Film Friday: The Top-15 Films You Should be Looking Forward to in Fall 2011

Fall is easily my favorite season.  People always talk about New Year’s as the time of year for starting over, renewal, resolutions, etc., but I’ve always thought of autumn as the time for starting over, personally.  There’s something about the weather changing, the shorter days, and getting back into the swing of things after the summer that really invigorates my soul. 

Top 5 Things About Fall:

5.  Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks

4.  Cooler Weather

3.  Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks

2.  Football

1.  Good Movies (duh)

As such, this is probably one of my favorite columns to write every year (see: only the 2^nd year now) because it is ripe with anticipation, potential, and most of all, because I freaking LOVE making Top-10 lists (well, 15 in this case).  

Let the countdown begin!

15.  Contagion  (Trailer Here)

You’d think a movie made by one of my favorite directors (Steven Soderbergh) starring two of my favorite actors (Matt Damon & Kate Winslet) as well as a host of A-listers (Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Lawrence Fishburne) would be much higher on my list.  It looks intriguing enough, but I feel like this apocalyptic ground has been tread before, and I’m not sure how interesting and moving it can ultimately be.  Still—Soderbergh + Damon + Winslet = A spot on this list. 

14.  Young Adult (No Trailer Yet, Dang)

Director Jason Reitman is probably one of Hollywoods youngest success stories, with all three of his films having been heavily rewarded by the industry (Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air.)  Charlize Theron always brings her A-Game and she looks very interesting here as a woman returning to her hometown after a divorce.  I’ve heard this is a bit of a departure from his earlier work, but as long as Reitman brings his usual dramedy elements into the film, I have no reason to believe it won’t be good.

 

13.  Take Shelter (Trailer Here)

I’m not totally sure what all this film is about other than some sort of apocalyptic weather issue, but the trailer looks amazing and I’ve read that Michael Shannon (known most notably for his sinister supporting role in Revolutionary Road) is simply stunning. 

 

12.  The Artist (Trailer Here)

A silent film??  Yes, a silent film, which is already being hailed as a bona fide contender in the Oscar race.  Had I not already heard all of the raves out of Cannes film festival for this film, I would have said that it looks slightly too self-conscious and gimmicky for my taste.  But I will trust the general consensus that it is a heartwarming and effective film. 

11.  War Horse  (Trailer Here)

A World War I film?  A period film?  Based on an award-winning play??  Directed by SPIELBERG???  ABOUT A NOBLE HORSE AND A BOY?????   There’s no way this won’t be the best movie in the history of cinema, right?  Well, I haven’t read/seen the play but I hope Spielberg takes it easy on the sentimentality, because the trailer is absolutely dripping with it.  Still, Indiana Jones/Crystal Skull excluded, I trust Spielberg, and can’t see any situation where this isn’t at least the best popcorn film of the year, if not better. 

10.  Moneyball (Trailer Here)

This film wins the newly-created “The Social Network Award” this year for being the most incredibly uninteresting subject matter in a movie that could actually be very good.  The subject matter being the Oakland A’s, a baseball team that never won anything or even got to the World Series during the time this movie takes place.  However, it does have something else in common with The Social Network, in that it was written by Aaron Sorkin.  He rarely lets me down in the writing department, and when you throw in Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Jonah Hill, I’m pretty excited for this film.

9.  Melancholia (Trailer Here)

This film by notorious weirdo Lars Von Trier could turn out to be one that I either love or hate.  I’ve never been a huge fan of his work, although Dogville starring Nicole Kidman is one of the most interesting films of the 2000’s, IMO.  This end-of-the-world flick, however, looks visually stunning which usually means it will be right up my alley, and plus, Jack Freaking Bauer is in it, which is never a bad thing.

8.  Martha Marcy May Marlene (Trailer Here)

So all of this time, the Olsen Twins have had a younger sister who was prettier, a much better actress, is way more in touch with reality, and actually went to acting school at NYU?  How does that make sense?  In any case, her name is Elizabeth Olsen, and she is the star of this eerie indie drama that won Best Director at Sundance Film Festival this year.  Look for it to be a “little engine that could” hit in the vein of Winter’s Bone. 

7.  A Dangerous Method (Trailer Here)

Viggo Mortenson, Michael Fassbender, and Keira Knightley, in a movie about Sigmund Freud and his associate, Carl Jung, involving some, ahem, questionable psychological treatment methods.  Color me excited.

6.  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Trailer Here)

This Cold-War era espionage thriller starring Gary Oldman is one that has been on my radar for awhile.  If you’ll allow me to be my most snobbish self for a minute, the reason it’s been on my radar is chiefly due to it having been directed by Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson, who made one of my favorite movies of 2008, Let the Right One In (which is my favorite vampire movie ever).  He has the perfect tone to create a cold-as-ice spy movie and the perfect star in Oldman to pull that off.    

5.  The Ides of March (Trailer Here)

Political thriller, directed by and starring George Clooney, with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Giamatti.  So you can see why this one wasn’t difficult to sell to me. Oh, and this is my favorite movie poster of the year, hands down.  

4.  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Trailer Here)

As a general rule, I am opposed to American remakes of foreign films, but exceptions certainly have to be made when one David Fincher is involved.  Rooney Mara looks crazy weird/sexy as the title character Lisbeth Salander, and co-star Daniel Craig should be a major upgrade from his Swedish version’s counterpart, which I thought was the worst aspect of that movie.  I don’t expect this film to be in the Oscar picture, but I do think it will be a pleasant return to gritty Fincher fare a la Se7en and Fight Club.  Also, a Fincher film has my favorite trailer of the year for the second time in a row, so that’s cool.

3.  Drive (Trailer Here)

The other Ryan Gosling film on my list is this Hollywood heist flick about a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver.  My man crush on Gosling would be enough of a reason for me to be excited anyway, but it also happens to star Carey Mulligan, who is probably my favorite under-30 actress right now.  If the movie is even half as good as all of the rave reviews have been so far, then I will be happy.  I do, however, hate that they stole the tagline "There are no clean getaways" from one of my favorite movies, No Country For Old Men.  

2.  The Descendants (Trailer Here)

Been waiting around for this one for a long time.  If you’ll recall, director Alexander Payne’s Sideways was my #7 film of the 2000’s decade, so his pairing here with George Clooney in a family drama fascinates me.  I’ve read that this film is a little less of a dark comedy than some of his prior work, but as long as Payne holds on to the emotional realism that he wielded so well in Sideways, then this should end up on many-a critic’s Top-10 lists this year. 

1.  Carnage (Trailer Here)

Two of my Top-10 movies of all time are A Streetcar Named Desire and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  The films are probably two of the best acting showcases in cinematic history, and both are centered around the interaction of two male/female couples, with varying levels of craziness involved.  Roman Polanski’s new film Carnage, based on the Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage, follows a similar formula as those two movies—it’s about the parents of two junior high boys who meet to discuss a fight that occurred between them.  Starting out fairly cordial and gradually deconstructing into craziness, it should be a very humorous and sadistic piece of filmmaking, and the acting quartet of Winslet, Waltz, Reilly, and Foster is probably my favorite cast of the year.  

Film Friday: August 12, 2011

As always, here is the order: 1. Good New Movie, 2. Good Older Movie, 3. Average or Below Average Movie. 

Let me know in the comments if there are any movies you’d like to see me write about for Film Friday over the coming weeks.  

Cedar Rapids (2010)

John C. Reilly owned me in this movie.

So far, this is my favorite comedy of the year, although most people would give that title to Bridesmaids.  Ed Helms, who does a pretty good impression of Andy Bernard in this movie, gives a great performance as the most naïve man alive, a guy from a one-horse town in Wisconsin who goes on his first out-of-state trip to a conference for his employer, an insurance company.  Along the way, he meets John C. Reilly’s character (who totally steals the show and is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors), and Anne Heche’s character (who was so pretty with long red hair that I didn’t even realize it was Anne Heche at first), and both characters indoctrinate him in all ways of debauchery.  The result is a comedy that is hilarious in the most uncomfortable way possible.  7/10.

Paper Moon (1973)

As with most of the “older” films I recommend in this column, I wonder how I only recently got around to watching this one.  Ryan and Tatum O’Neal star as a team of father-daughter cons who go around selling Bibles to the widows of recently deceased men in depression-era Kansas.  I found myself wondering if this film was the spiritual Godfather of the Coen Brothers’ movies—main characters in a specific middle-America setting who get in over their heads with something—although director Peter Bogdanovich is a little more light-hearted and screwball than the Coens.  Young Tatum O’Neal is the standout performance-wise, but Bogdanovich regulars Ryan O’Neal and Madeleine Kahn are also great.  Currently on Netflix Streaming.  8.5/10.

Kick-Ass (2010)

The only thing that made this film worth watching to me was Chloe Moretz’ performance as an 8 year-old lethal assassin.  The story set up to be fairly interesting, if a little cliché: a nerdy kid (in a very average performance from Aaron Johnson) starts to fight crime under the pseudonym “Kick-Ass” in order to raise his self-esteem, who meets several people along the way that may or may not also be interested in fighting crime along with him.  An intriguing concept to me was the various shades of gray represented between hero and villain in the story.  However, neither one of these aspects of the story were executed with any sort of emotional connection, and the result is a standard action film with a lot of thematic potential left on the table.   5/10.  

Summer of Hits & Misses

My life is back.  After a summer spent toiling away at my legal studies—studies which, at points, seemed about as useful in a real-world setting as going to Wikipedia, clicking “random article” and memorizing the first 300 pages that they pop up—I can finally get back to doing a thing or two that I actually enjoy.  This morning, for example, I woke up at 6:30 (optimum film-watching time for me, for whatever reason), ate an embarrassing amount of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, drank coffee in my underwear, and watched Dog Day Afternoon, and it was one of the best mornings of my life.

And, of course, this also means that I hope to be updating here more often.  I plan to bring back my Film Friday column, talk a little bit more about upcoming movies that you may or may not be interested in, and hopefully give a little bit more depth on this year’s awards race, which is shaping up to be pretty great. 

This summer in film has given us some head-scratching hits and misses.  For example, why did Thor do so well but The Green Lantern didn’t?  Why is Smurfs destroying everything in its path while poor Winnie The Pooh was hung out to dry?  Who knows.  For now, I thought a good way to cover some ground that I’ve missed over the summer would be to identify some personal hits and misses.   I’ll also throw in some other general hits and misses from the summer, both in the movie realm and in otherwise.

Hit: Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.  I touched on it briefly in my Tree of Life review, but this was a very fun and imaginative effort by Mr. Allen, who didn’t necessarily tread any new ground thematically but looked at it from an impressively refreshing angle. 

My Disappointment of the Summer.

Miss: J.J. Abrams’ Super 8.  I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this, and at first I thought I would, but the plot here went from “fun and adventurous” to “Double-U-Tee-Eff” in a matter of about 14 minutes, and it ruined the whole thing for me. 

Hit: My first summer where I’ve lived at an apartment with a pool/hot tub. 

Miss: Not being able to actually go to the pool due to studying.

Hit: My first watching of Gone With The Wind.  As I tweeted afterward, it’s completely worth the hype. I’ll have to knock off half a point for the romanticizing of the antebellum south, but other than that it sits nicely at a 9.5/10 for me.  The horrific final hour of the first act is among the most riveting sequences of cinema I’ve ever seen. 

Miss: AMC Theatres charging $15/ticket for a fake IMAX screen. Give me a break.  If I’m going to get raped by a price at the movie theater, at least let me get some popcorn and coke out of it.

Hit: Ryan Gosling in Crazy Stupid Love.  The movie itself was meh, but Gosling (and his love interest Emma Stone) were well-worth the price of admission.  Plus, when my wife oggles him, I can’t even be mad because even I realize what a sexy beast he is.  It’s unfair, really.

Miss: Everyone else in Crazy Stupid Love, especially the annoying 13-year old pervert son. 

Hit: The Taco Bell, Chipotle and Starbucks that were right across the street from CU, where I spent most of my summer studying.  It’s like they knew exactly what I needed.

Miss: My digestive system, due to Taco Bell & Chipotle.

Hit: For the snob in me, the Cannes Film Festival back in May produced some much-buzzed-about films to be released over the coming months.  The Artist, Melancholia, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Skin I Live In, and especially Drive (starring the aforementioned Mr. Gosling) are all on my radar, and they should be on yours, too.

Miss:  Anyone who went to see Zookeeper.

Hit: The NFL in ending the lockout.

Miss: United States Congress. You know why.

Hit: Matthew McConaughey in The Lincoln Lawyer.  Surprisingly good performance in a surprisingly good film.

Miss: Source Code.  Apparently I’m in the minority on this one, but this was a disappointment to me. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Hit: Me actually having time to watch and write about films again. 

Miss: The U.S. unemployment rate, which is why I will have time to watch and write about films again.

Top 10 Animated Films All-Time: Pt. II

Before unveiling my top 5, there are some honorable mentions that I’d like to hand out:

Sword in the Stone

Bambi

Toy Story 3

WALL*E (Just missed the top 10)

Coraline

Cinderella

The Secret of Nimh (scared the crap out of me as a kid)

Melody Time (so underrated)

The Jungle Book

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

#5:  The Illusionist (2010)

Only non-Disney entry on the list, which I also wrote about in detail here in my top-10 of 2010 list.  I do try to be objective most of the time, and objectively this is a brilliant film, but for me there’s a subjective component as well: anytime there’s a relatively unknown and unseen film, in true hipster fashion I will champion that film all the more.  It’s just human nature.  Regardless, this film is beautiful both aesthetically and thematically; it’s sweet, fun, heartbreaking, and unique.  Everyone needs to go to Redbox and rent this immediately. 

#4:  Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Let's be honest: the hookah-smoking caterpillar
is the coolest Disney character EVER.

3 films on my list, including Alice, Fantasia, and my #1 choice, were all considered flops by Disney at the time of their release.  With Alice, this makes a lot of sense to me, because it doesn’t strike me as the type of film that would enthrall a majority of children in the ‘50’s—it definitely lets its freak flag fly a lot, which is when it’s at its best.  It’s also the reason that Tim Burton’s version this past year doesn’t hold a candle to the animated version; for all of Tim’s hype of being an off-kilter director, he tried to make the setting weird without letting the story play out in such wonderfully chaotic and confusing fashion as this one does—a fatal mistake.

#3:  Ratatouille (2007)

My second Brad Bird film on this list, and Pixar’s best, as far as this blogger is concerned.  As if the beautifully-detailed animation of Paris, the sophisticated and lavish portrayal of France’s food culture, and the outstanding musical score weren’t enough, what really makes this film an accomplishment is the story and the writing, which was Oscar-nominated.  Perhaps no other film that I’ve ever seen has so poignantly shown the struggles of an artist—the struggle of being recognized by his industry as an unknown, and the struggle for understanding and acceptance from his family.  This is highlighted by some great writing in one of the best parts of the film, a monologue by food critic Anton Ego, in a review of Remy’s food:

Great animation here from the good folks at Pixar.

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core.  In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.

#2: Beauty & The Beast (1991)

Clocking in near the top of the list is my favorite of the early-90’s comeback films from Disney, and the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.  It also contains my favorite music of all the Disney films.  If you don’t get at least a little emotional when Belle walks down the stairs to the ballroom while the piano prelude to “Beauty and the Beast” plays, then please go find a soul somewhere.  Other aspects that make it a top contender:

1.  The film’s intro: great music coupled with an artfully crafted retelling of how the Beast became a beast through stained-glass window storyboards.

2.  Belle is the most beautiful animated female in history.  By Far.  Is that a weird thing to say?

3.  Great supporting cast, Lumiere in particular. 

4.  Best love story of all the Disney movies.

5.  Great rustic animation of the French town, the castle & surrounding land, and the various set pieces, such as the lodge where Gaston hangs out.

6.  (Belle is hot).

#1: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Many of you knew this was coming.  Recently, my while trying to defend my adoration of this film to my brother-in-law, he accused my parents of not raising me right.  Seeing as my top two films here have “Beauty” in the title, I’m questioning that myself.  However, allow me to defend my #1 pick through an explanation and a few videos.  

The animation in this film was modeled after medieval art, and the sort of sharp, angular way it is drawn is visually beautiful yet dark and harrowing at the same time.  It also has one of my favorite villains of all time, Maleficent, who is graceful, eloquent and oddly beautiful all while being arguably the most evil biyatch ever put on screen.  The musical score is great--it's solely Tchaikovsky's music from his ballet, which I think is cool since it's the only Disney movie to do something like that.  Just look at the use of these design elements coupled with a creepy part of the musical score in this section (with Chinese subtitles, no less!)

Pretty creepy.  For some more creepiness, if you have the time, watch this final encounter with Maleficent as she turns into the dragon.  The music here is just ridiculously good, and the artistic elements even better if you realize what the animators are going for—one might assume that the angular art is elementary, but it actually perfectly resembles the harsh nature of the film as well as the medieval time period itself.  Particularly, the thorns and the flames in this scene, as well as the castle, are a good example of that objective. Check it out:

I appreciate the producers of the film trying to do something truly different--it was kind of risky to animate like that instead of using the usual sort of "soft", kid-friendly animation and the typical "fun" Disney original songs which are not present here--and oddly enough in their endeavor to create a true work of art they also ended up making something that kids of all generations since have enjoyed nonetheless.  A unique visual style along with great music is something that will always, always, always appeal to me as a movie-goer. 

That's my list.  Hope you have enjoyed this magical journey.  The End.

Top 10 Animated Films All-Time: Part I

On Saturday I tweeted about a Time Magazine list authored by Richard Corliss that purported to be the 25 Best Animated Features of All Time.  As with most Disney children, this subject is obviously near and dear to my heart.  (Disney Children=anyone who grew up after VCR’s were invented and who wore out the tapes on our favorite animated Disney films and whose parents at least once considered committing a murder-suicide when their 4 year-old demanded to watch Robin Hood for the 8^th time in a week...just me? Ok.) 

So when I excitedly dove in to Mr. Corliss’s article, my excitement soon turned to confusion, which later turned into frustration, which quickly turned into anger, as I kept wondering where all of the good movies were, and how Happy Feet somehow made the list.  It’s seriously an awful list and left out some great classics, not only Disney but otherwise as well.

This naturally led me to ponder over making my own personal list, which I now bestow upon you—the result of hours of tweaking and consideration (I know that sounds like I’m joking, but I’m not. Don’t judge me please).  My purview may not be as wide as a professional critic’s is, and thus have never been exposed to anything like The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) (which looks pretty sweet if you ask me, btw). I also haven’t had the honor of watching many seizure-inducing anime films, save for Spirited Away (2001), and I’m not totally sure they would be my cup of tea anyway.  My list is Disney heavy, but considering they’ve handily dominated the medium going on a century now, that’s not too much of a stretch, I don’t think. 

Hope you enjoy my list.  Here is Part I, where I will discuss my #'s 10-6.  In a day or two I will post my #'s 5-1 and some honorable mentions.  Let me know your thoughts and your own choices in the comments.  

(WARNING: TOTAL NOSTALGIA PIECE FOLLOWING)

#10:  The Lion King (1994)

Disney’s incredible makeover-run of Little Mermaid-Beauty and the Beast-Aladdin-The Lion King in the span of 4 years announced to the world that they were back, that they were staying for good, and that horny people worked for Disney (there is some sort of sexual Easter-egg in every one of those films.  I promise, look it up).  I definitely had a lot of trouble deciding what to pick for the last spot, but the great animation (ex: wildebeest stampede) and heartwarming, loosely Shakespearian story was enough to make the cut here.

#9:  The Incredibles (2004)

A lot of my favorite animated films have a healthy dose of style, which is what caught my eye and made me enjoy The Incredibles so much.  I love the mid-century design of the characters and setting which is perfectly reminiscent of the time period when superhero culture was so prevalent.  Director Brad Bird definitely has that eye for style, and always produces meaningful stories—in this case a man who desperately wants to buck the monotony of his daily routine, return to former glory, and be something special in the eyes of his family—and the subtlety and richness in the way he tells it is not found often in cinema, animated or live action.

#8:  Fantasia (1940)

Umm, this dude's kinda scary.

I mean, it’s not so much that I love the naked dancing winged babies (Clelyn tells me they’re called cherubim), or the devilishly handsome centaur men, but I do love the imagery that Disney was able to use here in combination with some great classical music.  This film is as much about the experience of watching it as anything, and from that standpoint, I think it is a wonderful success.  The animation is great not because it is incredibly meticulous, but rather, because it is so extravagant and lush—the various bursts of color and light is just great cinema.  And there are also more restrained portions that are equally compelling (like right here, for instance).  Simply a treasure in cinema history that will never be replicated.

#7:  101 Dalmatians (1961)

Love the London/England setting.  Love the great ‘60’s-era jazz.  Love the rigged British animation.  Love Cruella DeVille.  Love the awkwardly charming Pongo and Roger.  Love the tenseness in the scene where all the Dalmatians roll in the soot so as to trick Cruella.  Love the “twilight bark.”  What’s not to like? Next.

#6:  Robin Hood (1973)

With all due respect to Errol Flynn and Cary Elwes, this debonair cartoon fox is easily my favorite depiction of the legendary character (and with little respect to a sleepwalking Russell Crowe, or a laughably miscast Kevin Costner).  In addition to a host of fully realized characters, it also has the second-best music as far as this list goes (first coming up later).  A particularly great sequence to me is when the Sheriff robs an earnest church-mouse couple of their tithes, while Rooster Bob Dylan strums a great, simple acoustic tune, “Not in Nottingham:”

"Every town
Has its ups and downs
Sometimes ups 
Outnumber the downs
But not in Nottingham
I'm inclined to believe
If we were so down
We'd up and leave
We'd up and fly if we had wings for flyin'
Can't you see the tears we're cryin'?
Can't there be some happiness for me?
Not in Notthingham"

...Stay tuned for Part II!

Review: 'The Tree of Life'

Me and my wife’s first evening spent out and about in our new digs was celebrating my birthday, which I had spent alone (utterly alone) by myself the week before.  All I wanted for my birthday was the chance to see two new films that I had been highly anticipating from two of my top-10 favorite directors, Woody Allen and Terrence Malick.  Their two films, Midnight in Paris and The Tree of Life, respectively, could truly not be any more different, so it was really an interesting double feature.  Woody’s latest combines his distaste for intellectualism with a charmingly fantastical narrative, which follows Owen Wilson around Paris at night as he meets an eccentric cast of characters, who give him inspiration in his first attempt at writing a novel.  The dialogue is plentiful, the themes are (for better or worse) exposed and overexposed, it’s not lacking in wit or romance, and it is all around a good time at the movies.

Juxtapose that with Malick’s latest and the focus of this review, The Tree of Life, which focuses not on the intellectual, but rather on the spiritual and the instinctual, and compared to Allen's Paris, is extremely contemplative and sparse.     

Where to begin with a film this ambitious—honestly the most ambitious film I’ve ever seen.  I held off on tweeting about it, as I normally do, right after I saw it, because what could I say that could give any sort of indication of my thoughts?  It would be an insult to cram the breadth of a proper reaction to a film like that into 140 characters. 

But I will start where Malick starts, the Book of Job in the Old Testament: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  While the morning stars sang together, and the angels shouted for joy?”  Yes, a spiritual film this is, and there are many Christian symbols and references, yet I feel that anyone with a general belief in the human soul, or even someone who seeks purpose on this earth, will glean something from this film. 

The film follows the O’Brien family of Waco, TX, and in terms of a narrative, there’s honestly not much more to say.  The only major plot device comes at the beginning of the film, which reveals that one of the three sons in the family is dead at the age of 19, though we do not know the cause.  The oldest son, Jack, is seen in the present contemplating and grieving over this loss, while his parents back in the ‘60’s are grieving it as well, calling out desperately to God and boldly questioning him.  The abstract jumping around time periods and settings in this sequence really gives you only a taste of where it is about to go.

Remember when I said the film is ambitious? Yeah...a few minutes into the film, Malick conducts a 20-minute overture of the creation of the universe and the earth.  No dialogue, just CGI’d cosmic beauty and operatic voices showing us how inconsequential our existence is.  I mean, I don’t even know if you can call it ambitious, it’s like that word doesn’t even begin to describe what the film does here.  And the majesty and glory of it is breathtaking—unlike anything you’ve ever seen, I promise.

The bigness of the cosmos gives birth to the smallness of the beginnings of the O’Brien family (Brad Pitt and the beautiful Jessica Chastain being the patriarch and matriarchs of the family), who we see getting married, having children, and building a life together.  The family scenes are fairly episodic—it is really as much about the 1950’s Texas setting as it is narrative, yet each little episode does have meaning to it.  I found some of these scenes a little lengthy and ponderous, and it did take away from my enjoyment of the film, yet my co-critic disagreed with me on this point, so I suppose it’s entirely subjective. 

The Biblical allegory is fairly clear: Mr. O’Brien represents “the way of nature”, and Mrs. O’Brien represents “the way of grace,” which references the Old/New Testament versions of salvation.  But it also runs deeper than that: as Jack, the oldest son, grows older, we realize that grace and nature is not an either/or situation, but one of inner conflict that he must overcome.

If you are familiar with any of Malick’s other films, you know how much imagery is used to tell his stories.  In The New World, shots of unexplored coastal Virginia tell the story of coming to a new place and beginning a new life; in The Thin Red Line, tranquil islands in the Pacific Rim are beautifully shot to contradict the horrors of war being depicted on screen, showing the hypocrisy of initiating violence to achieve peace.  Even more so does nature play a role in telling the story of The Tree of Life.  Fundamental, but beautiful images of bodies of water, Texas live oak trees, and landscapes are used to remind us that this universe is not one of nature OR grace, but one of both, simultaneously.  


Additionally, it could be argued that the stupefying beauty and vastness of the cosmic elements during the creation sequence are not used to remind us of our insignificance, but rather, to highlight a similar complexity inside the human soul.   In that regard, the abstract nature of this film will certainly be unsettling for some, and even for myself was difficult to sit through at points, yet the power of its message is undeniable.  It’s a film that I admired more than I enjoyed, no doubt. 

The camerawork in this film is nothing short of a masterpiece.

So, back to the wonderful birthday date I was having.  One of me and my wife’s “fears” of moving to Denver from Houston was the downgrade in the sushi department, you know, being more landlocked and all (only in America in 2011 could that be even jokingly called a fear).  But in between the two films we saw, we decided to give a sushi restaurant a shot.  We walked about half a mile to the restaurant from the theater, soaking in the last bits of the Colorado sun and enjoying the cool breeze unfamiliar to us in the month of June. 

When we got to the restaurant, we enjoyed some sake and toasted to our life together in our new home.  We had an appetizer consisting of nothing but fresh raw scallops served with just a little fresh lemon and soy sauce, and they had that unadulterated, pure flavor that reminds you that God exists.  So we ate, laughed, had a wonderful conversation, enjoying each other’s company, and it was kind of one of those random wonderful moments in a marriage that make me incredibly grateful to be blessed in such a way. 

And so I was thinking about that moment in terms of the movie; how we sometimes think that God makes us feel small by the utter majesty of his nature, and we wonder why things happen to us, and wonder if God even cares.  But there are moments like the one I shared with my wife, which some would pass off as entirely insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, yet from my standpoint, somehow make me feel deeply and intensely connected with that power and the cosmic plan.  Some may walk into this film and feel small, but what I feel is part of a plan so beautiful and comprehensive that it had the time to include you and I.  In that way, this film is a message of hope, and it makes me realize that I should be nothing but grateful for the gift of partaking in the beauty of the conflict that lies in being a part of this world.

Film Friday: Woody Allen Edition

The first Woody Allen film I ever watched was 2004’s Melinda & Melinda, a fairly forgettable film (and possibly boring, but I’m not sure since I can’t even remember it), that should have been much better considering its unique script, which was two different takes on the same story from both a comedic and dramatic viewpoint.  Given that I had already prematurely claimed myself a film buff at that time, it’s kind of weird that I hadn’t seen any of Allen’s films yet.  However, I’m glad that I hadn’t, because his films are much more enjoyable when you have relatable life experience, i.e., been in love, and making someone fall in love with me had proved quite difficult through that point in my life.

Since then, I’ve seen probably 12 or so of his films, and I can tell you my experience has been a grab bag of everything from good, to really good, to mediocre, to stunningly great, to simply awful.  Go ahead right now and take a look at his IMDb filmography.  He’s written and made a movie EVERY SINGLE YEAR since 1977.  Every year!  That’s unprecedented.  So with a filmography that huge, everyone’s “Woody DNA” will inevitably be unique: some things you will hate that others love, and vice-versa.  I plan on watching several more over the course of the spring and summer, and see what gems I have missed.  Per my usual Film Friday column, I will lay out a couple I liked and one I hated.  Just remember that your Woody DNA might be different than mine.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

VCB is your run of the mill Woody script, dealing with various love triangles and relationships.  The thing that makes it your better-than-average Woody to me is the acting, which gives it substantially more charm than, say, Melinda & Melinda or Scoop.  And the major source of that comes from Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (who won an Oscar for her role), the violently-in-love couple depicted in the film (and in real life, since they just created what will probably be the most beautiful child in human history).   I also enjoyed the Spanish locations and working in various elements from that culture, such as food, art, music, etc.  Woody doesn’t really say anything new here, but it moves briskly and entertains easily.  7/10.

Hannah & Her Sisters (1986)

Romantic comedies are, in my opinion, one of the most difficult genres to do well—lots of filmmakers can do either funny or real, even in the same movie, but it’s hard to do both at the same time.  That’s why, when I saw Annie Hall back over Christmas, I gave it a 9/10 and thought it was the best Woody Allen film I had seen thus far.  That was until I watched Hannah & Her Sisters a couple of weeks ago, which now sets the bar for me.

The Manhattan-set story follows the lives and various romantic relationships of three sisters.  Hannah (Mia Farrow) is a family-woman and down-to-earth homemaker, whose husband (Michael Caine) falls for her younger sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey), who is also in a relationship.  Woody Allen also stars and basically reprises his role from Annie Hall, but is more charming and funny here than in that movie—and trust me, it was as weird for me to write as it was for you to read a sentence that contains the words “Woody Allen” and “charming” together, but it’s true.  Finally, Dianne Weist, who won an Academy Award for this role, plays the eccentric third titular sister who rekindles a relationship with Allen’s character.

The script is chalk-full of relationship issues family-dynamics, but it’s all woven together marvelously.  It’s not as funny as Annie Hall, but it is quite a bit more romantic.  As I said with a review of that movie a few months ago, I wish Woody would slow down with his film-a-year routine and maybe try and tailor a script that functions at a level this high.  9.5/10 (for anyone keeping score at home, that's the highest mark I've given a film so far in this particular column).  

Whatever Works (2009)

A year after the entertaining Vicky Christina Barcelona, Woody made the worst film of his that I’ve seen.  I thought there could be no better vessel for the neurotic characters that Woody comes up with than Larry David, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm and creator of Seinfeld.   But I was wrong—so wrong.  All of the characters are the biggest stereotypes imaginable—the liberal elitist atheist, the bible-banging southerner, the naïve teenage bimbo—it got really old really fast.  I haven’t had as big of an urge to walk out of a movie in a long time.  2/10.