Drama

Shame

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Shame
  • IMDb: link

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Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) is an intensely unhappy man. He spends his days in his searching for porn on his office computer and nights with a bevy of women (Elizabeth Masucci, Calamity Chang, DeeDee Luxe, Hannah Ware, Charisse Merman) he picks up in bars and clubs, or pays for (either in person or online).

Brandon is addicted to sex to such an extent that he’s unable to emotionally deal with any woman he might have something more than physical relationship with, including an alluring co-worker (Nicole Beharie). His only real friend is his boss who goes out with him at night as his wingman, looking for women to cheat on his wife with.

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The Iron Lady

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  • Title: The Iron Lady
  • IMDb: link

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The Iron Lady is as perplexing as it is forgettable. Coming off like a sanitized made-for-TV film that was given a bigger budget once it landed arguably the greatest living actress, the film is centered around some of the least important moments of one of the most important British politicians of the 20th Century. Like I said, perplexing.

In her waning days, after losing her husband, Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) looks back on her career as she rose to power as Britain’s first female Prime Minister during one of the country’s most tumultuous periods. Despite detractors, and the fact that many of her monetary policies helped lead to high unemployment and social unrest (some of which is still felt today), the film certainly takes a pro-Thatcher stance.

The strangest choice the film makes is to center so much of the story around Thatcher’s days after her years in office. Yes we get flashbacks of her days in office, but except for a segment of the the film that deals with the Falklands War, they are short, fragmented, and don’t fit together all that well.

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War Horse

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: War Horse
  • IMDB: link

war-horse-posterFor his latest director Steven Spielberg returns to the theater of war, but in a far more family friendly way than Saving Private Ryan. War Horse centers around the relationship between a young man (Jeremy Irvine) and his horse, separated by the war, both trying to survive and make it back to each other. If it sounds like Lassie Goes to War, it is, except in this case Lassie is a horse (and Timmy falls into WWI instead of a well).

For the second time in a matter of weeks Spielberg delivers a somewhat disappointing film. War Horse doesn’t have the same problem as The Adventures of Tintin, having no real heart at the middle of the story, but it is overly sentimental and far, far too much like a Lassie film than I assume the director planned to make.

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The Artist

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Artist
  • IMDB: link

the-artist-posterFame is a fickle thing. The largest star in the world can fall into relative obscurity almost overnight, and an extra can go from chorus girl to center stage almost as quickly. Hollywood films have played on these themes for decades, but none in more than 80 years have done so quite like The Artist.

Set to a Vertigo-esque score by Ludovic Bource The Artist is a marvel in itself. In an age where CGI is king this little independent film takes us back nearly a century by embracing the era of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks.

In 2011 it’s not every day you get a black and white silent film. The action alone carries the story, with title cards (rather than subtitles) to fill in any necessary exposition.

Our story begins with the introduction of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), the world’s biggest silent movie star, and Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a young extra just starting out on one of George’s films. As Peppy’s career begins to take off George finds himself obsolete almost overnight as silent films are replaced by talkies.

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We Bought a Zoo

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: We Bought a Zoo
  • IMDB: link

we-bought-a-zoo-posterWe Bought a Zoo certainly isn’t writer/director Cameron Crowe‘s best film. However, it is his most family friendly and, with the possible exception of Jerry McGuire, his most commercial. It some circles that may be seen as a bad thing, but if Crowe’s latest is a little more formulaic than usual he still delivers a charming film that most should be able to enjoy.

Based on a true story, Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a single-father still reeling from the death of his wife (Maggie Elizabeth Jones). In need of a fresh start, and against the advice of his brother (Thomas Haden Church) and the disapproval of his angsty teenage son (Colin Ford), Benjamin spends the family’s savings to buy a rundown zoo, saving the park and the 200 species from destruction.

In a few months, with the help of the park’s zoo keeper (Scarlett Johansson) and staff (Angus Macfadyen, Patrick Fugit, Elle Fanning, Carla Gallo) Benjamin must to get the zoo up to code if he has any hope of seeing a return on his investment and save the park for good.

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