Guardians of the Galaxy

What more can be said about Guardians of the Galaxy than the fact that Marvel Studios and Disney prove exactly why they are the leaders in comic book movies.  The remainder of the major studios are diligently grasping at what their properties can do to be able to recreate the success that The Avengers had with shared universe concept.  Sony has even been hedging its bets on making spin off movies for numerous Spider-Man villains to follow the concept that has been laid out.  Warner Bros. has turned the Superman sequel into essentially a Justice League film, and Universal is looking at re-inventing its classic monsters of old and creating a shared universe for them.

While each of these studios are setting the ground work to arrive in a few more years where Disney and Marvel landed two years prior, we see what has made them the followers.  Instead of just resting on the success of the films that build into The Avengers, they are pushing the genre even further, creating more ground between them and their competitors.  While the fad is creating superheroes in a ‘realistic’ earth setting, Guardians of the Galaxy ditches that concept completely and takes a fantastical voyage through space with an assortment of locations, aliens, and wonderful colours.

It is such a departure from what they have been previously doing, but the product is top notch and demonstrates that carving a new path can reveal the riches that can be uncovered in the cinesphere.  It is a sprawling space opera that works with the clustering of unlikely travelling companions who each have personal agendas and see the others as a means to their ends.  Writers James Gunn (who is also the director) and Nicole Perlman keep a flowing story of amassing evil on a galactic scale, but also keep it personal and intimate with wonderful and humorous dialogue between the heroes.

I recently read a tweet that mentioned what you would think in 2008 if you heard there was going to be a movie you were anticipating starring Bautista, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Zoe Saldana.  It made me chuckle because I would not have any faith in it.  It illustrates how much the careers of people can evolve over a few years, and what a skilled director can do with the talent they are given.  The best example is professional wrestler Dave Bautista who plays the powerful warrior, Drax.  He is only given that which he can handle, and is able to deliver comedy as well as he uses his bulk.  If used properly by directors, we, the audience, can be continually be surprised by performances from people who it may have seemed easier to simply write off.

To spend time talking about each character and performance would bog this review down in a sea of words that, while hopefully enlightening, would possibly dilute the sheer joy that I had during the movie experience.  Chris Pratt, the main character (he who desires to be called Star Lord) wields action, comedy, and a humanistic element.  The wonderful treat with this ‘popcorn muncher’ is that each character (even the walking tree named Groot) ushers in all three of those characteristics.  The blending of writing and performances keeps the film, from start to finish, exciting, chuckle inducing, and touching.

There is no profound allegory here.  There is no faltering message that underlies this bit of science fiction.  It is about going to the theatre and having that marvellous experience that reminds us all of why going to the cinema can feel like a  proper event.  It triggers the inner child and it had me already thinking about what I want to see in a sequel before it even concluded.  It may not end up being a genre defining picture (only time will tell that), but it plants a flag on the long desolate planet of wondrous, camp space fun and begs us to return.

Rating - 4 out of 4 stars

American Hustle

After missing a post last night because of falling asleep too early (due to an anxiety attack and the drowsying effects of anti-anxiety medication), I am back in full force to talk about American Hustle, a movie that opened in theatres today.  I will be very straight forward and blunt in the fact that this is a movie that I have been anticipating for the last ten months.  Ever since I saw it listed on IMDB, and knowing nothing other than the title and who was involved, it has been my most anticipated film to see of the entire year.  Originally, it was to open in wide release on Christmas day which, while being the ultimate Christmas present, would have been hard to explain to my family why I needed to step out for a few hours.

As with anything that has a lot of personal excitement and anticipation, it is extremely hard for the event to live up to the expectations that the mind can create.  Over the past few months, while continuing to count down the days and stare at the calendar, I have been attempting to clear my head for this movie so that I was able to view it purely for what it is, otherwise it would most likely not live up to what I expected it to be.  The very opening scene of the movie, Christian Bale with a pot belly, skillfully and meticulously crafting his comb over to hide his bald head established a deep and rich feel to the tale that was about to unfold.  It was becoming everything I had hoped for… and then it changed.

The movie is directed by David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook) and is about the Abscam operation in the 1970s.  Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, a con-man who is roped into helping F.B.I. agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) along with his partner in crime, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams).  Also in this film are Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K., and Jeremy Renner, a very deep and talented cast indeed.  Russell, along with Eric Singer, wrote the screenplay for this film.

Now, when I had said that after the initial scenes the movie ‘change,’ I am referring to a tone and pace adjustment that is kicked off as the film goes into flashback mode to establish the characters.  At times it felt a little clunky and forced, and I began to worry that this film which was Hollywood’s early Christmas present to me would in actuality be a lump of coal.    I do not necessarily believe that the mere fact that there were flashbacks were to blame, but more so the entire construction and delivery of about a fifteen to twenty minute section of the film.  I was still entertained, and was still enjoying it, but I was not hooked and there was no magic.

At that, I have said the only negatives that I can find possible to say about this movie.  It is easily my favourite film of the year, and was worth every moment of anticipation that has passed over the past ten months.  The skill of this movie is in the characters, who are multi-dimensional beings, all with strengths and failings, alienting and sympathizing aspects, who bring the story to life.  The more the movie progresses, the more we know the characters, and the more we become invested in every decision, every action, and every risk that they take.

This is really where David O. Russell is one of the best in Hollywood.  It is an amazing fact that his film last year, Silver Linings Playbook, had an actor nominated for every single one of the performance awards.  He seems to be able to create such vivid characters and allow the actors to fully embrace and take over their qualities that actor and character become one in a seamless and glorious marriage.  This is what hooked me to Silver Linings Playbook (my favourite film of 2012, I should add), and the art of this mastery is elevated even further in American Hustle.

As far as the acting goes, it is brilliant right across the board.  If it was not such a competitive Oscar year, it would be easy to assume that once again there would be a representative from this movie in each of the performance categories.  The reality, however, is that probably will not happen due to the depth of options this year, but the quality on display in American Hustle is such that it would not be a huge shock or disservice if that were to happen.  There was not one, at least to the best of my recollection, awkward acting moment where the delivery seemed flawed, forced, or merely just a line read from the script for the cameras. 

At the same time of all of my praise, this is not a typical type of movie.  It is about con artists, F.B.I., and very dangerous unsavoury folk, but it does not rely on the standards typical of that kind of film.  While most would indulge in gun-play, cat and mouse scenes, fights, car chases, and even a possible explosion or two, this film uses any gritty element so sparingly that it hardly seems to exist.  The reason for this is because everything ultimately comes down to the characters and the chaotic whirlpool that their lives become during all the unfolding of the operation, and it is engaging with brilliant moments of hilarity.  The humour is not from jokes forced into the script, but comes from these quirky and messed up people as they try to make their way through the mess around them.

As I mentioned, it is far and away my favourite movie of the year.  I will not say that it is the best movie of the year, but I had an incredible amount of fun viewing this film and was immersed in the craziness to a joyous extent.  While I was watching it, there was a young couple that walked out after having talked a lot and it seemed that this was not their cup of tea, and that’s going to happen.  It is not a hyped up explosive movie, but a tale that relies on getting the audience to become invested in the characters and care about what outcomes await them.  It is near perfect at this, and it executes it with many moving, crazy, and hilarious moments along the way.

Rating – 4 out of 4 stars

Hannah's Pick: Limitless

Once again, it is Wednesday which means that the movie to be reviewed is coming from from the vault (or plastic shopping bag) of movies lent to me by my sister in-law, Hannah.  So far I have not run into a movie of hers that I am not able to recommend, and that streak gets put on the line against Limitless, a mystery/thriller with some sci-fi elements thrown into the mix.  It was the very first hit for the still new studio Relativity, who has had a history that is more miss than hit.  Limitless came out in 2011, and stars Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook), Abbie Cornish (Sucker Punch... ugh), and Robert De Niro (I am sure no context is needed here).

I was a bit hesitant to watch this movie based on the current output of Relativity.  They have had two monumental flops in 2013 in Paranoia, and Movie 43.  Almost every other movie they have released has failed to meet expectations, except for Safe Haven which came out on Valentine's Day.  I did, however, have some good faith in both De Niro and Bradley Cooper, who is rocketing up my list of favorite actors.

The premise of the movie is that Eddie (Cooper) is an unambitious writer who has a book contract (I am not sure how lack of ambition lands such deals, but we will accept that) and whose girlfriend, Lindy (Cornish from Sucker Punch... ugh), gets fed up with his lifestyle and leaves him.  Eddie one day bumps into a former brother in-law who offers him a drug that will allow Eddie to use his full mental potential.  With reluctance Eddie takes the small, clear pill, and finds that he is more focused than ever, and able to use his mind in 'limitless' ways.  With this drug on his side, he begins a plan that would set him up financially for the rest of his life by working for financial tycoon Carl Van Loon (De Niro).  In his pursuit for an exit strategy he finds that he must get in bed with some unsavory characters who can offer financial backing.  The glorious aspects of the pill are all of a sudden in question as its side effects puts his health and life in jeopardy.

This film follows a typical style of someone riding the high and feeling invincible, the crash back down to reality, and then the scramble to regain what was lost.  These formats exist over all sorts of genres from a rum-runner movie in Lawless to the high flying Top Gun.  Even Iron Man 3 took this style as well.  Before I go on talking about this format and making it sound like I did not like the movie, I really did.  I feel like, though it stayed within a well known formula, it pulled it off well with a very interesting concept and a superb performance from Bradley Cooper.  Cooper's character undergoes quite a transformation while he is on the job, and he is able to nail the nuances between a low-confidence person who walks on the streets staring at their feet, to a man who is able to control a crowd and manipulate every situation he is in with an almost arrogant confidence.

While watching this film, I was reminded a little about The Fifth Estate, the poor-performing move about WikiLeaks which used some art-house style effects to symbolize the information sharing on site.  These effects were a major detractor to the film, as it never felt cohesive or needed to the story that it was telling.  Similar effects were used in this film, and they served their purpose perfectly.  We could get an idea as to how the inside of Eddie's mind started opperating as it gathered information from all corners of the brain, and processed data in a way he had never known.  Sometimes attempts to do such things can seem hockey, but director Neil Burger uses them well and at the appropriate times so they feel organic to the story being told.

Burger also uses colours well to communicate the mental state of Eddie.  There are a lot of drab colours for the first part of the movie, and it is only when Eddie pops the pill that the true brilliance of the would around him is visually seen.  When a key concept of the plot is a person who is riding a high, it is nice to have the visuals reflect that and to flow with his up and down states.  While it is nothing complex, it is effective and helped communicate what was happening.  I have said it before, and I say it again, I love it when people do things to inform the audience without resorting to expository dialogue.  We are smart people, so treat us that way.

In the end, there were some predictable moments, but who cares?  This movie never set out to break all of the rules and take new ground, but to tell an interesting story, and that is exactly what it does.  It reveals the information at a good pace, and the basic plot was simple and not convoluted.  The very end scene revealed some information that I felt wrapped things up a little too well, but it was scripted well and was backed by great delivery from both Cooper and De Niro which put a smile on my face and left me not caring about my skepticism.  I had fun, and what more could be asked of the movie?

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars