Catch-Up!!

Wow I am terrible, it has been almost three months since the last post! Wow, where did the time go? Well I actually was very busy for the past couple of months but my attention is now to you whatever few and faithful readers I may still have. One of the reasons I had a busy schedule was due to traveling as my family went to India for almost three weeks. Now anyone who has been on those cross the globe flights knows that the only real way to pass the insufferable hours is to watch movies and that is exactly what I did! So similar to last year’s catch up post after my trip to Barcelona, here are some short reviews of the movies I watched on the plane to and back.

Cinderella (2015: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter)

I loved Cinderella! It is a great movie for anyone to watch, classic Disney. Sure there were times when Cinderella’s goodness was almost sickeningly sweet but it was all made up for by the glorious Richard Madden as Prince Charming. He was fantastic and charming, (haha funny joke). However, I thought the best performance was hands down Cate Blanchett, who played the evil stepmother perfectly. Helena Bonham Carter was also a nice little pop of fun as the fairy godmother. Cinderella was very enjoyable.

 

Into the Woods (2014: Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp)

This was a very different turn after the traditional Cinderella as both films included the same character but in different lights. I thought the acting in Into the Woods was spot on, including of course Meryl Streep and also Chris Pine who was pretty hilarious at times. The movie itself was just eh to me. I realize the story is based upon the Broadway musical of the same name but the pacing felt off at times. This also is not exactly a movie for children which I think the marketing failed to highlight. Into the Woods was not really my favorite.

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine)

I have actually been meaning to watch Kingsman for a while so imagine my delight when seeing it among the plane films. It was a fun movie to watch and I loved the style and tone of it. I am a big James Bond fan so it had that kind of vibe going on at times. I was surprised by the actual reason behind Samuel L. Jackson’s master plan: the environment and population size (shout out to AP environmental students!). The film was definitely goofy at times and the violence/gore actually caught me off guard but only added to the fun in the end. Kingsman was chock full of spy action which I enjoyed!

 

 

American Sniper (2014: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller)

American Sniper is not really a film that one enjoys. It is more of a film that one just has to sit down and get through. I can say though that it was very well done though so props to Clint Eastwood for his direction and an impressive performance by Bradley Cooper.

 

 

Focus (2015: Will Smith, Margot Robbie)

Focus was more stylish than solid to me. It is a pretty movie on the surface but closer examination just leads to a very confusing and at times messy plot. The chemistry between Will Smith and Margot Robbie was very believable though. I think the movie just tried to be too smart and slick.

 

 

Cake (2014: Jennifer Aniston, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Adriana Barraza)

I was  deciding between Cake and Still Alice (which has Julianne Moore’s Oscar-winning performance) but I found myself to be more curious about Jennifer Aniston in Cake. I thought she did a fantastic job! The film definitely acted as a vehicle to show off her skills but for good reason since it seems she has not had this type of opportunity before. However the plot of Cake was very underdeveloped and was more about Jennifer Aniston overall.

The other two movies I watched on the plane were Mili (a Malayalam movie) and Happy New Year ( a Hindi movie), both of which were pretty good in my opinion, but this post is getting long and my fingers are tired of typing so we will save those for another time. Perhaps a foreign film post is needed to also cover the many movies I watched in India as well! Let’s get into the summer blockbusters now in the meantime!

 

 

Whiplash

 

I love this snow! Before you begin reading, please make sure to press play on the audio above. Trust me, the soundtrack for this next film will put you in the mood (the actual sound starts at 0:16). So another movie I decided to watch was Whiplash, which won 3 Academy Awards recently. Seriously, my heart is still pounding from this one!

Whiplash centers around a promising student jazz drummer (Miles Teller) who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor (J.K. Simmons) who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential.

If you look at the poster above for Whiplash, you will see many different words that have been used to describe the film, all of which are so true. “Astounding” “Electrifiying” “Exhilerating” See, one of the things I love most about awards season, is that oftentimes it bring deserved praise and buzz to a film that might not have reached a great audience before. Whiplash, in my opinion, was fantastic.

What stands out most, besides from the great, great music involved, is the amazing performances. I am actually surprised Miles Teller did not receive more recognition for this role. He was incredible and put 100% into this role. Fun fact: he actually is a drummer and some of the blood that you see on the drum set in those intense scenes is actually his! However, the real breakout performance was J.K. Simmon’s. That man deserved every single award he won. He too put everything into this role and the result is incredible. I cannot even imagine being one of his students! His unconventional and hardcore teaching methods really make one wonder whether he is the ‘good guy’ or the ‘bad guy’. I myself am still unsure of this. The complicated and ever-changing relationship present between Andrew (Teller) and Fletcher (Simmons) produced some of the best acting performances in 2014.

Whiplash is one of the lowest-grossing movies to ever be nominated for an Academy Award, but do not be fooled. The sound, the story, the performances make it so hard to turn away. On the surface, the film may appear to be a simple student vs. teacher scenario, though there is much more. It is a film about reaching your potential but also determining your limits.

ALL IN ALL: Whiplash is an intense and thrilling film that delivers some of the best performances of the year.

image from: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wq6VXHpRL._SY355_.jpg

Birdman

So with all the snow coming down on the East Coast, these snow days have provided me the perfect opportunity to catch up on some of the most highly acclaimed films of 2014. First up on my list was Birdman, our recent Oscar Best Picture winner. Birdman was the film I was most curious about, mainly because I hardly knew anything about it. Oh buddy, this film so deserved Best Picture!

Birdman, directed by the awesome Alejandro González Iñárritu, follows a washed-up actor (Michael Keaton), famous for his role as superhero Birdman, as he attempts to salvage his family, his career, and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his Broadway play.

Probably my favorite part of Birdman, was the cinematography (which deservedly won an Oscar). Iñárritu is a genius and came up with the idea of making a film that appears to filmed in a single shot. The result is fantastic. It is unique and almost mesmerizing. The score that consists entirely of drums and classical pieces is at once iconic. The story is satirical and slick but so truthful. Have I used enough adjectives?

Michael Keaton. Oh my Michael Keaton. I cannot be one to fully judge, due to me still having not seen Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, however I can say with great vindication that Keaton gave the best performance of the year (again, of what I have seen). HE KILLED IT! Savvy viewers will probably be quick to pick up on the parallels between him and his character Riggan, both of whom are very well-known for their past superhero roles (Batman and Birdman respectively). However, one simply forgets this when watching Keaton in this film. He battles with his ego, loses hope and regains it all in one swoop, hits rock bottom but somehow manages to fly again. The other performances were grand too most notably and surprisingly Edward Norton and Emma Stone, both of whom were very impressive.

I probably have not made much sense in this review, but then again neither does Birdman and that to me is what makes it great. It mixes fantasy with hard reality and I simply do not have very many words to describe it. I loved it and praise it wholeheartedly as a most deserving Best Picture winner.

ALL IN ALL: Birdman is a layered piece that mixes great cinematography and story into a film that is not so much a vehicle, but a showcase for the film’s many impressive performances.

image from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/