The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick movies are not every one's cup of tea. He doesn't make normal, mainstream movies. He's an artist. An abstract genius who genuinely creates poetry and then finds a way to transfer it to the screen. His movies have little dialogue. He prefers, instead, to soak them with voice overs which are actual poems whispered to the audience like a confession to God. His plots are not cohesive, but tend to deal more with a loosely interpreted theme. But if his movies aren't among the most beautiful movies ever filmed.

The Tree of Life is an epic poem about life and death, love, hope and forgiveness. Yes, there are dinosaurs (and for anyone who says it's "ridiculous" like one lady behind me, you clearly missed the parallel between the relationship between the dinosaurs and an encounter later in the film between Jack and his father). Yes, we see the birth of the universe. But it serves a purpose, to parallel the births of the three children in the film. You see, the movie is about the life and death of a family and how death effects a small number of people in a community as opposed to how the life and death of the universe effects everyone, everywhere. There is not going to be any simple black and white, paint by number answer to this movie. The brilliant thing about The Tree of Life, and every Terrence Malick movie, really, is that everyone can take away something completely different. For me, the message is: life is so much bigger than you are, but still, these insignificant things that happen in your life matter to you, but, really, to no one else.

And so the movie follows young Jack (Hunter McCracken), a devilish little boy with two younger brothers. He has a sweet mother (revelation Jessica Chastain) and a domineering father (Brad Pitt). Plus, he will grow up to be a very brooding, very sexy Sean Penn. And that's about it. I can't give you more plot, because, like I said, everyone will take away something different. As much as it is about life and death and love and hope and nature and beauty, it's also just about childhood - the carefree days of playing in the sun with your friends, and getting into trouble, before being terrified by your father at dinner.

Malick is undoubtedly a brilliant director, a true artist. He has created something so much more awe-inspiring than anyone else in recent memory. His film is beautifully shot, his words are poems, his technique is flawless. The performances are all perfection with kudos going out to young Hunter McCracken who totally dominates opposite Brad Pitt. It's believable that he would grow up to be a brooding Sean Penn. Then there is Jessica Chastain, a nobody a year ago who will probably be the biggest star in the world next year.

The sequence everyone will be talking about, no doubt, is the cosmic history of the world sequence which is so not mainstream film making. But it is a superbly edited beautiful piece of art. This entire movie is essential viewing for anyone who thinks that movies can never be considered art. The Tree of Life will prove you wrong. This movie could be put onto a canvas and hung in any museum in the world. That's how powerful it is.

All in all, I can't say too much about The Tree of Life because it's such a powerful film. It's almost like the words don't exist to describe the beauty and the pure artistry. This is not just a simple movie. It's something much more wonderful, something to be experienced. Afterwards, just think about it and let it take you over. This is not only the best movie of the year, but probably one of the best movies of the decade.

Grade: A+

Mini Reviews (Catching Up!)

The Adjustment Bureau - Maybe it's because I was watching it on a loud bus, or maybe the movie really was just stupid (the plot involves secret passageways and magical fedoras - not even kidding), but this movie did not live up to my expectations. I was excited to see this movie - where Matt Damon's senator meets the girl of his dreams (Emily Blunt) but mysterious men (led by the extraordinarily handsome John Slattery) try to keep them apart - but I guess there was a reason it was delayed for so long. The performances were all fine (except Anthony Mackie, who I loved so much in The Hurt Locker, but who was so, so very wooden here). It's just the script was mediocre at best and the plot was just plain silly. Grade: D+

Just Go With It - In the film world, we are led to believe that Adam Sandler could not only land a chick as hot as Brooklyn Decker, but also land a chick as hot as Jennifer Aniston as well. I call bullshit. Sandler plays a plastic surgeon who was once left at the alter and now uses his useless wedding ring to create sob stories and pick up sympathetic women. In other words, he's a total jerk and highly unlikeable and there is no reason in hell why anyone would want him to end up happy in this movie. The characters are all people we don't care about. There's no character development. It's not funny. The writing is bad at best. Then there is the painful "cameo" by Nicole Kidman. I mean, remember the early 2000's when she was the best actress working??? This movie will quickly make you forget all about that. The only saving grace is Jennifer Aniston who is charming and and tries to make the best of a bad situation. Grade: D+

Horrible Bosses - The sexy Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis all hate their bosses. And when they are a sexually harassing maneater (Jennifer Aniston), a coke head douche bag (Colin Farrell) and a plain, old jerk (Kevin Spacey), how can you blame them? So, on the advice of a man named Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx), they plan to kill each others bosses so they can live happily ever after in their stuffy office jobs with their nice cars and pretty girlfriends. Suffice it to say, hi jinks ensue! Horrible Bosses isn't terrible by any means. In fact, some parts of it are pretty damn funny. Plus, the trio of bosses, all playing so far against type, are delightful to watch. I wish I could say the same for the entire movie. For as funny as parts of it are, there are as many parts that are painfully boring. It's a little too long and a little too predictable. Plus, I'm growing tired of this whole Hangover effect in comedy. You know, the bromance where none of the characters are all that likable but you are supposed to cheer for them while they do stupid shit anyway. It's getting old. Grade: C+

Beastly - If you are interested in seeing a bunch of pseudo pretty people acting very, very badly, then Beastly just might be for you! A modern telling of Beauty and the Beast, Beastly follows Kyle (Alex Pettyfer), a a pretty boy who is a super jerk but may have some redeeming qualities hidden deep down somewhere. After pissing off a witch (Mary Kate Olsen), she does some magic and makes him as ugly on the outside as he is in the inside. He has a year to break the curse... he just needs to find someone who loves him for who he is. Enter Vanessa Hudgens as a sweet girl with daddy issues. Seriously though, this movie is extremely predictable, horribly written and starring a trio of young stars who simply can not act. The only small ray of light is Neil Patrick Harris who tries to make the most of a blind tutor. His failure isn't his fault at all. (Although he is in the upcoming Smurfs movie and should probably rethink his approach to picking projects or it might effect his Awesomeness.) Grade: D-

Unknown - Okay, so Liam Neeson is a total bad ass and can make even a bad movie totally watchable. I think we are all in agreement about that. In Unknown, he stars as Dr. Martin Harris who arrives in Berlin with his wife (January Jones) to attend a conference. He forgets a bag at the airport and gets in a cab driven by Diane Kruger to retrieve it. Instead, they get into a terrible accident and he loses some of his memories. When he arrives back at the hotel, his wife has no idea who the hell he is and introduces him to her husband... Dr. Martin Harris (Aiden Quinn). I have nothing bad to say about most of the script. The plot is great and there is a wonderful twist ending. Neeson's performance is fantastic. Jones is wooden, as usual. Overall, however, the movie is just a little boring. It could have been 30 minutes shorter, no problem. The sum of the parts is just mediocre. Grade: C

Bad Teacher

The problem with Bad Teacher is that it's not nearly as funny as it thinks it is. There are some good laughs, sure, but for every minute of laughter, there are ten minutes of boring, badly written, trite nonsense. That doesn't really add up in the end. The actors are definitely the saving factor here because the script really isn't good. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Thank God for Jason Segel!

Bad Teacher follows Cameron Diaz as Elizabeth Halsey, a first year teacher who makes a big to-do at the end of the year celebration about leaving to get married. However, moments later, she gets dumped by her super rich fiancee because he realized what a gold digging bitch she really is. Flash forward to the beginning of the next school year, when Elizabeth returns to her true calling as a teacher. No, not really. She's pretty much the worst teacher ever, as you have already garnered from the trailer. She doesn't learn her students names. She drinks and smokes weed on the job. She thinks teaching is equivalent to showing Dangerous Minds in class. But she is determined to save enough money so she can get a boob job and meet a rich man. Then she meets Justin Timberlake's brand new teacher. Seems he is the heir of a watchmaking fortune and Elizabeth hones in on him, even though he is the biggest douchebag in all of teaching. Throw in Lucy Punch as a perky rival teacher and Jason Segal as the hilarious gym teacher with the hots for Elizabeth and you've got yourself a semi-raunchy predictable comedy.

Like I said, the writing is bad, but the actors do their best with what they've been given. Diaz is very good at playing unlikeable. Her character is sort of a walking disaster and she does a lot of very terrible things, but you still somehow manage to find yourself cheering for her. I have been praising Timberlake's talents as an actor for a very long time. And while I wasn't as impressed with him in The Social Network as everyone else was, I think he was damn near perfect in Alpha Dog a few years back. His character here is so under developed and badly written, that it's not entirely his fault that his performance is sort of lackluster and one-note. Lucy Punch all but steals the show as the perky, perfect rival to Elizabeth. She is absolute perfection and a bonefied scene stealer. Then there is Jason Segel, who I love so much, as the sweet and funny gym teacher who is a little bit naughty and completely endearing. I wish Jason Segel could be in every movie, honestly. Throw in a few small roles by Molly Shannon (completely pointless) and Eric Stonestreet completely and utterly unrecognizable as Cameron from Modern Family) and you've got yourself a completely average in every way comedy.

In conclusion, Bad Teacher is not something you are going to remember for a long time. Heck, I'll probably forget about it by the end of the summer. That's not to say it's without merits completely. There are very funny parts of the film. Still, it's predictable and average in every way.

Grade: C

[In case anyone actually reads this, I'll be away from the blog for three weeks. I'll be back sometime after July 22.]

Midnight in Paris

Anyone who has ever read this blog should know that I am a huge Woody Allen fan. Probably the biggest Woody Allen fan who wasn't actually alive during his heyday. I will never not recommend a Woody Allen movie unless it starts with the words "The Case of the" and ends with "Jade Scorpion." But, seriously speaking, Midnight in Paris is probably Woody's best movie in years. And this is coming from someone who really, really enjoyed Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But Midnight in Paris is just so much fun, and so imaginative. It has the sort of whimsical loveliness of The Purple Rose of Cairo mixed with Woody's new found love of foreign countries.

Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson (who is, arguably, the strangest actor Woody has ever chosen to stand in for him, although it all sort of works somehow) as Gil, a man who writes brainless Hollywood scripts but longs to follow his dreams and become an important literary voice. You see, he idolizes the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and wants so badly to live in the romanticized period of 1920s Paris. He's engaged to a terribly annoying spoiled rich brat named Inez (Rachel McAdams) and the two are in Paris with her terribly annoying spoiled rich parents (Mimi Kennedy and Kurt Fuller). While in Paris, the young couple begins spending time with knowitall Paul (Michael Sheen) and his adorable girlfriend Carol (Nina Arianda). However, Gil isn't really feeling their company and begins taking walks by himself late at night. Well, when the clock strikes midnight something very... strange happens. And I'm not going to say what it is. I'm sure you can find out if you really wanted to but, honestly, I had no idea what the plot really was going into the film which is probably why I loved it so damn much. It was such a creative and pleasant surprise for me that I will not ruin it.

Woody has written and directed a great little film, one that truly encompasses the magic of movies. The cinematography definitely matches Gil's love of Paris. This is a love letter to Paris the way Manhattan was a love letter to Allen's hometown. The performances here are all pretty top notch. Wilson is fantastic as Gil, romantic and idealistic, longing for a time gone by and entranced with his new found adventures. He's a refreshing change of pace for the usual neurotic Allen leads. I guess if you like McAdams then you would be impressed with her performance and they way she manages to grate on your every nerve. I, however, am not a fan so I wanted to punch her in the face for an hour and a half. And while none of the supporting performances will win an Oscar the way Penelope Cruz did for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, they are still pretty spectacular. Sheen is hilarious although he doesn't have enough screen time. Marion Cotillard is absolutely breath taking as an artist's muse. Adrien Brody is laugh out loud funny in his role, which is little more than a cameo. But best in show has got to go to Alison Pill and Corey Stoll, two character actors that manage to steal every single scene in which they are a part.

All in all, this is, by far, Woody's best movie in the last few years. It's clever and intelligent, interesting and entertaining, hilarious and heartfelt. Midnight in Paris is a very surprising, and very good movie.

Grade: A-