Halftime Top 10 Movies of 2013

Look beyond the blockbusters.

That's the theme of 2013 thus far. After a spectacular 2012 movie year, I plunged head-first into movie reviewing after being out of the game for years (some of you might remember me from my Livejournal days of 2004-2005). That year was spectacularly back-loaded, with nearly all of my year-end Top 10 movies debuting in July or later (the one exception, Moonrise Kingdom, which I let in by virtue of a tie). I can only assume we're headed for something similar in 2013, but the first half of the year displayed a noticeable change, and not one for the better. I did not award a single wide-release movie three-and-a-half stars or better.

While there are five ***1/2 films present here, some of which feature big-name actors, all of them debuted in limited release. They eventually expanded, but none of these were anywhere close to major box office players. They're not popcorn-munching affairs. But those aren't the only kinds of movies I give high marks to. Had I reviewed movies last year, I would've awarded several first-half, mainstream movies ***1/2, including The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods, Chronicle, and The Grey. Based on recent history, the second half of 2013 will reward our patience and give us a cornucopia of strong, high-quality entertainment, but damn it, why wait so long?

Because of most years' second-half surge, I'm guessing most of these movies will miss the year-end Top 10. No. 1 has a good shot of making the cut, but I don't know about the others. Creating a list right here at the end of June at least lets me give some of the better 3-star movies a little love and highlight some very good-to-great movies that many mainstream movie-goers missed out on.

.Now on with it. As is my tradition, I present them in reverse order, saving the best for last.

10. Star Trek Into Darkness

This movie certainly polarized the fans. A key twist late in the proceedings was thought of as wickedly clever by some and denounced as cheap and lazy by others. Not to mention the fact that some veteran Trekkies bemoan the more action-oriented approach. For me, that matters little. This was a highly entertaining ride that kept the adrenaline flowing from beginning to end. Where Star Trek goes after 2016 is up in the air (a return to television, perhaps?), but at least for now, J.J.
Abrams keeps the franchise living long and prospering.

 9. Oblivion

Two sci-fi movies in a row, but this one plays better to the thinking person. It's a visually stunning and well-paced adventure, but its ruminations on the nature of identity and humanity make for a fuller cinematic experience. At the rate Tom Cruise is going, he could do these movies for at least another 10 years. If they're at least as entertaining as Oblivion, you can bet I'll be there to watch them.

8. Now You See Me

It's as frenetically paced as a superhero film or a Fast and Furious flick, but it's also smarter, breezier, and more creative. Now You See Me is a lot of fun and keeps us guessing all the way through the improbable final reveal. This also boasts one of the best casts top-to-bottom of any 2013 motion picture, and everyone delivers. It's done about as well as a movie about magicians can be done.

7. Monsters University

Pixar returns to one of their better concepts (a world of monsters) for a prequel, and the result, while not as clever as its earlier movie, is still a very good family film and one of the better movies of the summer. The initial thought of a prequel had me concerned, but I was surprised as to how much life, wit, and energy that this universe and characters have on a second go-around. As of right now, it's the movie to beat for the Best Animated Film Oscar.

6. 42

As a baseball die-hard, I was looking forward to this Jackie Robinson bio-pic more than any movie in the first half of the year, and while it's unlikely to win any awards, I wasn't disappointed. It's equally compelling as a sports movie and as social commentary. And it's lifted by a star-making turn from Chadwick Boseman as well as Harrison Ford in one of his best parts in years. Of the movies I graded three stars to thus far, this one stands out as the strongest.

5. Mud

This movie scored 99% on rottentomatoes.com. That's very impressive, and it's easy to see why so many critics liked it. Mud is engrossing as both a Huck Finn-esque coming-of-age story and as a southern-gotchic-tinged thriller. It's a long movie but totally worth the time investment. And Matthew McConaughey once again impresses in the title role, indicating he has mercifully left the world of silly rom-coms far behind him.

4. Before Midnight

Richard Linklater's third outing in the unconventional relationship of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) is once again delightfully verbose and witty, but it's also easily the darkest yet. Love at 41 demands a lot more than love at 23 or 32, a fact this movie illustrates powerfully. It's not everyone's kind of movie; you have to have an appreciation for movies that are entirely about dialogue and philosophical musings, but it's one that everyone should nonetheless seek out.

3. Spring Breakers

Talk about a polarizing film! For many viewers, Spring Breakers may be more notable for its former Disney "good girls" taking a walk on the wild side than it is for its brutally effective commentary on the shallowness of today's youth. It's a movie that pushes a lot of buttons and is sometimes intentionally discomforts the viewer, but it has a lot to say. It's not the sexploitation flick the ads promise, but something far darker, more provocative, and more memorable.

2. The Place Beyond the Pines

This would've been right at home with the Oscar contenders, but I'm glad we got it earlier in the year to mix things up. The Place Beyond the Pines is an immensely compelling three-act tale about sons paying for the sins of the fathers. It contains three distinct storylines, each with a different main character, and seeing them connect is a real treat. It also boasts Bradley Cooper in what I believe is his best acting job to date, even better than his Oscar-nominated role from Silver Linings Playbook.

1. Disconnect

This is superior ensemble-based movie-making. Given the timely subject matter of social media, I expected Disconnect to be good, but not this good. This is also a three-pronged story, but each one is hugely engrossing and has so much thought-provoking material about our lack of communication in the digital age that anyone who watches this will be able to relate. It's one of those few movies where, as I watched it, my thoughts never drifted away from the characters, not even for a second. It came closer to a four-star rating as anything I've seen all year, and it's the only movie on this Halftime list that I'm certain will appear at year's end as well.



So bring on the second half!

Review of The Heat

With The Heat, director Paul Feig has found his cinematic trademark: take traditionally male-dominated genre movies, inset women instead, and show the world it can be just as entertaining. Much like he did with 2011's Bridesmaids, Feig strikes a blow for movie equality. Returning for another round is actress Melissa McCarthy, who brings the same no-holds-barred, abrasive personality that scored her an Oscar nomination in that movie. However, while Bridesmaids too often suffered from extreme tone problems as a result of getting far too serious at times, The Heat has no intention of being taken seriously, and that's a good thing. Looking at a movie like this, which has so much in common with it's male-dominated counterparts, only one question need be asked: "Is it funny throughout the running length?" The answer is a definite "yes."

For a brief moment, as we're introduced to straight-laced, uber-ambitious FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn, it appears as though Sandra Bullock is once again reprising her Miss Congeniality role. Thankfully, that's not the case. Ashburn is a phenomenal field agent, but everyone in her unit resents her, or so says her boss, Frank Woods (Tom Wilson). She desperately wants a promotion, but first she'll have to travel from New York to Boston to assist in a case involving taking down a drug lord. She soon crosses paths with Shannon Mullins (McCarthy), who is every bit as abrasive, foul-mouthed, and attention-seeking as can be. Of course, we wouldn't have a movie if these two didn't reluctantly team up and then slowly begin to respect one another, now would we?

The plot is hardly the point of The Heat. It's riddled with every cop-buddy-movie cliche imaginable, but Feig smartly never lets the recycled storyline get in the way of the laughs. Even when the "surprise" chief villain is unmasked, it's about at the level of an episode of Scooby Doo when it comes to ingenuity. The main reason why The Heat is so much fun comes down to the chemistry between Bullock and McCarthy. They're mismatched buddies in the classic sense. The former is so work-focused that her only real friend is her neighbor's cat, and the latter is such a loose cannon that she gives her stressed out, 43-year-old boss a full head of grey hair. But through their misadventures, they bond in ways that the guys do, and every bit as hilariously.

McCarthy is unquestionably The Heat's greatest asset. Not only does she have many of the best lines (many of which involve profanity the likes of which one would normally find in a Quentin Tarantino movie), but she understands timing and can make one laugh with as little as a facial expression. Bullock has been given the occasional chance for comedic roles, but rarely has she seemed so at ease with it as she is here. Together, these two are golden. They deliver some of the heartiest laughs I've had at any movie all year, including one scene where Mullins strips down Ashburn's "bank teller" outfit in the bathroom of a nightclub so she can come on to a suspect, and another where the two ladies, after a rough day, imbibe an insane amount of shots at a neighborhood bar and let loose. And let's not forget Mullins' Bostonian family, whose ridiculously thick-accents and hardcore sports fanaticism take the comedy to another level.

Ultimately, The Heat is required to follow the beats of a standard police procedural and even include a semi-serious subplot (involving Shannon's family hating her for ratting out her brother), but these are necessary evils. Unlike The Hangover Part III, this movie never loses sight of what we're here to experience. And while The Heat doesn't push the envelope in ways that franchise did, it isn't afraid to use violence and blood for laughs as well (a "knife in the leg" sequence here outdoes something similar from Will Ferrell's Talladega Nights). Still, even amid all the mayhem, the filmmakers still succeed in making us care about the two main characters. Even for a derivative comedy, that's important.

I saw a free advance screening of The Heat a week before it opened, and the audience loved it, laughing frequently throughout with seldom a dead spot. A comedy headlining two women in their forties is the rarest of breeds indeed, and Feig, Bullock, and McCarthy pull it off about as well as can be expected. I for one hope The Heat succeeds at the box office. There's no reason why this formula can't be duplicated effectively with many actresses, and we all know how Hollywood's copycat mentality operates. The Heat joins This is The End for a solid one-two punch of off-color, consistently hilarious summer comedy.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of Monsters University

Not even Pixar is immune to the sequel bug. The studio, which enjoyed an incredible run from the late 90s through the 2000s of superior, original animated fare, has begun mining for gold off its past successes. While in theory, making a prequel to Monsters Inc. sounds more like a cash grab than a genuine artistic vision,  we can be thankful that Monsters University nonetheless delivers what's expected of it. There's nothing groundbreaking or extraordinary about the movie, but it functions on a level that all viewers, regardless of age, will appreciate. Kids, of course, will be enthralled, and anyone in or beyond their college years will get a kick out of the film's various in-jokes.

Since the ending of Monsters Inc. made a traditional sequel next to impossible, Pixar chose instead to flash back to the initial meeting and relationship/rivalry of little green cyclops Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and the large, furry James P. Sullivan (John Goodman). Both hope to ace the competition in the Monsters University scaring program, but they each have their set of hurdles. Sullivan has the look and the menacing roar but lacks technique and discipline. Mike has the scholarly ambition when it comes to scaring but no inherently frightening qualities. When an argument between the two escalates out of control and results in them being kicked out of the scaring program, their only hope is to reluctantly team up with an underachieving fraternity and win the campus "Scare Games," thereby impressing the headmaster (Helen Mirren) enough to let them back in.

Most of Monsters University plays out like a sports movie, with Mike and Sullivan rallying a rag-tag group to an impossible victory while learning some life lessons in the process. It's about as predictable as the NBA Playoffs, but the fun is in how the characters interact and how many clever college-related gags the filmmakers can come up with (there are a lot, and most are very funny, but since this is a G-rated movie, don't expect Beer Pong to make an appearance). Events take a surprising turn about three-quarters of the way through, however, and this allows some genuine depth in the story to manifest itself. But while nothing here will blow away the veteran movie-goer, it's worth noting that Pixar, as per usual, pitches this movie at a solid level for everyone. Monsters University displays enough wit and charm that those who have reached puberty need not feel embarrassed to watch this and enjoy it.

Pixar has always been on the cutting edge of animation quality. I saw this movie in good old-fashioned 2D, and that's the preferred way to watch it. The bright, vivid colors and well-rendered shadows tend to lose some of their luster with a 3D conversion, anyway. And even though this movie reaches screens 12 years after Monsters Inc, there's no need to worry about a "Star Wars chronology" effect. The production values between the two movies are similar enough that you won't be jarred out of the moment, not even a little, should you watch them back-to-back in story order.

Judging by the trailers I saw before this movie, 2013's animated roster (aside from Despicable Me 2) doesn't look very promising. When the dust settles, Monsters University may very well reside at the top of the heap. As Pixar sequels go, this one is behind Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3; those movies boasted a boldness and emotional resonance that this one doesn't come close to. But that's okay. It's still a lot of fun, and Mike and Sully are a perfect "Odd Couple" for movie-goers to revisit. After Cars 2 and Brave, many wondered whether the venerable studio had finally started running on fumes. Monsters University proves they still have plenty left in the tank.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of Man of Steel

I once wrote that superhero movies post-Dark Knight and post-Avengers will have to either go into spectacular overdrive or go dark and serious to remain relevant in Hollywood's game of one-upsmanship. Now it's Superman's turn to go through the Reboot Wringer. With Man of Steel, Warner Bros., director Zack Snyder, and producer Christopher Nolan attempt to take the venerable hero in not just one, but both directions. It is both a darker vision of the title character as well as an exercise in pyrotechnics that would make Michael Bay blush. This movie covers the expected "setup" material of Superman's origin story, but it does so with such a vastly different feel and tone that it stands confidently on its own. Sometimes the two approaches war with one another, but one charge no one can be level against the movie is that of re-hashing.

Much like Richard Donner's 1978 film, Man of Steel opens with the planet Krypton on its last legs, where Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is about to send his recently-born son, Kal-el, on a trip to Earth for a better future. As this is going on, the power-hungry General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts a coup of Krypton's government, but he fails and is sentenced along with his minions to jail time in the Phantom Zone. Once Krypton is destroyed, Zod is free, and he vows to locate Kal-el's whereabouts.

Once we meet a grown-up Kal-El, now named Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), he doesn't wait long before displaying his superior strength in saving some workers from a collapsing oil rig. From there, we flash back to  a few scenes of his childhood living with his Kansas-based Earth parents (played superbly by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane). Once we're done with that, he locates the Fortress of Solitude, which in this case is a massive alien ship located under a bedrock of ice, where he encounters an avatar of his father and receives his official costume. During this time, he also saves the life of intrepid Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and her feelings slowly grow for him. Unfortunately, they don't have much time to get to know one another. Zod has made his way to Earth, and he's not interested in anyone kneeling before him. His initial demand is for Earth to turn in Kal-el or suffer mass destruction, but he has something far more sinister in mind.

The treatment of Superman here differs so radically from previous versions of him that I expect fans will be polarized. Gone is the light, airy tone of adventures past, as are (thankfully) some of the annoyances like no one recognizing the similarities between Clark and his alter ego. But Snyder still understands Superman's heart and strict moral code. This is developed meticulously over the first half of the film. As befitting of the time we live in, with cynicism abound, Kal-el struggles mightily with the issue of saving lives versus not letting the unwashed masses in on his secret. Man of Steel mines territory similar to Nolan's Dark Knight movies here, where a hero tries hard to do the "right" thing even though a lot of the public will not be able to comprehend what that means. Man of Steel recognizes the weight of a burden placed on a person with an uncommon gift few will understand.

Once Zod arrives, however, the movie takes a sharp left turn into garden-variety blockbuster territory. Starting with a brutal two-on-one fight scene between Superman and Zod's cronies and continuing through spectacular destruction scenes of Metropolis, Man of Steel temporarily loses sight of what makes Superman unique and contently makes him a kick-ass hero. He gets the job done, all right, and every action scene is well-shot and cleanly edited, but something can't help but feel a little "off." In his efforts to stop the bad guys and save the day, Superman causes nearly as much destruction and mayhem as the villains do. One could argue that this is just a result of him letting his emotions get in the way, but the movie doesn't address this as well as it should.

Fortunately, the final fight scene, an expected one-on-one smackdown between Superman and Zod, delivers everything movie-goers and fans could reasonably expect from it. The energy and intensity of this battle is something no previous Superman movie has ever come close to, and when it's over, Superman agonizes over the action he had to take in order to win. This is true to the character built up in the movie's first half, and the previous 30-or-so minutes should've delivered more of it. Still, give Snyder credit for saving the best for last.

One aspect of Man of Steel few will quibble about is the successful casting of Henry Cavill in the title role. His presence and emoting ability exceed that of both Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh, and he's the man for the job in future installments. Michael Shannon is appropriately over-the-top as Zod, but this is intentionally a very different take than what Terrence Stamp delivered in 1981's Superman II. Zod has a compelling reason for doing what he's doing, misguided though it may be. Mention also must be made of Russell Crowe, who is fantastic as Jor-el, creating a heroic character who easily makes us forget about Marlon Brando's phoned-in performance from the original Superman. Finally, while Amy Adams does a solid job capturing Lois Lane's ambitious nature, the character is underwritten here. She and Cavill don't share enough scenes for the romance to really work, but I'm sure the inevitable sequel will expand upon it.

Is this the definitive, 21st Century version of Superman? That depends on what you're expecting. Some will undoubtedly lap up the darker take on the Man of Steel, praising producer Christopher Nolan's apparent influence even though he's on record saying that this is Snyder's film. Others will yearn for the warmer, romantic touch of Superman tales of yore as well as John Williams' famous score (yeah, I missed the latter, even though Hans Zimmer does a workmanlike job). I'm somewhere in the middle, although my overall impression is indeed a positive one. I have a few reservations about the film, but I have to admit I had a good time and left the theater with a smile on my face.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of This is the End

It took more than five months, but we now have a legitimate contender for "Funniest movie of 2013." This is the End contains numerous sequences of laugh-aloud hilarity, the kind of stuff where the laughter in a packed theater drowns out the dialogue. It's every bit as edgy and raunchy as the Hangover movies, and the main "hook" here, that every actor is playing and lampooning himself, holds up every bit as well. Yes, there are dead spots here and there where certain moments aren't quite as funny as the filmmakers seem to think they are, but unlike The Hangover Part III, the lag never reaches irritating degrees. Directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg employ the "kitchen sink" blend of comedy reminiscent of spoof films. Keep the gags and quotable lines coming and coming and coming (no pun intended, although there's a joke about that, too).

As the film opens, Jay Burachel has come to Los Angeles intending to spend some quality time with his good buddy, Seth Rogen, playing video games and smoking every manner of weed imaginable. But Rogen wants to hit up a giant party hosted by James Franco at his brand new Hollywood mansion. Burachel reluctantly agrees, and it's not long before he has some memorable exchanges with Franco, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson. But unbeknownst to the party animals (which also include Kevin Hart, Rihanna, Michael Cera, and Emma Watson, among others), the apocalypse has arrived. Blue beams of light suck up anyone who is deemed "worthy" into Heaven and leaves the rest of our fellow heathens behind to fend for themselves. For Franco, Rogen, Baruchel, Robinson, Hill, and Danny McBride, that means staying holed up inside the house awaiting rescue. And settling important tasks like divvying up the food and water, "sharing" the lone porn magazine, making a sequel to Pineapple Express, and figuring out just what the fuck is going on out there.

With every actor in the entire movie playing him/herself, opportunities galore for each of them to rip into each other's movies and off-camera personalities. Weed is constantly on Rogen's mind, Burachel has some serious party-pooper issues, Hill desperately wants everyone to like him, and McBride might be one of the most selfish assholes to ever wake up from a hangover. All six shine brightly and create memorable personalities, some based loosely on real life, and some undoubtedly fueled by certain substances. Michael Cera, playing a coked-out, ass-grabbing version of himself, and Emma Watson, in full psycho-bitch mode after mishearing a conversation, milk every second of their limited screen time.

As with any R-rated comedy, the raunch factor is through the roof. Jokes involving sex, bodily fluids, and a "rape-y vibe" are commonplace, and many hit the funny bone. This is the End also boasts an inspired exorcism scene and answers any and all questions we might have about whether a male demonic creature can be "anatomically correct." And there's a hilarious bit of surprise casting late in the film that I dare not ruin here. All of this may seem like standard fare for a mainstream off-color comedy, but the construction of it all is certainly unique.

It goes without saying that groups of male friends should unquestionably seek this movie out together. The camaraderie between the six principals here is certainly enough to remind us all of our own circle of friends, as quick as we are to point out which movie character resembles each of us the most. For Rogen and Goldberg, expanding their short film "Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse" into feature length has proven a wise choice indeed. Anyone who enjoys this brand of off-the-wall comedy will agree This is the End is not to be missed. All others need not apply.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Throwback Thursday: Top 10 Movies of 2011

 From 1999 through 2009, movie-going was a passion of mine. I saw dozens of films each year and always compiled a Top 10 List at the end. 2010 was leaner than most; my interests clearly gravitated more toward sports, and as a result, I didn't create a Top 10 list that year (If I had, I'm highly sure my No. 1 would've been Inception). That goes double for 2011, and as the Oscars rolled around to celebrate those movies, it dawned on me that of the nine Best Picture nominees, I had only seen one (Moneyball). This just wasn't "me," and I had to do something about it.

Given the awesome onslaught of quality entertainment we had in 2012, with blockbusters and "prestige" movies alike delivering the goods, I decided that it was time to plunge head-first back into movies, starting with this blog we have here. But that wasn't all. I had to catch up on everything I missed in 2011, my worst movie-going year ever, and present what I'm sure I would've written then. So I joined Netflix by mail and began the quest to uncover that which passed me by. My findings? That this crop of movies here easily stacks up against its 2012 counterparts and might be even stronger. Several are instant contenders for my eventual All-Decade List in 2019, which I will expand to 20 films when the day arrives.

What's missing? For starters, there are no box-office juggernauts in the Top 10, although there's one in the Runners-Up slot. We didn't have a superior superhero movie or a James Bond movie in 2011 (we had to wait another year for Dark Night Rises and Skyfall). In fact, most of the movies on my list performed either modestly or poorly in multiplexes, and my top choice couldn't play in mainstream theaters at all.

Also absent are some of the Best Picture nominees and critically acclaimed flicks including Moneyball, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Sorry, but while I liked all five of those movies (each gets a *** rating) and wouldn't mind watching them again, each had an element or two holding them back from greatness. And then there's Terrance Malick's The Tree of Life, a movie whose praise mystified me. "Pretentious" isn't a word I use often to describe a movie, but that one embodied it.

So let's get on with it, shall we? Step into the not-so-wayback machine.

Runners- Up: Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Help, Super 8, War Horse

10. Rango

Pixar and Disney usually bulldoze the field when it comes to animated movies, but Paramount Pictures gave us something just as good. The Academy certainly agreed when they awarded Rango with the Best Animated Film Oscar for 2011. This is a rare animated movie that, in spite of the PG rating, delivers a richer experience for adults than for kids. That's not to say that kids won't enjoy themselves, but the level of wit and sophistication in the dialogue is clearly pitched at older viewers. And as a bonus, the more of a Western fan you are, the more you'll laugh at this movies numerous, creative references to the classics. Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski made three Pirates of the Carribbean movies, and it's too bad Rango's box office intake wasn't enough to justify just one.

9. Warrior

Sports movies, with the exception of boxing movies, aren't traditional Top 10 material. But MMA has itself a standard-bearer with this one. Warrior may not look like much on the surface, but it delivers a powerful, moving family drama that's every bit as compelling as the action within the ring. Some of the sports cliches are still present, but director Gavin O'Conner has a good understanding of which to keep and which to throw out. And while everything comes down to a final bout, this a movie that illustrates something extremely rare; there is such a thing as emotional defeat even in a victory. Also, for an example of how Tom Hardy can dominate a role without the Bane mask, look no further.

8. Drive

I actually saw Drive in theaters during the calendar year of 2011, and when I embarked upon my catch-up quest, I thought this would be a shoo-in for the Top 5. That it slipped to No. 8 is indicative of just how strong that year was in film. This is a violent action thriller unlike any I have seen in a long time. It's steeped in style. Its soundtrack is mesmerizing. Its no-named hero (Ryan Gosling's best role of his career IMHO) is memorably cool and enigmatic. And its story constantly keeps us guessing. Drive is available through Netflix streaming, so if you enjoy this type of movie, you have no excuses not to spend a few hours with it.

7. Hugo

A Martin Scorsese film in a Top 10 is no surprise, but a family film? The legendary director proved he could stretch beyond his comfort zone in a way few could have imagined. Much like Rango, it's one of those movies that the whole family can enjoy, but that older viewers will get more out of. What initially begins as a Dickensian tale (complete with the "orphan" element) circa Paris in the 1930s eventually develops into a magical view into early cinema's most glorious and troubling times. Hugo debuted to mediocre box-office totals, but reports of the 3D were so exemplary that I wish I had seen it for myself back in November of 2011. Whatever dimension you see it in, make sure you do. It's hard to imagine anyone not enjoying themselves.

6. The Descendants

Director Alexander Payne went seven years between his last movie, 2004's Sideways, and this one, which came oh-so-close to winning Best Picture before The Artist zoomed past it. Like many of Payne's movies, this boasts the twin strengths of a touching, human story (this one of a workaholic dad who discovers his wife's infidelity after she's fallen into a coma), and superlative acting all around. Clooney pours his heart and soul into every movie he's involved in, but it's Shailene Woodley (best known for Secret Life of the American Teenager) who steals the show as the Clooney character's estranged teenage daughter. Also, with it's breathtaking cinematography of Hawaii, it's worth wondering why that location isn't used more often for movies.

5. The Ides of March

That's two for Clooney and Gosling. I'm sure the ladies appreciate my list. At any rate, Ides of March is a political thriller for our time. It centers on a democratic primary race and an ensuing scandal, but its message damning the game of politics is party-netural. The candidate in question (played by Clooney, who also directs) has a liberal-progressive campaign that will delight a lot of people on the surface, but as the story picks up steam like a boulder rolling downhill, we see just how dirty everyone involved is and how idealism has little place in this game. It's not that this is a "new" or "revolutionary" message, but it's one that few movies dare to shout. And that's why I love this one so much.

4. A Separation

This movie only played in New York and Los Angeles during December 2011 (much like Zero Dark Thirty did in 2012), but since this is a "throwback" list, I'm putting it here. A Separation is remarkable, and it's one of the best foreign films I've seen in a long time. The layers here are astounding. This is a criticism of the role religion plays in Iran's legal system, an involving mystery, an examination of the destructive power of lies and miscommunication, and a courtroom drama all rolled into one. It also provides a highly useful portrait of modern-day Iran, which many Americans mistakenly have set in their minds as just another country on the brink of terror.

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority among film-lover circles, but I feel  this version of Steig Larson's novel is superior to the 2010 Swedish version. With David Fincher at the helm, he not only steeps the story in the gloomy, gothic darkness that it richly deserves, but makes the two main characters more layered than we've seen before. Lisbeth Salander (played by Rooney Mara in a spellbinding performance) is a more fascinating character here. She's sexy, lethal, and vulnerable all in the same film.  Finally, while the central mystery thriller is compulsively watchable and immensely satisfying, the movie doesn't conclude with its resolution. The final few scenes reveal that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is as much (if not more) about a fascinating, unconventional relationship as it is about girl power and solving mysteries. Come on Hollywood, please adapt the next two books!

2. The Artist

So silent films, dominated by music and inter-titles, are all but dead and buried, right? Wrong, at least in this case. Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist won Best Picture at the Oscars for 2011 movies, and it's not hard to understand why. This is an endlessly enjoyable, sweeping tale of a byegone era and a love-letter to old-school movie-making. Some may dismiss the movie's style as gimmicky, but making this movie, set during the time of Hollywood's transition from silence to talkies, using traditional techniques would not have worked half as well. It's available on Netflix streaming, so if you're feeling the least bit adventurous, give The Artist a go and you'll probably fall in love with it like I did. And oh yeah, as a bonus, it also boasts the best movie dog of all time. There, I said it.

1. Shame

There's so much I could say about this film that a paragraph here couldn't possibly do it justice. This is an unflinching look at sex addiction unlike any that is ever likely to be made. Nearly every scene and every nuance of the main character's struggle remains crystal clear in my mind, something I can't say about many of the movies I caught up with from 2011. It boasts the single best display of acting from any 2011 movie in Michael Fassbender, who bares himself physically and psychologically for this role. There's nothing he won't do, and the Academy's utter negligence of him is, well, a shame to say the very least. Because of its NC-17 rating, many theaters refused to show Shame. That too is unfortunate because while this is an adult experience, it's unfair to dismiss a movie with that rating as just "porn." It would be utterly impossible to make a tale of a sex addict as true-to-life and compelling as this one without it. Shame is a phenomenal display of film-making and human drama, and it's 2011's best.

Review of Before Midnight

When Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy released the exhilarating, romantic comedy Before Sunrise in 1995, no one would've guessed they'd have themselves a series. The movie, a delightful tale of an impromptu romantic night between a young man and woman who meet on a train bound for Vienna, puts to shame many of Hollywood's output in the genre because the characters, the situation, and the dialogue felt entirely natural and realistic. But after 2004's Before Sunset, where those same characters, Jesse (Hawke), and Celine (Delpy), reconnect nine years later after failing to meet up as promised all those years ago, it became clear that these filmmakers had a grander scheme in mind.

Now, as we catch up with Jesse and Celine at age 41, the intent of this series becomes clear: the Before movies are designed to show three distinct stages of love. Before Sunrise was breezy in all the right ways. Before Sunset showed the joy of a re-connection while tinged with more than a little regret. But here, as many can attest, a relationship after nine years isn't anywhere near as giddy or spontaneous as those earlier times. That's not to say that the pleasure is all gone. Far from it, but a relationship at this stage requires far more work and confrontation of emotional pain. This fact leaps into the foreground during the final 25-30 minutes of Before Midnight, which depicts an intense, back-and-forth crossfire between Jesse and Celine within the confines of a hotel room. Before this point, the movie offers the same sort of witty, verbose, and insightful conversational pieces that made the previous two movies so enjoyable. But make no mistake, the endgame is what everyone who sees this movie will be talking about.

As veterans of this series know, plot is minimal, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Before Midnight opens with Jesse saying goodbye to his estranged son, Hank, after having the now-teenage boy spend a summer with him in Greece. As the ending of Before Sunset hinted at, Jesse has not only given up his married life in Chicago to be with Celine a world away, but the couple is raising twin girls. After a dinner outing with friends, Jesse and Celine engage in nearly an hour of walking and talking, which we've seen before. However, there's a world-weariness at work in their dialogue, and once they reach a hotel provided for them, it's only a matter of time before all the complications of their relationship are laid bare.

Paradoxically, that sequence reveals Before Midnight's greatest strengths as well as its few weaknesses. On the one hand, this is an intense, tour-de-force of emotional discomfort. What begins as an easygoing, relaxed atmosphere, with the couple about to have sex, quickly turns ugly when the smallest of actions riles up both parties and brings out every stinging criticism, whether legitimate or petty. It goes on for a long time, shows a natural ebb-and-flow, and creates real tension about how long these two will remain together, but therein lies a key question for viewers. How will audiences, even art-house audiences, feel about watching a couple fight for 20 uninterrupted minutes? Could Linklater have made his point in 12 minutes as opposed to 20?

But do not fear. In spite of the climax and semi-resolution (once again, Linklater delivers an appropriately ambiguous ending), this is not a depressing experience. The dinner scene is an absolute delight; it might seem boring to spend 20-odd minutes listening to various characters tell stories and share ideas, but Linklater knows how to pace this material. Many of the movie's biggest laughs come from here as well (my favorite: a story about a woman's first reaction upon hearing she has just woken up from a coma versus that of a man's). The "walking and talking" portion of the film is equally as breezy. And yes, since this is the first Before movie to take place in the social media era, you can bet the mortgage that will also feature as a lively point of discussion.  

40 may not be particularly "old" in real life, but many understand that it might as well be 80 in Hollywood Actress Years. So it comes as something of a surprise that Hawke appears more weathered and worn than Delpy. She's clearly aged, but she's still very attractive, and performance-wise, Celine fits like a glove. Jesse, on the other hand, appears to have taken more uppercuts from Father Time. The stress of having a son living his Golden Years without a father figure certainly plays a part. Who will viewers identify more with? Jesse seems to be the better written character (but maybe that's just my "guy" perspective), although an argument can certainly be made for Celine, with the classic challenge of balancing career and motherhood, as well.

I enjoy plenty of Hollywood's blockbuster sequels, but rarely do any of them attempt anything daring and new with their characters. For Before Midnight, as is the case with many independent films, risk-taking is a mantra, even when it doesn't work 100% of the time. I deeply appreciate the flimmakers' insight into how relationships grow and change over long periods. That's hardly a surprising concept, but it's one that precious few movies acknowledge for even a second. What began as a sweeping, heartfelt romance in 1995 has evolved, much like life, into a different beast, and there's no going back.

Will there be another entry in this series nine years later, peering into the characters (and by extent, the actors, since they're of similar age) lives again at age 50? Would it head down a path of depression or redemption? I hope for the latter, since growing old is by no means the end of all things pleasurable.

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****

Review of Now You See Me

Go figure that in a movie about magicians, the director shows the greatest penchant for trickery of them all. That's not at all a bad thing; director Louis Leterrier (best known for The Incredible Hulk and the first two Transporter movies) has found the key ingredient to making a story like this work, at least in the moment: energy. This is a relentlessly paced movie; in spite of its placement in the summer blockbuster field, Now You See Me doesn't have a whole lot of "action" in the traditional sense. A car chase and a one-on-one fight are present, but aside from those brief staples, this is a movie that leans on sleight-of-hand, surprises, dialogue, and a throbbing musical score to engage the viewer. Some of the film's twists fall apart in hindsight, but credit the filmmakers for not making them so obvious that we scratch our heads while watching (with one exception).

The movie opens with four scenes illustrating how each of the principal characters wow a crowd. There's stage magician J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), who is unabashedly a control freak; hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), who was once Atlas' assistant before striking out on her own, and con-man Jack Wilder (Dave Franco). They have some success on their own, but when brought together by a mysterious rendezvous point and an elaborate holographic blueprint, they become "The Four Horsemen" and quickly become the hottest show in Vegas. Their first show, which involves robbing a bank in Paris while remaining on stage in Vegas, gains them immense popularity while also landing them in hot water with the FBI. Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol rookie Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) are hot on their trail, and the group's benefactor, millionaire Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) develops a rivalry with magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). But Vegas is just the beginning of a three-act series for the Four Horsemen.

What a cast! Clearly, the names on hand are atypical of a summer thriller, and they elevate the film considerably. The standouts are Jesse Eisenberg, whose Atlas has much of the same sardonic wit as the actor's character in the Oscar-nominated The Social Network (he's even called an asshole at one point, much like in that film), and Woody Harrelson, whose body of work is so eclectic that he's always fun to watch. The Dark Knight duo of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are also solid, with the latter in particular giving a refreshing portrayal of a character who isn't so noble this time around. Also, although few in the audience will notice it, credit must be given where it's due to Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent in supporting roles. When stretches of the film focus on these two rather than the magicians and their scheme, we're still every bit as engaged. Their storyline has a surprisingly strong payoff.

Much like an action film has showcase set pieces, so too does this one. The trick to getting a movie about magic to impress people is to not rely too much on CGI; once a viewer is aware that computers are doing most of the work, the movie is no longer interesting. Leterrier sidesteps that trap here, offering us magic shows that are not only impressive on a technical level but also keep the story humming along. And even a standard-order hand-to-hand fight scene between Crawford and Rhodes contains clever elements of  chicanery. Yes, the movie has Freeman's character helpfully explain events afterwards (as befitting of a magic debunker played by an actor with the narration voice), but each one satisfies rather than disappoints. Is this movie's logic airtight? Of course not. But with a pace this fast and a plan this convoluted, one is not likely to notice most of the gaps in real-world logic until long after the credits have rolled.

Unlike many M. Night Shyalaman film's, Now You See Me doesn't depend on a single, shocking twist to make or break the experience. There comes a time when a final reveal must be unveiled, however, and when it is, it represents the only obvious misstep, even in the moment. While this development stays true to the movie's theme of "the closer you look, the less you actually see," I'm not entirely sold on it based on how previous events play out. Still, in a movie that entertains for the entirety of its 2-hour running length, this one third-act dent matters little in the grand scheme of things.

Now You See Me will not be remembered overly fondly if the summer's big tentpole movies (like Man of Steel and Pacific Rim, among others) deliver what fanboys expect from them, but in many of ways, it's a fresher experience than another sequel or reboot, even a good one. In spite of the PG-13 rating, this is a summer movie that will play better with adults, with its emphasis on dialogue and plot, than teenagers. The culture of magic and magicians isn't anywhere near as popular as it used to be (outside of Vegas, that is), but at least we have a movie that understands the mentality of this profession; to stay fresh, one must always follow one impressive act with something grander and more audacious.

Rating: *** out of ****