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+

Stoker

South Korean films are a lot of things, but if I had to narrow them down to two, it would be f'ed up and insanely good! Perhaps that's just the films that were popular enough to be shown over seas, but that's how I see them for now. And one man stands in the forefront of the f'ed up and insanely good category. "Oldboy" director Chan-wook Park. And his first English speaking film continues with that pattern for the most part.

Wow, what? Opening a trailer with something so intense is simply perfect! There is no beating around the bush here. They are telling you exactly what this movie will be like from the very beginning. "Stoker" tells the story of a teenage girl named India, who's father dies on her 18th birthday. At the funeral, her Uncle whom she'd never met until that day shows up and stays at their house for a while. Things, while already creepy from the first shot of the movie, begin to get creepier as India's mother begins finding herself infatuated with the devilishly handsome Uncle (not on her side of course).

This is one of those movies that reward the patient viewers. While it keeps you tied in from the opening shot with it's spectacular cinematography, the story slowly reveals what is going on and is often times confusing. But it all comes full circle in the end.

I love movies that do that. I forget who said it, and a quick Google search didn't help me at all, if you know who said it, comment below, it could have been Hitchcock, but I heard a saying that went "suspense isn't about what you show the audience. Suspense is about what you don't show them". That is the perfect way to describe this movie. Throughout the entire film, it seems as if they are showing you meaningless information, but for the patient viewers that stick around, everything becomes oh so clear and oh so fantastic.

I was expecting Dr. Manhattan to appear throughout most

of the movie, but he didn't. Mind Blown!

This is definitely the kind of movie you have to watch again to see what you've missed. I've only watched it once, but I'm sure I've missed a lot of information and hints. Things that could have been hidden in the music and sound effects that I missed because I was watching it at 4 AM on very quiet with subtitles because everyone was asleep. I really need to move out of my parents house.

Everyone in this movie was so intense, and so great. Matthew Goode was especially Goode (Yeah, I did it!). He was the perfect blend of creepy and charming. But look at that face. The latter wasn't hard for him at all, was it?

My Grade right now: B+. It could go up the more times I watch it. Great movie.

Also, do yourself a favor and watch the original "Oldboy" before that stupid Spike Lee version comes out.

Pacific Rim

Giant Robots fighting giant monsters... what else could you want in an action movie?

How about Charlie Day!!!

As the trailer shows, "Pacific Rim" is about a not to distant future in which Monster Aliens begin to attack the major cities of the world. To fend them off the World Powers come together to create the Jaeger program. They begin to build giant robots piloted by two people to fist fight the monsters back to hell!!!! AWWWWWWW YEAH!!!!!

Despite it's terrible acting and cheesy dialogue (which was expected) "Pacific Rim" is an extremely entertaining movie with giant fight scenes (pun intended, sorry). This is the movie that all men wanted to see when they were kids. It just wasn't possible until now. When you see this movie, you must first connect with your inner child.

Possibly by playing a game of night crawlers with Danny Devito.

This is the kind of movie where you can't be digging for logic through out the entire thing. Seriously. Come on. It's a movie about GIANT ROBOTS FIST FIGHTING GIANT MONSTERS!!!! Why are you looking for logic in the first place! It is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously and neither should you! So STOP IT!!!! STOP IT NEW YORK MAGAZINE!!! STOP IT!!!

People need to just have fun!

My Grade: B

Monster's University

It's kind of cool going to see the sequels (or prequels) of the movies I loved as a kid and seeing them for the first time as an adult. It's also interesting seeing the creators of the movies reference the older movies, seeing if they reference the same stuff you remember so vividly. "Toy Story 3", along with being an emotional roller coaster, did that very well.

All the great monsters are back! But only this time, we get to see their college days! We get to see how Mike and Sully start off as enemies and become friends, and we get to see how Randall became so evil. Kicked out of the Scarer program at Monster's University, Mike and Sully team up with an unlikely team to join the Scar Olympics in effort to win a bet with the dean and win their place back in the scare program.

The one thing I loved about "Monsters Inc." was the differences between the Monster world and our own. The creator's don't miss a beat in this prequel. One of the best bits in my opinion is when the mother of one of the fraternity brothers drops them off at Monsters Inc. She tells them "I'll just wait here and listen to my tunes". Click here if you don't mind hearing the joke before seeing the movie.

I can only imagine what rebels listen to in their world.

"Monsters University" has a great cast of new and old characters voiced by great actors such as Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Charlie Day, Dave Foley, Alfred Molina and Nathan Fillion. Pixar has a way of making every single character interesting that very few studios can do. It's great to see how they all interact with one another.

It has a great message and as always has jokes for both the youngest of children and the oldest of adults. As much as I miss Pixar doing original movies, I like that they're doing sequels to some of their classics. Now we just need "A Bug's Life 2" and "The Incredibles 2"

"Monsters University" is a great movie for kids of all generations.

My Grade: B+

Hitchcock

Good Evening.

It is no secret to my friends that Alfred Hitchcock is in my top 3 favorite people of all time. So I was especially excited for this movie when I first heard about it from my Friend Kevin Bridge. At least I think it was him.

So when I found out it was playing in Philly, which is a good 50 minute drive from my house, I didn't think twice before I made a day out of it with my friends. Funnily enough, it came out in the theatre 2 miles from my house 5 days later.

Either way, Hitchcock did not disappoint.

Anthony Hopkins, in a very convincing fat suit, portrays the infamous mastermind behind Rear Window, Rope, The Birds, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Dial M for Murder, Strangers on a Train, and of course Psycho. Hitchcock tells the behind-the-scenes story of the making of Psycho and the strain it put on his marriage to Alma Reville, played by Helen Mirren.

It delves deep into his psyche as he struggle with his obsession of not fading into irrelevance. As well as his jealousy towards his wife and her writing partner and his fantasy with his "Hitchcock Blondes".

Through all of this, he must independently finance and film his movie having 100% absolute creative control.

Some movies that I love, I can understand why someone else wouldn't like it. But not this. I don't normally say this about other peoples opinions, but on Rotten Tomatoes, this film has a 66%. The 34% that didn't like this movie need to be slapped in the face with a 2x4 with a nail in it. This movie, being nothing more than drama, had suspense that would make the Master of Suspense himself proud.

The acting, writing and directing (By the director of documentaries, no less) all prove to be in the top tier of 2012. With a perfect mixture of drama, suspense and comedy, Hitchcock proves to be one of the best movies of the year. Anyone who disagrees is just plain silly!

My Grade: A+

ATTENTION! I WILL BE RELEASING THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE MIKEY AWARDS JANUARY 10th COINCIDING WITH THE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS! I WILL POST THE WINNER ON FEBRUARY 24 DURING THE OSCARS!

Wreck-it Ralph

I won't lie to you. Unless it is the old 2D animation, or Pixar is involved, I am skeptical about all animated Disney movies. I don't have any reason to be. the only movie of theirs I though was terrible was Bolt. The rest have been decent. But even with the highly anticipated Wreck-It Ralph, I wasn't anxious to see it. I had little expectations for it.

But there is no greater feeling than when you are proven wrong about a movie you expect to be bad. Arguably, it's even better than a movie you're excited for meeting your expectations.

Essentially telling the fictional untold story of Donkey Kong, Wreck-It Ralph tells the story of Ralph, voiced ever so fittingly by John C. Reilly, an arcade game villain who has been the bad guy for 30 years and ignored by his peers. He is tired of living in the shadows of his "nemesis" Fix-It Felix, voiced Jack McBrayer and wants to be accepted by the other characters in his game. To do so, he "game jumps" in an attempt to win a metal. But this puts his game in jeopardy of being unplugged. So Felix must find Ralph, or Ralph must get his metal before it's to late.

I'm not a huge gamer, but this movie had a bunch of references to games that you don't have to play video games to understand. It is an interesting take on the old adage "the villain is the hero in his own story".

Wreck-It Ralph  is a fun movie for all ages.

My Grade: A-

Looper

How funny would it be if Joseph Gordon-Levitt was nominated for an Oscar for playing a young Bruce Willis before Bruce Willis got nominated for an Oscar at all?

Granted, I'm sure Bruce Willis doesn't care about Oscars. After all, he is John McClane.

Looper, starring the above mentioned, takes place in the not-so-distant future where time travel has not been invented yet. However, there are hit-men called Loopers, who are employed by people in the future where time travel has been invented, but outlawed. They use the time machines to send people they want dead back into the past to be killed and disposed of. But when a new criminal is running the futuristic world, he starts sending Loopers back and having them killed by their younger selves.

One day a Looper named Joe comes face-to-face with his older self, and hesitates allowing... uh...his older self to.... get away from... his younger self.

Younger Joe's bosses start hunting him to fix the mess, but Joe hides from them while older Joe looks for the new boss who killed his wife and sent him back to kill him as a child.

I have no idea how the hell Rian Johnson, the writer and director of this movie, pitched this or summarized the script. He's a genius for doing so, because I feel stupid just trying to explain it. But this is also why he is a big-time director and I am a guy writing a blog... I'm a failure.

Some of you may remember Rian Johnson from his first feature Brick, also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His writing style is unique and with enough chances could become as iconic as any other writer/director. And if you haven't seen Brick yet, do yourself a favor and do.

Anyways, this movie was not anything that I expected. I thought it would be more about the older and younger Bruce Willis characters fighting each other, but it had more to that. That was only a small part of this story. There was also a lot more to the characters than I thought there would be.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was unrecognizable as a younger Joe. He has Bruce Willis' mannerisms down so well that it wasn't hard to forget who he was and let myself be engulfed in the story.

I should note that Paul Dano, who plays Joe's friend Seth, though he played a small part, was fantastic. Not many actors can take a small part and make it memorable, but that's exactly what Dano did.

Looper is a great sci-fi movie that I'm sure will be remembered for quite some time.

My Grade: A-

Dredd

Action movies are kind of a grey area for me. If they take themselves to seriously, I don't tend to like them. When they take themselves to seriously, it feels like they are trying to be something more than the are. Mindless action movies should be just that. Mindless. Which is more fun.

You can turn your brain off for Dredd and still have fun.

In a nuclear radiated future where nearly all land is uninhabitable, there is a Mega-city the stretched from Boston to Washington D.C. In this city, there is chaos. Gangs run the streets. The only justice there is are Judges. They are Judge, Jury and Executioner. Judge Dredd is one of the best. He is given the task of training a Rookie Judge who has psychic abilities.

When they go to investigate a triple homicide at the Peach Trees tower, they are met by a new gang. The Ma-Ma Gang. This gang makes and distributes SLO-MO. A drug that makes the brain feel as though time is traveling at 1% it's normal speed. Mama, the leader of the gang, holds the entire tower hostage promising not to open the 12 steel walls and doors until someone brings the two Judges to her, dead. Judge Dredd and the rookie must fight off the entire block.

This is a remake of the 1995 movie Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone. I haven't seen that one, but I can't imagine it being better than this. That's right, it is possible for a remake to be better than the original.

This movie is a fun movie, filled with violence and bad one-liners. But the thing that makes this movie good is that it feels like the filmmakers had fun making it. They didn't take themselves to seriously and they didn't want the audience to take it to seriously. How could you take it seriously when the main character has the biggest frown in the world on? I didn't even know it was possible to frown like this!

Dredd will have you smiling through the whole movie. It is great entertainment.

My Grade: B+

In Anticipation: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

There are very few movies that, before they come out, the trailer and any mention of the film makes me as giddy as a school girl. Yes, I get excited for movies, but there are very few trailers I will watch over and over again and smile and giggle every single time.

The last I remember was Inception. Yes, that may have been less than 3 years ago, but considering thousands of movies have been released since then, that is a pretty significant amount of time. Before Inception it was The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. And I don't remember what was before that. I remember when I was a manager for a movie theatre, I would walk in to a theatre that I knew would show the trailer for it and watch it as much as I could. The IMAX experience being the best of course.

But I digress.

I present to you Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Now, if by some chance there is anyone on here, reading this, that doesn't know me, I am obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. He is, in my opinion, the best human to ever walk the Earth. I read so much about him, that I sometimes worry about myself. And I have read the book this movie is based off of, and it is EXTREMELY historically accurate. Seth Grahame-Smith, the author and screen writer, more or less just took a biography and inserted vampires anywhere someone in the great President's life died. It is a very good book, and I highly suggest it to anyone who is looking for a new book to read.

That being said, here are 5 reasons I am as giddy as a school girl whenever this movie is mentioned.

1. I have an unhealthy obsession with President Lincoln.
2. There are vampires involved. And not the kind of wimpy vampires that have flocks of teenage girls running and screaming in the movie theatre whenever him and his stupid lame werewolf boyfriend take their shirts off. Actual, real, bad ass vampires.
3. It has Civil War scenes, but with Vampires ripping people to shreds. (Hopefully)
4. It has the most bad ass President this country has ever had being more bad ass than I have ever imagined possible.
5. Did you see him cut down that tree with one swing? Of course you did!

I just hope that this trailer doesn't get my expectations up to high. And I swear to all that is Holy, if this gets anything less than an 'R' rating, I will find Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and I will come at them with the fires of hell at my heels and I will not stop until their legs are twitching'! 

You have been warned.

And what an awesome poster!