Whiplash

First I thought 2014 was a crappy year for movies. Then I decided it was mediocre. By the time I finally decided it was a good year after all, I have to change my opinion again. Now I think it might possibly be the best year since 2007 (the year if Into the Wild, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Atonement, among others). And the best of the best this year just might be Whiplash, a raucous, high energy, non stop story of obsession in the music world.

Miles Teller stars as Andrew, a young jazz drummer at a prestigious music school who gets plucked out of obscurity and asked to perform in the mist exclusive club in the school, a competition squad taught by the mecurial, unpredictable Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). His teaching methods are a bit suspect, especially when he throws a chair at the head of his young drumming prodigy and threatens to gouge his eyes out. But do they work? As we see Andrew progress with a single minded obsessiveness of not just becoming great, but one of the greats, you have to argue that Fletcher's madness is actually a positive influence on the cocky young loner, who would rather be remembered forever than have friends.

Whiplash is near perfect. There isn't a shot or a moment that doesn't feel necessary and vital for the story. The high energy, frantic pace makes the time fly while you are watching it. I wanted it to be longer! You would think watching someone play drums (breathe drums, live for drums, BLEED for drums) would get old fast, but it never does.

And then there is J.K. Simmons.  Could that evil and sadistic music teacher really be the sweetheart dad from Juno? It's hard to believe, but it is. His performance is spectacular,  the kind of parts actors probably kill for. I may slightly prefer Ed Norton in Birdman, only because his role is slightly more complex,  but Simmons eventual and inevitable Oscar win will be well deserved. Teller is no slouch either. He definitely manages to shine in the lead role even though his supporting actor is getting all the juicy dialogue. And their chemistry is pretty great too, lots of great back and forth between the two.

And I almost made it through my glowing review failing to mention the last ten minutes, which are legitimately the best ten minutes I have seen in any movie all year. What an incredible end to an incredible must-see, wholly entertaining movie.

Grade: A

Divergent

Y.A. books happen to be a major guilty pleasure of mine. Look, I read pretty heavy books too, so every once in a while I like to sit down with a book that doesn't make me think too much. Plus, let's face it, I'm really a 14 year old girl deep down inside and I love the strong females and the love triangles and the mysterious cute boys. Okay?? So, yes, I read Divergent. And, yes, I loved it (at least the first and second books... the third was a bit disappointing). That being said, I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about the movie being made. I loved the casting decisions but my expectations were admittedly low. There were a lot of things in the book that I wasn't sure could transfer well too the screen. Turns out, I was mostly wrong, because the movie version of Divergent is pretty damn good.

Divergent takes place in the future in Chicago. Post-war, a fence was built around the city and citizens were separated into five factions based on character traits. When you come of age, you get a Choosing Ceremony where, after taking an aptitude test, you decide what faction you will spend the rest of your life with. If you choose to leave the faction you were born into, you will never see your parents again. So, when our lead character Tris takes the aptitude test and it comes up inconclusive, she discovers she is divergent, which is dangerous because the leaders of the community don't want people who don't conform. She tries to hide her result and leaves her selfless Abnegation factor to join the brave Dauntless. The first half of the film is all about her training as she goes from being weak and meek to strong and kick ass. The end of the movie sort of loses steam a bit, although the action sticks fairly close to the book (it does almost completely change the ending).

For the most part, Divergent is a pretty action packed, intense film. Sure, a lot of the things that are plain and clear in the book don't necessarily get explained very well in the movie. (I saw it with my boyfriend, who didn't read the book, and had a lot of questions afterwards... mostly a lot of "well, why?" sorts of questions.... The "why" of the situations are explaining much better in the book). But, the movie does benefit from having a pretty great cast of actors including star Shailene Woodley as Tris. She manages to make Tris feel like a real girl. My problem with Katniss in The Hunger Games was always that she doesn't feel real, and she never gets her hands dirty. Sure, bad things happen all around Katniss, but mostly other people take care of things for her. Katniss is a great role model for girls if you like your role models simple and clearly defined. Tris is much more complicated. She does a lot of bad things, and she isn't always likable. Plus, she spends most of the second book racked with guilt over things she does in Divergent (another problem with the movie, they didn't take enough time to develop character relationships so that you can understand why she'll be so guilt-ridden in the next movies). Also, Katniss just is strong. Tris starts out weak and has to work her butt off to become strong. But Woodley takes this complicated, kick ass character and makes her feel real and lived in. She's going to be a huge star and she totally deserves to be.

The rest of the cast mostly succeeds with their characters. Theo James, who is so good looking I think he might be photo-shopped, plays love interest / trainer Four and he and Woodley have great chemistry and most of their scenes are tension filled and intense. Kate Winslet is super under-used as Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews but she does what she can with the ice queen role. My biggest disappointment is with Miles Teller and the role of Peter. It's not Teller's fault. I thought Teller would absolutely kill this role, but someone somewhere thought it was a good idea to turn his character into mostly just a loud mouth fast talking troublemaker. In the book, he is much more than just a smart ass bully. He's a borderline sociopath, which makes him much more dangerous and untrustworthy and gives his character a lot more depth in the sequels. They also managed to cut out his most intriguing story line (and I don't want to spoil anything but the character of Edward, who is merely mentioned in passing here, plays a pretty big role in the future). MVP goes to Jai Courtney as Dauntless leader Eric. He may look like a punk rock Macklemore, but his take on the troublesome, fierce leader is absolutely wonderful. He steals every scene he is in with a mixture of menace and dark humor. I wanted more and more even though his character lives on the outskirts of the main story line.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with Divergent. It's not going to win any awards, but it's probably forty minutes too long (although there were elements cut for time that probably should have been in the film), but it was fun and thrilling. I'm glad it did well at the box office because I'm excited to see the sequels on the big screen. And, who knows, since they took so many liberties with the final act of Divergent (and they mostly worked), then maybe they can fix the major problems with Allegiant, as well.

Grade: B-

That Awkward Moment

The saving grace of That Awkward Moment is the fact that they had the foresight to cast two exciting young actors, who take their cliche roles in a cliche movie and give it all they have, often giving the audience a lot more than we're expecting, and definitely more than the daft script asks of them. Make no mistake: Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller are the only reason to see this movie. They both turn on the charm. Jordan manages to create a three-dimensional man out of a poorly written character, and Teller uses his natural charisma and perfect sardonic comedic timing to bring his character to life. Zac Efron is the weak spot here, but that's not to say he isn't good; he has a very good presence. But he's definitely not as good as his co-stars.

Jordan stars as Mikey, a young man who seems to have it all together. He went to med school, currently works in the ER, married a smart, pretty girl (Jessica Lucas), and everything seems to be going great for him - until he comes home one day to find out his wife is sleeping with her lawyer. Oh, you know, the one she hired to divorce him. (Side note: And here is where you have to suspend disbelief. I would sooner believe that Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is going to come save me from a disaster than a girl ever breaking up with Michael B. Jordan, who is flawless.) So, Mikey is thrust back into the single world, where his two best friends from college flourish. It's their natural habitat. Jason (Efron) and Daniel (Teller) design book covers by day and hit on and sleep with every available girl in the five boroughs by night. They decide to not only help Mikey get a lady, but also stay single. After all, when will they have this chance again - all being young and single in the city? All things seem to be going fine until Jason starts to fall for a quirky cutie named Ellie (Imogen Poots) and Daniel begins to see his wing woman Chelsea (Mackenzie Davis) in a new light. They try to hide their budding relationships from Mikey and, of course, hilarity (or at least, soft chuckles) ensues.

The major problem with That Awkward Moment is that I'm not exactly sure it knows what kind of movie it wants to be. It's presenting itself as sort of a cross between a good ole' romantic comedy and a raunchy bro movie for dudes. The problem is those audiences don't exactly overlap. Girls want to watch sweet romantic comedies with their friends, while boys want to watch raunchy comedies with their friends. It's not exactly enough of either of those things to completely appeal to either audience. It doesn't ever give in completely to being one thing, but instead carries on for over 90 minutes as if it's having a sort of identity crisis. Also, there's just not enough laughs to justify the problems with it - plot holes, poorly written characters, cliches by the dozen. However, like I said in the first paragraph, Jordan and Teller do what they can to make the whole thing worthwhile. And they succeed sometimes, and sometimes That Awkward Moment is a fine little comedy. I think Poots is probably going to be a star sometime in the near future, but this isn't the movie that's going to do it for her. She's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and I'm excited to see what she turns up in next (FYI: a Nick Hornby adaptation!). I like Efron for some reason, although I'm not sure he's destined to be a movie star. He has some sort of IT factor, but he's just not a good enough actor to be anything more than that Rom-Com guy, which is fine. I'd be interested to see him on TV, in some sort of Mindy Project comedy but with a guy in the lead. I think he'd probably kill it week in and week out. But he seems determined to try his hand and movie stardom, and so he's always going to be playing second fiddle to guys like Jordan and Teller. The good news is these three guys have a great sort of bro chemistry that really works and is fun to watch. If only the script around them was better. Because, from where I stand, That Awkward Moment wasn't a great way to start 2014 movie-wise. It wasn't a terrible way either, though.

Grade: C+

Top Ten Films 2013

10. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - A lonely day dreamer finally escapes his dull life and enters on the adventure of a lifetime while trying to find a missing photograph negative. That's Walter Mitty in a nutshell and the film is a great experience filled with laughs, action and the most beautiful scenery. It's visual overload with volcanoes erupting and boats at sea. Walter Mitty is a sweet movie for the daydreamer in all of us.

09. Captain Phillips - If you like your movies intense, than Captain Phillips is for you. The true story of a cargo ship boarded by Somali pirates, Captain Phillips is the most intense film of the year. Tom Hanks is charming and heroic. Newcomer Barkhad Abdi makes his presence felt as the empathetic villain. But it's the hand held camera work and gut-wrenching emotion that makes this one of the year's best. And once you see Tom Hanks last ten minutes on film, you'll wonder why he was snubbed by Oscar this year. It may be the best ten minutes in all of movies this year.

08. Disconnect - Interwoven stories tell the tale of how we are all so dependent on technology for connection, and really, how lonely and disconnected we all feel on a day to day basis. Disconnect is a little, indie movie that I happened upon that ended up being so much better than I ever could have imagined. It's got a great ensemble featuring the likes of Jason Bateman, Paula Patton and Alexander Skarsgaard. But, mostly it's the story that you can relate to se easily. If you have ever been lonely, or bullied, or made mistakes, or wanted to escape your life... than there is something in this movie for you.

07. The Spectacular Now - This past year has been a remarkable year for coming of age stories and The Spectacular Now is the best of the bunch. It's the story of the most popular guy in school (Miles Teller) who falls for a smart and sad outcast (Shailene Woodley). And while that may sound cliche, this movie manages to avoid feeling like something you've seen a million times before. Perhaps it's the chemistry of the stars, or the fact that everything just feels real. This is a great movie about two teenagers on the cusp of becoming adults, with great performances, especially by a scene stealing Kyle Chandler.

06. Inside Llewyn Davis - The Coen Brothers have always loved unlikable men, and the folk musician at the center of Inside Llewyn Davis is no different. He's, more or less, a self-destructive asshole who angers and upsets just about everyone he comes in contact with. The fact that we can root for Llewyn at all says a lot about the amazing performance of Oscar Issac. Inside Llewyn Davis is yet ANOTHER Coen Brothers masterpiece, and this time, it's got a great, sing-along soundtrack as well.

05. 12 Years a Slave - I still believe that 12 Years a Slave has its flaws, but it's so close to being a masterpiece that it barely even matters. Not only is it an Important Movie (with capital letters!), but also it is a beautiful one. Never has something so ugly looked so pretty. The cinematography, the acting, the directing, the script: it's all wonderful. My only hesitation with it initially was thinking it was a little too pretentious. But that's nearly an afterthought now. Years from now, when people talk about the year 2013 in film, they will be talking about 12 Years a Slave.

04. The Place Beyond the Pines - Another flawed epic of a movie, The Place Beyond the Pines follows the lives of two men whose lives intersect and then, years later, their sons whose lives intersect as well. The Place Beyond the Pines is a refreshing sort of movie that is absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish. It's also unpredictable, and while the female characters seem like a sort of afterthought, the movie itself is a breath of fresh air in this day and age of remakes and sequels and unoriginality.

03. The Wolf of Wall Street - The most brazen, ballsy, out of control movie of the year is also won of the best. Martin Scorsese is still making movies like he's in his twenties with something to prove and star Leonardo DiCaprio has never been so free, completely letting go of his inhibitions to give one of the best performances of the year. The Wolf of Wall Street is an absolute masterpiece of greed and debauchery. The men at the center of the film are awful people, but that doesn't make watching them any less enjoyable.

02. Frances Ha - I don't know exactly what it is about this little black and white movie that struck me so much. Perhaps it's just how much I seem to relate to Frances (Greta Gerwig). Frances is a lonely girl living in New York City with big dreams, and although she has ambition, nothing ever quite works out for her. It's the story of struggling through life when all your friends seem to have their shit together but you can barely get out of bed some days. But mostly it's the story of a girl who is just trying to get her life straightened out. Frances says it's okay to have no idea what you're doing on a daily basis, and I thank her for it.

01. Her - The newest love story from Spike Jonze follows the story of a lonely writer desperate to make a connection (just like so many films I loved this year). He ends up falling in love with the new operating system for his computer. Her is just about everything a movie should be: smart, funny, intimate, quirky, original, sweet, and sad. This is the sort of lovely, wonderful movie that will have you crying one moment and laughing the next. Anchored by the joyful performance of Joaquin Phoenix and featuring the best screenplay of the year, Her is an absolute little gem of a movie.

The Spectacular Now

Remember when high school movies used to be meaningful? You would to connect with every richly developed character and the movie would effect you in a way that would meaning something to you for the rest of your life. The movies were funny, romantic, and also a little sad. They didn't trivialize the emotions of teenagers because they were young. The teenagers in these movies had actual, real problems and they persevered because of that or in spite of it. John Hughes more or less made an art form out of making movies like this and when you talk about the greatest high school movies of all time, you can't not mention him. His films are very 1980's but also feel timeless. Then something shifted and high school movies turned into a joke - an endless parade of raunchy jokes and oh-so-much alcohol. But lately I think the tide is turning again. Last year, The Perks of Being a Wallflower was one of my favorite movies of the year. It even made my year end Top Ten list against some pretty heavy competition. This year, you've got The Spectacular Now, a movie that is just as great as it's title. And while it features all the cliches you have come to know and love from tired genre movies (cute boy falls for not-so-pretty-until-you-really-look-at-her girl, the prom, graduation), it never feels recycled. It always feels fresh and daring.

Miles Teller stars as Sutter, the most popular boy in school. But here's the rub - he's popular because, wait for it, he's nice. He's nice to everyone. He is quite possibly the most likable boy in school. He has the biggest heart and is just as likely to talk to the school jock about sports as he is to talk to the school nerd about anime books. Of course, he has his demons, mainly the fact that he is almost always drinking. When his super popular, life of the party girlfriend (Brie Larson) breaks up with him, he goes into a downward spiral which leaves him passed out and hungover on a lawn where he's found by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a shy girl he goes to school with. She is sweet and helpful to him. The transformation of the not-so-pretty girl into the pretty girl isn't physical here. Aimee is already beautiful (Sutter even tells her this because she doesn't know it herself). Unlike every other high school movie, her transformation is purely mental. Sutter gives her something no one else can - self confidence. At first, Sutter doesn't have the best of intentions. He hangs out with Aimee for selfish reasons - maybe she can help him with math, which he's failing, maybe he can make his ex jealous. But he begins to fall for her, although at a way slower pace than the way she falls for him, which is head over heels and fast.

The Spectacular Now has a great script and the performances feel raw and real. Everyone is talking about how this is Woodley's breakthrough performance and I agree. She is truly a revelation. However, more people should be talking about Teller, who, for me, is truly the star. He makes Sutter so damn likable that even when you question his motives (which is pretty often, actually), you never stop rooting for him to make the right decisions and clean up his act. He has so much charm, so much charisma and his chemistry with Woodley just oozes off of the screen. It feels less like a movie than a snap shot into the lives of these kids and their struggles. Aimee is supporting her family and trying to stand up to her mom so she can go away to college. Sutter has a bag load of daddy issues from his father abandoning him. They find each other in a way that feels real. I'm not sure I see this movie as a romance movie. To me their relationship is failing right from the start. But it is romantic if you think about it in terms of how they change each other's lives for the better. The movie ends enigmatically, not really knowing what happens for this couple, but either way, this is the first kind of love, the good kind that may hurt a little at the time but stays with your forever, shaping who you are as a person.

Of course, the movie isn't perfect. About two-thirds of the way through, Kyle Chandler shows up like a tornado. He steals the goddamn movie away from everyone with his deadbeat dad (miles away from his unforgettable turn as Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights). You can immediately tell where Sutter gets his charisma because Chandler, as his dad, charms every person he meets in the movie, and the audience. And he's a terribly unlikable character, but, my Lord, if you don't want to know more about him, if you don't want to follow his character to the depths of the earth. His performance is so powerful that I'm sure it will stay so fresh and vivid in my mind for months to come. The problem is, that after he's gone, it's sort of like all the air gets sucked out of the movie. From that point on, the movie relies too heavily on melodrama and never fully recovers its footing. Still, two-thirds of a damn near perfect movie is still a pretty great accomplishment, and a feeble third act can't stop me from recommending this movie so very strongly. Go see it now. It's one of the years best.

Grade: B+

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-