Monthly Archives: February 2013

Review: A Good Day to Die Hard

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25 years after his first adventure, NYPD Detective John McClane is back, in his fifth film, A Good Day to Die Hard.  McClane’s last outing, in 2007, we were given man left behind by the modern world and confronted with a threat he couldn’t fully comprehend.  He was partnered with a geeky companion, and the juxtaposition was the perfect way to reintroduce Die Hard for the modern era.  This time out, McClane travels to Russia in an attempt to help his son, who has been arrested for an assassination.  I can see how this seemed like the perfect setup, offering plenty of opportunity for McClane to be a fish-out-of-water in a similar way to the very first film.  The only problem is that I think the filmmakers have never seen a Die Hard movie before.
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Analysis: Argo and Filmmakers’ Responsibility

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Even before Argo won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Hollywood’s top honor, it was already being plagued by controversy.  (Nevermind the fact that every other nominee was controversial in some way: Lincoln got easy facts wrong, Silver Linings Playbook mishandled mental illness, Beasts of the Southern Wild romanticized poverty, Zero Dark Thirty lied about torture’s effectiveness, Django Unchained was racist and used the n-word too much, Russell Crowe’s singing was horrible in Les Miserables, Life of Pi misrepresented Indians and religion, and Amour advocates assisted suicide and wasn’t even in English!)  It’s nothing unusual for films to encounter controversy, or even to court it, but the debates this year about facts and politics in film have raised questions (none of them new) about the responsibility of filmmakers to the audience.
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2013 Oscars Recap

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Another Academy Awards ceremony has come and gone, and overall it was an enjoyable evening.  There were few surprises among the award winners, though I only correctly predicted 16/24 winners correctly (equaling my score from last year, at least I’m consistent).  In addition to there being no real surprises there are also no winners that I feel were not deserving to win; even if I disagree with the outcomes, the awards went to quality films/performances which makes it hard to complain too loudly.  The show itself was enjoyable, if not spectacular, with some wonderful moments and some bits that fell flat, and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed Seth MacFarlane.  Read on to see my thoughts in a bit more detail.
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Review: Life of Pi

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“He said you had a story that would make me believe in God.”  This is both the essence and the greatest fault of Life of Pi.  It tells the beautiful and exciting story of the young Indian man, Pi, and his adventure adrift on a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.  It’s a gorgeous film, with amazing effects, and based on a book that most people thought to be unfilmable.  It has some impressive acting, is filled with many interesting and stimulating ideas and is in many ways a remarkable achievement, but throughout the movie that quote kept ringing through my head.
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Review: Silver Linings Playbook

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Pat (Bradley Cooper), a high school teacher in Philadelphia, is finally being released from a mental hospital after eight months.  He was sent there as part of a plea bargain after he discovered his wife with another man and almost beat him to death, a product of the bipolar disorder he was diagnosed with at the hospital.  He’s spent these last eight months working hard to improve himself, losing weight and dealing with his condition, in order to impress and reconnect with his wife, Nikki, if only he could get her to drop the restraining order.
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Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild

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Beasts of the Southern Wild is the sort of film that defies classification or description, by nature of its inherent simplicity and the complexity of interpretation.  It’s nominally the story of a girl whose community is devastated by a hurricane, but that’s merely the surface.  Beasts of the Southern Wild is one part environmental fable, one part coming of age story (maybe), one part morality tale about the links of the universe, and possibly many more things, all wrapped around one truly remarkable and unique performance.

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85th Academy Awards

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Once again, it’s time for Oscar predictions.  I did pretty well last year, getting 16 correct, and almost all of the major categories (curse you Meryl!).  This year is going to be an extremely tough one, given all of the drama involving Ben Affleck’s snub in the directing category.

Best Short Film, Live Action:
Prediction: Curfew
My Pick: N/A

Best Short Film, Animated:
Prediction: Paperman
My Pick: Paperman
Everyone loved Paperman, which played before Wreck-it Ralph.  It’s a perfectly sweet and heartfelt hand drawn/CG combination, and seems like a certainty. Continue reading →