While We're Young Review

Noah Baumbach impresses yet again with this story of a middle aged couple living vicariously through a younger one.

Great characters are supported by a sharp screenplay by Baumbach that has a great amount of heart. Surprised to see a lot of myself reflected in both Ben Stiller and Adam Driver's characters. Sure it's no Frances Ha but few things are.

Oh and awesome to see Adam Horovitz aka my second favorite Beastie Boy giving a great performance.

Miami Vice Review

Visceral and unflinching. Miami Vice is the most Mannish of Michael Mann films. 

A mood piece disguised as an action/crime drama, Vice updates the dated 80's television series for the 00's and is glorious entertainment. Mann's style has rarely been so on display, from his choice of digital to the riveting action sequences, this might be one of his best.

Farrell and Foxx bring great depth to the iconic roles of Crockett and Tubbs and have great chemistry both with each other and the supporting cast. Speaking of which, Gong Li is ravishing as Farrell's love interest Isabella, a harsh business woman with a taste for Cuban nightlife. Everyone here is on top of their game.

Dion Beebe's cinematography is both eye catching and revelatory. I seem to come away from most recent Mann films saying this but the use of digital is a breath of fresh air. Everything is so immediate and in the moment, it all feels so real, which at certain moments can be overwhelming in the best way.

Some have criticized the dialogue mix but I wasn't bothered in the slightest. Some words and even full sentences are unintelligible or inaudible but it works. These are real characters and perhaps some of their exchanges are none of our business in the first place. When talking to someone in real life, in a crowded bar or city street, you don't pick up on every word said and Mann knows this and works it into his films. It's a masterstroke of realism and he should be applauded for it.

Miami Vice is thrilling from beginning to end, culminating inn one of the most brutal gun fights of the last ten years. It's a high point for crime cinema and comes with the highest of recommends. 

Just check your expectations at the door.

Foxcatcher Review

"Horses are stupid. All they do is eat and shit. It's all very silly."

Almost violently depressing, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher is one of the darkest films I saw in 2014 and perhaps that’s why I love it so much. Featuring break-out performances by Steve Carell and Channing Tatum, it tells the story of the Schultz Brothers, Olympic Gold Medal wrestlers, and their precarious relationship with billionaire John E. du Pont. From the pacing to the atmosphere of increasing dread, to Vanessa Redgrave stealing every scene she's in, Foxcatcher is pretty on point.

Though Carell got most of the praise it’s Tatum who truly transforms for his role. This guy has some real acting chops and I couldn’t be more delighted to watch him grow as an actor. Ruffalo has rarely been better and this is definitely a career best for Tatum. Carell is offputting and bizarre but I think that's kind of the point, the man plays menace quite well. 

From a technical standpoint, it's a marvel. Featuring some of the best sound design I've heard in a while and a fantastic, haunting score by Rob Simonsen, Miller's film is a somber affair for sure.

This was one of the few 2014 films that I was hyped up for and it actually delivered. I still haven't seen Moneyball but so far Bennett Miller hasn't let me down as a filmmaker.

Birdman Review

“Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.” 

That line, said by Edward Norton during a heated exchange with Michael Keaton tells you all you need to know about Birdman. This is, essentially, a super-hero movie that despises super-hero movies and the trappings that go along with them. 

Twenty-Five years ago Michael Keaton lit up the screen as The Dark Knight in Tim Burton’s Batman, a role that went on to define his career whether he liked it or not. Fast-forward to 2014 and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and Keaton is playing a fictionalized version of himself, trying to right the damage done by playing such a famous character. Keaton plays Riggan Thompson, a once blockbuster-headlining superstar with one last chance at legitimacy as an actor. The man has sunk every last penny into a Broadway production of Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and as the film starts, is at his wit’s end dealing with bad actors, a problematic daughter and oh yeah, the constant heckling from Birdman, the voice inside Riggan’s head.

Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director of Birdman, is a tough nut to crack. He’s previously shown a great ability to tell a globe-spanning tale of interconnected misery with his 2006 opus Babel. Here the misery and redemption is not globe-spanning but instead confined to a two block radius around the storied St. James Theatre in New York City. Iñárritu shows that he has an ear for great dialogue and is able to get some arresting performances from his cast. This is in thanks to some heartbreaking monologues where the actors/characters are able to bare their souls. Various subjects such as ego and obsession are touched upon with a grace (some would say heavy handedness), that approaches an ethereal quality that isn’t unwelcome in the least. This is a director who will constantly surprise you with the stories he chooses to tell.

Just so I don’t come off like a broken record from here on out, everyone in the cast is doing career best work. Keaton in particular is masterful as the on-the-cusp of redemption Riggan Thompson. He’s proven himself as a fine actor before in films like the underrated Game 6 and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, but here he has upped his game into the stratosphere, giving his best performance yet. Filled with conviction and an indelible sadness, his is one of the towering performances of a year filled with great ones. The supporting cast is also one of the strongest you’ll see in theaters in 2014 as well. Emma Stone deserves particular praise for her portrayal of Riggan’s daughter, a fresh out of rehab twenty-something hiding a world of anguish behind her eyes. She’s truly given the opportunity to shine in Birdman, giving one of the strongest performances in the film outside of Keaton. Pathos that was only teased elsewhere in previous roles really comes to the fore.

The rest of the cast is aces as well, from Zach Galifianakas turning in a fine dramatic performance to Naomi Watts dazzling as always. Her character in particular has some strong moments and she hasn’t been this heartbreaking since 2001’s Mulholland Drive. The real star of the supporting cast, when it comes right down to it, has got to be Edward Norton. Playing a Broadway actor who is so full of himself he can be downright painful, Norton plays the role he was born to play: Himself. Few actors would have the courage to play an exaggerated version of themselves, especially when the character is so vile and Norton deserves some respect for even going through with it.

On a technical level Birdman is a masterclass. From the pounding drum score to the seamless editing, it’s a marvel. Emmanuel Lubezki is having an absolute field day here with his camera. Filmed and edited to resemble one continuous shot, the cinematography can be jarring at first but settles into a steady rhythm before long. Taking his sweeping camerawork he employed and won an Oscar for in Gravity and using it in the enclosed space of a Broadway theater is an inspired choice. Lubezki is a cinematographer with an eye for beauty in even the ugliest situations as evidenced by his previous work with directors Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) and Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) and his work here reaches the same great heights as before.

An existential super-hero film if anything else, Birdman is one of the best films of the year. A great behind the scenes look into the world of Broadway and the way super-hero films can ruin the lives of those who star in them, this is a film that should be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in strange, unique stories. Breathtaking from start to finish and a truly surreal experience, Birdman is one of a kind and a high point for the Fall movie season.

Halloween Review

Though not the first slasher film (Texas, Psycho and Peeping Tom came before it), John Carpenter’s 1978 masterwork drew the blueprint that every subsequent slasher would abide by. A simple story of a babysitter and her night with the embodiment of evil is great example of indie filmmaking and what a small budget can produce. Michael Myers is the stuff of nightmares.

Featuring gorgeous cinematography by Dean Cundey and a no-nonsense pace thanks to Carpenter’s sharp screenplay, Halloween is a classic in the genre for a reason. Jamie Lee Curtis shines as the young Laurie Strode with a scream most horror actresses would sell their soul for and Donald Pleasence is a pure delight in his signature role as Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael’s former psychiatrist. Halloween is the rare slasher with characters you can both relate to and enjoy thanks to the performances that “totally” bring them to life. 

Surprisingly bloodless, like most great horror films it’s what you don’t see that really gets to you. Sure, there are murders aplenty but the lack of gore, much like in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre four years prior, only adds to the mounting dread and tension. Aside from The Thing, this is John Carpenter’s crowning achievement as a director and the king of all slasher films.

The Shining Review

Derided upon release as slow-paced, boring and far too removed from the source material, Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of horror has steadily grown in stature ever since. A far superior version of Stephen King’s original story, Kubrick’s version has been analyzed to death since release but suffice to say it’s one of the most unsettling and disturbing family stories ever made. 

A master of mood and style, Kubrick’s film is flawlessly made. From methodical steadicam shots through the halls of the Overlook Hotel to the barrage of terror that Shelley Duvall endures in the film’s final act, The Shining checks off every asset that makes a horror film effective and adds even more. Jack Nicholson may seem unhinged from the start but that’s a moot point, his is a singular performance and the movie as a whole would’ve been lesser without that menacing stare present in almost every scene. 

There’s palpable dread throughout and it’s brought to vivid life thanks to Kubrick. Horror and the haunted house sub-genre of it would be lesser without his contribution and all we can do is thank him for it.

Movie Review: All That Jazz

Biopics tend to get a bad rap and for good reason as it can be close to impossible to fit an individual’s entire life into two hours of film. However, when something like Bob Fosse’s “auto-biopic” comes along, it throws conventional criticism of the genre out the window. All That Jazz, a thinly veiled autobiographical telling of Fosse’s life, is like no film you have ever seen before; a ‘musical that isn’t a musical’ that’s both visually and thematically stunning with towering production values and performances from all involved.

All That Jazz tells the story of Broadway/Film director Joe Gideon, played by Roy Scheider in a career best performance, as he simultaneously juggles directing a musical, editing a film, a crippling pill addiction and multiple women all while recalling his entire life to the Angel of Death. If that sounds like it’s all too much to take in on one viewing, it isn’t. Fosse’s direction makes everything apparent and easy to follow as he intertwines stunning visuals that don’t regulate themselves to the numerous dream sequences. This is a gorgeous film throughout thanks to Fosse’s keen eye and Giuseppe Rotunno’s Oscar nominated cinematography, aided by the director’s signature choreography, especially in the rehearsal sequence for a scandalous musical number that is the centerpiece of the film.  

Gideon’s discussions with Death, a stunning Jessica Lange, though jarring at first become second nature and a window into Gideon/Fosse’s past. Like every other woman in Gideon’s life, he flirts with Death both metaphorically and literally. Gideon is a force to be reckoned with and from the way the film tells it, Death, or at least the fear of Death, is the only thing that can possibly keep him in check. It never does though, since even when he’s in a hospital bed he’s still flirting, smoking and working on his two productions. Nothing can stop this man from producing art and like most tortured souls it does indeed take its toll.

Though he does carry the bulk of the film, this isn’t just the Roy Scheider show, the cast that surrounds him is stellar as well. Leland Palmer is great as Gideon’s ex-wife and mother to his child, playing the lead in the Broadway production. There’s a sadness and dedication in her performance that mirrors Fosse’s real-life ex-wife Gwen Verdon’s situation at the time. In terms of the supporting actors, Ann Reinking might be the best on display here. Playing Gideon’s live-in girlfriend, Kate Jagger, she clearly is pulling a lot from her personal experiences, since at the time she was Bob Fosse’s real-life girlfriend. Her arc is heartbreaking at times as she’s clearly playing herself and is outmatched by Gideon’s towering personality and ego.

It’s almost shocking to watch a 35 year old film that has such a brisk pace, predating the quick-cuts of Edgar Wright and Tarantino’s films by decades. Alan Heim, who had previously worked with the director on Lenny and would edit Star 80 (Fosse’s final film), won a well deserved Oscar for All That Jazz. Seeing as how this was up against a power-house like Apocalypse Now, it’s quite telling that Heim’s then unheard-of edits were recognized as revolutionary even at the time. It’s a key part of the experience and will leave a strong impression on anyone even the least bit interested in filmmaking.

Much has been written about how this movie along with Cabaret, for which Fosse won Best Director, are his crowning achievements as a filmmaker and it’s difficult to dispute that fact. I for one would have to side with All That Jazz as the better of the two since it comes from a far more personal space and isn’t an adaptation of a previous work. This is a legendary film and for a reason, though fanciful at times it all seems real, almost too real. Scheider knocks it out of the park with one of the best screen performances of all time and although he’s not the most likable character, you definitely feel for him towards the end of the picture.

The movie begins with Gideon’s morning routine which ends with his mantra, “It’s showtime, folks.” It’s a scene that recurs throughout the film, each time faster than the last (matching Gideon’s deterioration), as a sort of affirmation, Gideon and therefore Fosse are constantly putting on a show that they hope can get them through the day. This also brings into discussion that perhaps Fosse was a little too easy on himself with All That Jazz, as by most accounts he was even worse than Gideon when it came to his vices when he was in his prime. In the end that’s of little consequence as the end result is one of the best films of the 1970’s and the pinnacle of Bob Fosse’s brilliance as a director.