccable film across every facet (casting, writing, editing, costumes, production design, sound, etc) of movie-making and delivers one of the best of 2012.
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The Dark Knight 2008
"HOLY FREAKIN' MASTERPIECE, BATMAN!"
(This one's gonna be long...)
I came out of the theater for only the second time in my life (Pan's Labyrinth, being the other) feeling that I needed to just stay in the theater and wait for the next showing. One viewing was simply not enough to let everything sink in. It was a stunned feeling, something of awe. The people I went with kept asking me what I thought of the movie, of Ledger, and…
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Inception 2010
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Silver Linings Playbook 2012
Perfectly adequate - the script (less-so) and the actors (more-so) get it through. Nothing more, nothing less.
The thing about this film is that it covers up its flaws (the most egregious being that romance can cure mental issues - yay!) with so much charm, we're almost forced to not notice. Still, for the first half I was marveled by how wonderfully off-putting the trajectory of the story was going. I had no idea where it might head. But, after…
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012
Again, I want to like Peter Jackson's efforts more than I do. Here, I think the rating is a little lower just because the "WOW" factor is gone. We've been there, done that. There's nothing less impressive about it, but it all just seems a bit lost on me. Now, I think that the story structure he's crafted here for three films works surprisingly well (better than I was expecting). While it did not feel very tedious, there's still a…
