So far in 2015...

I have been slacking big time when it comes to blogging, and, honestly, I'm not really feeling it lately. Still, I am going to at least try to post at the end of the month so I can at least keep up to date in case the urge to return to blogging hits me. Here is a brief review of what I've seen this year so far.

Ex Machina
Stars: Domhnall Gleeson,  Oscar Isaac (a.k.a. current mega crushes!)
Plot: A genius invites an employee to his isolated estate to run the Turing test on an AI that he's created.
Thoughts: This is the sexy, creepy, smart Sci-fi movie you didn't know you needed in your life. Brilliantly acted and beautifully bizarre, this is a must see and one of the best things I've seen in a while.
Grade: A-

While We're Young
Stars: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried
Plot: A couple feeling ostracized from their friends because they don't have kids begin hanging out with a pair of 25 year olds.
Thoughts: I love director Noah Baumbach's movies but this disappointed me big time. It felt like a bad Woody Allen and was more pretentious and condescending than funny or enjoyable.
Grade: D+

It Follows
Stars: Miaka Monroe
Plot: A girl is followed by a demon (??) after being passed a sexuality transmitted curse.
Thoughts: *Sigh* Remind me to stop getting caught up in the fuss when Twitter decides something is the best horror movie in decades. It wasn't true of The Babadook (although that is better than this) and it's not true of It Follows. It's got great music, great atmosphere and a killer opening sequence, but a lot of it is cliche and full of plot holes and even sometimes laughably bad.
Grade: C+

Song One
Stars: Anne Hathaway
Plot: After her brother is hit by a car and put into a coma, a woman visits his favorite NYC spots and falls for his favorite musician.
Thoughts: Hathaway,  who usually annoys me, is pretty great, and parts of it are really cute, but it's mostly forgettable. Netflix Begin Again instead.
Grade: C

Black Sea
Stars: Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
Plot: A group of out of work submarine workers get hired to go in search of a missing Nazi sub filled with gold.
Thoughts: This movie got dumped in January for some reason, and barely anyone has heard of it, but it's totally worth checking out. It's a pretty solid thriller and a generally good way to spend 2 hours.
Grade: B

Side Effects

Word on the internet is that Side Effects will mark Steven Soderbergh's final time behind the camera. And if this is true, it's a shame. Not because he's choosing to retire. Soderbergh has created a well rounded, acclaimed body of work and if he wants to retire to focus on other interests or roll around in his piles of money, then good for him. It's a shame because Side Effects is just so underwhelming. I'm not saying it's a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but I truly wanted Soderbergh to go out on top and this just didn't do it for me. It's being sold as a taut thriller with twists and turns. Well, for anyone who has ever seen a movie or a really good TV show, for that matter, the twists and turns are evitable and predictable. Plus, any sort of thrilling feeling this movie delivers is all but ruined by a convaluted mess of an ending.

Side Effects is the story of Emily (Rooney Mara). She is just a young bartender in New York City when she meets a charming young man (Channing Tatum) who, I guess, works on Wall Street. Soon, she has everything she has ever wanted - the house in Connecticut, the fancy cars, the beautiful clothes, the money, a yacht. Her life is like a dream... until her perfect husband gets arrested for insider training and sentenced to four years in prison. Upon his release, Emily is thrown into a world of deep depression, cries for help, and suicide attempts. After she rams her car into a concrete wall, she begins to see a shrink (Jude Law) who helps her with a combination of therapy and pills. But, these pills have ever increasing side effects and, well, that's all I can say about the plot without giving anything away. And while I thought the end sort of ruined the movie, I won't give it away.

Side Effects wants to be a Hitchcock movie but Hitchcock was a master story teller and a master at creating thrills and expense, and while Soderbergh is a solid story teller, he's maybe just a novice with the whole suspense thing. The only character I ever truly felt invested in was Law's shrink and based soley on the fact that I find Law creepy and untrustworthy, I kept waiting for him to be found guilty of something awful, like child pornography or beating cats or something (that being said, Law is the best thing about Side Effects). Side Effects also wants to have a really great OMG moment like The Usual Suspects or Primal Fear but it lacks the cleverness of one and the intellect of the other (I'll let you decide which is which).

The performances are very hit or miss. I always found Catherine Zeta-Jones to be a little hit or miss for my taste. I find her general ability to always over act to only be suited for certain roles - say, Chicago - but, it's definitely not right for this. She's too campy and femme fatale. This is not a 60s noir movie and her performance, while small, is distracting. Channing Tatum is fine if disposable. Rooney Mara, in her first big role since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, proves why she is such a great talent. She is perfect for this sad, broken girl, although I would like to see her do a movie where she gets to smile once in a while. But it's Jude Law who is the stand out here. Even when seeming untrustworthy, he manages to put so much heart and soul into this character, you are completely invested in his future and decisions. It's the first solidly good performance of the year and it will likely spend a few months topping my Best Actor list.

So, basically Side Effects is what it is - a decent slow burn movie with an interesting concept and some good performances. It's not some great classic thriller and it is not going to live forever in your movie memories. It should not be a great director's swan song.

Grade: C+

Quickies: Contagion, Drive and more!

Win Win - Indie darlings Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan star as a Midwestern couple who all but adopt a young wrestling prodigy in this charming little film. Giamatti and Ryan are both fantastic in their roles, especially Giamatti who doesn't play necessarily the most likable person in the world. Bobby Cannavale manages to steal every scene he's in, of course. I was expecting just your average indie quirky film but it had a lot more depth and heart that I was expecting. It's definitely worth checking out.
Grade: B-

Contagion - If you think this is just going to be another boring disaster type flick about an epic disease spreading through the world is wrong. This isn't Outbreak. This a great film from director Steven Soderbergh with, probably, the most perfect cast of the year: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburn. Paltrow goes oversees on a business trip and manages to become infected. When she returns home, she begins to pass the virus to everyone around her. And so it begins. Watch as husbands mourn their cheating dead spouses and struggle to keep their daughter disease free, doctors try to find a cure and trace the beginning, and sleazy journalists try to profit from the whole thing. A great thrilling interesting timely film.
Grade: B

Paul / Your Highness - I could pretty much say the same thing about both of these movies: so much wasted talented!!! Paul is about a couple of nerds leaving Comic Con who discover a real alien and run from the FBI. The wasted comedic talent includes, but is not limited to: Simon Pegg, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch and my beloved Landry from Fright Night Lights (a.k.a. Jesse Plemmons). Your Highness is an epic about a stoner knight who goes on a quest with his handsome brother to save his virgin bride from an evil wizard. Not only is it directed by David Gordon Green, the genius who directed All the Real Girls and George Washington, but also it wastes the considerable talents of Natalie Portman, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel and Justin Theroux (and the somewhat lesser talents of Danny McBride). Neither film is funny at all. Both are a huge waste of time and will probably end up on my Worst of the Year list.
Grade: F for both

Drive - This movie has a massive amount of swagger and style from the very first second of the film. You are immediately engrossed in this beautifully filmed story about a stunt car driver for films who finds himself caught up in a crazy world of driving criminals from whatever place they happen to be robbing. And, boy, can he drive. He being Ryan Gosling, who mesmerizes and smolders his way through this film. He's fantastic. As is the supporting cast of Carey Mulligan (who is pretty much Michelle Williams, version 2.0 and that is NOT a bad thing), Bryan Cranston (again!), Ron Perlman and SCENE STEALER EXTRAORDINAIRE Albert Brooks. Seriously, Brooks is sooo damn good, I can't imagine him not being nominated for an Oscar at this point. This movie is simply beautiful, one of the best of the year. It's silent and intense and a great slow burn thriller that goes from zero to extreme violence in the blink of an eye. This movie should not be missed!
Grade: B+