I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I'm delighted to be covering the Sundance Film Festival for the third time this year. I spent 5 days in Park City, Utah, seeing as many movies as I could. Most of my reviews and other coverage will be going up on Shockya.com, so I'll be posting links to them here.
I’m excited to cover a few selections from the 24th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival, which runs from January 14th-29th.
I’m excited to cover a few selections from the 24th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival, which runs from January 14th-29th.
I’m excited to cover a few selections from the 24th Annual New York Jewish Film Festival, which runs from January 14th-29th.
Water and Power
Directed by Richard Montoya
Released January 20, 2015
There are some films that take their concepts more literally than others. Director Richard Montoya’s is a look at the inner workings of East Los Angeles and how the city itself functions from the bottom to the top. Water and power are not the most valuable and important resources, however, but actual people, one a state senator and the other an LAPD cop, brothers whose father, an employee of the city’s Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles, gave them those unique nicknames. It’s certainly a gritty look at the underbelly of the city and a dark vision of how business and justice are accomplished on the streets.
Water and Power are introduced as characters in a story told by the film’s narrator, portrayed by Emilio Rivera, who stuck around “Sons of Anarchy” for most of its lifetime as Mayan leader Marcos Alvarez. Art form and poetry are emphasized in the way that he regales the audience with this tale, which initially seems like a fable and gradually becomes more lifelike and literal, as Water and Power are referred by their monikers by all the players in their lives.
“Water and Power” beats along to a furious drum in a picture of Los Angeles in tune with “Nightcrawler,” assuming that the city lives and breathes depravity just beneath the surface. Water and Power are so deeply entrenched in their communities that nearly everyone knows them, and when things fall apart for the brothers, they’re left to fend for themselves as the city’s most dangerous enforcers on both sides of the law set their sights on holding these two accountable for the series of events they have wrought.
As characters, Water and Power are undeniably interesting. Water is best compared to Nathan Petrelli from “Heroes,” a well-dressed, smooth-talking politician who has managed to rise above his meager upbringing. Nicholas Gonzalez’s Power, on the other hand, is a hot-tempered street cop whose emotions definitely get the better of him and who doesn’t have the foresight to understand the gravity of his situation until it’s too late. The film is stolen by an actor known for chewing scenery, Clancy Brown, who delivers his most memorable turn since “Carnivale” as an influential magnate in a position to turn things around for the brothers. There’s plenty of intrigue to be found in this film, but its grim, brutal starkness doesn’t make it very accessible.
B-
Guardians of the Galaxy
Directed by James Gunn
Released August 1, 2014
If there’s one movie that critical and public audiences seemed to love just as much this year, it’s this one. In its continued quest for entertainment if not world domination, Marvel broke out from its typical comic book movies to offer something that’s very much in the same wheelhouse yet on a whole different level, appealing to younger audiences and slightly more mature crowds at the same time. “Guardians of the Galaxy” certainly is something, but in striving to be so many things at once, it ends up being a decidedly entertaining and utterly unapologetic mess.
Chris Pratt broke out as this year’s everyman with his voicing of the hero in “The Lego Movie,” and, based on word of mouth about this film, it seemed he had done the same thing here. While his profile is certainly boosted by a beloved performance, he’s playing the polar opposite of that character. Peter Quill is a lying, mostly morally bankrupt individual interested only in what benefits him directly, though of course that’s bound to change over the course of the film. Quill, devious and devilish as he is, turns out to be the perfect figurehead for a ragtag band of criminals guilted into trying to save the universe from being conquered by an excessively evil bad guy.
Pratt, who is beyond amazing on “Parks and Recreation,” is a fun choice to bring Quill to life, and he’s surrounded by a strong cast who, more than anything, is having a good time. Zoe Saldana continues to take on roles that find her playing a brightly-colored alien of some sort, and, with this and “Avatar,” she’s proven that she’s exceptionally skilled at it. Bradley Cooper infuses a whole lot of personality as the foul-mouthed Rocket, a 360-degree switch from “American Sniper,” and he steals many of his scenes. Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista round out this random bunch with their appropriately gruff demeanors leading to a certain amount of hilarity.
Overall, “Guardians of the Galaxy” isn’t serious enough to be a true action film, and it fluctuates between being a full-out comedy and something more dramatic without any sort of consistency. It’s not meant to be a knockout intellectual film, but there are moments in which it seems to possess an above-average amount of braininess that, if meted out more evenly, could have produced a more seamless and unforgettable blockbuster. Still, it’s fun, and I can only imagine how many sequels are already in the works.
B-
Big Hero 6
Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams
Released November 7, 2014
I didn’t rush to see this film when it came out, and only decided that I should in fact go see it when I realized that I had seen all the other major animated films of the year. It’s a shame my interest wasn’t piqued earlier since this is a strong and highly entertaining film in the style of all of the great Pixar and Disney films produced over the past few decades and years. “Big Hero 6” adds to the mix by infusing technology, culture, and a spirit of adventure into its particular plot.
Set in an astonishing amalgam of San Francisco and Tokyo designed to envelop the rich technological states of the two cities, “Big Hero 6” opens with a robot fight in which one heavyweight champion uses his creation to destroy his opponents. Young starry-eyed Hiro shows up to compete and quickly loses, but offers up money for a rematch in which his stealthily-designed robot annihilates the defending champion. Hiro is quickly plucked from a dangerous situation involving the angry owner of the defeated robot by his older brother Tadashi. We soon learn that Hiro is a young genius who hasn’t exactly been putting his great mind to work in the way that he should.
Before long, Hiro is introduced to Tadashi’s work, which involves the Baymax, a robot companion designed to serve as a health monitor. Certain events lead to villainy that in turn requires Hiro to assemble a team of tech enthusiasts with their own particular areas of expertise, transforming this more tender family story into an all-out action movie with extreme geek appeal. What’s cool is the positive, exciting way in which technology and creativity are spotlighted and emphasized in this film, seen as the ultimate goals and achievements.
“Big Hero 6” employs some great voices, including James Cromwell, Alan Tyduk, Maya Rudolph, Abraham Benrubi, Damon Wayans Jr., Scott Adsit, and the incomparable T.J. Miller, but where it really shines is with its characters. Hiro is a fantastic protagonist, and Tadashi, along with his classmates Fred, Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon, embodies such a stellar notion of the human spirit and a love for science that it’s impossible not to like them. And that’s not even considering Baymax, a robot for the ages who doesn’t let a lack of personality get in the way of being loveable. This is a fun, cool movie, and easily one of the best animated films of the year.
B+
The Book of Life
Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez
Released October 17, 2014
I remember seeing previews for “Despicable Me” a few years ago that seemed to indicate two very different movies – one a grand monument-involving comedy about a truly despicable villain, and the other a more intimate and less mature story of one fiendish foe and his less ambitious aims. “The Book of Life,” one of this year’s top animated films, feels at times like two films, and that’s a credit to its interesting and unique outlook on the world, telling a mythological fairy tale wrapped up in a far more standard kid’s movie.
“The Book of Life” begins with the arrival of a few juvenile delinquents to a museum, and one particularly plucky tour guide who decides that she wants to make an impact on these snot-nosed teenagers who come ready with a bad attitude. It doesn’t take long for her to begin regaling them with a glorious story of two deities fighting for control of different versions of the Mexican afterlife, one a festive paradise and the other a solemn purgatory. As is often the case, it’s a wager that tempts them into switching places. At the center of that wager are two eager young men, Manolo and Joaquin, rivals since childhood for the affections of the alluring Maria.
“The Book of Life” is a more sophisticated story than it needs to be, which is a great thing and helps to make it an involving experience. Manolo longs to pursue his musical interests while his father pushes him towards the family career of being a bullfighter. Joaquin goes off to become a legendary hero, and returns to his hometown to woo Maria with his impressive resume and reputation. Manolo is the more naturally sweet, and Maria, to her credit, doesn’t let either man off the hook, keeping them both on their toes and performing to the best of their abilities to win her over.
“The Book of Life” jumps seamlessly from a present-day narrative beginning to the distant past and then into an entirely separate realm as Manolo is forced to deal with death early on the Day of the Dead. There is some wonderful mythology at play here, showcasing a part of Mexican culture that is rarely seen in American film. What’s most fantastic is this film’s music, including original songs “The Apology Song” and “I Love You Too Much.” Like Manolo, this film has heart, which is a real treat to experience.
B+
The Boxtrolls
Directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi
Released September 26, 2014
You’d think at a certain point that it would be hard to create a universe about some kind of creatures or society existing just outside the normal human realm that would seem both original and compelling. Yet one of this year’s top animated films has done just that with the Boxtrolls, a group of trolls who dart around the fake English city of Cheesebridge wearing boxes, hunted by the cheese-obsessed human population that sees them as a vicious threat to be quashed lest they endanger the livelihood and stability of all that is good in the name of cheese.
The presence of a people such as the Boxtrolls inherently demands that they have some sort of interaction with the human race, and the way in which that is done in this film is clever and endearing. One paternal Boxtroll calls out for “Eggs” repeatedly at the start of the film, and eventually finds a smiling human baby who has been outfitted with a box carton that says “eggs.” Soon, the baby grows into a boy whose perception of the world is severely warped by the fact that he believes that, like those with whom he spends all his time, he is a Boxtroll.
There is much be said for the messages of diversity and tolerance that this film promotes, and that’s long been a hallmark of animated films, to find a creative way to show difference as it might manifest itself in a more undeniable way than just skin color, shape, or size. It’s a less artsy companion piece to last year’s Oscar-nominated “Ernest and Celestine,” which dispelled long-held fable myths about bears and mice. This film also amps up the human despicability factor as the Boxtroll-hunters are downright evil and those meant to seem less deplorable are merely self-obsessed and impossibly ignorant.
This film, based on Alan Snow’s novel “Here Be Monsters,” strongly employs a few choice talent to voice its characters. Ben Kingsley is the scenery-chewing Archibald Snatcher, whose name just about gives away his purpose in life. Jared Harris is Lord Portley-Rind, who is so blinded by his haughty nature that he can’t see that his life is filled with nothing but pompousness and cheese. The animation is great, and all elements of the film come together to create something more polished and resounding than might have been expected given the film’s premise.
B+
I’ve been predicting these categories for a few years now knowing little to nothing about them, and this year I scored 9/15. I’ve had the chance to screen all of the nominees the past few years, and I hope to do the same this year. Since I’ve only seen one of the animated shorts at this point (“Feast” played before “Big Hero 6”) and nothing else, I’ll wait to offer commentary until them. All images below are from Oscar.com.
This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 15th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.
