Ironman 3

This franchise just keeps getting more and more inventive and fun.  I didn’t grow up reading the “boy” comic books, but I’m sure if I had, I would have loved this series.  Stan Lee’s Tony Stark is at once infuriating, arrogant, brilliant, sarcastic, and completely wonderful as a weapons monger turned hero/avenger.  We see a really human side of the character and Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow bring their relationship to a new level as Tony and Pepper forge into a new venture involving old wrongs, new technologies, and burnt bridges.  Some things/people to note, Shane Black has taken up the gauntlet from Jon Favreau and has done a crack-up job of directing, Guy Pearce, Sir Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle and Rebecca Hall round out the cast quite nicely.  The whole film made me feel like I was watching a comic book and I liked it.  To paraphrase the Governator—Tony Stark will be back and I’m ready.   Rating:  3.2 stars and a really brilliant way to use a remote control.

Django Unchained

Quentin Tarentino’s films have won all sorts of accolades from the Palm d’Or in Cannes to Oscars for his writing, films, and the actors involved.  In fact, this year, Django Unchained was among the Best Picture nominees and won for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay.  Sometimes I wonder why this director/writer/ex-video store clerk gets so much recognition for “cheesy spaghetti-type chop-socky 60’s / 70’s genre riffs”.  In this instance, we see Jamie Foxx as an unfortunate slave, named Django, gaining a new profession through an unlikely alliance with a German “dentist” played by Christoph Waltz.  The good doctor is the mentor and the slave is the willing student.  Carnage abounds and we’re treated to a lot of gun battles, the vicious and horrific death of not one, but two men who are unlucky enough to be the property of one very nasty plantation owner played by Leonardo diCaprio.  Quentin, of course, adds a very eclectic soundtrack, Ms. Kerry Washington, as a German speaking house slave and Django’s long lost wife, and Samuel L. Jackson as one messed up and very dangerous head house slave to Mr. diCaprio’s character, Calvin Candie.  Christoph Waltz is exceptional in his portrayal of the doctor and the supporting cast is diverse and well appointed.  The only thing I would say to Mr. Tarentino about his films and future endeavors is to not cast himself in his movies, even in cameos.  The man may have a “vision”, but he really can’t act his way out of a paper bag.  Rating, 3 stars and a really big hot Bowie knife. 

Zero Dark Thirty

It’s Zero Dark Thirty; do you know where the terrorists are?  I’m being sarcastic, but then again, how do you find someone, who has changed the course of history so radically, who definitely doesn’t want to be found and has the means and support to do so effectively?  As with the Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow has bit off a big chunk of what we all wondered about, but had no clue that it would take someone with “fresh” eyes to figure out where Usama Bin Laden was holed up.  We go from 9-11 to his demise and follow the path that “Maya”, a CIA operative, who began her career two years out of high school, takes to logically and systematically successfully conclude her mission.  The film is definitely based in truth, however, there are disclaimers as to some of the events and the actual identities of the agents are obviously protected.  Jessica Chastain is totally one with her character and has, without a doubt, earned her Best Actress nomination.  Unfortunately, once you see the film, you may not want to view it again.  During the screening that I attended, there was a gentleman sitting in the back, commenting throughout the film during key scenes.  It is a very emotionally charged film, however, for the same reason that they ask you to silence your cell phones, don’t text, etc…it would have been nice if this person had respected the others in the theater who had come to draw their own opinions of the film.  That being said, this writer gives it 3.86 stars and stripes.

Silver Linings Playbook

As my good friend would probably say---life in Pennsyltucky is a whole lot different experience.  Different from what?  In this case, sanity and living a happy go lucky life.  Our hero, if you want to call him that, Pat, is bipolar, obsessed with getting his wife, job, and life back after an extremely violent outburst eight months earlier.  This resulted in a restraining order and a stint in a mental hospital in Baltimore.  Obsession seems to be an underlying stream of consciousness in this quirky love story, whether it’s a football team, a failed or failing marriage, a perfect home, and dealing with grief in inappropriate ways.  This is not exactly your run of the mill rom-com.  Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper play off of all the “nut jobs” around them as if they’re perfectly normal and everyone else has the problem.  It’s brilliant and their performances are outstanding.  The soundtrack is great, the dancing, won't win any DWTS episodes, but better than I thought and there's a very funny bit you don't want to miss.  If I have to predict a winner, though, this would definitely be in the middle half of my choices…I give it a four out of the nine choices for best picture and a rating of 3.7 stars.  Excelsior!

Life of Pi

I'm doing this backwards as I've seen the movie and I'm still reading the book.  The story: a boy, a zoo, a horrific storm in the Pacific which leaves the boy stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan.  Ang Lee has captured the very essence of this award-winning book, deserving of its Oscar nominations and introducing us to a character and an actor who endures one of the most difficult journeys, whether fictional or not, Suraj Sharma, as Piscine Molitor Patel.  Although, you basically know the outcome of the story, you're drawn into it like a moth to a flame.  It's gorgeous, mesmerizing, terrifying, and mysterious.  Rating:  4 stars

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Our main focus for this independent film is the life of Hushpuppy and her daddy, Wink.  They, along with others, live on a delta island known as “The Bathtub” off the coast of Louisiana.  Hushpuppy is six years old and basically raising herself, learning survival skills meant for much older people.    She has a vivid imagination and a strong sense of loyalty to her daddy, her community, and a link to the universe as seen by her very young and impressionable eyes.  We all know about the results of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, but nobody, until now, has dealt with what it was like for those living on the other side of the levee.  It’s eye-opening and makes issues of poverty, independence, living life on your own terms, crystal clear.  I think they should start producing those Survivor shows in the United States in areas like the Bayou, the Appalachians, the Rain Forest, the Dakotas, or Alaska with nothing more than basics.  Very well done with unknown talent; has a sort of gritty, sooty, greasy, muddy feel to it, but that’s okay.  Rating:  3.75 stars

Les Miserables

I’ll just say it, “I love musicals”.  The backlash from those artists who aren’t thrilled to death with the performances of the actors as singers (Adam Lambert), I say, pish tosh.  Yes, he’s been on the stage and he’s very good at what he does, but I didn’t see him cast in this film or any others for that matter, so, his opinion, is just that.  I was surprised by the performances, not only due to the amount of skill by the leads, actually everyone in the film sang…it was a literal translation of the stage production and it was done well.  Eddie Redmayne. I think, was the one that surprised me the most.  I only recall seeing him in My Week With Marilyn before and he was a formidable Marius.  

Paris, post French Revolution, is not the prettiest City you’ve ever seen, at least the parts that we’re taken to.  There are truly disgusting bits and pieces throughout the film and if you are in the least bit squeamish about muck and what it’s like in the sewers of a place and time where everything flows into the nearest waterway, then consider this your heads up.  

Gloom, despair, agony, defeat, getting ready to call it quits, it truly was a miserable existence.  Despite the strum and drang theme of Victor Hugo’s book and the relentless pursuit of a man whose only crime was stealing a loaf of bread, there is a bit of humor in the bleakness provided by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, as the Thenardiers who “care” for young Cosette (newcomer, Isabelle Allen).  Both are perfectly cast and do a precisely choreographed reaming of their victims, er, guests.  Which brings us to Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crowe, and Samantha Barks (Eponine)---stunning portrays by all of the above.  Had this been a stage production, I couldn’t have imagined a better cast.  Bravo…Rating 4 stars