Friday Top Five: Best of the Year (So Far...)

I honestly can't even tell you where summer went. It seems like it just started and yet it's just about September. Which is bad because I hate all things winter related, but good because now it's time to get into the good movies. Summer was mostly disappointing as far as movies go. Still, there are a few movies and performances that really stuck with me through summer and, really, the first eight months of the year. In January of every year, I make top ten lists of my favorite movies and acting performances of the year, but often a few performances from the earlier parts of the year fall off the radar by then. So, this week's top five is really FIVE top fives - my favorites in each category, so far.

Best Film
01. The Place Beyond the Pines
02. Blue Jasmine
03. Fruitvale Station
04. Mud
05. You're Next

Best Actor
01. Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station
02. Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines
03. Jude Law in Side Effects
04. Tye Sheridan in Mud
05. Brad Pitt in World War Z

Best Actress
01. Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
02. Mia Wasikowska in Stoker
03. Jane Levy in Evil Dead
04. Rooney Mara in Side Effects
05. Sharni Vinson in You're Next

Best Supporting Actor
01. Ben Mendelsohn in The Place Beyond the Pines
02. Sam Rockwell in The Way Way Back
03. Sharlto Copley in Elysium
04. Matthew Goode in Stoker
05. Matthew McConaughey in Mud

Best Supporting Actress
01. Emma Watson in The Bling Ring
02. Melonie Diaz in Fruitvale Station
03. Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
04. Nicole Kidman in Stoker
05. Leslie Mann in The Bling Ring

This weekend sucks for movies so unless the boyfriend agrees to take me to see the One Direction movie, I won't be seeing anything. (And I'm really only half joking about that last sentence). But, I leave you with this question: How many award worthy performances in a row can Matthew McConaughey give?? By my count, we are up to four now with possibly / probably two more on the way.

Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine is proof that after 40-some odd movies, Woody Allen has still got it. Blue Jasmine isn't his best film (like some people on Twitter will try to tell you), but that's not to say it isn't good in it's own right. One of the biggest criticisms I've heard of Allen is that a lot of his movies are very similar, but Blue Jasmine is not like any of his others movies that I've seen. I know I haven't seen them all, but I've seen most of them by now, and Blue Jasmine is it's own creation, pure and simple.

Blue Jasmine stars Cate Blanchett as Jeanette/Jasmine who starts the movie babbling incoherently to a woman on a plane as she travels to San Francisco to move in with her sister. We soon learn this is because her great life - a Park Avenue socialite with a rich Bernie Madoff like husband (Alec Baldwin) who vacations in the Hamptons - has fallen out from under her. She is broke and seeks refuge with her working class sister (Sally Hawkins), who she never wanted anything to do with until now. Jasmine tries to get her life together but she is sort of a spoiled brat and also sort of having a nervous breakdown. She wants to be an interior decorator and wants to go back to college, but she is forced to take a menial job at a dentists office. Meanwhile, she disapproves of her sister's new fiancee (Bobby Cavanale). We see Jasmine's new miserable life in San Francisco unfold as we see flashbacks of the perfect life she had. Of course, these are subjective issues. Did Jasmine really have such a great life with her crook husband and fake friends? And is her sister's life so bad? Sure, she has a small, crappy apartment, but she has a good man who loves her and two kids. Anyway, things start to look up for Jasmine when she meets a dashing diplomat (Peter Sarsgaard) who is looking for a woman just like Jasmine.

One of the only negative things I can say about Blue Jasmine is that none of the characters are especially likable. It's sort of hard to become involved in a movie where the most likable character is played by Andrew Dice Clay (I'm not even kidding). Are we supposed to feel bad for Jasmine, as we watch her life unravel? Are we supposed to care about her as she further breaks down and starts talking to herself in public? Are we supposed to laugh at her because she sort of got what she deserved? Are we supposed to want a happy ending for her? I'm not even sure Woody knows what to do with his main character, because the movie sort of abruptly ends and we don't know what became of this bumbling, lost woman. Still, I can't think of a better ending, so, until that time comes, I can't complain too much about Woody's ending.

The truth is, Woody Allen is a master story teller. He has a man who has made many movies - a few of them bad, some of them mediocre, but many of them GREAT - and he knows a thing or two by now about weaving an interesting and dynamic story full of flawed characters. Sure, these characters might not be likable, but his dialogue is so rich and their lives feel so lived in that it is always, always, a pleasure to enter a world created by Woody Allen.

Of course, I can't review this movie without talking about the force of nature that is Cate Blanchett in this lead role. She is singular perfection and a complete tour de force. She throws everything into this role and it is a joy to watch (even when it's sort of, you know, not). The supporting performances are all great too, from Sally Hawkins to Peter Sarsgaard, from Alec Baldwin to, yes, even Andrew Dice Clay. But it's Great Cate that everyone will and should be talking about. If she doesn't win an Oscar for this completely all encompassing, fearless performance than there is something majorly wrong. I know we haven't even begun to see the prestigious movies yet, but I have a hard time believing anyone is going to give a performance better than Blanchett is Blue Jasmine this year.

Grade: B+

You're Next

I am unapologetically a huge horror movie fan. I pretty much love horror films more than any other genre. I've sat through my fair share of terrible horror movies, but every once in a while you come across a gem that makes all the bad horror worth it. And, really, bad horror is sometimes pretty fun to watch too. You're Next is one of those horror movie gems that comes along and makes you think, Thank goodness. Someone else out there gets it. You're Next is innovative and unique, fun and frightening, clever and wicked. This year alone, we got two really great horror movies (this and the Evil Dead re-imagining), so I'd say it's a pretty good year to be a horror fan. (And I haven't even seen The Conjuring of which I've heard really good things).

You're Next takes place at a secluded mountain home where a family of four adult children and their significant others gather to celebrate their parents 35th wedding anniversary. Little do they know, but the day before they showed up, their closest neighbor and his college aged girlfriend were brutally killed by some home invaders wearing creepy animal masks. And, it appears, that our protagonists are next. The only bad thing I can say about the movie is that it takes a bit of time to actually get moving. The beginning is sort of boring, as we are treated to the mundane activities of the family as they brush their teeth and put groceries away and turn on the furnace in the long empty home. But once all the guests arrive and they sit down to dinner, an arrow in the head of one guest later, and the horror has begun, and it is pretty unrelenting for the rest of the film. As the masked mad men pick off the family one by one, one of the son's girlfriend's Erin (Sharni Vinson) turns out to mysteriously be really, really good at surviving a mess like this. Her survival instincts kick in and she becomes the ultimate bad ass, which is a fun and refreshing change of pace from the normal survivor girls.

One of the best things about You're Next is that the most famous actor is a chick you may or may not recognize from one of the Step Up movies. It's great that these aren't name actors because then you have no idea who may or may not survive. The other thing that's great about You're Next is that it utilizes what I think is the scariest concept for horror movies - home invasion. It's terrifying because it could actually happen. I think it's more likely that someone break into my house tonight and try to kill me than me moving into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a 12 year old girl, or whatever. Home invasion is a very real thing, featuring very real killers, and the more based in reality a horror movie is, the more frightening I find it. Not that You're Next is especially scary. Or maybe it's just because I've seen so many horror movies that I'm sort of numb to the cheap thrills. But the fact that You're Next isn't scary doesn't make it any less tense or good. And if a movie is tense AND has a clever story AND a fresh take on an overdone genre?? Well, forget it. I'm in the bag for You're Next before I even have time to think about it's flaws.

And, sure, there are flaws in this movie. The first is this sort of annoying habit Erin has of just leaving perfectly good weapons lying around the house. She is all survival instincts, throwing kitchen knives (not literally!) at people, telling them to keep themselves armed, and then she leaves a perfectly good ax lying on a table, and later leaves a perfectly good machete on the floor. Sure, some of the main characters are a little on the annoying side. Sure, the masked killers are just your garden variety Jason Voorhees rip offs. Sure, sometimes it veers a little too much to the gory, violent side just for the sake of being gory and violent. Sure, it takes way too long to actually get started. But I can hardly complain.

Director Adam Wingard (who also directed last year's great V/H/S)has succeeded in making the best all-out slasher film in as long as I can remember. Ignore the trifling, silly flaws and focus on how much damn fun you are going to have watching this movie. And, without giving anything away, allow me to just finish this review by saying this: Best ending of the year.

Grade: B (maybe B+ because I'm in a pretty good mood today)

Friday Top Five: Kevin Spacey

So, last week, Friday sort of came and went and I was unaware it was even Friday until the day was nearly over. I guess it's a good problem to have (that my work week went so quickly) but also, it's the perils of working 60 hours a week. Time flies when you are having fun, ha! Anyway, this week, I am focusing on the best roles of Kevin Spacey, mostly because I just finished watching House of Cards (which I super highly recommend, if only for Corey Stoll) but also because I can't think of another topic!

05. David Gale in The Life of David Gale (Alan Parker, 2003)
I know this movie is a tad heavy handed and may play at times like a Lifetime movie of the week, but I also have a pretty huge soft spot for it. Of course, it's much tighter and better executed than any Lifetime movie, and the performances alone are worth watching for. Spacey is compelling as the brilliant but flawed professor who is an activist against capital punishment only to find himself on death row for murdering a friend.
Best Quote: "Fantasies have to be unrealistic. Because the minute- the second- that you get what you want, you don't- you can't- want it anymore."

04. Lester Burnham in American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
Spacey had a string of roles in the mid to late 90's which was just perfection after perfection. And this Oscar winning role was seemingly the culmination of all those great character actor pieces he had been doing for a decade. Spacey impeccably plays Lester as a sort of loser who is treated badly by everyone in his life, who has a bit of a mid-life crisis and immediately becomes anything but a loser. He's brilliant in this movie, in every sense of the word.
Best Quote: "You don't get to tell me what to do ever again."

03. John Doe in Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
First of all, Fincher is probably my favorite director of all time, so I may not exactly see the flaws which are in his films. But, to me, Se7en is a pure psychological masterpiece and the best part of this amazing film is Spacey's completely calm and stoic serial killer who is seemingly unperturbed by the absolute chaos he is causing all around him. Spacey is terrifying and frightening and, also, kind of funny. And, of course, that ending may seem trite now (what with all the rip offs and jokes made about it still today) but at the time, it was the best ending, you guys. The best!
Best Quote: "You will accept my apology, won't you? I feel like saying more, but I don't want to ruin the surprise."

02. Mickey in Hurlyburly (Anthony Drazan, 1998)
If you are someone who is interested in acting in film, you should probably watch Hurlyburly immediately as it is a masterclass, of sorts, featuring two tour de force performances from Spacey and his co-star Sean Penn. Both of these men absolutely kill it in this tail of drugs and Hollywood and backstabbing. The performances from Penn and Spacey are absolutely intense in every sense of the word, and while this movie's super dark tone may not be for everyone, the performances certainly are.
Best Quote: "Did I fuck... Darlene? (picks up phone) Last night?"

01. Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
Was there every any doubt that this would be number 1? Spacey plays everyone in this movie, his friends, the detectives and, most importantly, the audience. We are on this wild ride with his impaired character, trusting his every word, his version of events, completely unaware that he is drawing you in just to spit you out. Even now, even if you know the ending and you've seen the movie a dozen times and you know what's coming, even know that ending still gets you. This movie is so perfectly crafted from beginning to end and Spacey's Oscar winning performance is just the cherry on top.
Best Quote: "Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone."

Kick Ass 2

The sequel to Kick Ass is completely and utterly unnecessary. Need proof? Well, it didn't even crack the top 3 at the box office this weekend, so I am seemingly not the only person who feels this way. The original Kick Ass was like catching lightning in a bottle. That movie and it's success was a freak of nature. There was absolutely no way that was happening again and the closest this movie came to capturing anything like that, was Jim Carrey's unhinged performance (and this from the actor who disavowed the film due to its violent nature).

Kick Ass 2 picks up three years after the original film. Dave (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has put his Kick Ass uniform away and is living the life of a boring teenage boy, but when he begins to see all the real life super heroes that he has inspired, he gets the itch to return to his crime fighting ways. Mindy (Chloe Grace Moretz) is still struggling with the death of her dad (Nicolas Cage, in the first film) and is living with his former police partner (Morris Chestnut) while struggling to fit in the world of high school where she definitely doesn't belong. She takes an extended absence from her Hit Girl ways to play the popular game with a bunch of high school mean girls and Dave is forced to team up with a rag tag group of vigilantes who call themselves Justice Forever. They are led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Carrey). Meanwhile, Chris / Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is suddenly an orphan / the richest teenager in New York City, so he decides to become the world's first super villain and get his revenge on Kick Ass. He renames himself The MotherF**ker and decides to form an evil army. Fighting and violence ensues, obviously.

The thing about the first Kick Ass is that it felt fresh. Kick Ass 2 just feels like a retread of the same script but with different, lamer jokes. The other thing about the original Kick Ass was that it felt taboo. It featured a then 12 year old Moretz as a potty mouth crime fighter who was totally bad ass and cursing up a storm... and it was shocking. Now she is just another fifteen year old cursing on camera. None of this is shocking anymore and this time it's not even fun. The other major problem is Mintz-Plasse. I like him just fine. I thought he was sort of a revelation after seeing him in Superbad, but he most certainly does not have the acting prowess to deliver the sort of performance that his character's arc requires of him.

Sure, the movie was violent. I'm not going to sit here and attack it on those merits. Violence in movies doesn't bother me. It's just a movie. But the difference between Kick Ass and Kick Ass 2 is that the original was, at the very, very least, FUN. That is something this movie is lacking BIG TIME. It's just the same old thing again. And while it worked three years ago, it just isn't doing it for me this time around. With the exception of Carrey's great performance and Taylor-Johnson's KILLER abs, Kick Ass 2 was completely unnecessary and sort of a disaster.

Grade: D+

DVD Mini Reviews

Once again, trying to get caught up on all the movies I missed in theaters earlier this year, for better or worse (mostly worse, unfortunately).

The Call
Stars: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin
Plot: A 911 operator gets a phone call from a teenager who has been kidnapped and is being kept in the truck of a car speeding on the freeway and it is eerily reminiscent of a call she had a few months earlier that ended in the death of a different blonde, pretty teenager.
Thoughts: Look, I'm surprised as you are, but I actually enjoyed this movie up until that TERRIBLE ending (and it was so bad, it deserves all caps!). Sure, there are plot holes but I can ignore a plot hole if the movie is at least intriguing and fast paced and entertaining, and The Call was all of these things. Right up until the end, anyway.
Grade: C

Upstream Color
Stars: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth
Plot: I copy and pasted the following from IMDB because I can't even... "A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives."
Thoughts: I mean, maybe I'm not as smart as I thought I was, but I didn't get this movie AT ALL. I typically enjoy difficult films. I'm okay with not really completely understanding what's happening, but this movie was so far over my head that I could barely even stand to watch it. It's one of those beautiful, pretentious movies that intellectuals and film snobs love, so I watched it hoping to take something away from it, but really just left with a headache.
Grade: F

Stoker
Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weaver
Plot: After the death of her father, India grieves while also dealing with some internal changes. Also, her mysterious uncle comes to visit.
Thoughts: The great thing about this movie is that it has stayed with me for weeks. I'm still thinking about it, all this time later. The performances across the board are phenomenal, especially from Wasikowska, who is just amazing. Still, I think it feels like it is too artsy for its own good at times. It's got a good story though, and it's definitely an intriguing film.
Grade: B-

Black Rock
Stars: Kate Aselton, Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell
Plot: Three childhood friends return to a seemingly abandoned island for a camping trip only to discover it isn't so abandoned and, soon, they are fighting for their lives.
Thoughts: Theoretically, this is a great movie. I love the fact that it's directed by a woman and stars three women who have complicated personal lives and are sort of bad ass. However, it's all so pointless. The movie wants to be shocking, when it really should just be a character study. I wanted to like this so much more than I did.
Grade: D+

21 & Over
Stars: Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Sarah Wright
Plot: A group of friends party for one of their 21st birthdays. Hi-jinx ensues, i.e. The Hangover for college kids.
Thoughts: There were a few genuinely funny moments in this film, and Teller all but saves the movie with his wry charm (he's going to be a huge star, but don't trust me. He's in Spectacular Now out soon and Divergent next year). Still, it's mostly cliche after cliche about hard partying and drinking games and male nudity. We've all seen this movie before.
Grade: C-

Elysium

The disappointing summer of 2013 continues...

In 2009, a first time director named Neill Blomkamp directed a little movie called District 9 which completely wowed me. I loved District 9 so much that his follow up film, Elysium, was my absolute most anticipated movie of this summer. I thought Blomkamp had a vision, something different and unique and more intelligent than that standard issue fare from the studios - sequels and reboots. But my anticipation was misplaced because I found Elysium to be nothing more than a huge disappointment.

The movie takes place in the year 2154, where Earth is little more than a shanty town full of the poor and the sick. Meanwhile, the rich live in outer space on a spherical man made planet called Elysium. They have perfect lawns and perfect weather and devices that can cure any illness or injury. Elysium is all but run by Jodie Foster, who has an indescribable accent for some reason, that comes and goes at will. Meanwhile, on Earth, a young boy named Max dreams of taking his childhood sweetheart Frey to the new planet. He grows up to be played by Matt Damon, an ex con who works a terrible job which leads to an accident that leaves him with only 5 days to live. Suddenly, he absolutely has to get to Elysium because they have the machinery to cure him. So, he goes to an old friend named Spider (Wagner Moura, where have you been all my life???). Spider is a shady underground figure who Max apparently did time for earlier so he owes him a favor. Spider's thugs outfit Max with a bad ass exoskeleton which makes him into some sort of super fighter dude, ask him to do one last job for them, and then promise him a ticket to Elysium. Of course, nothing goes right, Max runs into a grown up Frey (Alice Braga) who has problems of her own, and a sociopathic Elysium henchman named Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

So, that's Elysium in a nutshell. In some ways, this movie is really all that you can ask for out of a summer movie. It's got great direction, beautiful visuals, great acting, and special effects that are far and away from most everything else. Plus, it's got a very distinct style and vision and, although dark and depressing, it's special nonetheless. Also, it's so refreshing to have a big budget summer action movie that ISN'T IN 3D!!! So, thank the Lord for that, because I am totally burned out on 3D. So, if this looks and feels like a good sci-fi movie, then why is it so damn disappointing?

Well, for starters, the story is just so bogged down with unnecessary things. I think this sort of movie would have been best, and seemed smarter, if it had just stayed simple. You don't have to throw in some half-cooked, hair-brain idea about stealing encrypted information from someone's brain in order to seem smart, especially when this doesn't advance the plot in any real way. It just forces a character to get from point A to point B, when there are other ways that could have been done. The story just seemed so mediocre and I was definitely expecting so much more from the Blomkamp. I mean, if you don't have a good story to begin with then you really can't have a good movie. So, my biggest problem is the trite and haphazard nature of the plot, but that's hardly the only problem. Jodie Foster, who is a great, great actress, either isn't right for this role in the least or was just phoning it in. Her performance is terrible and nearly as distracting as whatever awful accent she was using for whatever reason. And don't even get me started on the lack of action in this "action movie."

But there is a saving grace and his name is Sharlto Copley, whose gleefully grinning maniac Kruger is the best damn thing about this movie. His performance is so intense, it puts everyone else to shame. He's perfection and gives the absolute best kind of performance, which is to say his mere presence manages to elevate the entire movie. If only he could have been in every single frame. Then perhaps I wouldn't have left Elysium so disappointed.

Grade: C-

Friday Top Five: Dustin Hoffman

Yesterday was the 76th birthday of one of our greatest living actors - Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman came into popularity around the same time as Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, but somehow when people talk about great acting, Hoffman seems to pale in comparison to those two. I don't understand why. Hoffman is just as good, if not better. There were almost too many good roles to choose from when I was making this list and I didn't even see All The President's Men or his Oscar winning turn in Kramer vs. Kramer (which has been on my Netflix queue FOREVER, so I'll get around to it eventually). Until that maybe knocks something off my list, here is my top five.

05. Bernard in I Heart Huckabees - 2004 (David O. Russell)
I Heart Huckabees is sort of this ridiculous slap stick comedy but the performances and dialogue definitely elevate this movie to another level. As Bernard, an existential detective, Hoffman all but steals the show away from his mostly much younger co-stars. He is sweet and good-natured and quirky and odd in all the right ways.
Best Quote: "If you look close enough you can't tell where my nose ends and space begins."

04. Ratso in Midnight Cowboy - 1969 (John Schlesinger)
Hoffman's performance as the sicky con man is absolutely everything you can want out of an acting performance. It is absolutely fearless and brave in every possible way. Hoffman is nearly unrecognizable as Ratso, a man who befriends and manipulates Jon Voight's male prostitute. He absolutely and completely becomes this character and it is truly remarkable.
Best Quote: "The two basic items necessary to sustain life, are sunshine and coconut milk... didya know that?"

03. Ben Braddock in The Graduate - 1967 (Mike Nichols)
Probably Hoffman's most iconic role in one of my personal favorite movies ever made, he stars as a new college graduate who manages to fall for his much older neighbor and her more age appropriate daughter. The ending of this movie will absolutely tear out your heart. This was Hoffman's first big role and instantly established him as a leading man and an acting force to be reckoned with.
Best Quote: "Oh no, Mrs. Robinson. I think, I think you're the most attractive of all my parents' friends. I mean that."

02. Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie - 1982 (Sydney Pollack)
There are great performances and then there is Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. Tootsie is this sort of masterclass in acting from Hoffman, who manages to play a macho male struggling actor and his alter ego - a female soap opera star. Hoffman is absolutely genius. In anyone else's career, this would be the shining star, a performance he could never match again. But this is Hoffman and there is an even better performance out there...
Best Quote: "But I was a better man with you, as a woman... than I ever was with a woman, as a man."

01. Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man - 1988 (Barry Levinson)
And then there is Rain Man - a sort of fearless, controlled, career defining role performance. Most actors would probably kill for a chance to play a role like this, and most actors probably couldn't do it. But Hoffman nails the autistic savant with that looks like so much ease that it is completely understandable why he won an Oscar for this performance. This performance may be the single best acting performance ever captured on film, that's how damn good it is.
Best Quote: "97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll."

The Wolverine

The best compliment I can give to The Wolverine is to say it is way better than Man of Steel. The worst thing I can ask about The Wolverine is why? Why do we need three X-Men movies and two solo Wolverine movies within ten years? I'm sorry, but the Wolverine just isn't THAT interesting. This newest outing, while sort of fun at times and truly exciting at others, is just pointless. It doesn't add anything to the character or the story. It serves merely as another means to make even more money for Marvel's while we all wait for next summer and the newest X-Men outing. Also, it is largely known that Darren Aronofsky, one of my favorite directors, was originally tapped to helm this film and I couldn't help but spend the entire two hours of this movie wondering how he would have done it differently (and probably better).

The Wolverine reintroduces us to Logan (Hugh Jackman, aren't we as a society collectively sick of him yet??? No, just me?? OK...) as he is living in a cave somewhere in the Pacific Northwest having flashbacks to his time in Japan and being haunted by the ghost of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). One day a mysterious Japanese girl (Rila Fukushima) shows up, begging Logan to come to Tokyo and say good bye to her employer, a man whose life Logan saved many years ago. Turns out, this man wants Logan's gift - his ability to live forever, but Logan is unwilling to give it. The old man dies suddenly and then Logan feels compelled to save his daughter (Tao Okamoto) from a slew of people trying to kill her. Twists and turns and fight scenes ensue, of course.

If it hadn't been for the Origins story a few years ago, this movie may have been more welcome. But, as I said earlier, really how many times can we visit the same character without learning anything new about said character? It gets tiresome, always visiting Wolverine's life. There are other characters in the X-Men universe. How about origin stories on some of them instead? I thought that was always the plan but it seems like they just intend on making endless Wolverine movies.

The bullet train fight scene might be the best action scene of the year so far. So, at least this movie has got that going for it. Plus, a lot of it is really fun, especially if you can ignore all the science and physics, that I'm not even sure the writers understand, so how can the audience? If you ignore the plot holes (which I try to do... a big part of why I enjoy movies so much is that I can ignore the little things and focus on the bigger picture) and the forced romance and the fact that the Jean Grey story line acts entirely as an excuse to get Janssen in the film, then it is more than possible to have a good time at this movie. Jackman has been playing Wolverine for so long that he has it down pat and it doesn't even feel like he's merely going through the motions the way it felt with Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers. You always get the sense that Jackman is having a good time playing Wolverine, which, at the very least, is nice.

The pacing is slow, the story line convoluted, but the action is largely great, not messy and redundant the way the Man of Steel movie or Iron Man 3 were, with never ending finale battle scenes. Overall, this might have seemed like a much better movie had we not already sat through a Wolverine solo movie just a few years ago. How many of them do we need?? How many more times can Jackman play the same role? Is he not as tired with the whole thing as we are?? Overall, the Wolverine isn't a bad movie and as far as summer popcorn movies go, it's a decent time at the movie. Don't expect too much and you might not be let down.

Grade: C

Friday Top Five: Performances in Woody Allen Movies

Fun fact: Woody Allen has made at least one movie a year since 1982. And this doesn't even include the great, sometimes flawless masterpieces he made pre-1980. I've seen nearly all of them, and I love nearly all of them (I'm looking at you The Curse of the Jade Scorpion). Even mediocre Woody has something worthwhile about it. Woody has a new movie out in limited release right now called Blue Jasmine. Early word on the internet is that it is his best movie ever. Yes, ever. Plus, they are praising Cate Blanchett as giving the best performance in any of his films. I don't know that Blue Jasmine can surpass the flawless perfection of the trifecta that is Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah and Her Sisters, but I am excited to find out. When I was brain storming ideas for this weeks top five, I thought about just making a list of his best films, but that seemed too easy. So I decided to make a list of the best performances in his films instead. And it was too hard! I came up with a list I'm not entirely pleased with. Among the performances NOT on the list are Dianne Wiest's Oscar winning role in Bullets Over Broadway, Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors and Mia Farrow in just about anything, but specifically, The Purple Rose of Cairo. So, here is this week's Top Five...

05. Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris (2011)
It still absolutely flabbergasts me that Stoll was overlooked at the Oscars for his hilarious, balls to the wall performance as the brawling, drunken writer in Allen's best film in decades. It got a lot of Oscar love (director, film, screenplay, etc.) but none for Stoll, which is a shame, since he all but steals the entire movie away from people way more famous than him. He knows better than anyone the tone of the movie and plays Hemingway with such bravado, that is is nearly impossible to take your eyes off of him.
Best Quote: "I believe that love that is true and real, creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving or not loving well, which is the same thing. And then the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face, like some rhino-hunters I know or Belmonte, who is truly brave... It is because they make love with sufficient passion, to push death out of their minds... until it returns, as it does, to all men... and then you must make really good love again."

04. Woody Allen as Isaac in Manhattan (1979)
Woody gets a lot of credit as a writer and director, but he is almost under appreciated as an actor. Sure, he specializes in a certain kind of character, all neurotic and fast talking, but he does those so perfectly well. Isaac is his best neurotic, dating a teenager, fighting his lesbian ex-wife for their son, falling in love with her best friend, all while portraying such humanity that we can't help but cheer for him. Plus, that opening dialogue!!!
Best Quote: "Chapter One. He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. Oh, I love this. New York was his town, and it always would be."

03. Dianne Wiest as Holly in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Dianne Wiest is the only lucky lady to ever win two Oscars in movies directed by Allen. And this happens to be my favorite performance of hers, as Hannah's down on her luck, troubled, damaged, coke head sister who is having a really shitty time when it comes to life and love and just about everything else. Holly isn't necessarily likable, but thanks to Wiest, we love her even more for that.
Best Quote: " Well, naturally. She went to Brandeis. But I don't think she knows what she's talking about. Could you believe the way she was calling him David? "Yes, David. I feel that way, too, David. What a marvelous space, David." I hate April. She's pushy."

02. Sean Penn as Emmet Ray in Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
Sean Penn is a revelation in this role. Before this movie, he almost entirely played tough brutes, but this movie showed just how versatile he truly is as a performer. His Emmet is not the nicest guy in the world, his actions are sort of despicable at certain points but Penn manages to bring so much humanity to this role. Plus, his final scenes will just make your heart explode.
Best Quote: "Wanna go to the dump and shoot some rats?"

01. Diane Keaton as Annie Hall in Annie Hall (1977)
The most iconic of all roles in Woody Allen films, Keaton absolutely mesmerizes as a ditzy Midwestern girl trying to make it in the Big Apple. We know her relationship with Alvy Singer won't end well, but we can't keep our eyes off of them as they fall in and out of love anyway. This may be the best screenplay ever written and both Annie and Alvy have tons of quotable dialogue. Plus, the chemistry between these two are just absolutely off the charts. Keaton more that deserved that Oscar win.
Best Quote: "Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that? I mean you're like New York City. You're just this person. You're like this island unto yourself."