The Host (D-)

This is one of the dumbest films I’ve seen. There is no logic, sense, or coherency to anything the characters do, both morally and practically. That also applies to the filmmakers.
In the near future, the Earth has been conquered by aliens that take control of people’s minds. Melanie Stryder was one of the last remaining humans. She was journeying to a safe haven in the middle of the desert with her kid brother and an expressionless wooden block, otherwise known as her boyfriend Jared. We, the audience, see Melanie really loved Jared because they kiss in the rain in slow motion. Ripped right out of The Notebook. Or Dear John. Or every Nicholas Sparks movie ever.

Anyway, Melanie is cornered by the aliens, and jumps through a glass window on the fourth floor to lead them away from her brother. An alien policeman who’s job is to track down people, named Seeker because what else would she be named, says that even though Melanie has “barely a bone not broken” she survived because she has a will to live. Apparently people who fall through glass windows and then drop four stories and then die are just whimps, because willpower totally trumps all that. Seeker heals Melanie and then infects her with an alien, named Wanderer. However, Melanie has strong willpower so she ends up still alive in Wanderer’s head, and can even control her body sometimes. After some events that make literally no sense and cannot be explained, Wanderer and Melanie end up escaping the alien utopia and go live in a cave in the desert with a small band of human survivors. But then Wanderer falls in love with a guy named Ian, which upsets Malanie because she likes Jared. As if there is a difference: Neither of them have any character traits, and they even look the same.

The Host is based on a book written by Stephenie Meyer, who also wrote the Twilight series. It would be easy to blame this train wreck of a film on her, but I don’t think that is entirely fair. Apparently, the book covers who Wanderer is and what makes Earthlings different hosts from everyone else (“she” is several hundred years old and, in theory, genderless). Also, it explains why Wanderer and Melanie team up, as most of the book is internal conversations between the two (or so I’ve heard).
None of this ends up in the movie. We learn nothing about what Wanderer and her race are like. Since the alien civilization apparently has no wars, famine, violence, or even lying, you would think the aliens might be a little different from humans. Not in the movie. Wanderer says she is a 200+ year old unisex alien, but she acts just like her teenage girl host. And she lies and punches things a lot, so obviously her race doesn’t really have a problem with all that.

The internal conversations are probably the film’s biggest flaw. This is something that is pretty easy to do in a book but near impossible in a film. Saoirse Ronan (who plays Melanie/Wanderer)’s readings of the voice over-work for Melanie are cringe-worthingly bad. It doesn’t sound anything like Melanie did before she got infected. Also, the director added some sound “enhancements” to distinguish it from the voice of Wanderer. I guess it distinguishes it, in that is sounds utterly ridiculous. It is impossible not to laugh when you hear these conversations, which is a problem because most of the movie is them (mostly while the camera pans over meaningless landscape shots). And it sure doesn’t help that the actual dialogue (what was written in the script) is rock-bottom terrible. Hollywood’s interpretation of Meyer’s vampire sparkle was not as dumb or unintentionally comedic as the Melanie voiceover.
The rest of the acting is terrible as well, with the exception of William Hurt as Melanie’s uncle, who is competent. Ian and Jared, played respectively by Jake Abel (the evil teenager in Percy Jackson) and Max Irons (Red Riding Hood), have no expressions whatsoever, which matches their characters, which have no traits whatsoever. Diane Kruger, who is generally a good actress, is awful here as the Seeker. I’m guessing that the actors should not be blamed as much as Director Andrew Niccol, since the odds of them all giving such terrible performances in the same movie when not following terrible directions is near zero.

Nicchol, who also was the sole writer on the screenplay, made two dystopian future sci-fi films before: Gattaca and In Time. Both were well-made and had exciting action, so I don’t get what happened here. Everything he does, except for the cool production design he did with Beat Frutiger (JJ Abram’s Star Trek), is atrocious. All the action scenes are done to a very slow, very soft score that completely drains any sense of tension. The eyes of people infected by the alien are supposed to glow white (the people hide this by wearing sunglasses, which the aliens are too dumb to find suspicious). In some scenes, the whiteness is very pronounced, but in others it is practically non-existant, because it would be distracting. Of course it is more distracting to see such a pivotal part of the plot be so inconsistent.
The plot is full of giant holes. Why do the aliens, who are said to be a species that can find a host on any planet with life, choose to inhabit people instead of, say, cats? Are they really genderless? How do the human characters get from their hidden fortress in a butte in the middle of a desert to the city without being scene? How is this idiotic story stretched to an excruciating runtime of over two freaking hours? Even the central plot of the film--the romance--makes no sense. It is presented as a love triangle, but it really isn’t. Melanie likes Jared but Wanderer likes Ian. They said in the first five minutes that aliens can leave one host to inhabit another, so we all know that this can simply be solved when Wanderer switches to another body. Why are they at each others throats like characters in Mean Girls competing over which guy to get?

The film’s final twenty minutes end up going in a shockingly offensive moral direction, where right after a laughably shallow explanation by Wanderer of how humans should learn violence is not as effective as kindness (because nothing in this movie is ever shown, it is explicitly stated with bad monologues), Wanderer says that she is going to commit suicide because she doesn’t want to take over another human but can’t imagine returning to her home planet without the guy she loves. This sends Melanie on a quest to find out how she can give Wanderer a way to stay on Earth with Ian. Not how Wanderer should learn that suicide is never something that should be considered. The movie just flat out accepts that with her only alternative being living in a world without Ian, Wanderer’s suicide is really the only option that would make sense.
This movie is stupid in every way a movie has ever been stupid, and then it invents new ways to be even more stupid. And it made me stupid by tricking me into paying to see it.

Olympus Has Fallen (A-)

Antoine Fuqua brings his fantastic skills as a director of gritty crime dramas to make a high-profile action blockbuster that retains the intense, R-rated, realistic, and believable vibe of his earlier movies. The result is a film that is tremendously entertaining while not being so far-fetched as to prevent audiences from caring about the story or relating to its patriotic themes.

Agent Mike Banning is a Secret Serviceman who was once one of the people protecting the president, but was transferred to a desk job after letting the First Lady die in order to ensure the safety of his commander-and-chief (this scene, a car crash sequence which opens the movie, is poorly executed: I can’t quite tell what, if anything, Banning did wrong). Banning ends up the only agent left alive in the White House after a band of North Korean terrorists attack it and take the president hostage. It is up to Banning to protect the First Son (Finley Jacobsen) and keep the nation from a nuclear attack.
Aaron Eckhart is President Benjamin Asher. Eckhart plays the character in much the same way he did pre-transformation Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, which is a little weird, but it still works. Of course, since the President is captured for most of the movie the new commander-in-chief is Speaker of the House Trumbull, played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman is unable to play more than one character, but his character seems president-ly. One would expect the movie to mostly be about Banning, but in fact much of it is about Asher and Trumbull dealing with the crisis. Several scenes are West Wing-style political drama, which is a cool contrast to the Die Hard style plot-line with Butler. At no point do Asher or Trumbull make decisions that are irrational and the way they handle the situation is diplomatic, strategic, and like something real presidents would do. It makes the movie seem far more believable.

Gerard Butler (King Leonidas in 300) is Banning, and as usual he does a good job. His character is likeable but also a credible soldier. His antagonist is played by Rick Yune, who steals the show. Instead of commanding a vast army with superior technology like most movie bad guys, Yune’s character--Kang--is able to take down the White House with one rogue jet, a few suicide bombers, less than forty henchman, and a couple stolen army gadgets. Kang is funny, charming, charismatic, and smart, but also a ruthless pig who takes pleasure in torturing his enemies (in one surprisingly graphic scene he brutally kicks the female Secretary of Defense until the president reveals crucial information). When we get to the doomsday plot where Kang reveals how he plans to nuke the US, it is (mostly) plausible since everything up until then was tactically brilliant and realistic.
The movie has a noteworthy cast, with Ashley Judd appearing in a cameo as the First Lady, Melissa Leo taking on the role of the Secretary of Defense, Robert Forster playing a high-ranking general, and Angela Basset shining in her performance as Banning’s boss.
The film’s biggest flaw is the cinematography used by Fuqua and his Director of Photography (Conrad W. Hall, who did Panic Room). The movie was probably shot in the middle of the day, but in order to make it look like night-time Fuqua and Hall use weird camera lenses and hideous post-production digital color “enhancements.” It looks utterly unrealistic and distractingly stupid, especially if your theater (like mine) doesn’t have a bright enough bulb projecting the image.

Still, that problem is counter-acted by Fuqua’s ability to craft engrossing action sequences. The attack on the White House is truly thrilling, and none of the subsequent fight scenes take away Olympus Has Fallen’s momentum.
In the end, the movie is a great tribute to the American spirit. Banning represents the everyday man, who’s work behind the scenes is just as important to the country as the work of the President. This is one of the most patriotic movies I have seen in recent years, and I think the theme only carries because of the gritty, semi-realistic tone Fuqua and the writers (newbies Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt) bring.
Understandably, movies like Olympus Has Fallen are a tough sell overseas. It would be wrong to deny that this isn’t a movie meant primarily for Americans. But if people in the US were able to connect so well with Skyfall, which is very much a patriotic British film, I think that those in Europe and Asia will be able to relate to Olympus as well.
Olympus Has Fallen is a gritty, beleiveable, and engrossing action thriller that is able to back up its patriotic themes with a good story and stellar directing.
PS: Not that this detracts from the movie, but a comment must be made about the stupid title. It refers to a code used by the Servicemen in the film, where "Olympus Has Fallen" means "The White House has been taken." I think that any half-wit terrorist could figure out. If they aren't serious about using codes then they should just say "White House Down."

The Call (C)

Right up until the last fifteen minutes or so, The Call is a cool, plausible thriller with a Hitchcock-esque tone. It isn’t amazing or profound or even particularly original, but it was entertaining, engrossing, and believable. This makes it particularly frustrating that the filmmakers throw it all away with a ludicrous, semi-comedic, exploitative, and incredibly stupid final act. If the whole film was trash it would almost be better: Unfortunately, it started out pretty well.

Jordan, the protagonist, is a 30-something 911 operator who receives a call from a teen girl (Evie Thompson) saying someone is breaking into her house. When the phone gets disconnected, Jordan foolishly calls back. The rings alert the prowler (Michael Eklund) as to the girl’s location. He turns out to be a serial killer, so things don’t end well. Jordan is racked with guilt, but gets a shot at redemption when six months later the station she works at gets another call from another teen girl kidnapped by the same killer. This girl, named Casey, is in the trunk of a car and is using a disposable phone, so finding her will be no easy task.
Unlike most low-budget thrillers (and this movie is distinctly low-budget), the picture cast big name stars. Casey is played by former child star Abigail Breslin and Jordan is played by Academy Award-winner Halle Berry (Catwoman, Dark Tide, Movie 43). At no point is their acting outright bad, but it is never noteworthy. The movie would have been just as good if they had cast unknowns.

The Machinist director Brad Anderson helms the picture. The most notable credit among the three-man writing team is a script outline on the Bruce Willis bomb Perfect Stranger. Still, little past box office success doesn’t necessarily mean poor writing. And for a while, The Call impresses. Jordan relays advice to Casey (kick out the tail light; leave a paint trail) while a police helicopter and numerous cars search high and low for the missing girl. The killer avoids capture with a clever strategy known as “killing any and all witnesses.” There is no doubt that he will eventually be caught, but it is quite possible that won’t be until after Casey dies. Some of the dialogue is campy and there is no depth, but the film is still an engrossing game of cat-and-mouse, mostly because everything stays (mostly) believable.

Then we get to the final act, where everything falls apart. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I will say the picture throws out any notion of logic as a shirtless Casey (played by sixteen-year old Breslin) teams up with Jordan in a vicious battle against the killer, who has built an underground lair with electricity, multiple tanks full of chloroform, and working plumbing but never thought to buy a gun, taser, axe, knife, or anything else remotely useful in actual combat. Come on! The guy in Silence of the Lambs had a gun and night-vision goggles, and he was too dumb to put his weird dog on a leash.
The first part of The Call proves that the filmmakers had the ability to craft a well-structured, engrossing thriller. Couldn’t they do that for the whole movie?

Dead Man Down (A)

The trailers for Dead Man Down suggest is is a stylish revenge tale with Taken-esque action scenes. I think the rather underwhelming reaction to the picture has to do with the inaccurate genre the marketing placed this film in. Dead Man Down is a slow, suspenseful thriller that is firmly based in characters. It provides an excellent look at depression, grief, and friendship. The revenge plot is almost a side story.

Dead Man Down has so many twists and turns that I can barely say anything about the plot without giving something away. This is what I can tell you without spoiling any more than was in the trailer: The protagonist is a man who calls himself Victor. He is part of a crime syndicate led by an ambitious, stylish, and ruthless gangster named Alfonse Hoyte (one of only two black characters, both of whom are bad). Victor is (maybe) romancing a woman named Beatrice, who has a dark past represented by a few facial scars. Not much to go on, but trust me: You don’t want spoilers.
The story is written by J.H. Wyman, who has done some TV writing and producing but has little credited work in film. In fact, his last credited movie was Gore Verbinski’s The Mexican back in 2001. I hope he does not wait as long to write his next picture. His story is something special: A thriller where you care about the characters. Deeply. They aren’t just avatars for video-game esque violence: Victor and Beatrice seem like real-life, breathing people with a history and emotions. If it weren’t for this, it would be impossible to care enough to handle the slightly-implausible and very complicated plot (Wyman's TV background shows; this movie has enough material that it could have been a good series or mini-series). Wyman might cop out a tiny bit at the end with a too-tidy conclusion, but this is a small flaw, and by that point the audience should be involved enough in the story to ignore a slight change in tone.

Part of the reasons Wyman’s script works is because of the acting. As Victor, Colin Farrell is doing his normal sad-guy schtick, but that is what is required here. Beatrice, on the other hand, is a more complex role and one that needed a fantastic performance to work. Fortunately, the role went to Noomi Rapace, the star of Prometheus and the Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rapace’s Hollywood career is fairly new (up until 2010, almost all of her movies were Swedish), but it undoubtedly shows promise. Her ability to convey dozens of emotions at once, to constantly be interesting, and to have a character that seems both likeable and flawed is incredible. She has yet to be recognised by a major award ceremony, but it is unlikely she won’t have at least an Oscar nomination and maybe even a win within the next five years.
The rest of the supporting cast is great as well. Alfonse Hoyte is not as pivotal a character as the advertising would make you believe, but Terrence Howard gives him extra depth (if Howard has ever given a bad performance, I haven’t seen it). French actress Isabelle Huppert has a throw-away role as Beatrice’s deaf mother, but the character is fascinating and her performance is so touching that her scenes are actually the most memorable. Practically non-existent in the picture’s marketing is Dominic Cooper, who has a very important role as Victor’s friend who knows nothing of Victor’s past. The role would be good with anyone, but Cooper makes it all the better.

Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) helms the project. Oftentimes when promising foreign directors move to Hollywood they quickly pick big-budget blockbuster and their style never translates (Daniel Espinosa’s Safe House comes to mind). For Oplev it is the opposite: Choosing a smaller film where he can have more creative control, he takes the best parts of his lower-budget, ultra-violent foreign work while knowing that the graphic material acceptable in Scandinavia is unacceptable for international audiences. Oplev’s talent is best visible in the action sequences, which are fast-paced, gritty, violent, and (for the most part) believable; it is also worth remembering that if it weren’t for his direction and editing the acting might not seem so flawless. His biggest mistake is the make-up he chose for Rapace to wear as Beatrice: Her facial scars are a critical part of the story, but honestly they don’t look all that horrifying. In fact, you barely notice them.
Oplev and cinematographer Paul Cameron (Man on Fire) chose an interesting color scheme and composition for their cinematography: The images are sleek and stylish but at the same time look faded, dull, and almost like you would see on an old VHS tape. This doesn’t always work, but I think it provides a nice backdrop to the underlying themes in the film. This is not a revenge fantasy: It is a look at depression and grief. How does one move on when everything in life has lost its luster? How can one find friendship when they feel like they don’t even care anymore? These are the questions this film asks, and the answers it gives are compelling and moving.
Dead Man Down is a slow, suspenseful, and emotional thriller/drama; you don’t come across movies like this every day.

Jack the Giant Slayer (B)

It has gaping plot holes, no depth, dozens of cliches, a far-too-short runtime, and numerous other flaws, but I’d be lying if I said this family-oriented action adventure wasn’t entertaining.
Jack the Giant-Slayer is a retelling of the classic story--A young peasant in medieval Europe travels up a beanstalk and battles giants. In this story, Jack is accompanied by a knight named Sir Elmont and is on a quest to rescue a princess.

Jack is already receiving comparisons to last summer’s blockbuster “fairy tale” Snow White & the Huntsman, but despite what trailers may have you believe, Jack is intended for family audiences. Director Bryan Singer certainly has a few moments here and there where he interrupts his tone to have a slightly violent scene (something that the X-Men director seems to struggle with when doing more kid-friendly pictures), but if the harsh PG-13 rating is deserved--and, to be honest, it isn’t--it would take less than 75 seconds of cuts to edit it down to PG. This adventure is significantly tamer than similar PG-fair like Eragon, Chronicles of Narnia, and Tron: Legacy; it is possible that the studio may have wanted a PG-13 rating just to attract older audiences. If that is the case, it didn’t work.

In an attempt to please kids, there are some things that will turn off adults. Flatulence humor and booger jokes, for starters. Also, idiotic comic relief characters, most annoying of which is a human bad guy minion played by Ewen Brenner. The main antagonist--the giant General Fallon--has a second head which serves as a less irritating but still weird sidekick. I suppose Singer agreed to a two-headed villain in order to distinguish the character, and some may find it funny or at least a little interesting. My guess is that the majority of people, like myself, will find it too weird. The second head isn’t exactly another character--it only grunts and repeats garbled versions of the main head’s sentences. Still, it’s dopey grin looks almost friendly and clashes horribly with the gruff giant head on the right, and you kind of feel bad for what may be an innocent (if dim-witted) extra character unfairly chained to his jerk-tastic twin brother.

If you’re wondering, none of the other giants have extra heads (or arms or legs, for that matter). In fact, for the most part they look pretty cool. They are shot with motion capture, like was used for Gollum and Caesar of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Since there are a lot of them, they don’t look quite as realistic as those two characters, but they still showcase a neat blend of human and beast-like qualities: They are enough like people to seem like formidable foes, but not enough like us for anyone to care when they fall in battle. I do wonder where the female giants are, though. Perhaps the species reproduces aesexually, or the genders just look the same as each other. My best guess, though, is that the she-giants from Jack left the city in the clouds and reside on the same planet as all the girl dwarves from Lord of the Rings.

The biggest flaw of the film is undoubtedly the run time. It is 110 minutes, which is significantly shorter than most action adventure films. With the amount it costs for a family to go to a theatre, it isn’t unreasonable to expect the two plus hours that is standard for this genre. You have been warned.
The other big issue is plot holes. Obviously logic isn’t what one is looking for in this type of movie, but it is always frustrating when you see that the viewer has put more thought into the story than the producers. With four credited writers it is clear this is a story that has undergone several drafts and has lost a bit of coherency in the process.

Still, none of these flaws stop this very playful tale from being entertaining. The action is stellar, the visuals are decent, and the whole thing looks gorgeous. The imagery is constantly inventive, and both the giant and human world looks like the kind of place you would love to visit. Possibly best of all, though, is the acting. Nicholas Hoult, the cute kid from About a Boy, has matured into a charming, personable leading man. He seems heroic and cool while also being a little dorky and completely relateable. His dynamic with Eleanor Tomlinson is genuine and enjoyable, even if her character of Princess Isabbelle is both an annoyingly spunky and precocious (read: selfish) teen and a whiny, utterly useless damsel in distress. In fact, Tomlinson should win award just for successfully thwarting the writers attempts to make the year’s most dislikeable character.

The supporting cast is full of A-list actors such as Stanley Tucci as a villainous human noble and Bill Nighy as General Fallon (it isn’t just his voice; he did all the acting too in a motion capture suit). Character actor Eddie Marson plays a doomed redshirt audiences actually care about (kudos to Singer for not editing him out); and Ian McShane is a scene stealer as the King. Best of all, though, is Ewan McGregor as Sir Elmont, who ends up partnered with the peasant Jack. Generally this role would be comic relief (like Prince Charming in Shrek 2) but the screenplay lets McGreggor form an utterly charming, funny, cool, and actually quite smart warrior: I would love to see a spin-off just about that character.
There are a lot of flaws with this movie, but it is still great fun, and the kind you can bring the whole family to.

10 Best Films of 2012

I know most people disagree with me, but I just didn't think GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE was quite at the level to be on a top 10 list.

As is my tradition for Oscar week, I write my own list of the top ten best films of the given year. Since some of these choices might be unconventional, I will say upfront that I have seen over 100 movies from 2012 including all nine best picture films. So if the list looks weird, it isn’t because I only see bad movies, it is because I have bad taste.
Please note that I chose not to include documentaries on this list.

10. Hope Springs

David Frenkel, the director of The Devil Wears Prada, helms a picture starring two of the greatest living actors, Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep. Of course it was going to be great. Telling the story of an older(ish) couple who goes to a small town in Maine to get marriage counseling (the therapist is played by Steve Carell), this picture is truly inspiring. Sure it has its flaws--Streep’s character seems a little too perfect when compared to the grump Jones one--but nevertheless this funny, genuine, entertaining, and heartfelt dramedy is absolutely stellar.

9. Barfi!

I love the new trend of having modern movies incorporating elements of the old silent films. We’ve had Wall-E, The Artist, and now this under-seen gem from India. This story is about a young man (Ranbir Kapoor, who is on par with Hollywood’s very best) that is deaf. He misunderstands his name of “Murphy” to be “Barfi!,” resulting in this bizarre and difficult to market title. Barfi! is caught up in a romance with a woman betrothed to a man she has barely met and he ends up becoming friends with an autistic girl he kidnaps for ransom money. This is a delightful, entertaining, and inspiring tale about embracing life to its fullest, and one that any age can enjoy.

8. Goon

It always looked funny, but who would have thought this R-rated comedy about a hockey enforcer, who’s job is to start fights on the ice rink, would be so good? Sean William Scott plays the title goon, and this ends up being an inspiring tale of the importance of loyalty and finding oneself, all centered around brutally violent fist-fights. It doesn’t shy away from showing the dark side and long-term consequences of this highly controversial topic, but at the same time it never ceases to be laugh-out-loud funny. Also, the film’s antagonist, a veteran enforcer played by Liev Schreiber, is a truly unforgettable character.

7. Rise of the Guardians

This animated movie takes favorite childhood heroes like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost and puts them into an action extravaganza in the vein of (though much superior to) The Avengers. It is wildly entertaining, due to the action, the humor, the constantly inventive and mind-blowingly gorgeous visuals, and the truly emotional story. This tackles the powers of dreams, hope, and faith, and gives answers that even adults can relate to. The studio might be Dreamworks, but this is Pixar-level quality.

6. Dredd

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Guardians is Dredd, a gory, dark, gritty, futuristic sci-fi comic book movie that isn’t afraid that isn’t afraid to alienate a few viewers to tell an original and entertaining story. In Dredd, the world has become one giant, dystopian, crime ridden city and the only forces of justice are Judges, which have the duties of cop, judge, jury, and executioner. Chief among them is Judge Dredd, who’s unwavering commitment to the law seems extreme in our time and is probably unheard of in this future. The action scenes are fantastic, the movie has a great sense of humor about it, and it isn’t afraid to get into some bigger issues (if more people had seen this movie, it would be considered controversial). In a time filled with morally ambiguous and anarchistic pretty boy heroes, Dredd gives us a morally absolute protagonist who isn’t afraid to judge.
Footnote: Don’t judge this movie because it shares the same source material with 1990’s Judge Dredd. It is a completely different type of film.

5. Safety Not Guaranteed

This heartfelt, utterly charming picture tells the story of three reporters (the main one being played by Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation) who go to a small town to investigate an add left by a man requesting a partner to time travel with him. The man (played by Mark Duplass, in a rare turn acting without writing or directing) turns out to be deadly earnest and possibly insane, but he and the Plaza character end up starting an odd romance.
It is funny, but it never forgets us to make us feel for the characters. Everyone in this movie is flawed but instantly likeable (particularly interesting is a loud-mouthed, possibly racist, but impossible to hate reporter played by Jake Johnson), and it is difficult not to be entertained every minute. This is a touching look at taking the ultimate risk of friendship.

4. MIB3

A movie doesn’t have to be dark and gritty to be great. MIB3 is funny, action-packed, inventive, and perfectly acted (I would give Josh Brolin the Best Supporting Actor award); best of all, though, is that it has heart.
This story centers around Agent J (Will Smith)--an agent of the Men in Black organization that keeps Earth safe from extra-terrestrial threats--going back in time to the 60s in order to stop an alien invasion led by a sinister new bad guy (Jemaine Clement’s Boris the Animal). There he finds out the dark secret that has haunted his partner (played by Tommy Lee Jones in current day and Brolin in the 60s universe). This film is just as clever as the other installments in the action-comedy series, but in addition it also captures the sense of wonder and appreciation for the vastness of the universe even better than its predecessors had.

3. Jeff, Who Lives at Home

This is another one from the Duplass Brothers (Cyrus): They produced, wrote, and directed, but didn’t star (Mark Duplass does acting, such as in Safety Not Guaranteed, but he chose not to here). The duo has always shown great talent, but this film is a near-masterpiece. Starring Jason Segel as a 30-something stoner living in his mother’s basement who bases his entire life around the philosophy of M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, Jeff features a great cast including Susan Sarandon, Ed Helms, and Judy Greer (Helms has a very sizable role as the Segal character’s neurotic brother, so much so that it could be considered a lead). The plot synopsis might sound like it is a little cynical, but it is really a pretty sweet film that should appeal to a large audience. It walks the line between comedy and drama perfectly, and has a genuine quality to it that you don’t see very often in movies. Also more-so than in most other films, Jeff has a truly powerful, inspiring message on faith, hope, and initiative. This should go on everyone’s must-see list.

2. Lincoln

This excellent story on the passage of the amendment banning slavery in America is truly incredible. Steven Spielberg rarely directs a movie that isn’t excellent (executive producing is another story) and here he is adapting an award-worthy screenplay from Munich scribe Tony Kushner. Every member of the cast is phenomenal; Daniel Day Lewis's work as Abraham Lincoln is one of those rare performances that practically everyone seems to agree was the year’s best. In my review, I wrote about how this film provides a convincing argument on how democracy works. What I may have neglected to emphasize is how this also provides personal statements on compromise and determination. Such is the case with a truly great movie: There are so many amazing things about it you can spend a whole two pages talking about only a small part. Regardless of what country you live in, this is a picture you can’t miss.

1. Being Flynn

I am baffled at why this movie didn’t get more praise. My best guess is simply that not enough people watched it: This is filmmaking at its best.
Being Flynn tells the story of a man (Paul Dano) volunteering at a homeless shelter who finds his alcoholic father (Robert De Niro) to be a resident. The father’s life is getting worse and worse, but he keeps insisting he is a writing genius, on par with Mark Twain. This is a very dark drama (written and directed by About a Boy’s Paul Weitz), but the emotional pay-off is something you rarely get from a film. This movie has powerful messages on perseverance, how we interpret the past, what makes a life successful, and how we should view ourselves.
Honorable Mentions: Chronicle, The Dark Knight Rises, Flight, Les Miserables, and Life of Pi
I welcome comments, even negative ones. And please, please provide links to your own top ten of 2012 lists.

10 Best Cinematic Villains of 2012

One of the things that can make a movie great is having a fantastic villain. Here are a list of what I believe ten best of 2012 were. At the very least this should provide an opportunity for more mainstream, blockbuster movies to make a top ten list.
If you haven’t seen the movies on this list, you might be a little lost. Also, there are spoilers. In fact, some of the names on this list are spoilers.

10. Stephen

Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained

The primary antagonist of Django Unchained is considered to be the sadistic rancher Calvin Candie (Leonardo diCaprio), but just as important to the plot--and far more interesting--is his right-hand man: Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson, almost unrecognizable under fantastic make-up work). Stephen is a slave, and he works for a man who treats slaves like animals and makes them battle to the death (by the way, there is little historical evidence suggesting “mandingo fighting” was a real thing). Stephen is very smart, intensely charming, and a good leader, but he remains intensely loyal to his master, revealing the protagonists’ plan to trick Candy into selling a slave at a low(ish) price.
This idea--that the biggest foe to liberation was that many slaves didn’t view themselves as people--has sparked incredible debate; it was even used in a lecture by one of my professors as a (very flawed) portrayal of modern day race relations. Writer/director Quentin Tarantino doesn’t do as much as he could have with this character, but it is definitely a fascinating idea. Furthermore, Stephen is the most interesting thing in every scene he was in, which is saying alot, since Tarantino has never created a boring character.

9. Selina Kyle

Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises

Like all the characters in Gotham City, Selina Kyle is defined by her past. She was put in a hopeless situation beyond her control (just like Bruce Wayne/Batman was when his parents were murdered) and she is trying to build a new life. Batman has always said that crime did not control Gotham and people were not doomed to the situation they were born into, but since he himself can’t let go of an event that happened thirty years ago, it seems impossible that his goal was realistic. Kyle is trying to steal and manipulate her way to happiness just like Batman is trying to by punching gangsters. It is obvious they are made for each other.
Kyle also highlights the film’s underlying political message of social mobility and integrity. Is it Kyle’s fault she was born into squalor in America’s worst city? No. But there is no magic way to erase her record, as she so desperately hopes: The only way she finds a new life is through hard work.

8. Old Joe

Bruce Willis, Looper

The protagonist of Looper, Joe (named after the actor who plays him, Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is a truly despicable person. He is a hitman: When people in the year 2074 are sentenced by gangs to be executed, they are tied up, blindfolded and sent back in time to the year 2044, where Joe executes him. This in and of itself would make Joe a pretty unlikable person, but in addition he betrays his best friend to a truly horrible fate for money.
It would seem logical, then, that in order to have the audience still care about Joe, the villain--his futuristic self--would be even more terrible. However, Director Rian Johnson boldly makes Old Joe (Bruce Willis) a seemingly better person than Young Joe. Old Joe retired from crime, married a nice lady, and settled down; he has gone back in time to save his wife. Yeah, he starts offing small children, but it is all because he wants to keep them from growing up to be the mass murdering terrorist responsible for hurting the woman he loves.
Old Joe is a fascinating character: He has all the charm, smarts, and fighting prowess of his younger self, but he also has a moral compass. He hates the younger version of himself, but must protect Young Joe in order to keep himself alive. He also is struggling to retain his memories that define his identity, which are changing each minute he interacts with his younger self.
For all his good, though, Old Joe is still unable to do the one thing that can break the time loop the film’s characters are stuck in: Self-sacrifice. Old Joe could always tell his younger self not to marry his future wife (thus keeping her safe), but he doesn’t because he can’t give her up. In the end it is his younger self who is able to (maybe) break the loop by giving his life for someone he loves.

7. Bane & Talia Al Ghul

Tom Hardy & Marion Cotillard, The Dark Knight Rises

The reason these two aren’t higher up on the list is that there is something inherently stupid about their master plan. Why does the League of Shadows care so much about Gotham City? If they are anti-west terrorists, like Al Quadea, why do they wait five months to blow it up? If they are anarchists, why do they want to blow it up at all? I get this is all symbolism for current events, but come on!
Still, these villains really do make The Dark Knight Rises come together. Bane may always live in the Joker’s shadow, but he is just as much of a compelling, intimidating foe. That calm, intellectual voice coming from a giant, brutal terrorist is instantly capturing, the Darth Vader breathing is still just as badass as it was in ‘77, and there is such a commanding presence Tom Hardy’s super-villain emits. When a corrupt businessmen who has been using Bane to take down Bruce Wayne tells the hulking giant to “remember who is in charge” Bane’s calm answer--”Do you feel like you’re in control”--is just as captivating as anything the villains said in the last movie.
Lots of criticism has been leveled against Christopher Nolan for the final act twist, where it is revealed Bane is merely the boy toy of Talia Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne’s businesswoman lover (a great performance by Marion Cotillard). I think this makes everything make more sense. Bane views a world powerless and despicable. He confidently announces that Gotham City doesn’t have to feel afraid and bound to the laws of Batman, but he himself feels himself a slave to the will of someone else. He was never able to climb out of that prison, and he worships the one person he believes could. And Talia is just aspiring to the impossible goals of her father (Ra’s Al Ghul, Liam Neeson’s villain from the first Nolanverse movie). It is a perfect contrast to Batman’s belief that anyone could be a super-hero, no matter what their origins are. When Batman proves that Talia wasn’t the only one who could escape the underground prison, he is really proving the message Bane has been preaching but never really believed.

6. Raoul Silva

Javier Bardem, Skyfall

When the theatrical trailer for Skyfall came out, everything looked incredible cool: Except for the villain. Out of context, watching Javier Bardem in garish clothes and an absurd wig stroking the chest of Daniel Craig’s James Bond seemed ridiculous.
And it is. But it is also so terrifying. Bardem and the team behind Skyfall create a villain that has all the elements of the campy villains from the Connery and Moore Bond years, but still perfectly fits into the gritty Bond universe of the 21st century.
Silvia, who was once the best secret agent working for MI6, was given up to the Chinese by M, who was both his boss and maternal figure, in exchange for a bunch of other captured agents. After months of torture, he snapped and decided to blame M for his pain--and, using exceptional hacking skills, does just that. He is both a perfect parallel to James Bond, who will follow M’s command to the dot, and a perfect symbol of the terrorists that threaten the world in this day and age.

5. Ma-ma

Lena Headey, Dredd

It is hard not to find Ma-ma--the primary adversary of the criminally-underrated, futuristic, sci-fi, action drama Dredd--rivetting. One a lowly prostitute named Madeline Madrigal who’s face was brutally slashed by her pimp, Ma-ma founded a vicious new street gang that took over a skyscraper with the population of a medium-sized city.
It would be so easy for Director Pete Travis and actress Lena Headey (in a nomination-worthy performance) to make her over-the-top or campy (after all, this lady did bite off someone’s testicles!). Instead, Ma-ma (who both uses and sells the drug slo-mo, which causes people to perceive time 100 times slower than normal) is deeply menacing by her quiet, unenthusiastic, and depressed attitude. We seriously believe this lady could command the small army of street thugs she has at her disposal.
Ma-ma is the perfect symbolism of the decay and lifelessness that crime has brought to the dystopian future shown in Dredd. And her both metaphoric and literal slow-motion fall is truly epic.

4. Hugh Lang

Don Cheadle, Flight

Flight’s protagonist, Captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington, amazing as always), is the pilot of a commercial airline that suffers a horrible accident (through no fault of his own). Whitaker’s incredible skill and courage manages to save most of the lives on board, but things turn worse when it comes out he was drunk and on cocaine while flying.
The story of Flight centers around Whitaker’s denial of his personal issues (such as alcoholism). And Hugh Lang is actively encouraging him to hide it.
Hugh Lang is the excellent lawyer who is hired by the union to keep the crash from becoming a legal nightmare. Lang and Whitaker instantly dislike each other, but Lang decides to make it his mission to keep Whitaker out of jail because he is one of the few people to accurately recognize that if it had been any other pilot, everyone would be dead. However, Lang is actively encouraging Whitaker to perjure himself and deny his illness and wrong-doing. Any idea that Lang is a good thing for Whitaker is dispelled when, near the film’s climax, he actually buys Whip cocaine in the hopes that it will counteract the effects of the alcohol and keep the pilot from seeming drunk. When Whitaker decides to finally do the right thing and tell the truth, Lang is disgusted and appalled.
What better personification of the outside pressure for people to hide their problems and deny it (even to themselves) than this smarmy lawyer?

3. The Woman in Black

Liz White, The Woman in Black

Possibly even more so than action movies, horror movies live or die by their villains. In horror films, the villains are the real stars, and the protagonists are the supporting characters. For the movie to work, the villain must be unique (Nightmare on Elm Street’s idea of being killed in your dreams was a stroke of genius), genuinely scary (it might have been by the books and campy, but all the same it is impossible to sleep after watching Poltergeist), and symbolize something that the audience can actually care about, be it the fear of death (Final Destination), the risks of adulthood (Friday the 13th), the dangers of technology (The Ring), or the sinister of the unknown (Paranormal Activity).
The Woman in Black (both the film and character) have all three. The movie opens with three small children methodically committing suicide. It really is a shock (it definitely fits into the “unique” category), which is exactly what a horror picture needs to be. And the tension just builds from there, every second is frightening. And, best--and most importantly of all--the movie is able to tell a story.
Jennet Humphrye was an 1800s mother who’s child was taken away from her by her sister after the state (probably accurately) ruled she was an unsuitable parent due to being a complete lunatic. Unfortunately, her sister’s carriage got stuck in a swamp and the sister abandoned the child in order to save her own life. Humphrye’s killed herself in grief, but not before vowing to exact her revenge on the town that had allowed her son to die. She does so by returning as the ghost known as the Woman in Black, possessing the bodies (though not the minds) of the town’s children, causing them to kill themselves.
What is best about the Woman in Black’s character is that she is able to give the movie a real story and theme. When the film’s protagonist--Daniel Radcliffe’s Arthur Kipps--dies (unsuccessfully) trying to save his son, he is able to take his child to the afterlife where he can be reunited with his deceased wife. The Woman in Black can only look on in sorrow, unable to stop him, but also unable to go as well, for she is tied to the mortal world by her attachment to vengeance.

2. Boris (the Animal)

Jemaine Clement, MIB3

Much of what makes the Men in Black series so great is the charm and wit of its heroes--Agent J and Agent K always have a fantastic one liner to punctuate each action scene. However, the series has always struggled with mildly dull villains. They are other-worldly, uptight, and never as interesting as their adversaries.
Now that we are on the third of these movies, it was time to introduce a villain who matches our heroes in both wit and physical combat. Meet Boris. The sole surviving member of the Bogladeshian race, Boris is the super-humanly strong biker out to conquer Earth, but he takes the time to master Earthlings unique brand of humor. Every line this guy says is instantly quotable (when a hippie tells Boris to “make love, not war” he replies “I prefer to do both”). Boris is also a far more intimidating villain: When this guy is able to take out a prison full of highly trained soldiers single-handedly, you know the Men in Black might not be able to defeat this foe so easily.
Of course, a great villain also has to contribute to a great overall story, and Boris does so in every way possible. His somewhat tragic inability to be able to redo his past (this is a time travel movie, by the way) despite all his efforts perfectly parallel Agent J’s sense of wonder and acceptance of the fantastic world around him. Watch the scene where an older Boris confronts his younger self and the two growl at each other like animals and try to not be blown away.

1. Ross “The Boss” Rhea

Liev Schreiber, Goon

Goon is probably the least-watched of the movies on this list, which is a pity, because it is fantastic. This is a comedy is about Doug Glatt, a Massachusetts man who moves to Canada and becomes a hockey enforcer, a man who’s job is to start fights in the ice arena.
Ross Rhea is a rival team’s veteran enforcer (played perfectly by Liev Schreiber) who frequently causes career-ruining injuries. Ross has left the majors and is about to retire, but plans to go out with a bang. Doug plays on another team from Ross, but spends nights analyzing Ross’s best performances in order to emulate them (and, yes, all of his “best performances” were fights). Ross is a barbarian who has ended countless careers--his first scene, in a crowded press conference, is a laughably phony apology for an illegal move that broke a player’s back--but he isn’t all that bad a person. The movie is building up to the inevitable battle between Ross and Doug, but from the get-go Ross sees the puppy-dog sweet Doug and is instantly concerned that his opponent doesn’t get that an enforcer’s career is brutal and short. In the movie’s best moment, Ross tells Doug that it is likely that when they finally play each other Ross will hurt Doug so badly that he will sustain permanent injuries, and is touched when he realizes that Doug does understand this, but is so passionate about the team that gave him glory that he is willing to literally risk his life in order to take them to the championships.
The friendship and animosity between Doug and Ross is fascinating, and it is what makes this movie so great.
'Nuff said.