2048 - Thank You For Sharing

Man - it looks like I haven't watched anything this month, but I've actually been watching a bunch of stuff, but just in bits and pieces as I prep for my next film, so it's weird to write about stuff in that context.  Although I feel like I've missed a few here.  Apologies!
I wanted to see this 'cause I like the premise and the cast a lot.  Josh Gad is a superstar in my mind.  I love Mark Ruffalo but he looks creepy unshaven.  I'm sorry to say, but that really weirded me out, that and his character's nonstop smile kind of grated at me in a way that was confusing because he's easily one of my favourite actors.  I just had a hard time really getting into and caring about his character and story - same with Tim Robbins.  Josh Gad stole the film for me, it could have easily been just about him and it would have worked well.  So I like this, but didn't quite love it.  Give it a whirl on netflix if you're curious - it's about sex addicts!

2046 - Begin Again

It’s hard to watch this film and not feel like you’re floating.  It’s the kind of film that makes you remember emotions and feelings that you thought were numbed by every good thing that became before it.  It means one thing - it’s the kind of film that makes you feel new feels, and that’s something spectacular in and of itself.  I loved this film.  Kiera Knightly has never been better and she is magic alongside of Mark Ruffalo.  It’s a love letter to the art of creation so it has a special place inside of me.  The music itself is really fantastic and with a purchase itself (which I’m doing as I type this).  There are so many clever and beautiful sequences here that I’d love to go into great detail about, but I’d really rather just convince you to check it out yourself.  This is easily one of my favourite films of the year so far.  It’s a beautiful, entertaining, and powerful little flick.  I liked Carney’s “Once”, I love “Begin Again” - looking forward to a nice third instalment of this ‘making-an-album’ trilogy!

1980 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Fuck I love this film.  I always say that Annie Hall is my favourite film but this one might just be a close second.  It’s such a beautiful way to do a love story.  It’s sad, smart, heart-breaking.  I love the scenes that drift between memory and commentary on memory - it’s such a meta device and used so effortlessly and brilliantly.  It’s, in my mind, one of the best screenplays of the last decade or so - but the directed of Gondrey is so perfect and matches so well.  Jim Carrey is phenomenal here and Kate Winslet is magical - the two of them together is such a beautiful thing - the casting of them is inspired, as is everyone else.  If you’ve never seen this film stop everything.  Get on it.  In my opinion it’s required viewing - especially for anyone who loves films about relationships. 

1915 - Now You See Me

I am a sucker for a big flashy con-film - and throw together a cast like this and I'm all-in.  It's the story of four-magicians brought together - why?  They aren't entirely sure - but they're about to become Robin Hood-esque Magicians on a heist that even they don't understand.
To talk about this film properly requires me to go into SPOILER MODE.  But before that I'll say - I liked it - I will absolutely see a follow-up if they make it (although it felt like this whole con had been someone's life's work) - but I did find that the characters were a little one note - and it was almost entirely plot based - nothing wrong with that - I just think the film could have been a lot richer otherwise.

Okay.  Now SPOILERS...

You know that the film is going to end with the twist of us realizing that one of the characters is going be the mastermind - it's not going to be a new character - films don't do that.  They kept pointing at the French lady (also this film seemed to have a bizarre racist slant agains the French...), so it's too obvious to make it her - she's the assistant - and Morgan Freeman's character is too obvious as well.  Ruffalo seemed like the biggest twist, and so to me it only made sense to make it be him.  That said, I just don't know about this twist - I'd have to re-watch the film to make sure it fit and wasn't just parlour tricks.

All that said, it was good popcorn entertainment and I will, indeed, take second helpings should they come my way.

1887 - The Kids Are All Right

My wife and I have been wanting to see this film since it was first announced.  Big fans of all the lead actors, and the story was pretty interesting and compelling.  Two lesbian's Mom's children (both from the same sperm donor) want to figure out who their father is - but when he enters back into their lives the family connects with him in ways that make it very uncomfortable for them to continue along like they have.
It's a film that never gets too heavy, but also delves into how difficult long term relationships are.  The dynamics of family, and how addictive that lifestyle is even though on the surface it doesn't really seem all that appealing.
This is a great film for a night you just want to veg, but also watch something with substance.  Give it a shot if you haven't already.

1727 - The Avengers

I was getting pretty excited about this film the days leading up to its release.  I've been following all the lead-up and previous films.  I mean, it's a tremendous plan and very smart the way that Marvel has gone about building their universe.  You can only imagine what they'd be doing if they still retained the film rights to all of their characters.  It becomes slightly difficult to combine the reality-based world of Iron Man where regular people use machines to be super, and then something like Thor where it's something else entirely.  That said, I think this worked and the tones blended together nicely.  It's hard to juggle that many stories and characters, but Whedon does it and with grace and style.  Each character works very very well and builds on what we've seen before.  It's nice seeing Tony Stark comfortable with Pepper Potts, and cracking wise on the side.  It's awesome to watch Captain America turn into an actual leader of his dysfunctional group.  It could be that Hulk was my favorite of the whole bunch though.  I loved Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, but I thought that the choices they made with Hulk were inspired. Lots of great stuff there (although his shift wasn't well explained...)
If I have a complaint it's that I felt like waaaay too much time was spent on that ship in the sky.  I swear we spent well over half the film in that location and it made the film feel a bit small because of it.  I don't envy the Marvel team as they go back to the stand-alone films to lead up to an Avengers sequel.  Once you've put the bar so high, how do you do a stand-alone justice?  And how do you explain why these guys (or some of them) aren't just always helping the others out?
Of all the solo films coming up, the one I'm hoping for most is a Hulk film starring Ruffalo.  I'd line up for that one.

1676 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This is absolutely one of my favourite films.  I remember the first time I saw it and just having my socks blown off.  It's one of those films that makes a writer just feel absolutely ashamed that they haven't written something as clever, honest, and rich as it.  I normally revisit this film regularly anyway, but I did so tonight in preparation for a project I'm going to start up to be inspired with a metaphysical love story.  For those that have never seen this film it's about a man who learns that his ex has had him erased from their memory and decides to have the same procedure, only to change his mind half way through. 
In a lot of ways it's a really simple and basic concept - who doesn't have things they wish they'd forgotten?  Probably the reason that this film is so well loved is because it speaks so well to so many people. 
Having seen Michel Gondrey's more recent work it's clear that the man is not much of a writer, however as a director with a great script it's easy to see how well he can take his unique visual style and really evaluate a project.  There is an enormous attention to detail in this film, in particular with how the memories of each scene transition to the next, how items, or weather, etc… carries over.  I can't imagine how complicated all of that stuff was to do from a projection stand-point.  Kudos to Gondrey and his team for making it look effortless.
This film is full of talented actors and yet it has most of them delivering the performances of their careers.  Jim Carrey has never been better before nor since.  Kate Winslet is so adorable here, and fantastic as well.  Kirsten Dunst is heartbreaking and lovely.  Elijah Wood plays the role of the pathetic wanna-be to a tee (he's truly wonderful here) and Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo round out the cast in a really great way as well (not to mention small roles from the always awesome David Cross and Jane Adams). 
What I love most of this film and I hope that I carry over into my own project, is how well approached the core idea is, and how it translates to the stories of all of the characters - it's all wonderfully interrelated, and yet everyone involved has a different take and thought process on how it all works - if it's a good thing, etc…  I love the side stories as much as the main story, and that can't always be said of films.
This is an absolute gem of a film and it never gets boring no matter how many times that I've watched it.  If you like smart films and you've never seen this one you really really have to - it's on netflix as well.  Enjoy!

1553 - XX/XY

I was about ten minutes or so into this when I realized that I'd already seen it a few years back - couldn't find another entry on here so it must have been prior to my doing the blog.  This is a really interesting little drama.  It starts off a bit pretentious - but intentionally, which is kind of remarkable.  It follows a trio of people as they try to make sense of their connections together.  The second half of the film takes place a decade later - after something finally splits them all apart.  It's during the second part that you realize how intentional a lot of the stuff in the first half is - stuff that you might slush off otherwise.  There's some really solid writing here in times of insights to people in relationships.  Mark Ruffalo gives a really great performance as someone who we should actually probably hate.  Maya Strange is lovely in both her before and after bits, and Kathleen Robertson is probably at her best - I've always had a bit of a crush on her, and I think she's doing things in this film that shows off just how much range she has.
Not a film for everyone, but for those who like relationship dramas, this will probably be right up your alley!
XX/XY  XX/XY ORIGINAL MOVIE POSTER MARK RUFFALO KATHLEEN ROBERTSON