Hotel Zubrowka

Movies: The Grand Budapest Hotel

"[Boy with Apple] is a masterpiece. The rest of this shit is worthless junk."
 -M. Gustave

Once again I have the pleasure of reviewing a Wes Anderson film and once again Anderson has impressed me with with his singular brand of dry humor and stylistic storytelling.

The Grand Budapest Hotel has a very different feel to it than Anderson's last film, Moonrise Kingdom. Whereas Kingdom touched me deeply with its sincere depiction of young love, Hotel takes more of a comic caper turn with its story about a genteel, yet randy hotel concierge with a passion for older (as in, octogenarian) women who gets caught up in a family battle over a dead woman's fortune. Ralph Fiennes plays M. Gustave, the concierge of The Grand Budapest Hotel in the fictional country of Zubrowka circa 1932. Gustave takes his job with a pride and seriousness bordering on obsessive-compulsive. He runs a tight ship at the hotel, but he also takes the time to train young lobby boy, Zero Mustafa (played by newcomer Tony Revolori), and to make passionate love to 84 year old Madame D. (Tilda Swinton, unrecognizable behind a mask of wrinkles and age spots).

When Madame D. is found murdered, Zero and Gustave head to her family's estate to pay their respects. It turns out that although Madame D. left most of her fortune to her thuggish sons, Dmitri and Jopling (Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe), and daughters, she left a priceless painting, "Boy with Apple", to Gustave. Enraged by the knowledge that Gustave gave his mother the big one for near 20 years, Dmitri threatens Gustave, who retaliates by stealing the painting right off the damn wall.

Thus starts a domino effect which involves police chases, secret second wills, a prison break, and a ski chase on an alpine slope. Anderson masterfully blends his trademark aesthetics (perfectly framed scenes exploding with saturated colors) with a sense of playful silliness, but also tempered with moments of sexuality and violence rarely seen in other Anderson movies. The film feels packed, but in a good way--where you want to watch the movie multiple times to catch all the witty quips and weird details you missed the first time.

Much of the success of The Grand Budapest Hotel rests on the shoulders of Fiennes. This film is absolutely star-studded, with actors from Jude Law to Jeff Goldblum playing big characters and Bill Murray to Jason Schwartzman playing smaller roles. Yet, I think the "Wes Anderson Family Reunion" aspect actually takes away from the film. While it's delightful to see our favorite actors pop up for brief cameos, those moments took me out of the world of this film. The actors, for the most part, speak in their natural accents. So Ed Norton sounds like Ed Norton. Jeff Goldblum sounds like Jeff Goldblum. Only Ralph Fiennes, in my opinion, is given the chance to create a character. And what a character he creates! Unlike the typical "Ralph Fiennes role"--dignified, perhaps a bit of cool malice, and oh-so-British--his M. Gustave is irreverent, flamboyant, charming, debonair, flippant. The older Zero narrates Gustave's life and loves by explaining that the women Gustave wooed were, to a one, old, rich, vain, blonde, and needy--just like Gustave (at least, the blonde, vain, and needy parts). Gustave is not taking advantage of these rich, elderly women. He genuinely prefers them. He explains to Zero that the "cheaper cuts" have more "flavor" with a gleam in his eye, practically licking his lips. Such naughtiness is exactly what an Anderson movie needs to firmly ground his twee mise-en-scene back to the earth.

I very much enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel, despite the flaw of--again, my opinion--too many cameos. Also, the lack of female characters is pretty disheartening, although I've come to expect that from Anderson's movies (which, let's face it, are generally big, ol' sausage fests). Anderson's one theme that he continually reinvents, whether in telling a love story, a coming of age story, or a comedy, is the father-son  (or, in many cases, surrogate father/surrogate son) relationship. You see this theme played out in almost all his films, and he is a master at capturing that special relationship between an older mentor and his young protege.

4.5 out of 5 stars

...all this other shit is worthless junk.

Reading Days

Books: Misc

Hello Dear Readers,

I apologize for not updating my blog recently, but this time it's not due to laziness, but rather simple lack of content to write about. I haven't seen a movie in the theatres in nearly two months, which is unprecedented for me. But wintertime is always feast or famine with movies: you gorge on Oscar nominated films which are released from Nov-Jan and then hibernate and avoid the movies from mid -Jan-March as the dredges of cinema are dumped into theatres. But don't worry! The minute Wes Anderson's latest confection, The Grand Budapest Hotel, makes its way to my town, I'll be first in line to watch and review it.

Until then, considering my URL is technically "readingwatchingreviewing", I figure I'd catch you up on the "reading" part. I've plowed through many books since getting a Kindle for my birthday and that momentum has led to more reading in my life in general (including print books and magazines). Some of the books in this entry I'm only partway through. I picked out the most interesting of the wide range of novels and non-fiction I've been reading over the past few months.

***

A Year of Biblical Womanhood
By Rachel Held Evans
Memoir

Rachel Held Evans is a writer who is both a feminist and an evangelical Christian. She writes a blog where she discusses topics of interest to Christians of a more liberal persuasion, such as patriarchy and abuse, discrimination, masculine identity in the church, etc. In A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Evans tackles the issues of "Biblical womanhood"--i.e. living life as a woman in accordance to a literal(ish) interpretation of the Bible--head on by spending a year attempting to conform to the dictates of the Bible. Every month, Evans focuses on a virtue--modesty, purity, resourcefulness, etc--valued in the famed "Proverbs 31 woman" (a description of an ideal wife) and sets various goals for herself, such as cooking Thanksgiving dinner for her family, not cursing, dressing modestly, and so on.


Her adventures lead to much hilarity and a decent amount of self-reflection. I'm only about halfway through, but I already know what Evans' conclusion will be: that it's impossible to hold oneself to the standards of Biblical womanhood (although trying to might lead to some insightful moments) and that egalitarian marriage is where it's at. I'm not an evangelical or a fundamentalist, but I am interested in religion, feminism, and gender roles--which is why I was drawn to this book. Unlike other explorations of patriarchal Christianity (such as Kathryn Joyce's devastating and excellent Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement) by "outsiders", Evans gives us an inside perspective. My only beef is that she doesn't come down more harshly on the limited views of evangelicals when it comes to gender roles and feminism. Frankly, I wish Evans was more damning of her own religious subculture, which I understand is unfair to expect. In place of true criticism and questioning is a hefty dose of cuteness and humor. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and Evans is doing a lot to be a public voice for feminist evangelicalism, which can't be easy. I just hoped for a little more bite and edginess.

Similar books you might want to check out: The above-mentioned Quiverfull, as well as Joyce's new book The Child Catchers about Christian families who take advantage of the adoption industry; Kevin Roose's funny and surprisingly respectful memoir titled The Unlikely Disciple about spending a semester at Liberty University; although I haven't read it yet, Cami Ostman and Susan Tive's Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions seems like an interesting read that attempts to understand why women get involved/stay in religions where they are expected to be submissive.

3.75 out of 5 stars

***

It's Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons Why You're Single
By Sara Eckel
Self-help

I'm not one to read dating advice books (although I enjoy mocking them), but I read an excerpt of Sara Eckel's It's Not You and knew this was a different kind of book. Rather than dispense advice on how to find a mate, Eckel takes common arguments about why (heterosexual women) remain single--"you're too picky",  "you're too desperate", "you're too old", etc--and breaks them down with common sense and logic. For example, why are women told they need to be a bit stand-offish and not needy, but also show a man he's "needed"? I'll tell you why: because people are dumb. Eckel's arguments point out the simultaneously liberating and frustrating truth about love: much of it has to do with timing and luck. Also, chemistry, the definition of which varies from person to person. This truth doesn't sell advice books, but hey, I guess the ladies who wrote The Rules gots to eat too!

I absolutely loved this book because rather than aim to make women feel panicky and ashamed, its goal is to make them feel calm, accepting, and in control. Which is a far better place to be when looking for love. Eckel shares her own success story about meeting her now husband in her late 30's, but she never suggests that her own life should be held up as a model for all women. Her writing voice is warm, funny, and logical. A wonderful counterpoint to the nagging, shaming voices we hear all too often when it comes to women and romantic relationships.

Similar books you might want to check out: Sasha Cagen's Quirkyalone changed my freakin' life. She captured the concept of truly enjoying being alone, but still open to romantic possibilities. Outdated by Samhita Mukhopadhyay is a "dating while feminist" guide which includes reasons why it's *better* to be a feminist while playing the dating game: it's sexy (feminists ask for what they want in bed!), it reminds you that it's ok if the relationship doesn't last forever, and (most importantly), it gives you the courage to walk away when things aren't working out.

4.5 out of 5 stars

***

Unbound
By Cara McKenna
Erotic romance

And for all the single ladies who crave a little, er, mental stimulation, Cara McKenna's erotic romance Unbound will blow you the fuck away. At least, it blew me away. Be warned though--its contents are for adults (who like readin' 'bout sexytimes) only! The story takes place in Scotland, where Merry (last name slipping my mind) is taking a solo hiking vacation. Merry lost 100 pounds over the course of a year and is still coming to terms with her new body and the negative reactions of some of her friends, who prefer the old (people-pleasing) fat Merry. After drinking some bacteria-laden loch water, Merry finds herself at the door of Rob Rush, a guy who lives alone in the Scottish highlands. Rob harbors some major secrets, which are slowly revealed during the time her nurses Merry back to health.

Spoilers! Rob is a recovering alcoholic who was in an unsuccessful marriage. He initially drove to the secluded cottage to drink himself to death, but chose to throw out his booze and get sober instead. He is terrified at the thought of leaving his rural home, the isolation of which was his saving grace. The other secret Rob harbors is his sexuality: Rob is sexually submissive and has an intense fetish for rope bondage and female-dominant roleplay. Rather than seeing his kinks as fun and sexy (as Merry sees them, once the two start sleeping together), Rob is very ashamed of them. Unbound is the first book I've read to so sensitively approach the topic of sexual fetishism. Other books use kinks to titillate or shock the reader, but Rob's interests and his own ambivalence toward them are treated with such understanding and empathy, I would literally get up and say out loud "This book is SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!" while reading it. Oh, and the sex scenes are....wheeeewwww. Let's just say I needed multiple cold showers. The romance is truly romantic: the characters are flawed and human, the sex is scorching, and you root for their happy ending the whole way through. A+ work, Cara McKenna.

Similar books you might want to check out: If you're into BDSM-oriented romance that's not completely balls-out freaky deaky, look no further than Delphine Dryden's "The Science of Temptation" series. The books are about a group of extremely intelligent and nerdy friends who work at a university in Austin and also belong to a BDSM club. The first in the series, The Theory of Attraction concerns beautiful Cami and awkward (but sexually dominant) Ivan--basically, a hot Sheldon Cooper. The sequel, The Seduction Hypothesis, pairs up Lindsey and Ben (referred to as "a curious sub and a Dom in denial") while they attend BeastCon, a comic convention. Yes, BDSM sex at a freakin' comic convention. This book was written for all the sexy nerds out there! Finally, The Principle of Desire features a submissive man, Ed (who is adorable) and a dominant woman, Beth (who is recovering from a very controlling previous relationship where she was submissive). It's not the strongest of the series, but it's hot nonetheless.

5 out of 5 stars

***

Mandingo
By Kyle Onstott
Fiction

I'm reading Mandingo for a class I'm taking this semester about the history of sexuality in America. Mandingo was published in 1957 and was wildly popular despite its very un-1950's like content. Mandingo takes place on a fictional plantation, Falconhurst, in 1832 Alabama. Falconhurst is a slave-breeding plantation, where the overseers, the elderly Warren Maxwell, and his son Hammond, encourage their slaves to have as many babies as possible to keep the plantation going and to sell for a profit. Falconhurst is a den of wretched, sadistic behavior. The 659-page novel, which I am only partway through, describes whippings, rape, incest, and all manner of racism and debauchery. I'm reading it for a project in the class and it is a bear to get through, although it is also strangely compelling. The novel is notable for breaking away from literature that presented the Antebellum South as a respectable, genteel culture with happy slaves and God-fearing slave owners. Mandingo is Gone with the Wind by way of the Marquis de Sade. It takes all that Lost Cause-ers found lovely and beautiful about the South and essentially smears the whole thing with excrement. So, there is a bit of a dirty feeling of schadenfreude while reading it. It's an angry, shocking read, and it's also long and meandering, with detailed discussions of slave bodies and sexuality. Generally speaking, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but the morbidly curious. Or those doing a project on slavery and sexuality.

Similar books you might want to check out: I got the idea to do my project on Mandingo from Gregory Smithers' excellent book Slave Breeding: Sex, Violence, and Memory in African-American History. Smithers' focuses on the issue of slave breeding and coercive reproductive practices in the Antebellum South, an issue he claims has been ignored and dismissed by many (white) historians for far too long. It's a fascinating read. Another book along those same lines, which I have not read myself is Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello, an extremely well-researched exploration of Sally Hemings and her family while they were slaves at Thomas Jefferson's residence. The book argues that Jefferson's long-term affair with Sally Hemings was, in some ways, consensual (as consensual as a relationship between slave and master could be) and that Hemings was an active participant in the relationship.


2.5 out of 5 stars

***

Thanks for reading about my reading, y'all! More reviews coming soon!

Some Movies I Watched on Netflix Recently

Movies: Drinking Buddies, Black Rock, But I'm a Cheerleader, Rosemary's Baby

It's time to play catch-up. Here are a few movies I've been meaning to review.


Drinking Buddies

Drinking Buddies is a rather pleasant comedy that was attractive to me since it concerns two friends who work together at a brewery, and beer is my jam. Olivia Wilde plays Kate--a gorgeous guy's gal who likes beer, biking, and pool. She's dating the stuffy Chris (Ron Livingston), but is close friends with her coworker Luke (New Girl's Jake Johnson, all hipster teddy bear here). Luke is dating stuffy Jill (Anna Kendrick). Gosh, do you think maybe these two sets of couples aren't right for each other!?

Not a lot happens in Drinking Buddies. The two couples take a weekend trip out to the woods and events occur fueled by beer and wine that lead to romantic confusion. That's pretty much it. It's basically a glossier mumblecore film. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it! All four actors in the leading roles had their characters down pat--and Olivia Wilde really shines as a woman who by all appearances is the "ideal girlfriend", but who is just as unlucky in love as anyone else.

Drinking Buddies is a great film for a relaxing Saturday night with your buds and your brews.

3.75 out of 5 stars

***

Black Rock

It's been called the "female Deliverance", which should give you a hint or two about its content. In Black Rock Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell, and Kate Aselton (who also directed) play Sarah, Lou, and Abby, three old friends who go to a remote island for a weekend of camping and catching up. But tensions are high due to a long-held grudge between Lou and Abby. Sarah thinks that the trip will mend old wounds. After a day of hiking, the women realize they are sharing the island with three men--Iraq War veterans who are spending the weekend hunting on the island. They cozy up to the men and share their camp fire, drink, and, well, one thing leads to another. Abby and one of the guys, Henry, head to the woods to make out. But when Henry gets too aggressive, Abby clocks him on the head with a rock.

This act leads to the men turning on the women and a fight for survival. Abby, Lou, and Sarah realize that they won't be able to escape the island--they'll have to kill or be killed. Unfortunately for the men, these ladies have it in them to fight viciously for their lives.

Black Rock has some tense moments, but overall it could have been a better and more original film. The "guys vs. girls" dynamic seems rather forced and exploitative, especially since it stems from an attempted rape. Not a bad movie by any means, just rather average.

3.5 out of 5 stars

***

But I'm a Cheerleader

I loved this movie when I was in high school, and it's just as delightful 10 years later. Nastasha Lyonne plays Megan, a bubbly, popular cheerleader whose parents and friends suspect she's a lesbian, and so they ship her off to "True Directions" a gay rehabilitation center run by a strict woman (Cathy Moriarty who forces the girls to wear pink and learn to vacuum and the boys to wear blue and learn how to repair cars. Of course, sticking a bunch of queer teens together leads to, ahem, experimentation, and it's only a matter of time before Megan finds herself falling for the sardonic Graham (played by the wonderful Clea DuVall).

But I'm a Cheerleader was directed by Jamie Babbit, but it has a distinct whiff of John Waters about it: from the genderfuckery of the characters (the film stars RuPaul out of drag as one of True Directions' counselors), to the brightly-colored sets that look like they jumped out of a 1950's appliance advertisement, to the cameos by Waters regulars Mink Stole and Bud Cort as Megan's parents.

If you're in the mood for a sassy, not-too-serious take on LGBTQ rights and coming of age, But I'm a Cheerleader is your movie. And it's got a great soundtrack.

4 out of 5 stars

***

Rosemary's Baby

How I came to re-watch the horror classic Rosemary's Baby is a bit screwed up: I was reading about Dylan Farrow's letter in which she opens up about her abuse at the hands of Woody Allen. This led me to think about Roman Polanksi, who drugged and raped 13 year old Samantha Geimer in 1977. Thinking of Polanski led me to think about one of my favorite horror films of all time, Rosemary's Baby. And then I saw it was available via Netflix streaming, so I...watched it. I don't want to downplay the disgusting crime Polanski committed against a young girl, as well as the fact that he fled the country to avoid facing the full punishment for his crimes. But taken as a discrete work of art, Rosemary's Baby is amazing. Starring Mia Farrow as Rosemary, the young wife who unknowingly becomes the center of a satanic plot, Rosemary's Baby intensely (and ironically, given that Polanski went on to harm a vulnerable girl himself)  depicts female powerlessness at the hands of male authority in the mid 1960's.

Rosemary's Baby is a haunting gothic horror film as well. The apartment Rosemary shares with her husband, Guy, is as terrifying as the creepy neighbors who live next door (played by the indomitable Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer). The musical score adds to the tension, and I found myself looking over my shoulder while watching the movie. Rosemary's Baby would be a great companion piece to 1944's Gaslight, given that both films depict the systematic mental abuse of a woman by her husband (and in Rosemary's Baby, her doctor and neighbors as well). Farrow is excellent at capturing the confusion and horror of a woman who slowly realizes that those closest to her are using her as a vessel for Satan. Her iconic Vidal Sassoon pixie haircut, rather than giving her a chic, womanly look, makes her look more vulnerable and childlike, as she wanders her apartment in a housecoat, making anagrams with Scrabble tiles and eating raw meat.

If there's one thing the crimes of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski can teach us, it's that even monsters and criminals can create great art. What we choose to do with that art is on us. I know that this statement comes off as simplistic, but at the moment it's all I can manage to say on the topic.

5 out of 5 stars

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