Feminist Fairytales

Movies: Frozen

I would like to dedicate this review to Phyllis Schafly, a woman who tirelessly worked against women's rights from the 1970's to today. Her greatest achievement was seeing the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have made it unconstitutional to discriminate against people based on their sex, fail to be ratified.

Also, she said this about marital rape at Bates College in 2007 (2007, that's less than a decade ago): "By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape".

I dedicate this review of Frozen to Schafly in the same way a conquerer might devote a prayer or a thoughtful comment to a defeated foe. Despite Schafly's, and others like her, devotion against gender equality, we live in a culture undeniably influenced by the women's rights (as well as civil rights and gay rights) movements of the past century. We certainly don't live in a utopia where women are 100% equal to men, minorities 100% equal to white people, etc--and we may not live to see that world fully realized--but our understandings of women and men have been radically altered by feminism. And I don't believe it will ever go back to the way it was before.

Just think: even the most conservative Christians have arguments about "complementary" and "egalitarian" marriages. The very fact that there is an argument to be had, and discourse in which to have it, shows feminism's influence. No one but the most blatantly hateful traditionalists would say that women are "less than" men (yes, I know they have a million ways of saying it without REALLY saying it, but the fact that they are muzzled in how they say it shows just how distasteful such a statement would be).

Again, I'm looking at the world--specifically the first world--optimistically. I'm not saying we don't still have a long way to go, but I see feminism, gay rights, civil rights, etc as the "winners" in the context of history.

So what does all this have to do with the Disney film Frozen? Well, to get right to the heart of it, it's a very different and progressive film. Especially given that Disney has a history of male heroes saving damsels in distress with the kiss of "true love". But dammit, y'all, Disney is trying! They gave us a cross-dressing Chinese heroine in Mulan, a (finally!) black princess in The Princess and the Frog, and increasingly active and strong female characters. Frozen continues this trend by subverting the Disney tradition of romantic, heterosexual love being the goal and focus of the story.

Frozen is about two sisters: Elsa and Anna are princesses of Arendelle, an Icelandic (Norwegian? Somewhere up north and really cold) kingdom. Elsa has a secret power to create ice and snow, but is unable to control it. After accidentally hurting her younger sister, Elsa's parents encourage her to repress and hide her powers. Ironically, the more she tries to repress and conceal her gifts, the less control Elsa has (which is pretty much the thesis of the movie).

When Elsa comes of age and take the throne of Arendelle, her powers are revealed. Accused of sorcery, she runs away and isolates herself in an ice palace, relieved to finally stop hiding her abilities. But unfortunately, Elsa's emotions have left Arendelle in a permanent state of winter. Anna must go on a journey to find Elsa and bring her back to the kingdom.

Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled!

When the sisters are reunited, they argue and Elsa once again accidentally strikes Anna with her powers--this time, in the heart. When Anna and Kristoff (the male hero, a mountain man who helps Anna) visit a family of trolls, they reveal that unless she is saved by an act of true love, Anna will end up frozen solid.

This is where the movie gets interesting. Anna assumes she needs to head back to Arendelle to receive a kiss from her suitor, Prince Hans, but when she makes it back she realizes that Hans has imprisoned Elsa and was never in love with Anna at all--merely pretending in order to marry her and then take the throne himself.

Anna and Elsa both escape Hans' clutches and make their way out into a blizzard--Anna is trying to reach Kristoff, whom she now knows is her true love, and Hans chases after Elsa to kill her. When Anna sees Hans about to kill Elsa, she rushes between them and freezes solid, blocking the blow. It is this act of true love--Anna's love for her sister--that saves both of their lives. Anna thaws out, and Elsa realizes that she can control her powers by opening her heart rather than closing it. Anna and Kristoff do kiss in the end, but their relationship isn't the crux of the story.

I found Frozen to be a bit cheesy and obvious. I don't watch a lot of children's movies, so I'm not used to their earnestness. But I couldn't help but be charmed by Frozen and it's message of love and self-acceptance. The film argues that being who you are gives you more power than trying to hide your supposed "flaws". That's a really strong message (there's also a queer reading of the film to be had--take that, Phyllis Schafly!) and goes beyond the traditional "good vs. evil" plot lines of vintage Disney.

Additionally, excellent songs ("Let it Go", "For the First Time in Forever", and "In Summer" were my favorites) and a funny performance by Josh Gad (well, his voice) as Olaf, a snowman brought to life add to the appeal of Frozen. Even though I initially thought the movie was corny and for kids, it has genuinely grown on me.

So, to bring it back to Phyllis Schafly, Frozen reveals how far feminism has come in our culture. It's a Disney movie that allows room for heterosexual romance without making it the focal point of the movie. It shows that sometimes the deepest love of all isn't to be found in romantic partner--but in our family, friends, and in ourselves. It celebrates being who you are--even if you sometimes screw up and hurt others. And it unabashedly portrays a world in which female power is not only tolerated, but embraced. It warms my supposedly man-hating, supposedly humorless (false on both counts!) little feminist heart to know that young girls and boys are seeing this movie and--hopefully--getting the message that finding the prince or princess of your dreams is only one part of the beautiful story that is your life.

4 out of 5 stars

Finally! The Best and Worst of 2013

Movies: Best of

Well, folks, I'm only about a month overdue, but I'm ready to share my favorite films and biggest disappointments of 2013.

For the longest time, I was disappointed in what 2013 had to offer. 12 Years a Slave was the obvious front runner, but everything else seemed like it could be pulled out of a hat. Compared to 2012, which was an amazing year for movies, 2013 seemed to be pretty weak tea.

However, in the past month I've seen some excellent films and feel a little more balanced. Without further ado, here are my picks for best films of the year.

***

10) Frances Ha

Rarely do we see female protagonists who are screwed up, but not irredeemably so, portrayed on the big screen. Female characters tend towards extremes: the perfect woman, wife, mother who has it all/does it all/is wise and courageous beyond words...or...psycho bitch. In Noah Baumbach's beautifully shot, awkwardly funny Frances Ha, we finally get a heroine who is imperfect in a realistic way, yet is also a woman worth rooting for. Co-written by and starring Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha is a quirky, feel-good film about being adrift in your twenties.

9) Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Nearly everyone who has seen Catching Fire says it's better than the first film in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I have to agree. Catching Fire is darker and more cynical than its predecessor (which is saying a lot for a series where kids kill kids), but it also seems to have more meat to it. More emphasis is placed on the society of Panem and the revolution roiling within its citizenry, and Katniss Everdeen (played by everyone's crush, Jennifer Lawrence) begins to come into her own not just as a strong young woman, but as a leader.

8) Much Ado About Nothing

Times change, but Shakespeare is Shakespeare. Using slick black and white cinematography and his own house as the setting, director Joss Whedon brings Will Shakes into the 21st century. With strong performances by leads Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof as Beatrice and Benedick--lovers who begin as fighters--Much Ado About Nothing is a romp with humor that feels surprisingly fresh for a play written 400 years ago.

7) Gravity

Certainly the film with the most fantastic visuals of 2013, Gravity has a heart and soul as well. There were many things I found imperfect about Alfonso Cuaron's intense flick (George Clooney's performance was too Cloonian and the movie was wildly unrealistic to the point where I couldn't really suspend my disbelief), but Sandra Bullock's performance as a grieving mother set adrift in space was just too powerful to deny. Her physical journey may not have been up to Neil deGrasse Tyson's expectations, but her emotional and metaphorical journey as a woman who feels she has nothing to live for and chooses life anyway, is heartwrenching and beautiful.

6) The Conjuring 

In previous years, I wouldn't have dreamed of ranking a horror film above an Oscar bait film such as Gravity, but damn, everything is just SO GOOD about James Wan's retro ghost story. Every single performance--from Lily Taylor as the terrified mom of five girls to Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the married couple who dedicate their lives to ghost hunting--is excellent. The movie is frightening without resorting to gimmicks or gore. And the costumes/furniture are retro-fabulous and definitely make the movie feel real and lived-in (it's based on a true story, by the way). Hundreds of horror films come out each year, but only a few qualify for critics' "best of" lists.

5) The World's End

How, how, how is it possible for a movie to feature robots, aliens, alcoholism, and the apocalypse and not be a complete mess? The team behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, who are masters of genre-mixing, managed to create a film with desperately depressing plot lines (crippling alcoholism, the disappointment of middle age), science-fiction elements, and an end-of-the-world scenario that is also one of the year's best comedies. Starring Simon Pegg as pathetic man-child Gary King, who rounds up his buddies to relive an epic pub crawl of the their youth, The World's End offers something for everyone.

4) This Is The End

Speaking of the apocalypse, the OTHER great end-of-the-world comedy this year features satanic creatures and a demon-possessed Jonah Hill instead of robots and aliens. While The World's End has slightly more emotional oomph to it, This Is The End beats it out in the laugh department (well, in my opinion). Basing its humor in irreverent self-awareness (the actors, including Seth Rogen and James Franco, play versions of themselves) This Is The End requires you to come into the theatre already knowing who these actors are, their "reputations" in Hollywood, and the content of their films. Well, maybe it's not a requirement, but it definitely adds something to the movie. Yes, yes, there's a nice message about friendship and self-sacrifice in there, but I was too busy laughing so hard I couldn't breathe to pay much attention to it

3) The Wolf of Wall Street

And speaking of laughing so hard that one risks wetting herself, Martin Scorsese's over-the-top, greed-is-not-only-good-it's-fucking-awesome ode to Jordan Belfort, the titular Wolf of Wall Street, features the funniest scene in a movie this year. When Belfort and his business partner (played respectively by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill) take expired quaaludes and end up rolling around on the kitchen floor and trying to communicate despite a complete loss of vocal and muscle control, you'll think you're the one who's high. The morality of The Wolf of Wall Street can be debated ad nauseum, but there's no arguing about the sheer balls-out, drugged-out, out-of-their-minds performances by Leo and Jonah.

2) Her 

As a study in contrast, Leo's aggressively macho role in The Wolf of Wall Street could be compared to Joaquin Phoenix's vulnerable, gentle performance as Theodore Twombly, a lonely man who falls in love with his operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), in Her. A film with a premise that could have easily been laughable or atrociously sexist is so much more. It asks big questions: what makes something "real" or "human"? Can you fall in love with something not human? What is love anyway? And, to director Spike Jonze's credit, it offers no easy answers. Her is a brave movie in that it dares to rip our ideas about love and connection wide open.

1) 12 Years a Slave 

In a year of challenging, confrontational, courageous films, no film packs such a gut punch as Steve McQueen's brutal exploration of American slavery. Race relations in the United States have been explored in cinema many times before, with mixed results. Sometimes we get noble, yet overly sentimental films (Lee Daniel's The Butler). Sometimes we get sarcastic revisionist history (Django Unchained). And sometimes we get the black experience filtered through the lens of a privileged, white person (The Help). But has there been a film that is serious, un-sentimental, based solidly within the perspective of a black person/slave, and without cheap, two-dimensional caricatures? Some critics have pointed out that since director McQueen and lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor are both black, British men, they have the proper amount of distance to American slavery mixed with the knowledge of the black experience to create exactly the film we Americans need and deserve about our nation's greatest shame. McQueen's previous films have been good, but not great. Truly, his magnum opus will be 12 Years a Slave--a film both tender and torturous, agonizing and transcendent.


Honorable mentions: Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, You're Next, Behind the Candelabra, Blue is the Warmest Color

***

Biggest disappointments of 2013

Readers of this blog with keen eyes might notice that I very rarely rate films less than 3 stars. Is this because I simply enjoy ALL movies? Of course not! My reviews sway positive because I tend to see movies I think I will like. Unlike some movie buffs who will see anything, I limit my time and money to films I am genuinely interested in watching. And sometimes those movies disappoint. So here they are, the biggest disappointments of 2013.

7) Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings is last on the list (thus, the "best of the worst") simply through the sheer force of my desire for it to be good. And despite a wonderful performance by Daniel Radcliffe as a young Allen Ginsberg, it isn't good. Kill Your Darlings has everything I love: poetry, men kissing each other, Michael C. Hall...and yet I found it to be a real eye-roller, with tedious melodrama out the wazoo.

6) The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel about unrequited love was another movie I desperately wanted to like. With every inch of the screen crammed with beautiful things and people, and an anachronistic Jay-Z led soundtrack, The Great Gatsby had "cool" written all over it. But something just wasn't right. It was miscast (Leo as Jordan Belfort I'll buy, but as Jay Gatsby? Nope.), cheesy, and insincere. I can't blame Luhrmann too much, since the material he was working with is so good that any adaptation of it is bound to pale in comparison.

5) Anchorman: The Legend Continues

Anchorman 2 is a disappointing film that gets a little bit of leeway because, come on, was anyone expecting it to be good? Lightning rarely strikes twice, and the first Anchorman was less a successful film when it came out than a cult movie that slowly and surely grew on people. To try to capture that magic again was a fool's errand. Sure, there are laughs in Anchorman 2 (bats = "chicken of the cave"), but overall I was underwhelmed.

4) Mud

Now here is an interesting turn of events. Usually I am on the critics' side when it comes to movies. Mud, however, was an exception. Mud currently stands at a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 98%!! And yet, I found the movie very boring and slow. Matthew McConaughey is ok in it, I hated Reese Witherspoon's character, and not a whole lot happened. Many viewers found Mud heartwarming. I found it toothless.

3) The Way, Way Back

Another movie I felt like I was "supposed" to like and just couldn't care less about. This coming of age movie, despite its extremely impressive and talented cast, felt sticky and sentimental. I don't do well with sentimentality--probably because it strikes me as a very false emotion. While The Way, Way Back isn't exactly phony (if anything, it's overly earnest), I just didn't buy what it was trying to sell me.

2) Elysium

More like E-boring-um, amirite?! In this un-impressive futuristic sci-fi flick, Matt Damon wears a exoskeleton that he can use to download information directly into his brain. That's the sole interesting thing about this movie. I saw it months ago and haven't thought about it once since then. Next!

1) Gangster Squad

And now, for a truly BAD movie. From the dredges of Jan/Feb theatrical releases (a dumping ground for shitty movies) comes a film whose worst crime is having Ryan Gosling utter the line "Who's the tomato?" in reference to Emma Stone. I don't know about "who", but I'll tell you what the tomato is: rotten. Wasted talents, a predictable plot, characters that wouldn't be out of place in a Bugs Bunny cartoon for all their stereotypical silliness, and ridiculous "retro" slang: Gangster Squad hardly qualifies as a disappointment. It's merely a bad film.

***

That's all folks! Thanks for reading, and here's to a whole new year of great movie-watching!

Soul Singer

Movies: Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen brothers are undoubtedly masters of comedy. I find a lot of humor in how their characters talk, their turns of phrase: Walter Sobchak's "You're outta your element, Donnie!"; Delmar O'Donnell's "Well, you and me was fixin' to fornicate!"; Rooster Cogburn's "You are not LaBoeuf", etc etc. Nobody creates characters through the use of colorful language in quite the same way as the Coen brothers.

But underneath the mirth in their films is clear streak of sadness and violence. Fargo, for example, is a highly uncomfortable and depressing film. A Serious Man is basically about how an innocent man's life goes to shit for no reason. And don't get me started on the deep cynicism of No Country for Old Men.

Inside Llewyn Davis proves to exist in a middle space between the flat-out comedy of The Big Lebowski and the darkness of No Country. Although there are comedic moments, Inside Llewyn Davis has a distinctly melancholic flavor. That's probably because it's about a man who is destined not to succeed, despite his great talent.

The title character, Llewyn Davis, is a folk singer whose partner committed suicide. Unemployed, sleeping on begrudging friends' couches, Llewyn goes from gig to gig, barely scraping by. But he's not a noble, hard-working hero who is simply down on his luck. Llewyn is blatantly misanthropic, aimless, and liable to bite and gnaw on the very hands that feed him. He is indeed talented, with a beautiful voice and capable song-writing abilities, but in the words of the singer who will wipe away Llewyn's kind, "The times, they are a-changin'", and Llewyn's musical style is no longer en vogue.

Like Llewyn, the film is a bit aimless as well. There is a journey to Chicago, where Llewyn (played with the perfect mixture of vulnerability and curmudgeonliness by Oscar Isaac) meets a record producer who doesn't sugarcoat the fact that Llewyn's music will never make any money. There's a girl, Jean (Cary Mulligan, wearing extremely unflattering sweaters), who is carrying Llewyn's unwanted child and is preparing to have an abortion. And there's the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, where Llewyn plays for a pittance (literally, musicians pass a basket around, and probably make just enough for cab fare home). Even though the film is strewn with disappointments, I kind of liked it because it was realistic. Probably most artists, even ones with talent, face this kind of life. Starving artists are kind of like monks--vows of poverty in exchange for their God-given talents.

Inside Llewyn Davis is not my favorite Coen brothers movie. But it's still a solidly good film. And, boy, the music is gorgeous. My favorite song from the film was "If We Had Wings"--a song Llewyn recorded with his since deceased partner, Mike. It's melancholy and hopeful at the same time. A bit like the film itself.

4 out of 5 stars

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Movie: The Wolf of Wall Street

I have to confess that I feel a bit guilty for liking The Wolf of Wall Street so much. There's been some discussion among critics and bloggers and such about whether this is a film that decrys greed and excess or glamorizes it by holding it up on a platter for the audience's entertainment.

Some feminist publications have pointed out that while the film tries very, very hard to come off as edgy and outrageous (what with Leo blowing cocaine into a prostitute's rectum and all), it really just comes down to rich, white dudes making movies about rich,white dudes doing stuff that only rich, white dudes could get away with (it should be noted that Jordan Belfort, the film's...er..."protagonist"...did spend three years in prison before getting clean and rebuilding his life. A punishment, but a slap on the wrist given the insane amount of crimes he committed and people he fucked over).

My thought is that these critics are at least partially right. The Wolf of Wall Street is very much a movie that walks a fine line between simply portraying immorality and condoning it. And it sure does make immoral acts look fun and crazy!

But even if they are absolutely correct in their side-eyeing of The Wolf of Wall Street, it doesn't mean the film wasn't pretty damn entertaining. And featured hilarious and appropriately over-the-top performances by Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort and Jonah Hill as his business partner Donnie Azoff. Because I'd be lying if I said this wasn't one of the more enjoyable times I've had at the movies this year.

But let's put aside the fact that I and everyone else who saw this movie and liked it should probably go take a bath in holy water and focus instead on the above-mentioned performances by DiCaprio and Hill. DiCaprio is pretty much a sure bet. Occasionally, he's in movies that aren't great (everyone seemed to love Shutter Island, but I felt it was a completely contrived piece of baloney), but he himself almost never gives a bad performance. He seems to shine the brightest in dark, dramatic roles where the sort of innate masculine violence he harnesses so well comes out to play. Other than Django Unchained, which is not really 100% a comedy, DiCaprio hasn't been in a lead comedic role since 2002's Catch Me If You Can. And Jordan Belfort is the funniest role he's been in to date. You may have heard about the scene where Belfort and Azoff take expired quaaludes, and I assure you, it is the funniest scene of the year, perhaps one of the funniest scenes I've ever watched. I have never scene DiCaprio in such a physically comedic role like this before. But he pulls it off beautifully.

Hill, on the other hand, is just hitting his stride. Talk about an underdog story: the pudgy, foul-mouthed kid from Superbad has already been nominated for two Best Supporting Actor Oscars (Moneyball and WoWS). His role as Azoff could have easily been the "dorky sidekick" role to DiCaprio's handsome, alpha-male Belfort, but Hill not only holds his own but actually upstages DiCaprio in some scenes. Hill has proven himself to be a very gifted comedic actor, and it's a pleasure watching this unconventional actor go head-to-head with the more typical "leading man" type of actor Leo is. Their chemistry is absolutely nuts (in a good way).

Although Wolf of Wall Street clocks in at 3 hours (and, funny story, they actually had to start the movie over from the beginning about 10-15 minutes in when I saw it because the sound was fucked up), it didn't feel overly long to me. There will be those who disagree and say the film becomes repetitive near the end. Well, even though I was in that theatre for 3.5 hours, what with the re-starting of the film and previews, I was never bored.

I will give a disclaimer that this movie can be highly offensive. Women are treated as sluts and/or trophies (Margot Robbie gives a solid performance as Belfort's second wife, Naomi, although she is definitely there to showcase what an awful family man Belfort is, rather than as a strong character in her own right). The film has scenes of homophobia, ablism, sexism, racism...and all forms of rascalism. I will also say that I personally felt that I was laughing AT these politically incorrect antics, not WITH them. However, I can totally see some viewers (dudebros) being like "right on, brother". That's their problem though, not necessarily the film's problem.

As offensive as the film is, it's never lazy in the way, say, an Adam Sandler "comedy" is. The jokes may be x-rated, but The Wolf of Wall Street isn't a dumb film. Perhaps it takes a gifted director (Scorsese) and a gifted cast to spin what could have been an absolutely toxic film and into a smart, funny film that happily exists in an amoral gray area. Shit into gold. The perfect metaphor for The Wolf of Wall Street.

5 out of 5 stars

Only Connect

Movies: Her

Spike Jonze's latest film, Her, had the potential to be many negative things: creepy, cheesy, unrealistic. And yet somehow he directed a film of such sensitivity, such humanity, that I felt my heart swell near to bursting at the end.

Her is a movie where a guy falls in love with an operating system. Let's not mince words here. Basically, it's like someone falling in love with a more intelligent version of Siri. Can you imagine dirty talking with Siri (I bet you can, you perv!), because that is what happens in this movie. So you can see how easily Her could have been the butt of thousands of jokes.

Is it weird that when Joaquin Phoenix, playing the mild mannered Theodore Twombly, has sex (voice sex? aural sex? phone sex?) with Samantha, his new operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson, it's kind of hot? And it's hot not just because, I mean, hey, ScarJo has a sexy voice, but because you believe it. The actors make you believe it. It's a little disturbing how easy it is to believe in this relationship.

Her takes place in some future time that doesn't seem very far off from 2014. People are still addicted to their gadgets, only now everyone sports ear pieces they can use to check and respond to email, shift through news feeds, get their favorite music pumped directly to their earholes, etc. Theodore works at a company that composes other peoples' letters for them, and he is a master letter writer with a talent for words and an understanding of both deep and subtle emotions. Theo is also still recovering from a separation from his wife (Rooney Mara) and is not ready to sign the divorce papers despite angry calls from her lawyer.



When Theo buys a new operating system for his computer and handheld gadget thingy, he's surprised by the OS's intelligence, wit, and ability to adapt and learn. This new OS was programmed to evolve, much like a human does, when fed new information. The OS names herself Samantha, and it's not long before Samantha and Theo's conversations turn from cleaning up his email inbox to romance.

If you're feeling a little squicked out by the thought of a guy cuddling up to a disembodied voice, don't worry: Her isn't a straightforward romance as much as it is an exploration of what it means to love someone.

Theo's ex-wife accuses him of needing her to be someone she's not and of being fundamentally selfish in love. Their conversation reminded me of a quotation from another film Spike Jonze directed (although Charlie Kaufman wrote it), Adaptation. In the movie, one character says "You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago." That line always stuck with me, and not as an implication that love is a selfish emotion, but that it's an individual emotion. We're all going around in our little bubbles, and it takes a lot of guts to open that bubble up and let someone else in. Sometimes we open up and face rejection. Other times we start a relationship only for it to end in some way or another--break-up, divorce, death. But even if the love wasn't mutual or permanent, it doesn't mean it wasn't important or meaningful.

It's a testament to Joaquin Phoenix's acting abilities that he was able to create a character who was lonely, but not pathetic. I don't think I've ever seen a character in a movie like Theodore before. He's a sensitive, soft-spoken, gentle man who isn't the butt of the joke or the sidekick to an alpha male hero. The film intensely focuses on Theo's emotional life, and while there are definitely humorous parts, the movie takes his feelings very seriously and treats them like they're important and legitimate. And Phoenix really captures what it looks and sounds like when someone is guilty and distracted after seeing an ex, or horny and vulnerable at the same time. I feel like my words can't really do justice to his performance. I was blown out of the water by it.

There's a scene where Theo tells Samantha, "Sometimes I think I have felt everything I'm ever gonna feel". I don't think there is a human being on earth who can't relate to that. This idea, especially after a loss of some sort, that even if time heals all wounds, the world won't be as colorful or fascinating ever again. It's ironic that love and relationships allow us to dive into a technicolor pool of joy and wonderment--but also have the ability to take that same pool away.

I feel like no matter what I write in this review, I won't really convey the ideas and emotions that come out of the film Her. I just highly recommend seeing it. It's easily one of the best movies of the year, and it might change how you view what it means to connect with someone.

5 out of 5 stars

An Archer, an Anchorman, and a Con Artist Walk Into a Bar

Movies: Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Anchorman 2, American Hustle

Dear Readers,

Once again, I have been lax in updating this blog. Holidays, travel, etc etc. Below, I have 3 quick reviews of movies I've seen in the past couple weeks.

Please keep your eyes peeled for my "Best of 2013" blog entry coming soon! It may not happen until later in January since there are still some movies I want to see (Wolf of Wall Street, Her) before I finalize this list.

Until then, enjoy!


Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The second film in the Hunger Games trilogy is a rare example of a sequel being superior to its predecessor. The first Hunger Games film was exactly what we all expected--it set the stage for a dystopian world where a battle royale with children took place once a year as a ritual to remind the Districts of their submission to the Capitol. It introduced as to Katniss Everdeen, and her two potential love interests, Gale and Peeta.

There weren't a whole lot of surprises in the first Hunger Games and the social commentary was present, but not the main attraction. The focus of the film was how Katniss would survive the games. Catching Fire, however, ups the ante.

Katniss and Peeta are forced back into the Games due to a tricky loophole called the Quarter Quell--every 25 years, the Games are different and special. Because of Katniss' defiance of the Capitol, President Snow uses the Quarter Quell to round up previous winners (and, inevitably, Katniss, since she is the only female winner from District 12) and pit them against each other once more. Snow wants Katniss to die; but first he must kill the hope of freedom that she symbolizes to the Districts.


Catching Fire is darker than the first film, which is saying something considering the whole trilogy is about kids killing kids. The sense of anger is more severe--all the returning victors are furious at having Snow and the Capitol force them to fight again. Katniss and Peeta know that they can't pull their "so in love" stunt again, and thus, one of them has to die. Both of them separately make a deal with their mentor, Haymitch, for him to do everything he can to save the other.

Also, the satire is more prominent in this film. At one point, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) explains to Snow how to calm the rebellions in the Districts: fear and distraction. "What kind of dress will [Katniss] wear? Floggings. What will the cake look like? Executions." he says, blatantly referencing the culture of simultaneous fear-based news coverage and reality TV/celebrity obsession we live in. It's not subtle, nor should it be.

Catching Fire is a clear middle film in a trilogy since it ends with a cliffhanger than promises a huge turn of events for the final films (the last part of the trilogy will be split up). I haven't read the second and third Hunger Games books, though I do know the plots. But even knowing the ending, I'm excited for the final episodes of this intense trilogy.

4 stars out of 5

***

Anchorman 2

On the other end of the spectrum, here is a sequel that does not live up to its predecessor. Anchorman 2's biggest problem is that it tries too hard to be Anchorman 1. It offers more of the same, and very little of anything new or different.

Taking place about 10 years after the first Anchorman, Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone are married, have a son, and work together as a news team. When Veronica is promoted and Ron fired, Ron attempts to force Veronica to choose between him and the news. When she doesn't back down, Ron takes the offer of a job at a new 24-hour news channel and rounds up the old team: Champ Kind, Brian Fantana, and Brick Tamland. We get a round of the same jokes: Champ owns a chain of questionable fried chicken restaurants and is vaguely in love with Ron; Brian photographs kittens for a living and has an armoire filled with condoms; and Brick is so dumb, he mistakenly thinks he is dead and gives a eulogy at his own funeral (nice callback to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there, Adam McKay! Just kidding...Mark Twain has nothing to do with this movie).

Ron and the team face typical and obvious challenges at their new job--a younger, more attractive anchorman humiliates Ron; Ron has sex with his female boss; Brick falls in love with a female version of himself, Chani (Kristen Wiig). Cleverly, the film pokes fun at the current state of the news by having Ron and his team promote stupid, entertainment-style news over more substantial stories. In order to raise their ratings, Ron's team pitches the idea of giving their audience "the news they want to see" rather than the news they need to know. And thus, stories like "Top 50 vaginas" are born.

Anchorman 2 has its moments, and may even be better upon further viewing, but overall the movie tries too hard to capture the weirdness of the first movie. The first movie was a triumph by being low budget, odd, and heavily improvised. The sequel is higher budget, too self-conscious to be weird, and more scripted. All the things that made Anchorman a cult comedy are wiped a way with a trace of high-gloss sheen in Anchorman 2.

3 out of 5 stars

***

American Hustle

David O. Russell's follow-up to last year's genre-defying Silver Linings Playbook is equally intellectually stimulating, if a bit lacking in emotional depth.

Taking place in the late 1970's, a time when fashion was apparently defined by how hideous it could be, American Hustle is about a con man with a surprisingly sweet center. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) has a beer gut, an awful combover, but is weirdly sexy in a confident sleazeball kind of way. He owns a chain of laundromats and dupes investors into giving him $5,000 for nothing in return. He meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and the two become lovers and partners in crime, with Sydney pretending to be a posh British woman to attract more investors.


After an ambitious FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) goes undercover and busts Sydney and Irving, he offers them a bargain: work for him and help him do four more busts (mostly of crooked politicians), and the charges will be dropped.

Of course, by the end of the film, it's difficult to tell who is conning whom. There are double-crosses and fake (or is it real?) flirtations aplenty in this film. And when a violent mobster gets involved, the whole thing goes to shit.

Supporting the main cast are Jeremy Renner as Carmine Polito, the mayor of Camden, New Jersey whose crooked, criminal dealings are backed up by genuine love for his town; and Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Irving's unstable, yet tough wife. She, too, has a touch of con woman in her: when she "accidentally" lets it slip that her husband is working with the FBI to a mobster, it initially seems like she is too naive to know what kind of trouble she just got her hubby in. Yet, whether she blabbed consciously or on a subconcious level, it's clear that she's not as dumb as she sometimes pretends to be.

American Hustle is a solidly good and entertaining film, although I wasn't quite as taken with it as other critics were. However, I felt the same about Silver Linings Playbook initially, but on further viewings have come to appreciate it more and more. Perhaps I'll give American Hustle another watch in the not too distant future.

4 out of 5 stars