Wish I Was Here

In all of my nearly 25 years, I had never cried in a movie. I had tried several times, when I felt I was close to crying in some sadder scenes, I tried to force tears, yet no tears rolled down my cheek. Until tonight.

Zach Braff's "Wish I Was Here" isn't particularly sad. In fact, it's quite funny. But the reality of being faced with the probability of abandoning your dreams hits close to home, so I found it particularly easy to connect with Braff's character.

Braff plays Aidan Bloom, a husband and a father of two whose family is struggling financially while he attempts to follow his dreams of becoming an actor, but has seen little more than one part in a commercial. All the while, his father stops paying for his grandchildren to go to a Jewish Private School due to financial and health complications in his own life. Aidan takes it upon himself to begin home schooling his children in an unconventional way, while also cleaning up his own life.

With the poor reviews this film has been getting, it makes me wonder. Perhaps I just saw this movie at the right time in my life, or perhaps most film critics are just so cynical, they hate movies that have the audacity to suggest that maybe instead of complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves, we should instead enjoy life as it happens.

"A film that tells us to enjoy life? This is one critic

who wishes he wasn't here." -Cynical Critic, because that's

the stupid shit they say.

This movie is probably not for everyone, and I won't be surprised if a lot of you don't like it or just think that it's OK. But in my non-professional opinion, it was pretty damn good…

I know. That was a very deep statement.

My Grade: B+

All Is Lost

After all of these years, Robert Redford proves time and time again that he can still act. And there is no better way to show this than being the only person on screen for the entirety of a film with minimal dialogue, while still being able to keep the audiences attention.

I'm not exaggerating when I say minimal dialogue. Unlike "Cast Away", this film has no inanimate object given to the character to keep his sanity. All there is is our man alone with his thoughts and the audience trying to get inside his mind through the filmmakers story telling.

"All Is Lost" is about a man, alone on his sailboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean (I hope I don't sound like an idiot right then). He is awoken one day by the crashing and cracking of his boat after hitting a shipping container and the water rushing in through the gigantic hole it has made.

Right away, you know that this film needs no dialogue, and that simply watching a man trying to survive is enough to help you connect with his character. With the accept ion of a letter written to his family read at the beginning of the film, every word spoken is either involuntary from being injured, or a last chance of being rescued. Yet you find yourself needing no more than what is given.

Depicted Above: Robert Redford being a badass.

The intensity of each moment surpasses any words that could be said at the time. And despite not having to memorize lines, Robert Redford's performance is as impressive as any other this year.

My Grade: A+

12 Years A Slave

This movie was one of the hardest movies to watch, and for obvious reasons.

I have never seen such an intense depiction of slavery in my life. It's so incredibly horrible, you can't help but not look away. This tells the real life story of Solomon Northup, a black man who was born a free man during a pre-civil war America. A noteworthy violinist, he is conned by some trusted colleagues into leaving his home and traveling South to Washington D.C. for a performance. After the performance, they go out for a celebration where his colleagues get him drunk and he is subsequently kidnapped by slave auctioneers and sold into slavery. And being the time period that it is, no one believes him when he claims who he really is.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup in arguably his most significant role to date. Directed by Steve McQueen (No, not that Steve McQueen), together they show the brutal, terrible truth of slavery in all of the awful, cringeworthy details. Rather than cut away from inhumane acts, McQueen forces you to watch the actions taking place in long, uncut takes making you feel as emotionally, physically and mentally drained as possible without actually putting you in the characters shoes (or lack thereof).

This was, without a doubt, the most stressful 

time I've ever had watching a movie

With amazing performances by the entire cast, "12 Years a Slave" has by far one of the best ensemble casts of 2013. With such big names as Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Michael K. Williams, Scooty McNairy and very randomly, Taran Killam from "SNL", each and every actor gives a fantastic performance worthy of the recognition they're obtaining. "12 Years a Slave" is well worth a watch. But be prepared for a stomach churning story.

My Grade: A

Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey has come a long way since his "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" and "Fool's Gold" Days. I'm not saying those are terrible movies… but they're pretty terrible. After the release of the former, McConaughey took an unplanned hiatus from acting. I say unplanned, because he says he didn't really make a conscious decision to do so. He simply just started turning roles down and decided his time was better spent with his family.

Somehow, this was the best decision (or coincidence) of his career. Some would argue since his return to acting with the film "The Lincoln Layer", which I have yet to see, that his filmography has become significantly higher in quality and his roles have become more deep.

This is all extremely apparent with quite possibly his best role yet, in "Dallas Buyers Club".

In the film, McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a bigoted rodeo-cowboy/electrician who lives every day as if it were his last. Consumed by drugs, alcohol, gambling and unprotected sex, his life takes a turn for the worse when he passes out after being injured on the job and wakes up in the hospital. The doctor's tell him that while performing some tests on his blood, they found that he was HIV positive and only had 30 days to live.

This film takes place in the 80s, when AIDS and HIV weren't as widely understood as they are today. The extreme ignorance is shown throughout the film through Woodroof and his friends who now believe that Woodroof is a homosexual and is contagious to the touch. They shun Woodroof and force him to become estranged. Through all of his tribulations, Woodroof befriends a man he would have shunned and belittled in his past life. A transexual named Rayon, played by Jared Leto.

The big thing that stands out in this film are all of the great portrayals, particularly by McConaughey and Leto, who both took extreme measures to become their roles. Both had gone through dramatic dramatic weight loss to look their parts. But I feel even without their transformations, they still would have given outstanding performance worthy of several award nods.

I could never be an actor, because I like to eat too much.

This gritty, emotional and at times, humorous film is sure to see some Awards this coming season. Specifically Leto and McConaughey. But Judging by the trailers I saw prior to seeing this, they're gonna be given a run for their money. Regardless, these two give their best performance of their careers, in my opinion. This is definitely a hidden gem.

My Grade: A-

Europa Report

Sometimes, writing movie reviews for free every time I see a new movie (at least 4 times a week… at least) is tiring. It becomes a chore that I feel I need a long break from so I can enjoy movies without worrying about what I'll say while watching it. And then, there comes a movie that I just have to share with everyone I know, and that kicks my review writing back into overdrive.

"Europa Report" was that movie this time.

"But, Mike--" you ask, "why did you decide to do it for a movie extremely similar to 'Gravity', but not do 'Gravity' itself? It was awesome!"

Well I'll tell you, random reader! Everyone and their Grandmother's saw "Gravity". And deservedly so. That was a fantastic film. Probably one of the best this year. And anyone who disagrees wasn't paying attention. But "Gravity" didn't need my help to bring it viewers. It has been going strong in theaters. "Europa Report", for one, is out of theaters. And two, very few people saw it. So if I can introduce even one person to it through this blog, I feel I would have done my job.

"Europa Report" isn't your average "found footage" film. It is done through the style of a documentary about a privately funded mission to land on Jupiter's moon Europa and try to find life. Unlike most films like this, it isn't in it for the cheap scares and thrills.

"Europa Report" is filled with emotion and character development that attaches you to the characters you are introduced to and makes you feel for them in every single way. And no character does a better job at this than James Corrigan played by the vastly underrated, Sharlto Copley ("District 9", "Elysium"). With the film opening with Copley's character recording a message for his family, you immediately feel his home-sickness which adds to the feeling of claustrophobia.

Seeing someone in an Astronaut suit gives me anxiety,

even when they're still inside the ship.

Contrary to the trailer, I wouldn't consider this film a horror film, but rather a Sci-Fi thriller. Nothing really horrifying happens, but there is a lot of suspense and a lot of emotion throughout. To everyone that complains that there is nothing to watch on Netflix, open your eyes. There are plenty of hidden gems like this throughout their instant-watch inventory.

My Grade: B

The World's End

In my opinion, The Cornetto Trilogy is the greatest trilogy ever created. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a group of there movies Directed by Edgar Wright, Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The trilogy includes "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End".

...I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Oh, man. That is the best trilogy ever created. He's right"... I know I am... No need to say it.

This movie is exactly what the trailer implies. Five friends meet up after almost 20 years and try to complete the pub crawl that they failed as teenagers. During said reunion, the five discover that the town that they grew up in has all been replaced by evil robots! Only they're not robots, because robot means slave... and stuff... you'll understand what I'm getting at when you see it.

Anyway, even after they discover their predicament, they are too drunk to do anything but continue the pub crawl... So, they drink pint after pint becoming more and more drunk as the world's end (AAAAHHHH) crawls up on them.

Because no one has a better idea!!!

This was a great send off to a great series of completely unrelated movies. It was hilarious, had a reference to Cornetto and had their amazing "shit just got emotional" scenes. And one of the many reasons why I think the Cornetto Trilogy is the best trilogy is because I don't know which one is better. They're all amazing. They're all completely different, and they're all hilarious. I seriously cannot put one in front of the other, and I can do that with most trilogies.

It kind of makes me sad that this will probably be the last one. I hope it's not, but I am not getting my hopes up. It's a great series, but all great things must come to an end. And if they're going to end it, "The World's End" is better than how most things end...

I'm looking at you "Lost", "The Sopranos" and other such let downs!!!

My Grade: A+

The Butler

John Cusack as Nixon? That I'm not quite sure about. But what I am sure about is that regardless of casting choices, "The Butler" is a heart wrenching, intense film about the civil rights movement of the 60s and 70s.

Forrest Whitaker stars as the man who became a butler at the White House and his conflicts with the civil rights movement and his sons choice to take a different, more out spoken path to equality in America.

The follow up to his praised film "Precious", Lee Daniels decides to take, for lack of a better term, a more mainstream story and create a phenomenal film from it. As you watch the film, he takes you on a journey through the build up, climax and decline of the Civil Rights movement of the late twentieth century and he throws you into the scene with the characters.

Fun fact about me: When I'm tired, my eye goes all

Forest Whitaker on me.

I loved everything about this movie except one thing. The acting was fantastic. The directing was amazing. The set decorating, make up and wardrobes were spot-on. I was so deeply and emotionally involved in this movie until one scene. The Obama Propaganda scene.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very indifferent when it comes to politics. I neither love or hate President Obama. And I'm well aware that the country electing a Black President is a huge part of the plot. I just felt that they put it on far too strongly, and it seemed as though it were paid for by the Obama Presidential Campaign. I was expecting Obama to come up at the end of the movie and say "I'm Barrack Obama, and I approve this message". It took me out of the movie for a minute or two. And I hate that!

Other than that little distraction, this movie was up there with the best movies I've seen this year. With the exception of John Cusack as Nixon, the casting was spot on for all of the Presidents. And Cusack wasn't bad. It's just that after Frank Langella's portrayal of the President, anything else seems sub-par.

This movie is definitely one to see in theaters.

My Grade: A-