2012 Viewing Journal #7

"The Experiment"

A remake of a German film of the same name, and based on a real life experiment where volunteers take the roles of prisoners and guards in a simulated jail setting, this Adrien Brody/Forest Whitaker vehicle is conceptually sharp, but seeing it's based on a number of previous ideas, there's gotta be more than just that to carry its narrative. And while the performances are what you'd expect with the pedigree, it's just a rote thriller trying to arrive at a resolution to tie up the plot. I really liked the original film, this one, not so much.

"Wonder Woman: 2011 TV Pilot"

Now this, I don't get. Word on the street about this unaired one hour WB show was that it was bloody awful. Unwatchable dreck. The network hated it and based on the black market leaks of the :42 minute pilot episode, the fan base hated it as well. And I don't get it.

The concept makes solid sense. Wonder Woman's personas - her superhero presence, her public image, and her secret identity - all work quite well. Her relationships with the her employees (she runs a Tony Stark-like empire of some kind), and the police also feel plenty developed. Performances are fine, action is cool and most importantly... the costume works! She's wearing it for a reason.

I, for one, thought the producers did a fine job with this and based on some of the unwatchable dreck I've seen come out of pilot season.... I just don't get it.

2012 Viewing Journal #6

"The Grey"

Liam Neeson can be pretty badass, and while I certainly dig him in this new Joe Carnahan flick, I'd hesitate calling 'The Grey' a particularly good movie. It has moments, plenty of them in fact, and tonally, it's certainly consistent, which is to say, dire. But its narrative push errs on the side of inevitability, which can be tough to pull off.

It's greatest strength is the natural element in which we find our characters. I'm not sure I remember a more damning exterior environment then the bleak wilderness portrayed in the film, however, I'm also not sure I've ever doubted the effect such an environment had on human bodies. While I'm admittedly basing my opinion on other movies (Steven Seagal's 'On Deadly Ground', one of them), I just can't believe these fellows would have survived a night in this Alaskan locale. What do I know, though? I just found myself comparing Liam Neeson's beard-ice to that if Kurt Russell in 'The Thing', and it doesn't come close to competing.

2012 Viewing Journal #6

"Intruder"

I was introduced to 'Intruder', a little 1989 horror flick written and directed by Sam Raimi acolyte Scott Spiegel, by way of a dupey, grey market VHS tape of the workprint, a holy grail of sorts at the time, because of the movie's innovatively gory murder set pieces, including grue cut by the MPAA in the general release tape.

This release, by Synapse Films, includes that VHS sourced cut, as well as a new digitally remastered version of the true director's cut. Such a great release of a terrific indie treat.

"Warrior"

With the exception of a ill conceived split screen training montage, I found Gavin O'Connor's 'Warrior' to be a near flawless movie. With the genius of giving us TWO contenders for whom to root, 'Warrior' tells the story of a broken family which can only be repaired by brute force. Moreso than even 'Rocky', it creates relationships that feel genuine - between brothers and their father, between husband and wife and most successfully, between brother and brother.

After a series of satisfying narrative conclusions, fight climaxes and empathetic resolutions, the 2 hour and 20 minute movie left me exhausted, physically and emotionally.

2012 Viewing Journal #5

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Having read the three books, and having recently watched the Swedish version of this film, I feel qualified to hyperbolize my reaction to David Fincher's new film, and to the performance of Mara Rooney in the title role. And my hyperbole is thus - 'the single greatest movie made from a Stieg Larsson novel ever!'

Far superior to the Swedish film and like, Jonathan Demme's 'Silence of the Lambs', William Friedkin's 'The Exorcist' and Fincher's own 'Fight Club', a movie that at least equals, and arguably surpasses, the art of the original novel. Highly recommended.

"Contraband"

Mark Wahlberg's new flick is EXACTLY how you may imagine it to be. If the trailer impresses you enough to pay the ticket price (which it actually didn't for me, I just honestly found myself at the theater with nothing better to do), then you'll be all set. Passable and competent in every way (again, based on your interest and expectation from the trailer, it's a fine, passable and competent heist drama.

2012 Viewing Journal #4

"The Ides of March"

Politics are so adult. So dramatic. As is George Clooney's new flick. And for a while, it moves along wonderfully, giving us an insider's look at Governor Clooney's campaign through Ohio during a tense Democratic primary race. We see backstabbing and moral righteousness and dingy campaign headquarters... and then... ugh, we see plot. We see conflict. And we see it all in cliched movie conflict spades. It's a shame, too, because the movie is pretty great until they introduce a central plot point that ends up driving the rest of the narrative. I'd still recommend it, just by qualifying that it's not as smart as you may think it be.

"Hostel Part III"

The title is classy, 'Godfather'-like. No vulgar "3" or silly subtitle preceded by a colon. The movie is less so; it's predicable, obvious, and worst of all, tame. There isn't a single moment that induces a cringe, a wince or is worth a damn. The setting is lame (Las Vegas), the characters lamer (bachelor party yahoos) and the kills, the only thing for which anyone would watch a 'Hostel movie, lamest of all. It actually makes me yearn for series originator Eli Roth, who I think is a douche, but clearly a 'Hostel'-film-writer/director with a better sense of humor, vision and depravity.

"Game of Thrones"

I'm halfway finished with the second book in the series and, though I'm only five episodes in its television incarnation, it's clear that HBO knows what the hell they're doing with this property. I'm really trying to figure out a way to maintain a steady intake of 'Game of Thrones' in both book and show form. If I read slow enough, watch seldom enough, I think I may make it.

2012 Viewing Journal #3

"Limitless"

Shot in a stunning 2.40:1 aspect ratio, using gorgeously stylized shooting and post techniques, this shallow little beauty runs out of steam halfway through the second act, but it's still a keeper. I don't think the movie knows if it's about addiction or capitalism or Russian loan sharks, but I guess it doesn't really matter. The final fifteen minutes are dramatically satisfying, but supremely irresponsible filmmaking - which leaves me hoping the movie is about capitalism and Russian loan sharks.

"In Time"

For some reason, this movie and 'Limitless' seem a high concept couple. Perhaps it was their proximity in release, or maybe the fact that both male leads were supposedly up for the role of 'Green Lantern'. More likely they just represent Hollywood's ability to develop narratives easily explained in six words or less. Whatever the reason, the movie is a ludicrous joke of a brilliant concept. No wonder Harlan Ellison dropped his case after having seen it.

"Drive"

While deceptively simple in plot, 'Drive' packs a nut cruncher of a narrative. I was 40 minutes when I realized little had happened, but I was confident I was in the hands of a director who knew what he was doing. It reminded me of Michael Mann's 'Manhunter' and William Friedkin's 'To LIve and Die in LA', though that may just have been the Wang Chung-ian soundtrack. A fabulous, fabulous crime drama.

2012 Viewing Journal #2

"Midnight In Paris" I'm not really willing to do the research, but I'm pretty sure Woody Allen has made a film a year for a lot of years. His most recent is the only one I've seen in many of those years. I think since 'Hollywood Ending'. I've been meaning to catch up with 'Match Point', knowing its pretty great, but things happen.

God, did I love this movie. I spoke to me on levels, both cinematic and emotional, on which I've rarely been spoken. My affection for it is very personal, but very real. Like 'Purple Rose of Cairo' and 'Zelig' (all three for very different reasons), it's a Woody Allen movie I'm sure to return to often.

"Contagion" If the reports of Steven Soderbergh's retirement are true, we'll be losing someone truly special in cinema today. While I'm not sure he's a genius director, he's a craftsman whose cinematic choices are as varied and well executed as any we've ever seen. 'Contagion' is his contribution to the biological horror genre - a cautionary tale of disease in our global community. And damn, is it scary.

What impressed me most about the film is its effortlessly expository storytelling. So much 'plot' needs to be conveyed and Soderbergh is able to do so visually, through action and interaction, escalating the conflict behind our backs and under our radar. One minute we're experiencing the spread of the disease through moments intimate and discreet, the next, through scenes of suburban decline and urban rioting. Great stuff, this.

2012 Viewing Journal #1

"The Descendants" I really thought I liked Alexander Payne. My kneejerk, upon seeing the trailer to his new film, was: 'looks like another winner'. My tenuous memories of his films included great performances and grand themes embedded in 'a man against...' narratives. I wasn't sure what George Clooney was facing in this one, but I had faith in Payne, based on my memory of his oeuvre.

I only just now realized his oeuvre is: 'Citizen Ruth', 'Election', 'About Schmidt' and 'Sideways'. 'Citizen Ruth', I've never seen. 'About Schmidt', I kind of hated. And 'Sideways', I liked enough, but thought overrated. 'Election' was the neuron that kept firing in my brain when I considered Payne's work. I really, really like 'Election'. It's a terrific film. And I realized that my admiration of Payne was based on this, his theatrical debut. It still is.

'The Descendants' lives in the same world as 'Little Miss Sunshine', and though a fine movie, it's one too filled with quirk (irascible old father-in-law, tag along stoner, adorable little scamp), faux-pathos and melodrama.

"I Saw the Devil" Jee-woon Kim's revenge fantasy / crime drama is a fairly audacious piece of filmmaking. The plot follows a cop playing a sick game of cat and mouse with the serial killer who murdered his fiance. The lengths to which the cop 'tortures' his prey defies both story logic and character sanity, but it's great fun to watch the players squirm and fall deeper and deeper into each others psychoses. Graphic and brutal, to be sure.

"The Skin I Live In" Almodovar is an odd filmmaker, one whose narratives plunge deep into oddball behaviors/themes/character, but whose style remains a bit pedestrian. He's not unlike David Lynch, though considerably more sympathetic to his audience when it comes to explaining things. His latest is certainly oddball, but ultimately a satisfying narrative on the theme of beauty and gender, with a little revenge and horror thrown in the works. I dug it.

"Attack the Block" Not unlike 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' in terms of overall 'fun', 'Attack the Block' is a breezy British import by some of the same filmmakers (though, not the principal creators). I'd say it probably exists somewhere in my Top 10 for 2011.