Your Favorite Movies – Jill D'Agnenica

For the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival we encourage you to Find Your New Favorite Movie! As we approach the festival we’ve started a new series on our site where we ask some Phoenix Film Festival filmmaker alumni about some of their favorite movies.

[box] Life Inside Out Director Jill D'Agnenica (left) and Producer Tessa Bell ~ with PFF's Jason Carney, Chris Lamont and Greg Hall ~ celebrating their Copper Wing Award.[/box]

Jill D’Agnenica, director of Life Inside Out, shares some of her favorite movies with us this week. Called gentle, poignant and down-to-earth, the film was a hit with PFF 2014 audiences ~ so much so that it took home the Audience Award.

What is your …

• Favorite Comedy?

Harold and Maude directed by Hal Ashby has my favorite combination of absurdity and poignancy. I saw it for the first time when I was 12 years old and have been smitten for life.

But for the biggest laughs, only amplified with each subsequent viewing, hands down it’s gotta be Roberto Benigni’s farce of mistaken identity, Il Mostro (The Monster).

• Favorite Drama?

Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders.

• Documentary?

Of the recent past (because I have so many favorite documentaries,) it’s The Cove directed by Louie Psihoyos, which pulls off the amazing trick of behaving like an action packed thriller with comedic moments while being a harrowing piece of investigative reporting.

• Favorite film you saw on the circuit?

Hmm, this is a hard one. The biggest gift for me on the festival circuit, besides sharing our film with audiences across the country, was seeing so many wonderful independent films.  Early on I saw and fell in love with Tu Seras Un Homme by Benoît Cohen and starring his real life wife and son, about a solitary, somewhat abandoned little boy whose life is transformed by a young man his father hires to be his baby sitter.

Other favorites of mine were When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep by Chi-jan Hou, 45 RPM by Juli Jackson, The Big Ask by Thomas Beatty and Rebecca Fishman, and Hank and Asha by James E. Duff and Julia Morrison.

I loved the documentary The Ballad of Shovels and Rope by Jace Freeman, which follows the musician couple who are so sweet they make your teeth chatter. Okay, I promise I am stopping now, but the list could go on and on.

• What is a favorite film that you think most people have never seen, but should?

Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know. I’ve heard Miranda July speak a few times and each time she has lamented, “making movies is hard.” Well, I am so glad that it hasn’t stopped her, because she has such an original, offbeat vision. And, the French film, Tomboy by Céline Sciamma … this film explores gender identity with the softest touch. It is lighthearted and full of love and acceptance and I watched it three times when I was prepping Life Inside Out, for inspiration and encouragement.

• Do you have a favorite film poster?

From the recent past, I can’t stop raving about the poster for Gone Girl, which managed to get away without including the title of the film on the poster, just the phrase, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s...” (Something I suppose you can only do when you’ve got a highly anticipated movie, based on a best-seller.)

Jill tells us that since the 2014 Phoenix Film Festival, Life Inside Out experienced continued success.

“We had such an awesome festival run, and met so many wonderful audience members and fellow filmmakers.”

The film screened at 18 festivals, winning 14 awards (including six for Best Narrative Feature, four Audience Awards, Best Music, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor), and has been doing a limited theatrical release in select cities, with a run at Quad Cinema in NYC coming up this weekend through Thursday – January 16-22. If you still miss it, Monarch Home Entertainment is releasing Life Inside Out on DVD and VOD in the coming months!

www.lifeinsideouththemovie.com

                                                – Laurie Smith

Selma - Movie Review by Monte Yazzie

Selma  

Dir: Ava DuVerney

Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth, Lorraine Toussaint, Martin Sheen, Tom Wilkinson, Oprah Winfrey, Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi, Wendell Pierce, Common, Keith Stanfield, and Cuba Gooding Jr.

128 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Selma, Alabama is the location of the events in director Ava DuVerney’s exceptional and confident film about a small, in the vast continuing struggle, yet significant moment in the civil rights movement. The film centers on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the few months leading up to the 50-mile march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, an event that influenced the Voting Rights Act. Deadly violence, political obstruction, and nationally televised media exposure defined the protest. “Selma” limits the scope of events, focusing less on the entirety of achievements accomplished by Dr. King during his life and instead emphasizing on the actions during a crucial hour in the mission for civil rights that defined Dr. King’s peaceful, determined character.

The film begins just after Dr. King accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Still in the midst of the battle for civil rights Dr. King, played eloquently dignified by David Oyelowo, is portrayed as a respected leader but also a stretched husband, joking friend, faith-filled minister, and flawed human being. Whether the quiet moments when doubt weighs heavy on his mind, the intimate moments when the struggles of his fame and ambition create stress in his marriage, or the crowded moments when his overwhelming poise bolsters every strategic step, Ms. DuVerney paints a portrait of a multifaceted man. However, along with the great narrative portrayal of Dr. King, the film excellently handles the challenges of historically depicting the boiling pot sentiments of the time. This is especially accomplished considering the events are so recently remembered and building in the tension, anger, and despair that existed within the societal and political divisions could potential cause the film to lose the emotional stronghold, however that doesn’t happen here. Ms. DuVerney boldly guides these aspects with precision and expertise.

“Selma” is about Dr. King but it is equally about the civil rights movement. Even though the film only displays a few months during the 1960’s in the lives of directly and indirectly influential individuals within the movement, there is still a palpable connection to the lives and struggles of the past and present. It’s impossible to ignore the correlation between the themes in “Selma” and current events involving race issues in America. It was complicated, concerning, and divisive then just as it is now. Ms. DuVerney doesn’t need to reprimand or forcefully imply, instead the events in their succinct and straightforward depiction are enough to fuel the emotional connection for the viewer. It is simply accomplished filmmaking.

“Selma” crafts a compelling portrait of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a man conflicted and motivated by the changes occurring from his leadership. Moreso, Ms. DuVernay displays one of the best portrayals of the civil rights movement through political structures and the democracy of the people that helped promote change. Even in the midst of racially charged events prompting violent debates, “Selma” displays the brutality found in history but it also exhibits the overwhelming presence of peace promoted by Dr. King and the importance of the lives of all people of every race both immediate and for future populations.

Monte’s Rating

4.50 out of 5.00

Selma - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Selma  

Starring David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Lorraine Toussaint, and Oprah Winfrey

Directed by Ava DuVernay

Rated PG-13

Run Time: 127 minutes

Genre: Biographical Drama

Opens January 9th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Ava DuVernay's Selma portrays the Civil Rights movement with subtlety, frankness, and compassion. It makes for one of the year's biggest triumphs and one of the most powerful films I've encountered in years. Focusing on the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the story navigates the fight to secure equal voting rights in many southern cities, including the titular Selma, Alabama. The man leading the way is none other than Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo), who continues to preach and advocate for a peaceful advancement of African American rights. His views are divisive but undeniably effective, particularly in his approach to getting legislation pushed toward Congress and rallying citizens. His biggest threat, though, is the growing opposition toward his efforts, namely whites in the South that do not want their social order disrupted. It's a message that feels mournfully relevant to modern issues as race relations continue to grow tumultuous in certain Midwest and Southern cities, particularly with police brutality.

Martin's personal life comes to the surface in regards to his messy marriage with Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo). Their lives are marked by Martin's public image threatening their security while also creating a private ego that leads to adultery and foolishness on Martin's part. King's struggles with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) also have an impact on his ability to move forward, leading to an increasingly bitter people that must face the violent threats emerging from whites. Murders happen without remorse and many white citizens treat African Americans as undeserving of respect or the ability to exercise their duties as citizens of the United States. George Wallace (Tim Roth) is one of the many ruthless men in power that cannot fathom the idea of whites having to surrender anything in their way of living as a means for equal rights. The film is mostly marked by vignettes that all centralize in Selma, notably with the march toward Montgomery and the support that Dr. King receives from people outside of the South.

Ava DuVernay has crafted a gorgeously rendered, intimate, and deeply triumphant feature. Her work behind the screen is subtle and open; nothing seems to be shrouded behind a manipulative lens. Rather, she lets the actions speak for themselves and mostly observes the world through the eyes of the characters on screen. If injustice is seen, the camera holds and lets the audience ponder, and acts of kindness carry the same emotional weight. There's a scene early in the film revolving around a church bombing with children involved. It's traumatic, brutally affecting, and altogether shocking. The scene needs to strike that chord, though, so the use of conversational, anticlimactic dialogue beforehand underlies the harshness of such a callously unexpected, life-ending action. That's a further testament to Paul Webb's brilliant script and Bradford Young's quietly effective cinematography. What remains so fundamentally impressive about Selma is the way it prefaces every scene with monumental impact; an attempt at voting from an elderly black woman (played by producer Oprah Winfrey) that gets denied sets the tone and atmosphere for the film's drive.

The film moves in between sympathy and idolization by underlying Martin Luther King Jr.'s flaws throughout the narrative. David Oyelowo's turn starts as a man acting like the famous historical figure, only to turn into a wholly realized, nuanced take on a troubled man with too much on his plate and not enough time to accomplish everything he desires. There's heartbreak in Oyelowo's turn, but also bite and gravitas. It's incredible. Carmen Ejogo's turn is equally sublime, with even Tom Wilkinson's standing president feeling like a realized, embattled human being. These performances allow the heated energy and passion to emerge and overpower every emotional layer of the film. Few films carry that aura and power in each frame. Selma, then, is a socially conscious and tragically necessary masterpiece, serving as a reminder that change has not fully come but that a passion for equality is needed from every citizen to be accomplished.

Inherent Vice - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

Inherent Vice

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Waterston, Josh Brolin, Eric Roberts and Benecia Del Toro

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

From Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated R

148 minutes

by Michael Clawson at Terminal Volume

From deep within an acrid haze of pot smoke and acid trip-outs strides the smirking oddity that is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, a slow-burn of noir clichés given a groovy spin not seen since The Big Lebowski or The Long Goodbye, its spiritual successors.

Anderson’s 148-minute spiraling mystery isn’t so much hard-boiled as it is half-baked, although you’ll easily recognize Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade in Joaquin Phoenix’s showstopping performance as Larry “Doc” Sportello, a joint-rolling private eye who works out of a doctor’s office and looks like a Vietnam protester — it’s 1970 so his camo-green ensemble with sandals and mutton-chop sideburns makes sense. Doc is visited in the first scene by Shasta Fay Hepworth, an old flame caught in a scheme that’s about to devour her. These types of women — Sin City would call her a “dame” without a wink of irony — usually kick-start movies like this, and Shasta Fay is no exception as Doc is compelled to follow her through hell and back.

Inherent Vice is a labyrinth of vague rumors, half-heard facts and stoned visions. It should come with a road map and a compass. Its convoluted mash of detail and innuendo is told using a small army of characters with names out of a W.C. Fields comedy: Ensenada Slim, Petunia Leeway, Japonica Fenway, Puck Beaverton, Rhus Frothingon, Trillium Fortnight and Sauncho Smilax, Esq. Martin Short — yes, that Martin Short — plays a Dr. R. Blatnoyd, DDS., and his four minutes of screen time are just perfect.

Adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel of the same name, Vice spends much of its early passages obsessed with Michael Wolfmann, a real estate mogul who’s “technically Jewish but wants to be a Nazi.” Wolfmann was involved with Shasta and pretty much everyone else, including sex workers, Nazi biker gangs, crooked cops, Asian smugglers, new-age cults, drug dealers, grifters and federal agents with names like Borderline and Flatweed. As Doc traces Wolfmann’s whereabouts, he’s pushed all around Southern California encountering wild characters who add more puzzle pieces to Shasta’s fractured enigma of a story.

The locations and events Doc walks into are as sensational as the character names. I was especially fond of Wolfmann’s wife, who’s hosting a pool party — with cops in full uniforms, including motorcycle helmets, cannonballing in the pool and manning the grills — yet also mourning her “missing” husband with a black veil to go with her black bikini. You’ll admire the shout-out to Lauren Bacall in her famous “veil scene” in The Big Sleep. There’s a sex club with an erotic menu of offerings I can’t repeat, a mysterious ship called the Golden Fang, biker parties, baseball bat museums, a massive collection of naked-lady ties, and the popsicle-eating habits of Detective Christian “Bigfoot” Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), a character who is endlessly weird, but also lovable and goofy.

The movie is narrated by a female character who we rarely see, and her words are sumptuous and intoxicating as they ooze out in stanzas of beat poetry forever on the cusp of quoting Allen Ginsberg. The rest of the movie plays out like any Anderson stunner: music that is layered over whole movements, long takes, tracking shots, unbroken passages of dialogue, quirky compositions … you’ll see bits of Anderson’s entire filmography here. I especially enjoyed his agonizingly slow camera zooms that begins as medium shots and, over the course of several minutes, creep closer to one face as Doc’s investigation is sent into a new orbit.

Inherent Vice goes to great lengths to convince you of the plausibility of Doc’s case, but I found it easier to surrender to the details. The names, locations, times, dates, events … they all grow more tangled as Vice proceeds, and they’re only there to serve the mood and tension of Anderson’s whirlygig of a noir mystery, which is further proof that the genre will never die.

Inherent Vice - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Inherent Vice  

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, and Martin Short

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Rated R

Run Time: 148 minutes

Genre: Comedy/Crime

Opens January 9th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice is defined by a weed haze that carries through every frame of the film. It's a stoner neo-noir with red herrings galore and a mystery that probably makes sense if under the influence of some mind-altering drug. That being said, it's a fantastic compilation of vignettes that are all viewed through the lens of Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a Los Angeles detective in 1970 who seems to be a generally kind man. He enjoys indulging in drugs and alcohol at any given time, but remains an honorable detective that aims to help others however he can. He becomes entangled in a strange web of crimes, some involving kidnapping and murder, but the story remains viewed through his murky mug as his character unfolds in a more logical, nuanced manner than the narrative itself. The strengths of Anderson's films emerge within his compassionate lead characters whenever they arise, and Inherent Vice stays true to that success.

The story opens with Doc's recovery from a relationship with his long-time fling, Shasta (Katherine Waterston). She spouts ideas about her current lover, Michael Z. Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), whose wife might be aiming to commit him to a loony bin. Almost as soon as that long-winded conversation at the beginning ends, the story wanders around many strange locales in Los Angeles, ranging from a random prostitution house to the offices of a high-end business man played by Martin Short. Doc, during all of this craziness, finds great remedies in drugs, naturally, as most did during the tumultuous time of the late 1960s/early 1970s. The hippie movement was running rampant at the time, with free love and acceptance of all being a message pushed forth. Granted, a little indulgence in paraphernalia was a given too, leading to a malignant approach from standard law enforcement. One of those men is Lieutenant "Bigfoot" Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), a man that constantly finds Doc to be a thorn in his side.

Watching Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film isn't meant to be a coherent experience. The plot is foggy and vague, with most conversations full of people speaking in questions or confusion. That's a testament to Thomas Pynchon's insane novel as well as Anderson's equally manic script. It's rare to see a film wander around a familiar city in such unfamiliar ways, looking at the seedy underbelly and unidentifiable wealthy landscapes as if they are commonplace. Not only that, but the story uses all of these different cases that Doc uncovers as a means of delightfully throwing a wrench in the audience's expectations. There are times when I found the film impenetrable or indecipherable, a complaint that many struck with There Will Be Blood and The Master. Those films featured far less identifiable protagonists; Anderson's films that work the strongest showcase likable or sympathetic people, like Magnolia or Punch-Drunk Love. Inherent Vice, shockingly, is one of the latter.

I considered watching the film a second time before reviewing, but I felt that was unfair. It's a deliberately hazy experience that most people will only see once; coming out of a film, I feel that the first impression is usually the best to write about, regardless of the chance that potentially occurs after multiple viewings. I enjoyed the central performances and found the film often hilarious. Phoenix is delightful, as always, in the lead, providing the audience with a central figure that they can like while also seemingly laughing at his woeful encounters. Waterston is terrific in her supporting turn, too; a romantic scene between her Shasta and Doc that lasts as a seven-minute long take is one of the year's best scenes. Yet as I grasp at a larger meaning for the film, my hand falls through empty-handed like a ghost. There's personal tragedy, strong characters, and plenty of humor, which ends up being enough for a terrifically enjoyable PTA experience. Inherent Vice is a cinematic whirlwind.

Mr. Turner - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Mr. Turner  

Starring Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey, Lesley Manville, and Paul Jesson

Directed by Mike Leigh

Rated R

Run Time: 150 minutes

Genre: Biographical Drama

Opens January 9th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner is a fittingly fascinating portrait of the eccentric and talented British painter, J.M.W. Turner. The central role is filled soundly by Timothy Spall, whose depiction of the titular artist starts as an odd assortment of character traits but evolves into a wholly realized, tragic, and sheltered man. The film has a remarkable sense of time and place, grounding itself in early 19th century Britain with an eye for details surrounding difficult travel, life-threatening illnesses, and the narrow viewpoint of many citizens in a world so far from its most important achievements. What emerges as some of the most compelling scenes in the film are not ones of particular substance, but of painterly shots that capture the beauty of the filmic image: the stillness of landscapes and richness of colors, or even the slight movement coming from nature that deepens the film's artistic impression. Dick Pope's cinematography is some of the best of the year, and it infuses grander life into Mike Leigh's thoroughly complex drama.

J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) lives with his father, William (Paul Jesson), and his housekeeper, Hannah Danby (Dorothy Atkinson). The former worries of his son's travels, hearing that he had perished in a shipwreck, but Turner's return is welcomed by both of his companions. Hannah is a woman that is emotionally tormented by her love for Turner, which is never explicitly expressed by either; he uses her for sexual desire but doesn't recognize her emotional attachment. That's one of the many tragic signifiers of these characters, with Turner occupying almost all of them. His past is shrouded by others coming back to haunt him, mainly his ex-lover and her two daughters, both of whom he disowns. Many ask if he has a family or children, and he always lies; he even uses an alias in other towns, presumably to save his public image, or whatever remains of it. As an angry member of the Royal Academy of Arts, his work goes through bouts of being praised and dismissed. The art world is unpredictable.

Mike Leigh's film covers so much ground in Turner's life, encapsulating over a quarter of a century to tell of his final years. While Turner travels, he begins to fall for a twice-widowed innkeeper named Sophia (Marion Bailey). Within that relationship and a few telling scenes where they discuss their past, Turner's tragedy comes to the forefront. He's a profound man full of sorrow and regret. Spall's performance is shockingly felt and keenly aware of its jagged edges, considering Turner's pronounced, repugnant actions toward people close to him throughout the film. He likes to make a mockery out of other artists, often defacing their works or demoralizing them even if they enjoy or support his work. He's concerned about self-image and ultimately cares deeply about not only what others think about him, but what they think about his work. His paintings are full of landscapes, sea wrecks, naval ships, and stark colors, but very rarely use people. That leads to much disconnect with a changing artistic vision by buyers.

Spall's tremendous lead characterization drives the film's dramatic impact. He's in practically every scene in the sprawling, 150-minute running time, and his role grows more fruitful and compelling as it gains traction. The supporting performances, however numerous they may be, are equally affecting, with Lesley Manville having a delightful turn as a progressive Scottish scientist with eclectic ideas. While the film is self-serious at times and has a favorable eye toward tragic drama, there's plenty of humor littered between scenes bookended by serious fare. Mike Leigh's script understands the potential of his characters to not be the most serious citizens alive, a trend in historical dramas that fills their atmospheres with stuffy, self-righteous air. Even the score from Gary Yershon is absorbing and unavoidable, making an impression on every scene. Mr. Turner is one of the most accomplished films of the year, and a compelling character study of a fascinating man.

Predestination - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Predestination  

Starring Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor, Freya Stafford, and Madeleine West

Directed by The Spierig Brothers

Rated R

Run Time: 97 minutes

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller

Opens January 9th (exclusively at FilmBar)

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Predestination has a fascinating premise backed by a breakthrough performance by Sarah Snook. The film uses lofty ambition and undeniable emotional power even if its reach far exceeds its grasp; I forgive faulty ambition when it's this well-intentioned. The Spierig Brothers act as writers and directors here, returning after a five-year break to work with Ethan Hawke again to follow up their last collaboration (Daybreakers). That film was a futuristic vampire saga with a strong set-up and a bloody, somewhat satisfying conclusion; Predestination is such a strikingly different film both in terms of thematic developments and narrative ambition that it feels like a giant leap forward in their repertoire. They've created a world marked by social injustice, heartbreaking romance, and time travel, an unique mixture that works wonders on a trippy, confusing, but never lifeless world.

The story centers on a Temporal Agent known as The Bartender (Ethan Hawke), a man who has constantly searched for a criminal known as the "Fizzle Bomber" through time but can never seem to stop him. The laws of these agents are fascinating, mostly marked by ensuring that past, present, and future do not interfere and that nothing disrupts the fabric of the creation of the law enforcement group in which he presides. While working one night, he meets Jane (Sarah Snook), a mysterious woman that spends much of the first half of the film doling out her backstory as she explains her upbringing as a young woman that never seemed to fit in, and the one time that she truly felt in love before her heart was broken. There's tragedy in her story, and the Bartender recognizes that. He offers her the opportunity to travel through time, particularly with the opportunity to kill the man that wronged her. In her story, he may have found out who the Fizzle Bomber has been all along.

There's a lot of subtlety in her backstory, with Snook owning her role and bringing to life what acts as a two-actor film for most of the story. Her and Hawke play off of one another incredibly well, with the cinematography emphasizing the duality of their characters and the growing bond that they form over her story's progression. The elements of time travel in the story are mostly wonky and confusing until the film's final moments; only then does one of the biggest, strangest twists I've ever seen in film come along and level the playing field of the narrative. Despite most of the story being muddled and somewhat incomprehensible at various points, I never felt disengaged from the core of the film. I always connected with the characters and found their journey compelling; the rules begin to surface and infuse the narrative with passion. It's pretty phenomenal when 2015 can start off with one of the strangest and most unique visions I've seen in years, and even if all of its inconsistencies build in the middle, it remains an entertaining landscape.

Your Favorite Movies - Matt Rabinowitz

For the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival we encourage you to Find Your New Favorite Movie! As we approach the festival we've started a new series on our site where we ask some Phoenix Film Festival filmmaker alumni about some of their favorite movies. In case you missed the first one, you can see Eddie Jemison's here.  

Next up, Director Matt Rabinowitz. His film The Frontier (Phoenix Film Festival 2014 Official Selection) has been lauded by film critics with high praise. Among the kudos, Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times calls the film, “An intimate family drama that subtly and delightfully subverts expectations... Refreshing and astute.”

What is your …

• Favorite Comedy?

Picking a favorite in any genre is always such a difficult task and can be so dependent on how I feel in the moment I'm asked, but the movie that is almost always right there for me regardless of genre is The Jerk. Growing up in the era of Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey, I've always been drawn to character driven comedies, so after my millionth viewing of Ace Ventura or Billy Madison as a film obsessed 10-year-old, my dad forced me to watch The Jerk, "to see how it's really done". It changed my life. I had never seen something so stupid, but so smart. You can do both? At the same time?!?!? It's just perfect, I can quote any line – and I do often, much to the annoyance of everyone I know. Anytime I've named a dog since then it's been a struggle not to name them "Shithead", that's how much The Jerk has affected me.

• Favorite Drama?

There Will Be Blood is my favorite drama; even though I'm almost positive it's a secret comedy … I mean it's hilarious. It's the kind of movie that is just so perfect that it makes me giddy to think about it. I smile the entire runtime to the point where my face cramps. It's genius.

• Documentary?

I'm going to cheat and give two because it's too hard to pick one. Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line is everything you could ask for in a true crime doc— great story; excellent characters; beautiful filmmaking; and it had an actual impact on the case it illuminates. My other favorite is Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, I love this one for very different reasons, as it's basically a nonfiction Spinal Tap, it's so great. So funny, so epic.

• Favorite film you saw on the circuit?

The thing about the circuit is that you meet so many great people and excellent filmmakers that your opinions of the films and the people behind them merge into one so you can't judge the films objectively, so here's a list of some of the films I've loved made by new friends: The Big Ask, King of Herrings, Little Hope Was Arson, Surviving Cliffside, 10,000km, Fort Tilden, The House That Jack Built.

• Do you have a favorite film poster?

I love the original Citizen Kane one sheet with "It's Terrific!" scrawled across it. I love it so much I stole the quote as my production company name.

Matt reports that since PFF 2014, The Frontier screened at more festivals where they continued to meet a lot of great people, and gathered an impressive array of awards including Best Feature, Awards of Excellence and Best Actor in a Feature (Max Gail). And, the film may soon be available online! “We're in talks now with a company that wants to distribute the film … and, we're working on the next one.” http://www.thefrontierpicture.com/

                                                – Laurie Smith

Best Films of 2014 - Michael Clawson

Michael Clawson’s Best Films of 2014  

I’ll admit that 10 is a better number than 15, especially when the 15 has an asterisk, footnote and appendix. But choosing only 10 top movies of 2014 is just too difficult, and the end result is too neat and tidy. And if a year has more than 10 great movies, then why limit a list that is a reflection on that year?

So yeah, here’s my top 15 movies of the year, which is actually more like my top 16 since one entry has two movies. And then there are two honorable mentions, and a four-movie note about this year’s franchise movies. It’s not as neat as 10, but it’ll do.

15- Cold in July

I had given up on Cold in July, and then it impressed the hell out of me. Jim Mickle’s crime thriller starts with a husband and father killing a burglar in his living room. Then the burglar’s nutty father starts terrorizing the family. Notes of Cape Fear start trickling onto the screen just before you start zoning out. But then — BAM! — Cold in July turns into something else entirely. The film is anchored by strong performances from Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson as a tough-talkin’ private detective. This movie came out to little fanfare, but I hope viewers discover it.

14- Edge of Tomorrow

“Tom Cruise in a mech-suit doing Groundhog’s Day with alien time-shifters.” If that was the pitch that got this movie the green light, then bravo to the poor soul who had to look a studio executive in the eye and pitch it. Doug Liman’s mind-bending sci-fi shooter is silly and stupid at times, but then it also has an inventive streak that pushes this past mediocrity and into something special. The movie came out in June, but it is still getting thoughtful plot dissection from trip’d-out fans six months later, even after the film was re-branded for DVD and Blu-ray as Live. Die. Repeat. The film reaffirms an old myth: Tom Cruise is always better in science fiction.

13- Gone Girl

David Fincher’s who-dun-it shows the veteran director at his very best. Rarely is a director in perfect synchronization with his editor, cinematographer, screenwriter and cast with such outstanding and fluid results. The film, based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name (she also wrote the screenplay), features Ben Affleck as a husband accused of murdering his seemingly flawless wife, played with a frosty chill by Rosamund Pike. As the mystery unfolds, it’s clear that there are larger things at play, and it’s in these scenes that Fincher really digs in. What could have fallen apart only gets stronger as Flynn’s characters paint themselves into the same corner. Fincher handles it all with exquisite class, proving that he’s earned his spot as one of Hollywood’s elite directors.

Honorable Mention: Chef — I left Chef feeling very hungry. It’s about a disgraced cook who takes his trade mobile with a food truck. Along for the ride is his line cook, his son and a growing army of loyal followers. The film is written, directed and stars Jon Favreau, and also features John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman and many others. The jokes are great, the food looks delicious, the locations are warm and inviting … something tells me that everyone had a great deal of fun making this movie. And it shows, because it’s a lot of fun to watch.

12- Force Majeure

During an afternoon ski outing, a family is nearly overtaken by an avalanche. The mother instinctively reaches for her kids, but the husband runs off with nothing in his hands but his cell phone. During the rest of the ski trip this family is torn apart by the repercussions of the avalanche and what it revealed within the father’s personality. Ruben Östlund’s tightly wound relationship drama is mostly a series of conversation separated by interesting shots of a ski resort coming to life each morning and then resetting at night. It ends with a revelation that changes much of what we just saw, but Östlund is so delicate with the handling of it that the twist is barely noticeable. This Swedish film is a remarkable examination of the nature of married couples, and the way they spool their lives around each other in opposite directions.

11- A Most Violent Year

A Most Violent Year is about a man taking every precaution to do the right thing, even as he edges closer to that which he fears — corruption, crime and violence. J.C. Chandor directs Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain in this gloriously photographed crime drama about a heating oil company trying to expand in New York City. The film has a Godfather vibe, from Isaac’s stone-cold Michael Corleone performance to the warmly lit interiors that act as characters to the film’s carefully written criminal underbelly. The movie took me places I wasn’t expecting, and the ending is underplayed until you stand back and appreciate it for what it says about business, crime, and the intersection where the two often meet.

10- Dom Hemingway

While all eyes are on Michael Keaton’s Birdman performance, I just can’t ignore Jude Law’s gonzo turn as the title character in Richard Shepard’s irreverent crime drama Dom Hemingway, about a man who gets out of prison and slowly unravels amid heists, dinner parties, hooker orgies and a car crash frozen in a tableau of flailing arms and legs. Dom is a vile rascal, but he’s kinda lovable, especially when paired with the great Richard E. Grant as his sidekick. The film has one of the best cold opens of the year, and it deserves to be on every Jude Law highlight reel from here to eternity.

9- The LEGO Movie and Big Hero 6

Besides both being wonderfully animated and perfectly paced family films, the reason these two animated gems are both on this list is the message they send to their younger audiences: The LEGO Movie encouraged youngsters to create and play outside of the rigid structures of life, and Big Hero 6 emphasized science and math as career paths. These ideas weren’t just preachy codas tacked onto each film’s endings; they are ingrained in their respective plots. Long ago kids movies were filled with farts, boogers and groin kicks, but these days they have more to say, even amid forgivable product placement and superhero formulas.

8- Interstellar

Christopher Nolan’s epic sci-fi tale is less movie and more sound-and-light show. Featuring the science of wormholes, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, time travel, black holes and what can only be described as the control room of the universe, Interstellar’s reach for the stars is beyond ambitious, and Nolan mostly pulls it off aside for some sloppy editing and plot holes, which are forgiven considering the film’s scope across the galaxy. It really becomes something special when Hans Zimmer’s booming score rattles from the screen. Theater owners reported receiving complaints about the film’s volume, but loud and proud was the way it should have been shown.

7- Birdman

Michael Keaton’s brave performance in Birdman as a washed-up actor on Broadway has made him a frontrunner in the Oscar race, a race he will likely win. But more than that, the performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s whirlwind of a movie has reminded us all how great Keaton is, and always has been. He’s a singular force in Birdman, in which he staggers and grumbles through a New York City theater where he’s staging a Raymond Carver play that has shades of his own life in it. The editing is all very slick, and the camera work is virtuosic, but mostly this is an actor’s movie, with Keaton, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and many others.

6- Ida

Pawell Pawlikowski’s gorgeously photographed character study takes place in 1960s Poland as a nun traces the footsteps of her parents, who were likely killed during the Nazi occupation or the years following World War II. The nun (played exceptionally by Agata Trzebuchowska), with warm eyes and skin the smoothness of elegant porcelain, is immediately out of place as she treks through small Polish villages as she ponders her mysterious past and her convent future. The film is shot in black and white, and it’s just perfect cinematography, with characters shot in poetically odd framings, natural light pouring through windows and mesmerizing compositions. No movie this year was photographed better.

5- Under the Skin

Nothing quite prepares you for Jonathan Glazer’s art-house sci-fi flick Under the Skin, featuring a steely-cold Scarlett Johansson as an alien viper luring unsuspecting men to their doom in an inky black goo that liquefies everything under their skin. It may sound like Aliens, but it’s miles away from an action movie as its ethereal mood and tone allow for hypnotically staged sequences of Johansson pretending to be an alien pretending to be a human. It’s all rather wacky and cerebral, but also oddly mesmerizing.

4- Life Itself

When Roger Ebert passed away in 2013, he wasn’t just the world’s most famous movie critic, he was also one of the most treasured. His reviews exposed hard truths about the films, about himself, and about all of us. They were reflections of who we as a people were, are and will be. They were also quite funny. So when Ebert lost the ability to speak amid a cancer diagnosis, his readers were afraid he would be silenced up on that balcony set where he gave thumbs up and thumbs down. His voice was silenced, but his keyboard clicked and clacked ever louder as he wrote from Facebook, Twitter and his personal blog. Steve James’ lovely documentary follows Ebert as he writes, heals and eventually passes away unexpectedly. It had a fly-on-the-wall vibe to it as the critic lived his life, but Life Itself also serves as an impromptu biography, with chapters on Gene Siskel, their shared TV show, his wife Chaz, his alcoholism, his upbringing and so much more. By the time Ebert had passed, he was no longer just a film critic; he was our collective voice broadcasting as loud as ever.

3- The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson continuously astounds me with his quirky diorama-like presentations. His visual style, developed over an entire career, hasn’t yet hit a dead end as he explores braver plots, more intricately layered stories and growing choruses of characters, sometimes enough to fill a small amphitheater. He really outdoes himself with The Grand Budapest Hotel, loosely starring Ralph Fiennes and about 30 other fine actors. I knew I was in for a ride when the film started with a book, an interview and two sets of flashbacks all nested together. This film’s lo-fi special effects and model miniatures are especially noteworthy for their simplicity and quaintness. Anderson has made eight great films and never repeated himself, and I can’t wait for what’s next.

2- Snowpiercer

Science fiction is supposed to be a little ridiculous and Joon-ho Bong’s Snowpiercer does not let you down in that department. It’s about a train containing all of humanity that circles the globe in order to preserve mankind from a nuclear winter. Yeah, that ridiculous. The action thriller, starring Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton, came out in prime blockbuster season and immediately blew the doors off the summer’s usual fares. With glorious music, clever visual compositions, stupidly fun gun and hatchet fights and absurdly simple science fiction mythology, Snowpiercer is a marriage of great ideas.

1 – Whiplash

Damien Chazelle’s sensational musical drama Whiplash is about two characters, a hero and a villain, fighting to the same end. It’s only during the last 15 stupendously bonkers minutes do they finally realize they’re on the same trajectory, just shooting from opposing sides. Whiplash knows what it is, where it’s going and how it’s getting there from the very beginning, and it shows in Chezelle’s confident directing and in the determined performances of stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons as master and apprentice at a prestigious music school. (This is the second time Teller has topped my year-end movie list; last year he did it in James Ponsoldt’s Spectacular Now.) I never would have thought so much tension, calamity, violence, hatred, obsession and drama could have come from jazz drumming — Whiplash has it all.

Honorable Mention: St. Vincent — Bill Murray, our national treasure, has done it again: he’s out-Murray’d himself. The comedian once again plays a loser schlub in Theodore Melfi’s charming St. Vincent, about a grumpy old man befriending a lonely kid with a working mom. It’s funny, kinda adorable in parts, devastatingly honest and just all-around earnest in its treatment of Murray’s Vincent. It also features Naomi Watts as a Russian prostitute, Chris O’Dowd as a Catholic school teacher, Terrence Howard as a bookie and Melissa McCarthy as the too-busy-for-her-kid mother. All of this might be too much if it weren’t for the central relationship of Vincent and the kid, played expertly by Jaeden Lieberher. They just click together in all the right places.

Some words on franchise movies: There are too many superhero movies and sequels. And each year there are more. This year there were certainly some major duds, including the new Hunger Games movie, the new Spider-Man and the second Captain America movie. If we never discuss them again that will be too soon. But I want to also commend some of these movies that excelled past the genre in which they live. They were inventive, well-paced, marvelously acted (live, animated or by motion capture) and all-around fantastic. If all superhero movies and sequels were this good, I would be a happy camper. The movies that distinguished themselves are X Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Let’s hope their sequels live up to the hype.

Best Films of 2014 - Monte Yazzie

Monte Yazzie’s Best Movies of 2014  

10  Gone Girl (dir. David Fincher)

David Fincher has made a career taking audiences to dark places with bad people. In the beginning moments of Gillian Flynn’s scripted adaptation of her popular novel, a man is gently caressing the head of a beautiful woman, the way two people in love would, however the voice-over narration concerning the situation is a violent soliloquy of hatred. Fincher meticulously expands the impressions of deceit and hatred seen in the opening and seduces the viewer into a two-hour plus unsettling journey that is also completely mesmerizing.

9  Nightcrawler (dir. Dan Gilroy)

There’s strange and then there’s creepy. That is the best description of Jake Gyllenhaal’s obsessively motivated news chaser, Lou Bloom, in director Dan Gilroy’s exceptional “Nightcrawler”. Photographed in the midnight hour, the film begins, and continues to build upon, the darkness it peers into. Gyllenhaal’s performance is impressive; he is disturbed, arrogant, and controlling yet charming when it benefits him. It’s maddening at times to watch this character, though it’s difficult to look away; just like curiosity draws eyes to flashing lights and sirens, Gilroy utilizes this same quality on the viewer with impressive results.

8  Ida (dir. Pawel Pawlikowski)

At its center “Ida” is about the exploration for truth and the deliberation of faith. At a mere 80 minutes and with a straightforward narrative structure, director Pawel Pawlikowski offers more in this short time than other films twice as long. The two lead actors, on a journey together for truth, display both innocence and experience in a world that is harshly unaccommodating and grossly influenced by history. The quiet and sometimes-haunting landscapes look to consume the characters while also being beautifully composed with monochrome photography that fittingly supports the narrative themes expressed. “Ida” is yet another exceptional example of foreign filmmaking.

7  Snowpiercer (dir. Bong Joon-ho)

Director Bong Joon-ho crafts an exceptional science fiction film, one that displays a profound message about the world by wrapping the thematic significance within individualized compartments of a never-ending train ride. With one group pursuing freedom and another continued oppression, the narrative metaphors for indulgent privilege and abusive power are displayed in the well-composed train compartments while the filmmaking techniques continuously display a right to left framing mechanism that accommodates the struggle between the two factions.  “Snowpiercer” is an action packed and thought provoking film, one that displays all the best qualities of the genre.

6  Inherent Vice (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

This California noir displays the many talents of director Paul Thomas Anderson, whose impressive abilities are on constant display here. Whether Anderson’s talent to adapt difficult novels, his always purposeful storytelling style, or nods to film history that influence numerous frames of his films, “Inherent Vice” is better because of them all. The film takes cue from numerous avenues, with noir characteristics that blend with the end of the 1960’s socio-political landscape and the changing identity of those, here Joaquin Phoenix’s private investigator Doc, unwilling to compromise the freewheeling lifestyle of the past. Where the film leads may frustrate some viewers but it is undeniably fascinating to see a master filmmaker at work.

5  Whiplash (dir. Damien Chazelle)

Is a certain amount of unrelenting push needed to reveal potential?  To what lengths should talent be pushed? These two questions play prominent within the narrative, one that is supported by a great lead performance from Miles Teller as an obsessed jazz student and a stunning supportive performance by J.K. Simmons as the profanity spewing, emotionally torturing instructor. Chazelle keeps the narrative predictability unstable by building characters with challenging motivations, leading to a fitting tension filled finale. Chazelle maneuvers the film with skillful guidance accompanied by exceptional performances, making “Whiplash” as bold and confident as the jazz music that supports it.

4  Selma (dir. Ava DuVernay)

The media has correlated much to the connection between “Selma” and current events involving race issues in America. “Selma” crafts a compelling portrait of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., played sublimely by David Oleyowo, as a man conflicted and motivated by the changes occurring from his leadership. Moreso, DuVernay displays one of the best portrayals of the civil rights movement through political structures and the democracy of the people that helped promote change. Even in the midst of racially charged events prompting violent debates, “Selma” shows the brutality but it also exhibits the overwhelming presence of peace promoted by Dr. King and the importance of the lives of all people of every race both immediate and for future populations.

3  Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu)

“Birdman” is a film that just flows together seamlessly. The performances from the actors, the guidance of the director, and the movements of the camera create an unmistakable rhythm. The story accommodates the characters and the locations offer an authenticity for everything to exist harmoniously together. Michael Keaton’s performance is impressive, one of the best of his extensive career. “Birdman” is simply a brilliant film filled with intricacy and idiosyncrasy.

2  Under the Skin (dir. Jonathan Glazer)

Writer/director Jonathan Glazer’s impressive film “Under The Skin” is one of the best genre films of recent memory. With a near silent and purposefully ambiguous narrative, the film moves with a hallucinatory yet naturalistic aesthetic through the streets of Scotland, following Scarlett Johannson’s curious and deadly being. The purpose of the lead character is never fully realized, but it doesn’t matter because the journey is so ambitiously designed that the mystery becomes nothing short of consuming. “Under the Skin” is a brilliant addition to the science fiction genre.

1  Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater)

Twelve years of commitment to an idea and Richard Linklater accomplished one remarkable feat of filmmaking. “Boyhood” is an audience experience, a series of timepieces that bring you back to a specific time not too long ago. Through a series of normal, insignificant life events a young boy grows into a man amidst the backdrop of a changing world. Mason, played straightforward by Eller Coltrane, is consistently relatable and a reflection of his parents’ influence over time. Perhaps the most compelling and brilliant aspect of this film is the subtle influence seen in Mason’s changing character, from the socioeconomic features, to political climate, and the familial aspects that become unintentionally inherited by us all. It all works in engulfing the viewer into the familiarity of the past and the journey of growing up. “Boyhood” is a delicate and heartfelt coming-of-age work of art.

Other Favorites

Ilo Ilo

Only Lover’s Left Alive

Jodorowsky’s Dune

Babadook

The Raid 2

Obvious Child

Force Majuere

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Imitation Game

Edge of Tomorrow

Best Films of 2014 - Eric Forthun

Eric Forthun’s Best Movies of 2014  

10 - A Most Violent Year

J.C. Chandor has established himself as one of the most talented writer-directors in Hollywood. After making two polar opposites in cinema (the talkative Margin Call and almost wordless All is Lost), he's created a meticulous, slow-burn thriller in A Most Violent Year. He also employs the two hottest actors in the business: Oscar Isaac in another tremendous performance and Jessica Chastain, the endlessly talented powerhouse. The film focuses on a man building a gas business in 1980s New York and plays out like a heist film mixed with a thematically resonant message about the American Dream. Two scenes linger heavily after viewing: Isaac selling his employees on their business model and a car chase that starts light and rivals a great actioner. A Most Violent Year is tremendously skilled filmmaking, and promises a long-lasting, bright career for Chandor.

9 - The Imitation Game

What begins to as a twisty-turny hunt to stop the Germans from winning World War II turns into a tale of tragedy and persecution in the wake of a backwards-thinking world. Benedict Cumberbatch delivers his best performance to date (and one of the year's best) as Alan Turing, one of the mathematicians responsible for decoding the Enigma code, a line of communication that the Germans reset every 24 hours and used to communicate. It's a tense film built on the impact of its supporting roles: the quietness of Matthew Goode and Keira Knightley bring tension and compassion to scenes that feel thematically familiar. Yet the decision to have the story center on Turing's persecution as a homosexual in a post-war England is heartbreaking and necessary. The acceptance of all is a tragic undertone still prevalent in modern culture.

8 - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson remains one of the best visual storytellers in the business, so it's only fitting that he has continued to expand his emotional depth while his artistic splendor runs rampant. He tells one of his most affectionate stories to date, looking at Gustave H. (in a great performance from the always capable Ralph Fiennes) and his work as a concierge in the titular mainstay. The heist narrative surrounding a stolen piece of artwork from a recently deceased guest of the hotel allows for the story to become one of love and longing. This is one of Anderson's biggest ensembles to date, with great performances coming from F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, and newcomer Tony Revolori. As a director, Anderson's film always have a unique storybook look that are undeniably his own vision; as a writer, he crafts characters as eccentric and vivid as any other in the business. He succeeds again with Grand Budapest, a heartfelt, hilarious, and impressively moving feature.

7 - Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler gnaws at the underbelly of media journalism before swallowing it whole and spewing out a demented form of citizen journalism. Jake Gyllenhaal, in one of his most infectiously sociopathic and chilling roles, plays Lou Bloom, a young man with drive who wants to find a career that fits him; he stumbles upon a cameraman filming a car burning on the freeway and thinks, "I could do that." He begins to film crime scenes and sell them to local news outlets, with his main contact being Nina (played wonderfully by Rene Russo), a veteran reporter who will do whatever it takes to get her network back on top. The story goes down a deliriously exciting path, pushing farther and farther until Lou's grasp far exceeds his reach. Yet the ending is brutal and uncompromising, and Dan Gilroy's directorial debut is defiantly confident and biting.

6 - Obvious Child

Ever since being a cast member on Saturday Night Live (and being forced off after an accidental slip-up on live TV), Jenny Slate has proven herself to be an astute, no-holds-barred comedian. She plays Donna Stern, a stand-up comic who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, hooks up with a man and ends up getting pregnant. Far from a traditional romcom, the story tackles the issue of abortion in today's culture and uses the eyes of a twenty-something to demonstrate that, for many, it's a means of learning from one's mistakes and getting one's life in check. But the film is deeply moving and honest, using humor to demonstrate these characters' insecurities and allow Slate and her co-stars to shine with the hilarious set-ups they are given. Gillian Robespierre's film is a subtly subversive romantic comedy that has kept me laughing after multiple viewings, and its shocking approach infuses excitement into a well-worn genre.

5 - Ida

A nun discovers her Jewish heritage in Ida, a tremendously captivating feature that is both visually gorgeous and thematically thoughtful. Taking place after World War II, the story navigates the path of Anna, who finds out that her parents were killed in the Holocaust and she has unknowingly assumed a Catholic identity for most of her life. Pawel Pawlikowski's film is captured in beautiful black-and-white cinematography, using space and darkness to tell a story far grander than the seemingly straight-forward tale. Agatha Kulesza has won multiple supporting actress awards from various critics' groups for her turn as Anna's aunt, a complex, heartfelt woman that strikes at the core of the film's message. The last scene is haunting and powerful. Ida is a quiet film that only last 82 minutes, but its examination of religion will last much longer in the viewer's mind.

4 - Whiplash

J.K. Simmons delivers the fiercest, loudest, and scariest performance all year as a jazz music teacher in Whiplash. The story of a young man, played by Miles Teller, rising in the ranks as a drummer at a music school with aspirations to make a career out of his passion is riveting and impeccably filmed. Damien Chazelle's direction (and, perhaps more impressively, Tom Cross's editing) is staunchly aware of how a scene can be manipulated for maximum effect, particularly when music is involved. The film feels orchestrated much like the music the central characters spend their lives sweating over. Simmons infuses his teacher with horrible qualities that are backed by purpose; the story eventually shines a light on his motivation and I was sold. Teachers want their students to reach perfection, so it's only fitting that the final moments of the film are exciting, perfect filmmaking that filled me with glee.

3 - Selma

The civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama led by Martin Luther King Jr. make for one of the strongest visions of 2014, led by director Ava DuVernay's uncompromising camera. She presents the story through multiple lenses, either viewing the marchers themselves, the civil rights opposition, or the quasi-neutral president of the time, Lyndon B. Johnson. David Oyelowo delivers an impressively subdued performance as the man with a dream, allowing the story to navigate his murky personal life to inform his professional decisions. The supporting performances are equally sublime, particularly from Carmen Ejogo and Tom Wilkinson. A church bombing in the film's opening moments is shocking and permanently etched in my brain, a true signifier of great filmmaking. Yet the film holds extraordinary significance due to its testament that change has not fully come. It's a socially cognizant, timeless film.

2 - Birdman

My top two films are ones largely built on technical conceits, with Birdman using the impression that it all exists within a single take. Legendary cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men and Gravity) and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu craft a narrative surrounding a washed-up actor, played by Michael Keaton, best known for his roles in superhero films. In an attempt to change his path, he aims to direct and star in his own Broadway play, battling his hubris and former self in hopes of finding his true identity. Keaton is extraordinary in a self-reflexive turn and Edward Norton and Emma Stone own their supporting roles. The film uses nuanced visual technique with awe-inspiring prowess. It's beyond captivating, narratively astute, and delightfully confident, a tour-de-force built on the ambiguity of an actor's personal and professional life. The line, more often than not, blurs.

1 - Boyhood

Richard Linklater's exploration of a young boy maturing into an adult is the most deeply personal, emotionally pure film I have seen in 2014. My subjectivity is undeniable, and I feel that many my age can connect with Mason and his growth over the film. Yet it's not defined by tunnel vision, but rather of time, place, and permanence, another of Linklater's bold efforts that uses time as a means of developing character and substance. His Before trilogy remains the greatest series in cinema, and here he expounds upon that idea of telling a story in real time by opting for a 12-year narrative over 165 minutes. It's a bold, visionary effort that captures social change, the turmoil of growing up in a divorced home, and the essence of growing up in a constantly evolving 21st century. The performances from Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, and Ethan Hawke form the finest trio all year, and the film is unforgettable.

And the honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: The Babadook, Calvary, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Foxcatcher, Godzilla, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Homesman, Interstellar, The Lego Movie, Pride, Rich Hill, Snowpiercer, Two Days, One Night, and Virunga.

Unbroken - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

Unbroken

Starring Jack O'Connell, Finn Wittrock, Jai Courtney, Garrett Hedlund and Takamasa Ishihara

Directed by Angelina Jolie

From Universal Pictures

Rated PG-13

137 minutes

Unbroken is a perfectly adequate movie that I’m glad I saw, but would rather never see again.

by Michael Clawson of TerminalVolume.com

I find it odd that the film is a Christmas release, with all the torture and all. Because nothing says “Happy Holidays” like starvation, canings, public humiliation, beatings, and forced labor. I’m picturing families drunk on cocoa and wearing matching Christmas sweaters recoiling at this frank and forceful level of brutality, and then quietly wishing for those old Rankin/Bass cartoons or maybe Ralphie and his BB gun.

This is not meant as criticism; just a simple observation about the kinds of movies people tend to gravitate toward during the holidays. (Yes yes, Django Unchained came out on the exact same day two years ago.)

Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, is the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic distance runner who was shot down over the Pacific during World War II. Zamperini is played by Jack O’Connell, an actor I was not familiar with before this, though I expect his name to start turning up in many other titles soon.

Zamperini’s remarkable story begins in a bomber high up over the Pacific Theater, but flashes back to his time as a young Olympian including his running in the 1936 Berlin games during the rise of Adolf Hitler. Years later, Zamperini would join the military to fight this man and his treacherous Nazis, but he was instead sent to the Pacific to battle with Japan. As the film returns to the bomber, we now have perspective on who this young man is, and was, so we can plot his trajectory, somewhat unevenly, through the war.

After Zamperini’s plane is shot down, he and two other men spend 47 days in a life raft drifting through the Pacific. They have this continuing joke that they can survive for 24 days because another soldier, Eddie Rickenbacker, had done it a year earlier. The joke isn’t so funny as they eclipse that number and then nearly double it. Eventually they are picked up by the Japanese navy, and then shipped to a POW camp with awful conditions. It’s these scenes that make up the bulk of Unbroken’s 137-minute runtime. And they are brutal.

We are witness to despicable action against American troops because it reinforces the film’s central theme: Louis Zamperini can’t be broken, will never give up and refuses to lose hope. Does that theme require these levels of sustained brutality? I’m not so sure. Men are whacked with wooden canes, withheld food and water, stripped of their dignity, and ordered to do manual labor until they die in exhausted and malnourished heaps. In one scene, Zamperini is told he can have food, a warm bed, and contact with his family if he records propaganda messages for Japanese radio. He refuses, and his punishment for that refusal is a punch to the face from every POW in the camp. The looks on these poor guy’s faces as they’re forced to clobber Zamperini is as horrific as Zamperini’s own face after it’s all over.

The Olympian's story is simply incredible, and altogether riveting, but I’m not sure Jolie ever elevates the film past its role as visual witness. It shows us a lot of the bad things that happened to this man, but Unbroken never really frames them within anything larger or more complex. It simply asks us to appreciate him because he suffered through unbearable treatment at the hands of sadistic jailers. The core of the real story — Zamperini’s eventual forgiveness of these jailers — is confined to a pre-credits title card. How did he embrace forgiveness, why, and to what end? These are questions the film does not answer, and seems too bored to even consider. Oh by the way, here’s 20 more minutes of Zamperini holding a log over his head, or hauling coal up stairs, or sparring with a Japanese camp commander with an evil twinkle in his eye. Is all this overkill? Probably not to the memory of Allied soldiers who died in these camps, but certainly to the emotional center of the film.

All of this punishing torture and degradation immediately brings to mind 12 Years a Slave, another movie that allows violence and hopeless mistreatment to sway a film's central story. Where Steve McQueen's film succeeds, and where Jolie's falters, is that his central character has periods of self discovery, acceptance, denial and ambivalence at his situation. His plight felt more three-dimensional, whereas Jolie's version of Zamperini — heroic and impervious to despair — is so rock-solid and true that his unbroken survival is a forgone conclusion, which means most of the scenes of violence and humiliation are for our benefit. And it becomes tiresome.

Even more curious than the film’s gleeful preoccupation with Zamperini’s most tragic life chapters is the fact that Joel and Ethan Coen have screen credits. I find it hard to believe that Unbroken is this singularly focused on one idea with these great writers contributing to the script. Their own movies bear the hallmarks of better storytelling, so why not this one?

All that aside, Unbroken is still a fascinating movie, albeit too grim and without the emotional payoff that naturally exists in the real story. Jolie’s scenes are photographed beautifully, the effects shots are convincing and used sparingly, and she coaxes some magnificent performances from her cast, including O’Connell and Takamasa Ishihara as the sadistic camp warden.

I just wanted the film to have more purpose than “hey, look at how awful this was.” Zamperini was a fascinating man, but I still find his motives peculiar and mysterious. Why did he choose to remain unbroken for so long, and why did he embrace forgiveness after so much pain? Don’t ask this movie, it doesn’t know.

Unbroken - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Unbroken  

Starring Jack O'Connell, Domnhall Gleeson, Jai Courtney, Miyavi, Garrett Hedlund, and Alex Russell

Directed by Angelina Jolie

Rated PG-13

Run Time: 137 minutes

Genre: Historical Drama

Opens December 25th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Unbroken is relentless and uncompromising, which attests to both the film's strengths and significant faults. Director Angelina Jolie makes an undeniably American film for her second feature behind the screen, following up the drastically different In the Land of Blood and Honey with this more commercialized fare. Her subtleties as a filmmaker are unwavering: her desire to capture the essence of humanity in the wake of inhuman actions alongside the brutal nature of war on both the domestic and international fronts. Louis Zamperini's story is one of the most famous to emerge from the war, with his biography continuing to be one of the best-selling and most acclaimed novels of the 21st century. There's no denying the story's power. Yet as a cinematic adventure, the Coen Brothers and Co. fail to infuse their script with much humanity, not elaborating on its protagonist enough while making most of the journey a monotonous, gruesome affair. It doesn't feel urgent or particularly exciting.

Louis (Jack O'Connell) was raised as a boy prone to stealing and living life dangerously. His family loved him dearly and worked hard for him despite his inability to try in school. As immigrants, they faced persecution and found themselves as outsiders. Louis needed to better himself, so he learned how to run efficiently in order to participate in distance running at school and, later on, an Olympic participant for the United States. He wins the gold medal at the 1936 games in Germany and becomes a national hero. He also decides to enroll in the army and serves during World War II, fighting in an airliner over Japan with a ragtag group of pals that he's grown close to. After a crash leaves them stranded in the water with no sign of life, Louis manages to survive for close to two months before being rescued...by Japanese soldiers. Louis and Phil (Domnhall Gleeson) become prisoners of war in an internment camp and attempt to survive in a desolate, continuously brutal landscape.

Louis runs into a harsh Japanese leader, Watanabe (Miyavi, who has strangely garnered Oscar consideration for a fairly cardboard role), who pushes the American through repulsive tests of character and will. They know that he is a former Olympian, therefore his tests include running around the camp with another man despite being malnourished, forcibly holding a gigantic piece of wood for hours on end (a scene that is embodied in the film's poster, and holds power for a short while), and being held as an example to be punched repeatedly by other prisoners. When scenes derive from little substance like these, they don't make for compelling filmmaking. Rather, they amount to an uninvolved narrative that resorts to simplicity and obviousness. There's plenty of social commentary waiting to emerge from these moments, but the scenes don't allow for intriguing supporting characters or other socially relevant issues to come forth. Roger Deakins uses his always stunning cinematography to create a few haunting scenes, yet he only crafts beautiful canvas out of images, not narrative. The script never elevates that visual splendor.

Angelina Jolie's film is excruciating without being graphic, a testament to her desire for emotion over physical torment. A viewer can only take so much of that, though, and the 137-minute running time doesn't let up over its duration. It's a frustrating watch because there doesn't seem to be much past the surface when Louis goes through these human spirit tests. He doesn't seem unbroken, but rather unbreakable. The torments are overwhelmingly abusive and borderline insurmountable, with the final hour being filled to the brim with physically destructive challenges that no man could endure under those conditions. I can't attest to the biography's power, but I'm sure it had to feel more authentic and grounded in reality than the film's telling, which feels mythic and superhuman. Unbroken has compassion and grace, yet the story never scrapes past the admittedly thin presentation of ideas surrounding war and perseverance.

Into the Woods - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Into the Woods  

Starring Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Lilla Crawford, and Johnny Depp

Directed by Rob Marshall

Rated PG

Run Time: 124 minutes

Genre: Musical/Fantasy

Opens December 25th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Into the Woods throws audiences into its fairy tale musical landscape immediately, starting with multiple numbers introducing characters, backstory, and practically any motivation needed for the story moving forward. Maybe that's why Rob Marshall's latest foray into cinematic adaptations of Broadway musicals left me a little underwhelmed and unsatisfied. Stephen Sondheim's music is undeniably self-aware and well-orchestrated, yet it remains difficult after viewing to distinguish between any of the songs outside of the title tune. Scene stealers arise in Meryl Streep's turn as The Witch and Chris Pine's hilariously turned-on-his-head Prince Charming, but the rest of the cast feels mostly there as a service to the story rather than having their own weight. For every positive thing that seems to emerge from the film, Into the Woods counters itself with an obvious message or unnecessary subplot. That makes for a tonally strange, oddly paced, but serviceable musical for all ages.

The story is a twist on many of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales, with Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Prince Charming (Chris Pine), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), The Wolf (Johnny Depp), and The Witch (Meryl Streep) all earning their own screen time. But the story mainly hinges on the tale of the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt), who have failed to produce a baby that they so badly desire. They find out that the Witch put a curse on their living space long ago when the Baker's father lived there that stops the couple living there from producing a child. So in order to reverse the curse and provide themselves a happy future, they must collect four items: Cinderella's shoe, Rapunzel's hair, Jack's horse, and Red Riding Hood's cape. Along the way, the story meshes together all of these fairy tales by providing them with mostly familiar stories albeit with crossovers abounding.

There are a few great moments within the film: a musical number with Prince Charming and his brother (Billy Magnussen) that plays as a subversive commentary on male identity in princess films; a musical number that comes right before the film's conclusion that packs an emotional wallop on all fronts; and virtually any scene with Meryl Streep. Her role is heaped in humor and tragedy, a perfect mix for the everlastingly talented actress. The rest of the film, however, is interchangeable and feels unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. One of the most painful moments in the film is a false ending that comes with about 45 minutes left; the film feels mostly complete with its stories, but of course there is still plenty of running time. That grinds the narrative to a complete halt and drags out the conclusion far too long. Another thing that felt strange was the use of the Wolf, who essentially becomes a pedophile in this child-heavy landscape; was that message overt in the original story? It feels strange in a Disney world, regardless of its origin.

Yet none of those narrative elements are, for the most part, the main reason people will see Into the Woods. The film delivers satisfying, well-choreographed musical numbers that remain faithful to both the musical and memories of these fairy tales. For adults, there's subversion every step of the way; practically every scene in the first hour takes a riff on previously established notions of masculinity and femininity. That makes much of the musical delightfully refreshing and wholly unique. Yet my problem lies with much of Disney's repertoire lately. There's never a sense of genuine conflict for these characters because there's no sense of what will happen to them if evil wins, or even what that evil is. The conflict for much of the story seems protagonist-created, rather than emerging from an outside force, which makes for a strange dichotomy. Maybe that's intentional. Nonetheless, Rob Marshall has improved over his last few misfires and uses the help of a capable cast to make Into the Woods an inconsistently entertaining musical.

The Gambler - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

The Gambler  

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael Kenneth Williams, and George Kennedy

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

Rated R

Run Time: 111 minutes

Genre: Crime Drama

Opens December 25th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

The Gambler crafts a largely unsympathetic protagonist that doesn't earn the audience's interest or respect. Rather, he's a self-destructive, compulsive, and staunchly stubborn man that comes off as arrogant and selfish. There's very little humanity within Mark Wahlberg's portrayal of Jim Bennett, a literature professor at a local university who gambles high stakes on the side. The film opens with his father on his death bed, telling Jim that he won't be giving his son any of the inheritance that he would have presumably received, leaving Jim cold and penniless. His gambling debts rise and his mother disapproves, having raised Jim in a wealthy home and wanting the best for her son. But he is never satisfied with teaching and making a sizable income; instead, he wants to gamble away all of his money on games largely based on luck rather than skill. It makes for an oddly bland, lifeless, and shallow film, a departure for director Rupert Wyatt and writer William Monahan.

Jim's in debt with many people, but his primary debt lies with Neville Baraka (Michael Kenneth Williams), a loan shark that revels in Jim's addiction. He lends Jim money one night in order to pay back another man, but Jim's plan backfires when he gambles away the money that he owes both; after winning big, Jim decides to go all in on the money that would pay off his debts. He loses everything. This is one of many moments where Jim's decision to self-destruct overpowers his instinct to survive. The film jumps between that gambling life, the one that runs from late at night until the wee hours of the morning, and his professional life, where he teaches hundreds of English students about classic writings. His best student is Amy Phillips (Brie Larson), a girl that he also sees in his free time. Their relationship is complicated and thinly defined; why, exactly, she continues to admire him after seeing his true self is beyond me.

The film lacks urgency and ultimately purpose with its central character. When a supporting character played by John Goodman becomes, far and away, the best character in the film, something's wrong with the narrative. Particularly as he only occupies about twenty minutes of screen time, William Monahan's script feels thinly conceived and narratively flat. There are monotonous, unexciting gambling scenes that hinge on us caring about his habits and winnings, but when we realize he'll just keep doing it until he dies, it loses meaning. There isn't much consequence when suspense is built around a card being flipped over. Should this character receive redemption? I'm not sure it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but director Rupert Wyatt doesn't lend a helpful hand to making that question worthwhile. As a remake of the film from 1971, there doesn't seem to be a proper updating to make the film feel necessary or relevant. Wyatt's previous effort, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was more socially conscious and cognizant of its circumstances. The Gambler feels overly clichéd, repetitive, and dull, becoming one of the major disappointments of the holiday season.

Big Eyes - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Big Eyes  

Starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, and Danny Huston

Directed by Tim Burton

Rated PG-13

Run Time: 105 minutes

Genre: Biographical Drama

Opens December 25th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Big Eyes is such a tonally odd, thematically different film from Tim Burton's filmography that it never meshes into a convincing story. Strangely enough, it's one of Burton's most ambitious and resoundingly human efforts: based on the true story of artist Margaret Keane and the counterfeit nature of her manipulative husband, the narrative is a film of time and place. In the 1950s, the household dichotomy between men and women constituted a particular place for each. A woman could not be creatively successful but rather should stay at home and take care of the family. That makes for a difficult relationship, then, as Margaret (Amy Adams) is infinitely talented in comparison to her counterparts. When she runs away from home with her daughter and heads to San Francisco to stay with her friend, DeeAnn (Krysten Ritter), she feels like a fish out of water who might be able to find herself along the way. Lo and behold, she discovers art galleries around the area and runs into Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz).

Walter is a charming, infectious man that has a strong taste for art and an even better taste for women. He's also the only person that appreciates Margaret's craft, and even works tirelessly to get her stuff in an exhibition. When it finally happens in a grungy-looking jazz bar, it takes a turn for the worst: while Margaret is at home making the paintings, Walter is selling them off as his own, using his charm to convince people that they are his. Whereas his previous art pieces were marked by his trips to France and include populated streets and decorated alleyways, Margaret has a distinct vision. Hers are marked by portraits of faces with huge eyes, since she considers the eyes to be a gateway to the human soul. It's a fascinating way of looking at life, and her portraits are undeniably beautiful. Whether they are each a unique work of art is another debate entirely, but one thing is certain: they are not Walter's to sell. Their relationship turns bitter while they become embroiled in a battle for power.

Gender politics play a vital role in understanding Margaret's susceptibility to such a brutal, indirect crime. It's a way of further degrading females in a harsh, gendered landscape, and there's ambition behind Burton's desire to bring to light a film with such compassion for its central figure. Adams plays her with vivacity and tenderness, bringing forth a strong female oppressed by a twisted society and an even more twisted spouse. Waltz mostly plays his role as a quiet sociopath, allowing the final half hour to bring about every crazy, absurd action possible to underlie his mental instability. That's where the screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski goes off the walls; I never believed any of the developments in the film's conclusion for a second. True story narratives really push that boundary when they exaggerate inherent conflict; when a scene crafts Walter to look like Jack Torrance from The Shining, something has gone horribly wrong. Margaret's departure to Hawaii never meshes with the story's thematic force, and it loses power. Big Eyes has strong ideas on its plate, but the execution is uneven and grows tiresome.

Your Favorite Movies - Eddie Jemison

For the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival we encourage you to Find Your New Favorite Movie! As we approach the festival we're starting a new series on our site where we ask some Phoenix Film Festival filmmaker alumni about some of their favorite movies.  

First up, Eddie Jemison, whose film King of Herrings received rave reviews from enthusiastic audiences at the 2014 festival … and beyond! Eddie, along with co-director Sean Richardson (both of whom wore many hats) snagged the Dan Harkins Breakthrough Filmmaker Award at PFF 2014.

What is your …

• Favorite Comedy?

The Graduate ~ Mike Nichols, Director 

There's something so funny and so sad about Benjamin Braddock. Dustin Hoffman just has to stand there, and you see both. He's too sincere for the world he's growing into, and has no clue how to open the door and enter adulthood.

• Favorite Drama?

Fanny & Alexander ~ Ingmar Bergman, Director

This movie has everything! It's impossible to pin down its strengths. Long beautiful scenes. The meanest stepfather in the world. A little boy who finds magic just when he needs it. There's good. Evil. A man plays a woman. A woman plays a man (who lives locked in a room and just might be Jesus). An adult story from little boy's perspective.

• Documentary?

Salesman ~ Albert & David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, Directors

Black and white, cinema verite about the utter desperation of door-to-door Bible salesman at the end of the 60s. They press on with so little evidence of hope. Kinda what's it's like being an actor.

• Favorite film you saw on the circuit?

Favor ~ Paul Osborne, Director

Tense, taut, super smart indie thriller that documents the crumbling facade of friendship and what it means to be loyal. An indie film with hints of classic noir, written with more subtlety and finesse than most of what Hollywood offers today.

• Do you have a favorite film poster?

Manhattan ~ Woody Allen, Director

So simple. So moody.

King of Herrings is scheduled for official release on January 20, 2015 by Devolver Digital!  Look for it on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and a bunch of other digital platforms! http://www.kingofherrings.com/

– Laurie Smith

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb  

Starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Dan Stevens, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Rebel Wilson, and Mickey Rooney

Directed by Shawn Levy

Rated PG

Run Time: 97 minutes

Genre: Adventure/Family

Opens December 19th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb adds a third film to an already tired franchise, one started in 2006 with an innovative, playful premise. Now, after a battle at the Smithsonian, the Ben Stiller-starring franchise takes a trip to London to discover a familiar set-up in an unfamiliar landscape. While the film series undeniably appeals to families looking for an escape for children, the film fails to deliver on any promising story fronts, instead allowing monkey pee and YouTube videos of cats obsessed with lights to take the forefront of the comedic punch. You know, those timely, relevant jabs. Tack on an element where, if I can describe him as such, a primitive, moronic version of Ben Stiller is played for laughs because Ben Stiller is acting next to himself in Neanderthal makeup. Oh, and the premise of the film’s conflict relies on going outside. That’s it. Nothing else. The supporting characters have devolved into archetypes, failing to expand upon them as people, and the film feels like an attempt to capitalize on a well-worn franchise in overseas markets rather than appeasing filmgoers looking for an enjoyable romp.

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is still the night guard at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Their night walks are immensely popular, and the man in charge, Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), wants to see an expansion to bring even more awareness to the exhibits. In an event for investors and other wealthy types, Larry’s showcase goes wrong when the walking, talking exhibits begin to turn on themselves and act aggressively different. Something’s gone horribly wrong, and Larry must find a way to save the exhibits before everything falls apart. Turns out it’s the golden tablet that belongs to Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), the son of the Pharaoh Merenkahre (Ben Kingsley). The tablet has begun to rust, and its magical power is falling to the wayside. Larry must take the Egyptian prince and other friends to London to visit the Pharaoh himself and find out what they can do to turn this curse around. Coming along on the journey are mainstays Teddy Roosevelt (the late Robin Williams), Jebediah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), and Dexter (Crystal the Monkey).

When every decision within the film feels like a ploy for marketing purposes rather than narrative creativity, a film loses any impact as a work of entertainment. It feels grating, unsatisfying, and like a copout, leaving the film as an open book for future installments without any semblance of closure for a viewer. The introduction of Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) as a comedic foil is funny when first introduced but woefully grows tired, much like any of the film’s conflict. There are numerous subplots that have no relevance to the overall story, nor do they have any dramatic heft or purpose outside of a cheap, quick laugh drawn out for too long. Even the introduction of Rebel Wilson’s British security guard at their respective museum is painfully unfunny and never rises above slight amusement. A blatantly homoerotic relationship between Jebediah and Octavius peaks interest if only for its complete absurdity in such a safe, calculated landscape. The Night at the Museumfranchise has never been a particularly ambitious narrative, but even the decision to tack on a happy-go-lucky epilogue after a worthwhile conclusion shows the unsure, conservative nature of the story. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is an inconsequential adventure. Audiences would be better off watching the first film again.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Movie Review by Michael Clawson

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom and Luke Evans

Directed by Peter Jackson

From New Line Cinema and MGM Pictures.

Rated PG-13

144 minutes

by Michael Clawson of Terminal Volume

Finally, the conclusion to the Hobbit series, or as I like to call it The $500-Million Object Lesson on How to Overproduce a Simple Children’s Book. I’m retiring if this movie spawns that 12-part Green Eggs and Ham miniseries, or perhaps that Poky Little Puppy quadrilogy.

Listen, there is such a thing as “too much,” and it’s right here in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the endpoint to Peter Jackson’s Hobbit adaptation, a book that would have been perfectly suitable within one movie or, what the hell, even two. But three? The wheels have finally come off this unnecessarily long franchise that began on an ominous note with the hated high-framerate 3D in An Unexpected Journey, slowly began to course-correct in The Desolation of Smaug, but finally putters into heap here with battle scene after battle scene after battle scene. It’s enough war to give the orcs PTSD.

The problem, in the beginning and still now, is the script, which deviated far and wide from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original Hobbit text just to pluck prequel strings for the Lord of the Rings franchise. New locations were plotted, new characters were written, villains were crafted out of the ether, and trivial episodes were stretched thin, “like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.” Keep in mind, all this in a story that already has too many characters, including 13 dwarves, of which only a fraction are identifiable by name — the leader, the wise white-haired one, the twins and that fat one. The rest are just background filler.

Tasked with going to the Misty Mountains to reclaim their lands and wealth, the dwarves, captained by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) — and joined by wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen ) and Hobbit burglar Bilbo (Martin Freeman) — have fought their way through trolls, orcs, wood elves, Mordor ghosts, man-bears, a mutant orc with a sword for an elbow and, in the previous film, a giant dragon named Smaug, who might be the most sympathetic character in the series.

The Battle of Five Armies opens on Smaug as he begins to torch a human city floating on a lake near his mountain throne. The film does not make any effort to submerge you back into the Hobbit; it simply drops you in headfirst — Gandalf is in a cage somewhere, a noble human is in jail, a ruthless tax collector is swimming away with the town’s loot, and Thorin drools over his mountain’s abandoned wealth. There is also a love-smitten elf, Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), whose romantic intentions lead to a catastrophic dead end. A refresher course on all this interrupted story would have been nice, but I guess that’s what happens when you break a single story up over multiple movies.

The dragon’s defeat is mostly a foregone conclusion, which leaves lots of time for the dwarves to politically scorch Middle Earth with their greed, much of which is inspired by Thorin, who’s so overwritten he becomes a parody of Tolkien’s character. The dwarves camp out in the gold-laden mountain, and their protest-like stand sends ripples through every race of creature, from bow-wielding tree elves to pig-riding dwarf armies to legions of orcs with armored artillery units mounted on the backs of trolls. They all descend on the mountain to wage war for the treasure, a gold haul that 13 dwarves refuse to give up because of their misplaced sense of entitlement.

Notice that I haven’t really talked about Bilbo much, and that’s intentional. Bilbo is mostly an afterthought. Remember, he was brought on the quest to burglarize the dragon’s den. With that job fulfilled, he’s left twiddling his thumbs as Thorin barricades Middle Earth’s Fort Knox, Gandalf tussles with Sauron’s ghost, and elves Legolas and Tauriel inject themselves into a story in which they don’t belong. Legolas has a line here about some rabid bats: “These bats are bred for one purpose … war.” It echoes a line by Thorin: “We have no choice then … but war.” I think every character has a line that ends with a pause and “war.” And war they are all given.

The centerpiece of the film is essentially an 80-minute battle with all of the characters, and many we didn’t even know about, including Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving all reprising their Rings roles in a non-canon scene meant as lip service to Tolkien fanboys. Peter Jackson, although weighed down by three films of character confusion and watered-down story, still knows how to arrange some impressive battle scenes. His scope for war and carnage seems to have no bounds. And, once again, the Weta Workshop does a stellar job at populating Tolkien’s world with believable props, costumes and digital effects. It’s unfortunate the story couldn’t have been boiled down a little more.

The key word there is “story” and The Battle of Five Armies’ is a wreck. It’s all loose ends and forced drama, and just too many reverse-engineered plot points that honor Jackson’s films but not Tolkien’s book. So why did this work for Lord of the Rings, but not the Hobbit? It’s hard to say, but I think it comes down to the nature of the characters, the points at which they’re introduced in the story and the ultimate goal to which they strive. In Rings, the key figures of the film were introduced within the first hour of the first film, whereas The Hobbit is still introducing heroes (and villains) deep into the third film. How can we identify or appreciate characters that are ninth-inning additions?

Other key components are the character motivations. In Rings, everyone was united in defeating Sauron and destroying the ring. There was never any question about that endgame. Yet here, I’m stumped. I think this is about the reclaiming of a dwarf city that was stolen by a dragon, but Five Armies complicates that with all the politics of the gold, the reluctant gratitude of the dwarves, and the request of payment from everyone else. If only the movie could end with the death of the dragon, which is a conclusion that makes sense, and just feels like a natural stopping point. I know the book examines the post-Smaug landscape, but I don’t remember it feeling this anti-climactic and long-winded.

This franchise has let me down, and spoiled the simplicity of the book. And it’s cast a shadow on the awesomeness of the Lord of the Rings franchise, which was executed with supreme precision. Mostly I’m just sad that Jackson thought he could do it all again. He’s a talented director, and his work is always entertaining, but this film was doomed the moment it was split, and then split again.

That’s not how you build movies, although it is precisely how you break them.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Movie Review by Eric Forthun

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies  

Starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Ian McKellen, and Orlando Bloom

Directed by Peter Jackson

Rated PG-13

Run Time: 144 minutes

Genre: Fantasy/Action-Adventure

Opens December 17th

By Eric Forthun of Cinematic Shadows

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the most resonant film in the exasperatingly long series based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel. As an expansion of the world established in the early 2000s by Peter Jackson's astounding Lord of the Rings trilogy, the latest film encapsulates all of the series' strengths and weaknesses. It's become obvious over the past two years that the decision to make The Hobbit into a trilogy has been creatively ambitious if overly manipulative of the audience's desire to complete the emotional journey. The fact that this entire final film is based around a single set piece and acts as a gigantic, compelling action sequence is remarkably stubborn and simplistic. Yet more so than the previous two entries, the film delivers the best dramatic punch of the bunch, while surprisingly delivering on satisfying character arcs and thrilling action pieces. Jackson has closed out the franchise on a high note, one that compels, moves briskly, and makes the audience forget for a bit that the series doesn't warrant almost 8 hours worth of screen time.

The film picks up with Smaug's escape from his kingdom of treasure and the possibility of him destroying all of Middle-Earth. Fortunately, the people of Laketown have Bard (Luke Evans) as a savior, for he takes down the magnificent beast and prepares the town for the next fight. Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), and company stand their ground in the Lonely Mountain as they observe from the outside; Thorin's obsession with finding the Arkenstone, a legendary Dwarfish relic, has driven him to borderline madness, with the other dwarves attempting to prepare for the ensuing battle. Azog, an Orc leader, leads his army on a march to the Lonely Mountain, and hears of an Elvish army marching toward the city as well. All of them have a claim to the wealth lying in those chambers. Meanwhile, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) is still imprisoned and finds a savior in Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), who also must deal with the emergence of Sauron. And assisting Bard and the dwarves in their fight for their lives is Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly).

While the film remains busy with all of these subplots, they come together in a suitable fashion. The combination of all of these forces, and their titular five armies, amounts to an epic conclusion for the trilogy. There's a human connection within each of the narratives: the plea for survival in the wake of tragedy in Bard's journey; the Elvish divide between Tauriel and her true love, a dwarf; Thorin's descent into madness as his desire for power and title outweigh his need for his race's survival; while Gandalf must face the greater evil force that will overtake the kingdom without any way of stopping him. This is a bleak vision for Middle-Earth, one that we haven't quite seen from Jackson. It's a world overcome with loss and grief; there are some traumatically affecting scenes here that bring together the underlying themes of the new series. Even if the time spent per page in this franchise is extensively bigger than the previous trilogy, that has allowed Jackson and his screenwriters to build these characters to satisfying payoffs. There are deaths here that finally have an impact. We care about these people.

There's also something remarkable about the characterization of Tauriel: she's a badass heroine that holds her own and is a strong presence on screen. She's the best character in the franchise, a woman marked by conflict from her own race that tells her she cannot have an impure love. An outstanding battle between her and an Orc commander leads to some of the most striking conflict in the series: as she seemingly appears to be the "damsel in distress," the scene turns and uses the male as the person in trouble. It makes the film tremendously exciting and unpredictable. The battles that make up the final hour of the film are wholly exciting, too, and shot beautifully. It's unfortunate that there's unnecessary filler, particularly with a comic relief character that never feels properly placed in the narrative. It's off-putting and drags the scenes with actual human conflict. Nonetheless, as a closer to a hit-and-miss trilogy with a painfully long running time, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ends in a fittingly epic, satisfactory conclusion for fans.