The first movie of 2014 likely to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination, save for perhaps The Grand Budapest Hotel, is Richard Linklater’s (Before Midnight, Before Sunrise) Boyhood. Boyhood is unlike any movie ever made or likely to be made again anytime soon. It had been quietly filmed for over 12 years and only recently (six months or so before its release) started making noise and getting people talking. Linklater shot scenes for this movie once a year for the last 12 years and let the fictional character of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) literally grow up before our eyes in the span of two and a half hours. This film’s uniqueness and the way it perfectly captures the story of one American boy growing up in the state of Texas during the first 12 years of the 21st century. He responds to both world events, and his life’s predicaments are breathtaking. The story itself is not one that I think would wow anybody if it were shot like an average movie. But the story isn’t the movie. The story is about about Mason and how he ages from a 6-year-old to an 18-year-old.
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What Maisie Knew (2013)
What Maisie Knew was a movie that I accidentally watched twice. I couldn’t remember if I had seen it and was not entirely convinced until I was about 30 minutes in. But since I had already made it that far and I couldn’t remember anything that happened in the movie, I decided to stick it out. Now I remember why I had forgotten it all. It was worth forgetting. It’s not that it’s a bad movie. On the contrary, I would consider it to be a slightly above-average movie. The main problem with it is that it had much more potential than it lived up to, and the story that was trying to be told at the beginning of the movie was very different than the movie that was shown at the end. Continue reading What Maisie Knew (2013)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
I’m not the biggest fan of reboots. I often think, “Why?” or “What’s the point?” or, “Can Hollywood not come up with an original idea?”. However, at the same time, I’m a big fan of origin stories. Usually, if the first movie in a franchise is good, I’ll keep watching the sequels until they start to stink. Once you lose me, though, you lose me, and I’m not coming back. So each subsequent movie in a franchise doesn’t necessarily need to be better than the starting movie (in fact, I don’t expect it to be), but it still better be pretty darn good. My favorite movies in the last decade include Batman Begins, Iron Man, and The Hangover. These three movies illustrate my point perfectly. The Dark Knight, unquestionably, and The Dark Knight Rises, probably, were both better than Batman Begins. In the Iron Man franchise, Iron Man was the best, Iron Man 2 was very good, but not great, and Iron Man 3 was still decent. With The Hangover, the first one was brilliant, The Hangover 2 one had me asking, “Why are they doing this again?” and the third one was so terrible that I will not pay another dollar if these franchises continue and has made me much less interested in ever watching the original one again.
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Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, Remains of the Day) got hosed out of an Oscar nomination! I had made it a goal to see all the nominees in all major Academy Award categories. Still, I didn’t see the snubs or the next in lines for Best Actor, Best Actress, etc., unless their movie received a nomination in one of the other major categories. It’s been a while since I reviewed all of the really good films of 2013. I’m sure I had already replaced Amy Adams (American Hustle) with a more deserving candidate. I don’t remember who I replaced her with at the moment, and I don’t feel like going back and looking. I’m pretty sure I did this, though. I believe I replaced the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for this movie because I didn’t feel like any of them deserved it. I think I did keep Jennifer Lawrence as a nominee because the nominees in the Supporting Actress category in 2013 were not overly impressive. But this review isn’t about the underwhelming American Hustle. It is about the under-appreciated Saving Mr. Banks, a movie I had written off as a lame little kids’ movie after a single trailer. It was one of those movies that I told myself I would eventually see because it had so much hype surrounding it, and I have yet to talk to someone who didn’t, at least, like it.
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The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013)
If one trailer in 2013 left you thinking, “That movie could either be good or terrible,” it was the trailer of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This movie stars Ben Stiller, more or less, outside of his usual comedy genre. This movie is certainly not There’s Something About Mary or Meet the Parents. This isn’t the equivalent of Ed Helms in Jeff Who Lives at Home, Jim Carey in The Truman Show, or Will Ferrell in Everything Must Go. Those movies, each starring a comedic actor outside of their comfort zone, were more dramas, whereas this movie is both a drama and an adventure. In many regards, I appreciate the effort of Stiller venturing into something new. I think there is a place for a character of his ability in similar films. Unfortunately, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is not this movie. The movie is rated PG, and I’m not entirely sure why. This isn’t Night at the Museum. I don’t feel like the younger audiences had/would have much interest in this movie. And even if it did appeal to this group, I’m not sure Stiller is the star to lead it. Maybe, but I’m not convinced. With that said, I appreciate a movie that aims for the PG rating when it seems it could easily drift towards the PG-13 rating
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