Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is one of the most touching films released in 2011. I am thoroughly puzzled as to why such an emotional story and well made film garnered a 6.9/10 rating on IMDb. The only thing sadder than parts of this film is that rating.
The story follows Oskar, a young boy with autism. Oskar's father just passed away during the September 11th terrorist attacks, so in order to keep the memory of his father alive, Oskar goes on a quest throughout New York to find the keyhole of a key his father left behind. Through this quest, Oskar is assisted by the renter, a mute who happens to be his grandfather. In the end, Oskar is forced to realize that not everything is an adventure and that not everything has a meaning.
Well this film had meaning. Beautifully directed by Stephen Daldry, emotions run high in this film as the audience is drawn to sympathize with this troubled character. The poor kid was exposed to real life in an unrelenting, forceful manner and we can't help but sympathize. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
Dragon Tattoo is a brutal and unrelenting film that stays true to the book. That being said, this film was nearly identical to the original adaptation, making this movie nothing special at all.
The plot to this film is complex and disturbing as a journalist is aided by a young computer hacker in search for the whereabouts of a girl who disappeared 40 years ago. Daniel Craig's performance in this film was better than most anything he has displayed on screen before. Rooney Mara, a newcomer on the scene, may have had better fortune if she had a different early role. Nonetheless, she performed extremely well, delivering an equally convincing performance compared to Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander.
This film is not for everyone. It is dark and has its moments of extreme brutality. If you can put up with that, the film has an intriguing plot that is different and original. So if you don't like subtitles (I actually like them) and want to see what all the fuss is about with the book series, I'd suggest this film. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
Real Steel was honestly a lot better than I had expected. I thought it would be an interesting action movie about fighting robots. It actually turned out to be a feel good story about a man down on his luck who seeks redemption and ultimately attains retribution. Okay, maybe the film wasn't that deep, but the point is that it was better than I thought it'd be.
The story follows Charlie Kenton, an ex-boxer who now undertakes underground robot fighting. He is a loser who is eventually brought back to his son who despises him. The two then find a scrappy dummy robot in a scrapyard that can take a beating. So essentially, this movie is kind of like Warrior: down on his luck underground fighter, poor father-son relationship, main fighting tactic is to take a beating. Anyhow, that is besides the point.
As in all feel-good stories, the underdog emerges victorious. However, one thing that separates this film from other fighting films is that it does not focus much on the actual fighter. Instead, the two people in the corner are the true focus on the film. This takes away some of the emotional connection with the fighter, but it also draws more attention to Charlie and his son.
If you can get over the excessive product placement and a healthy dosage of cheese, this film is an enjoyable action, feel-good, underdog tale. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
Moneyball, a film loosely adapted from the Michael Lewis book of the same name, tells the story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team under the reigns of General Manager Billy Beane during the 2001 offseason and 2002 regular season. The Athletics, one of the lowest market teams, had enjoyed regular season success before failing to win a championship in the postseason after falling to the cash-strapped New York Yankees. While Oakland's play was admirable, no one remembers unless you win a championship. Beane, played by Brad Pitt, realizes this fact of sports. He also realizes the fact of life that it is an unfair game we play. How do you win an unfair game?
After being gutted by a handful of the richer teams in baseball, Oakland is left with large holes to fill. This is when "thinking outside of the box" is necessary; however, it is the ultimate boom or bust scenario. Only when a man is pushed into a corner will they result in such drastic measures. In the film, Beane's drastic measure was hiring Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, as the Assistant General Manager. The new strategy to gain talent and win games comes through technology and number crunching. What wins games? Scoring more runs. How do you score runs? By getting people on bases. Voila. You have the seemingly obvious recipe to success. However, what Brand realized is that baseball (to that point) is driven by medieval thinking. Thinking otherwise and you'd be outcast as a leper. In that case, Beane and Brand gave each other leprosy and as a result, they put together the longest winning streak in Major League Baseball history.
But they didn't win a championship.
So what does this movie tell us? It gives us a partial solution to winning an unfair game. Now what? While the ending is not rewarding by any means, it is important to realize that no matter how valiant Beane's efforts were to win with what he had, he could only possibly come up just short. Given this story and that this film was adapted from a book intended to spread information and not a story, it was very well directed. In my opinion, as a cinephile and sports fan, I think that this film managed to combine the aspects of sports into a story intended for the screen in one of the best ways ever executed. Bennett Miller's directorial hand manages to weave sports, statistics, and an intriguing underdog story into one well made film. If you are a sports fan, more specifically a baseball fan, you should definitely watch this movie. Conclusion: Watch It
I watched Warrior on the recommendation of some of my football teammates. A feel-good, bro movie was the impression that I got when watching the trailer and hearing what my friends had to say about it. That's pretty much all this film is. It's not bad, but the conclusion to its plot is obvious the whole movie and the poor familial relationship that has the characters realize family is worth fighting for seems a little overdone.
The Conlon brothers are two men hoping for their luck to turn. Both were abandoned by their alcoholic father after a childhood of competitive fighting and familial conflict. Brandon, the older brother, chose to stay with his father due to his girlfriend at home while Tommy, the younger brother, chose to leave with his ill mother. The film picks up when Tommy comes back home as a mysterious grown man, hardened by circumstance. When he fights, it is obvious that he unleashes all of his pent up anger. His style is the exact opposite of his brother's fighting style. Brandon on the other hand takes a beating from the opponent in order to tire them out before he pins them. This recipe of brothers with opposite personalities sets these two characters on the obvious crash course of a high stakes fight.
You can guess who wins (hint: Brandon is older and has a family, Tommy has nothing but a crap attitude). After watching this movie, I did sense the feel good aspects, but I didn't necessarily feel good. In the end, it is still a story of a damaged family and a cash prize to one of the brothers shouldn't have the ability to fix any of that. Conclusion: Pass On It
After watching Tim Burton's 2001 reboot of the Planet of the Apes, i was so disappointed by the ending because it left way, way, way too many questions without even a trace of an answer. It was irritating and it made a mediocre movie terrible especially since it didn't have a sequel to answer any questions.
But I'm not reviewing that flop in this post. Instead, I'm taking a look at ROTPOTA. The story follows Will Rodman and his scientific experiments to find a cure to decaying brain diseases. He tests his solution on a baby chimp named Caesar. Foreshadow much?
As we know from the lengthy title, this is the first installment of a series that features the rise of an ape civilization here on Earth. The film concludes with the apes retreating to the redwood forest in northern California, hinting that this is only the beginning of their civilization that will eventually overtake planet Earth.
The film was not necessarily enjoyable to watch. As a human, I don't want to see us get overrun by an animal evolutionarily inferior. The film has little resolution, so it may be a better idea to watch all of the films together in succession if and when they are released. Conclusion: Pass On It
Crazy, Stupid, Love is everything its title hints at except for one thing: stupid. This smart and lighthearted comedy is crazy in the context of love, but it does such a good job at tying up all the crazy knots that its colorful and busy plot line introduces and follows.
The story follows Cal, a newly deemed cuckold after his wife, Emily, sleeps with David Lindhagen and asks for a divorce. This isn't the usual premise for a feel-good, romantic comedy; however, the grace comes in the form of a smug playboy, Jacob. Jacob helps Cal rediscover his manhood, all the while Cal yearns for his life with Emily. In the end, the audience is able to connect all of the stories together as the film manages to reach a happy, fulfilling conclusion.
This is one of the better comedies I have seen in a while. Given the cast, I shouldn't be too surprised, but the film obviously had a well written script. Another aspect of the film that I have come to enjoy since watching it in theaters is the watchability. The story never gets old, so experience it at least once. Conclusion: Watch It
Every now and then, there is a film that draws you due to pure curiosity. Super 8 was one of those films. "What does the alien look like?" So essentially, you could say that Super 8 is a Cloverfield minus excessive found footage plus kids with a hint of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Except to compare Super 8 to either Cloverfield or Close Encounters would be a crime.
8 is a much better made film than anything Cloverfield had hoped to be. The plot hooks you in as it follows the awestruck kids as there small town and way of life is suddenly impacted by an alien and the army trying to cover up the tracks. Like Cloverfield, this film has the occasional suspense the viewer can experience when a camera is left at the scene.
Steven Spielberg has always had a thing for kids in his films and science fiction. So 8 follows the mystery and search for the other like Close Encounters, but also incorporates a kid-to-alien relationship like E.T. Overall, it was a pleasant viewing experience that had feel-good elements, thrills, and a satisfying conclusion. Conclusion: Worth A Watch
