Review: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

* * * *
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac

Midway through Inside Llewyn Davis someone threatens to put a curse on the eponymous folk musician. By the time the film winds its way to its final scene (I won't call it the "ending" due to the film's circular structure), you have to wonder if maybe Llewyn was experiencing a bit of deja vu because it sure seems like he's already been cursed, even if only by his own caustic personality. In their melancholy new film, the Coen brothers follow their protagonist from one desperate situation to another, the victim of both circumstances beyond his control and circumstances of his own making. He's not a "hero," exactly, but it's difficult not to feel some sympathy for him as the reverberations of his actions come back to smack him in the face over and over again, with no hint that it's going to let up anytime soon.

Review: Room 237 (2013)

* * *
Director: Rodney Ascher

If you go into Rodney Ascher's documentary Room 237 hoping to receive an explanation of what Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is "really" about, you're going to be disappointed. The documentary presents several theories (and a couple of "half" theories) but you won't come out of it with an understanding of any of them as the definitive explanation - you're probably more likely to come out of it believing that there is no definitive explanation. As a companion to a great, but enigmatic film, Room 237 may be disappointing, but as an exploration of the way that audiences seek to find meaning in film, how minor details are latched onto in order to hold a theory together, how we bring certain ideas into films and then order the details onscreen to fit what we already thought, Room 237 comes close to brilliance.

Review: American Hustle (2013)

* * *
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence

I like David O. Russell. I don't think he's made a bad film (even the much maligned I Heart Huckabees has a place in my heart), but I think he's only made one truly great film (Three Kings). The rest fall on a spectrum from "good" to "really good" with American Hustle falling smack dab into the middle of "good" - mostly entertaining and fun, but ultimately all surface. To be honest, in a year with so many great films to its credit, I'm sort of baffled that this one could be anyone's pick for the year's "best." It's a fine film with many fine actors turning in fine performances, but in the end it's a trifle with only small pockets of greatness nestled within it.

Review: Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)

* * * *
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Starring: Adele Exarchopolous, Lea Seydoux

Perhaps 2013's most written about film, by the time it hit theaters Blue is the Warmest Color already had an exceptionally heavy burden in terms of the sheer weight of external issues resting on its shoulders. From the sex scenes which dominated the conversation, both in terms of their length and explicitness, to the feud between director Abellatif Kechiche and star Lea Seydoux which, in the immortal words of Ron Burgundy "escalated quickly," the film hasn't had a moment to exist free of controversy. Yet, when you clear all of that away and simply look at the film what you're left with is a work of emotional honesty, messy around the edges as life itself is messy, raw, intense, and utterly heartbreaking.

Dublin Film Critics Winners

The critics out of Dublin announced their winners on Friday, giving Gravity three awards. 12 Years a Slave is completely absent due to being ineligible for this year's awards. Their winners:

Best Picture: Gravity

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Best Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Documentary: The Act of Killing

Best Cinematography: Gravity and To The Wonder

Best Irish Film: Good Vibrations

Best Newcomer: Adele Exarchopolous

Breakthrough of the Year: Lake Bell, Joshua Oppenheimer

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Nevada Film Critics Winners

The critics from Nevada give 12 Years a Slave another win, and Meryl Streep her first win of the season. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Youth Performance: Sophie Nelisse, The Book Thief

Best Ensemble Cast: August: Osage County

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Production Design: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Visual Effects: Gravity

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Utah Film Critics Winners

The Utah Film Critics weighed in on Friday and made some outside the box selections. Their winners:

Best Picture: Gravity

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson, Her

Best Supporting Actor: Bill Nighy, About Time

Best Adapted Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Original Screenplay: The World's End

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Non-English Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Canadian Film Review: Stories We Tell (2013)

* * * *
Director: Sarah Polley

There's a line in No Country For Old Men when Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is asked if a story he's just told is a true story, and he replies that it's true insofar as it's a story. It's a line that always comes to my mind whenever a story is billed as being true, as having actually happened, or as being based on actual events. It's true, but it's "true" because a story being told is always told from a specific and limited point-of-view, one which can relate reality as the teller sees it but which may, without being a lie, differ greatly from someone else's telling of the same event. Sarah Polley's third feature as a director knows and exploits this fact to perfect effect, telling not one true story but a story mosaic concerning the same core events. It's a moving and skillfully crafted picture that confirms Polley as one of the most interesting and exciting emerging filmmakers working today.

Review: Nebraska (2013)

* * * *
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte

Although the plot of Nebraska is driven by the promise of a financial windfall, the film itself is really about the little things. It's about a having a new truck, getting a new air compressor in order to replace the one loaned to a friend 40 years earlier, and enjoying a moment of getting to "be somebody," somebody important, after enduring years of life kicking your ass. The victories to be found here are small, but they are victories nevertheless. Anchored by a great, less is more performance, and a solid, straight forward performance from an actor best known for broad comedy, Alexander Payne's latest film is a magnificent portrait of a man mentally slipping away, and the family struggling to cope.

Las Vegas Film Critics Winners

12 Years a Slave hits again with the critics from Las Vegas, but the group changes things up slightly in its acting picks. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Her

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary Feature: Blackfish

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Editing: Gravity

Best Art Direction: Gravity

Best Costume Design: 12 Years a Slave

Best Score: 12 Years a Slave

Best Song: "Please Mr. Kennedy," Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Visual Effects: Gravity

Best Family Film: Saving Mr. Banks

Best Comedy Film: This is the End

Best Horror/Sci Fi Film: Pacific Rim

Best Action Film: Lone Survivor

Youth in Film: Tye Sheridan, Mud

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Florida Film Critics Circle Winners

The usual gang's all here. The winners of the Florida Film Critics Circle:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Art Direction/Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Best Visual Effects: Gravity

Pauline Kael Breakout Award: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Phoenix Film Critics Winners

... Aaaand we're back to 12 Years a Slave Best Picture domination courtesy of the Phoenix Film Critics. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Screenplay: Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet From Stardom

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Score: Frozen

Best Original Song: "Let It Go," Frozen

Best Stunts: Fast & Furious 6

Best Live Action Family Film: Oz the Great and Powerful

The Overlooked Film of the Year: The Kings of Summer, and The Spectacular Now

Breakthrough Performance on Camera: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Lake Bell, In A World...

Best Performance by a Youth - Male: Tye Sheridan, Mud

Best Performance by a Youth - Female: Sophie Nelisse, The Book Thief

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Austin Film Critics Winners

The critics from Austin go for Her and bestow a couple of honors on Brie Larson. Their winners:

Best Picture: Her

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Score: Her

Best First Film: Fruitvale Station

Breakthrough Artist: Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Best Austin Film: Before Midnight

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Toronto Film Critics Winners

The critics from Toronto made their picks today, going in a different direction by giving Inside Llewyn Davis the Picture and Actor awards. Their winners:

Best Picture: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Her

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Foreign Language Film: A Touch of Sin

Best First Feature: Neighboring Sounds

Best Canadian Film: The Dirties, Gabrielle, and Watermark

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Chicago Film Critics Winners

The Chicago Film Critics announced their winners yesterday, going for 12 Years a Slave. Their picks:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Foreign Language Film: The Act of Killing

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Editing: Gravity

Best Art Direction/Production Design: Gravity

Best Original Score: Her

Best Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Most Promising Filmmaker: Destin Cretton, Short Term 12

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Review: Philomena (2013)

* * * 1/2
Director: Stephen Frears
Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan

"Human interest" is a polite way of saying that something is soft, and a really polite way of saying that something is emotionally manipulative. The story of Philomena Lee is dismissed, within the film, as a human interest trifle and the film itself could easily have descended into that realm were it not for the sharpness of the screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope and the direction of Stephen Frears, and the engrossing and affecting performance of Judi Dench. This isn't to say that Philomena is entirely free of the sort of sentimentality that marks human interest stories, but for the most part the film transcends those moments to become a truly effective drama.

Southeastern Film Critics Winners

No surprises from the Southeastern Film Critics, as they go for several of the consensus choices. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: The Hunt

Best Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Online Film Critics Society Winners

The Online Film Critics Society also goes the way of 12 Years a Slave, giving the film five awards, but Gravity is close behind with 3. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Non-English Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Editing: Gravity

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Winners

The critics from Dallas-Fort Worth also weighed in today, throwing a few more awards 12 Years a Slave's way. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet From Stardom

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Score: Gravity

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Indiana Film Critics Winners

The critics from Indiana change things up (even if only ever so slightly) with their acting picks, but otherwise go for a lot of the same. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Adapted Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Score: 12 Years a Slave

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

St. Louis Film Critics Winners

The usual suspects all make their appearance in the picks from the St. Louis critics. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Documentary Feature: Blackfish

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography: 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction: The Great Gatsby

Best Soundtrack: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Art House/Festival Film: Short Term 12

Best Comedy: Enough Said and The World's End

Best Scene: The hanging sequence, 12 Years a Slave

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Review: Concussion (2013)

* * 1/2
Director: Stacie Passon
Starring: Robin Weigert

"I'm 42, something has to be me by now." So says the protagonist of Stacie Passon's Concussion late in the story and in a line suggestive of a slightly more self-reflective film than this one turns out to be. Certainly the film plays with questions about identity, but it remains vague around the edges, its protagonist almost as unknowable at the conclusion of her adventures as she was before they began. To the film's credit, it's never as sensationalistic as its premise - suburban wife and mother suffers concussion, becomes prostitute - might allow, but while it commits to that premise, it never really overcomes its more ludicrous aspects. That said, Concussion, while not wholly successful as a film, is a sometimes thought provoking one with a great performance at its center.

San Francisco Film Critics Winners

Yet another win for 12 Years a Slave, but Gravity makes the strongest showing with the San Francisco Film Critics. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor: James Franco, Spring Breakers

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Film Editing: Gravity

Best Production Design: Gravity

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Houston Film Critics Winners

Still more love for 12 Years a Slave, this time from the critics out of Houston. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Animated Film: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom

Best Foreign Language Film: The Hunt

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Original Score: Gravity

Best Original Song: "Please Mr. Kennedy," Inside Llewyn Davis

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Kansas City Film Critics Winners

The critics from Kansas City go for 12 Years a Slave in a big way, but also throw some love Gravity's way. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity and Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Animated Feature: Despicable Me 2 and Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Film: Her

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Detroit Film Critics Winners

The critics from Detroit announced their winners yesterday and go against the grain with a few of their picks. Their winners:

Best Picture: Her

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson, Her

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Her

Best Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Documentary Feature: Stories We Tell

Best Breakthrough Performance: Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Golden Globe Nominees

The Hollywood Foreign Press announced their nominees this morning. The winners will be announced January 12th, here are the nominees:

Best Picture - Drama

12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy

American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O. Russell, American Hustle

Screen Actors Guild Nominees

The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominees this morning (and will announce their winners on January 18th), here are the film nominees:

Best Actor

Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squib, Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Ensemble

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels' The Butler

San Diego Film Critics Winners

The critics from San Diego go for Her in a big way - and 12 Years a Slave in no way. Their winners:

Best Picture: Her

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Adapted Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Foreign Language Film: Drug War

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Cinematography: To The Wonder

Best Film Editing: Captain Phillips

Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Best Score: Her

Best Ensemble Performance: American Hustle

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Netflix Recommends... The Panic in Needle Park (1971)

* * * 1/2
Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Starring: Al Pacino, Kitty Winn

This time Netflix's recommendations included Primal Fear, Bill Cunningham New York, Chasing Mavericks, Jack Reacher, The Score, This Means War, Fracture, Friends with Kids and, most intriguingly of all, The Panic in Needle Park, the film which contains Al Pacino's first starring role. Having been curious about this film for a while, I made it my selection and it turned out to be a pretty good one - though I had some doubts that it would be during the film's first 15 overly self-conscious minutes. However, once the film settled down and actually starting living in its setting, it became a wholly engrossing drama about two people caught in the cycle of addiction.

Washington D.C. Film Critics Winners

The critics from Washington D.C. weighed in today, naming several of the by-now usual suspects. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Acting Ensemble: 12 Years a Slave

Best Youth Performance: Tye Sheridan, Mud

Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Her

Best Foreign Language Film: Broken Circle Breakdown

Best Animated Feature: Frozen

Best Documentary Feature: Blackfish

Best Art Direction: The Great Gatsby

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Editing: Gravity

Best Original Score: 12 Years a Slave

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Review: A History of Violence (2005)

* * * *
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt

Violence is something at once abhorred and glorified. The taking of a life in an act of crime is the most grievous of offenses, but the taking of a life in self-defense is something often, even if only implicitly, celebrated. David Cronenberg's 2005 masterpiece A History of Violence skillfully mines this contradiction, focusing on a protagonist who is at once a bad man who kills for bad reasons, and a good man who kills for good reasons. The question isn't whether the man can be reconciled to the two parts of himself, but whether society, whose quaint image belies a foundation of and continuing capacity for violence, can reconcile itself to the fact that the two can exist in one.

New York Film Critics Online Winners

The New York Film Critics Online also announced their winners today, with a bunch of now familiar winners, as well as a new name in the Screenplay race. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Her

Best Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Use of Music: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Debut Director: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Los Angeles Film Critics Winners

Clearly this is a year with a lot of films and performances worth rewarding, as the Los Angeles Film Critics split in multiple categories: Supporting Actor, Actress (for the second year in a row), and Picture. Their winners:

Best Picture: Gravity and Her

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine and Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: James Franco, Spring Breakers and Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary Feature: Stories We Tell

Best Animated Feature: Ernest and Celestine

Best Music: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Editing: Gravity

Best Production Design: Her

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Boston Society of Film Critics Winners

Another win for 12 Years a Slave (and a bit of love for Enough Said) from the Boston Society of Film Critics. Their winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: June Squib, Nebraska

Best Supporting Actor: James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Best Screenplay: Enough Said

Best Cinematography: Gravity

Best Foreign Language Film: Wadjda

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Film Editing: Rush

Best New Filmmaker: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Best Ensemble Cast: Nebraska

Best Use of Music: Inside Llewyn Davis

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

Review: The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

* * * *
Director: John Ford
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine

That it's taken me this long to finally see The Grapes of Wrath is kind of inexplicable. The novel is one of my absolute favorites, and John Ford is one of my favorite old-school directors, so it's a major oversight on my part that I let it go this long, particularly in light of the fact that it's a film that more than lives up to its reputation. A major work from one of the greatest American directors of all time, The Grapes of Wrath is a moving piece of work, even if it isn't as politically rich or as bold as the novel on which it is based. Still, it's difficult to believe that the novel could ever be adapted better, though Steven Spielberg is reportedly set to try.

Boston Online Film Critics Winners

In Boston it's 12 Years a Slave's time to shine. The Boston Online Film Critics picks:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: Before Midnight

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary Feature: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises and Frozen

Best Cinematography: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Editing: 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Score: 12 Years a Slave

Keep track of who has won what so far with the 2013 Award Winners

21st Century Essentials: Volver (2006)

All eras have works of art that are fundamental to our understanding of not only the craft itself, but the culture from which it was created. The 21st century is still nascent, but it isn't too early to start creating a canon that demonstrates the heights to which film as an artform has reached since the year 2000. These are the essential films:



Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Penelope Cruz
Country: Spain

Few male directors have been as good to women as Pedro Almodovar, who has crafted many films either centering directly on or filled out with interesting, complex female characters. With his triumphant drama Volver, he creates one of his most compelling protagonists in Raimunda, a hard working woman whose past comes back to haunt her, first in the form of her own teenage tragedy being mirrored in the experience of daughter, and second, and more literally, in the form of her deceased mother. Penelope Cruz shines in what is arguably her finest performance to date, gamely following Almodovar through the shifting tones and genres of the film, which nimbly moves from tragedy to farce with elements of magic realism and melodrama mixed right in. The mixture makes for a potentially volatile concoction, but in the hands of a master, it becomes a masterpiece.

National Board of Review Winners

Yesterday it was the New York critics, today it's the National Board of Review. Here are their picks:

Best Film: Her

Best Director: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Actress: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station

Best Supporting Actor: Will Forte, Nebraska

Best Original Screenplay: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Foreign Language Film: The Past

Best Documentary: Stories We Tell

Best Ensemble: Prisoners

Breakthrough Performance: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station & Adele Exarchopolous, Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Review: Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

* * *
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner

Like its protagonist, Dallas Buyers Club is all skin and bones, a lean piece of work without any fat to trim. Also like its protagonist, it prefers action to pathos, refusing to wallow in the misery of impending death (no matter how justified such wallowing might be, in the circumstances) and instead focus on those things which make life worth living in the first place. Based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, an electrician turned AIDS activist, the film unfolds in a sharp, unsentimental way, finding its groove in some familiar and comfortable tropes and letting the power of its subject speak for itself with a minimum of fussiness. Dallas Buyers Club is a solidly made film, old fashioned in some respects but definitely effective.

New York Film Critics Circle Winners

Awards season officially begins, as the critics from New York are the first to make their picks and David O. Russell's American Hustle is off to a great start:

Best Picture: American Hustle

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Robert Redford, All is Lost

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay: American Hustle

Best Cinematography: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Non-Fiction Film: Stories We Tell

Best First Feature: Fruitvale Station

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

* * * 1/2
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland

After watching female led, would be young adult franchises like Beautiful Creatures and The Mortal Instruments crash and burn this year, it's good to be back in the company of Katniss Everdeen, one of the best and most active female characters to emerge in the past decade. Building on the momentum created by last year's The Hunger Games, Catching Fire raises the stakes, creating even more spectacular action sequences that its predecessor, even while it makes the "games" themselves secondary to the politics of revolution. Though the series has seen a change in directors from one film to the next, it hasn't missed a beat and the praise Catching Fire has received for being even better than The Hunger Games is well deserved.

Hollywood Book Club: Merchant of Dreams - Louis B. Mayer, M.G.M. and the Secret Hollywood

Well, that was... kind of a waste of time. I knew going into this one that its author, Charles Higham, was a controversial biographer (his biography of Errol Flynn, in particular, came under fire for its claims that the actor was a spy for the Nazis), but I still thought that the "biography" part would trump the "controversy" part. Merchant of Dreams starts out as a fairly straight-forward, albeit surprisingly sentimental, biography of M.G.M. legend Louis B. Mayer, then branches out to become what reads more like a series of collected anecdotes about the studio with Mayer as the connecting tissue, but not necessarily the subject. It's an odd book, dry as hell despite some of its more salacious (and, to be honest, not always believable) claims, and in which its central figure manages to come across as a jerk despite the author's very frequent assertions to the contrary and attempts to defend his sometimes bizarre, sometimes just mean behavior.

Review: Man of Steel (2013)

* * *
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe

I don't have strong feelings about Superman one way or another, so in certain respects I'm probably the ideal audience for Man of Steel. I'm not going to get hung up on whether director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer chose the "right" narrative elements from the comic to adapt to their film, and I'm not going to lose my mind over the climax (though I do think it's a shortsighted decision in terms of maintaining a franchise). I'm also not going to fixate on the high toll of destruction resulting from the fights between Superman and General Zod. I am, however, going to point out what to me is the single most objectionable thing about Man of Steel, which is the aggressive product placement. I'm not sure how much money Nikon, IHop, and Sears pumped into this production, but they were certainly rewarded with some pretty prominent signage. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if the forthcoming sequel is titled Pepsi Presents Superman vs Batman.

Oscar Cursed: Cuba Gooding, Jr. Edition

Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s win for Best Supporting Actor in 1996 is one of the more memorable Oscar moments of the last twenty years. While most winners attempt stoicism, Gooding gave himself over completely to the joy of the moment, reacting with a refreshingly unbridled enthusiasm. There's supposedly something undignified about openly desiring an Oscar, which is why nominees always say that they're honored to be nominated, rather than that they want desperately to win (though given the intensity of some Oscar campaigns, the "want" part doesn't really need to be said). This was the reaction of someone who wanted it and wasn't afraid to let everyone see that. It was an honest reaction but it was also, like Roberto Benigni walking over the seats the following year, a bit clownish and seems even more so when viewed through the lens of his post-Oscar career. Although he didn't have a ton of film credits before Jerry Maguire, he showed an incredible amount of promise as an actor. After Jerry Maguire, with a series of middling to terrible movies taking up space on his CV, he became kind of hard to take seriously as an actor. The Oscar curse had reared its ugly head.

Review: Ace in the Hole (1951)

* * * *
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Kirk Douglas

"The circus is over!" Chuck Tatum announces towards the end of Ace in the Hole, Billy Wilder's most acidic picture. It's little surprise that the film was rejected when it was first released, attacking as it does the notion of journalistic integrity, not to mention the wholesomeness of American society itself, portrayed here as joyfully bloodthirsty, creating a reason to celebrate on a foundation of tragedy. It's also little surprise that eventually audiences found it, as its skill and power are undeniable. Without a single hint of sentimentality to it, Ace in the Hole remains one of the most searing American films ever made.

Review: Footnote (2011)

* * * *
Director: Joseph Cedar
Starring: Schlomo Bar'aba, Lior Ashkenazi

The father and son at the center of Joseph Cedar's Footnote are both scholars of the Talmud, men who have read the text forwards and backwards and know its lessons, and yet, when confronted with real moral dilemmas in their own lives, have no idea how to proceed. Although it becomes a drama in its finale, for much of its running time it proceeds with the fleetness and lightness of touch of a comedy, the tonal shift occurring gradually rather than with jarring sharpness. Although its subject matter may sound impossibly specific, concerning as it does the cloistered world of academia, and maybe even boring, Footnote is anything but. It's an often delightful, sometimes moving, and highly entertaining film.

21st Century Essentials: Yi Yi (2000)

All eras have works of art that are fundamental to our understanding of not only the craft itself, but the culture from which it was created. The 21st century is still nascent, but it isn't too early to start creating a canon that demonstrates the heights to which film as an artform has reached since the year 2000. These are the essential films:



Director: Edward Yang
Starring: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang
Country: Taiwan

A wedding, a birth, and a funeral. Common occurrences, all, and the tent poles around which Edward Yang hangs Yi Yi, a thoughtful and moving portrait of an ordinary family struggling against the changing tides of life itself. The setting of the film is Taiwan, but the story is so universal that it could be about any family anywhere in the world, and with its complex, beautifully realized characters whose disappointment, longing, and hope are easily accessible and relatable, it proves that the absolutely ordinary can be completely captivating in the right hands. Yi Yi may be a quiet film, but it’s a quiet masterpiece.

Partners in Crime: Anderson and Hoffman

Celebrating cinema's greatest collaborations



Paul Thomas Anderson and Philip Seymour Hoffman may not come as immediately to mind when thinking of successful director/actor partnerships as other pairings, but just because they've flown slightly under the radar (a result, perhaps, of two of their early efforts being very much "ensemble" pieces) doesn't mean that their work together hasn't been vitally important. With Anderson, Hoffman has enjoyed a series of diverse and interesting characters, and with Hoffman, Anderson has had the benefit of a consistently great character actor who can work across genres. Theirs may be a quieter, less flashy partnership than other director/actor pairings, but it's one of modern cinema's most fruitful.

Netflix Recommends... Please Give (2010)

* * * 1/2
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Catherine Keener, Rebecca Hall, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt

Netflix's top recommendations for me are getting better, although they still feel a bit random. This time my choices included Alpha Dog, Battle: Los Angeles, Omar Killed Me, The Lookout, Hoffa, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Jack Reacher and Please Give. Having recently enjoyed Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said, and having been meaning to check out Please Give for some time now, that ended up being my selection and it turned out to be a pretty good one. Alternately darkly funny and heartbreakingly sad, Holofcener's meditation on death and guilt is a sharp and incisive character study - even if those characters aren't always people you might want to study.

Review: Girl Most Likely (2013)

* 1/2
Director: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening

Girl Most Likely to... what, exactly? Certainly not to be the protagonist of a movie that carries itself like its screenplay has been through more than one draft. I'm not sure how so many talented people ended up joining forces for such a bizarre mess of a movie, but here it is. If you're thinking of checking this one out, I highly recommend just watching the trailer because all the funny jokes are there and you get them without having to suffer through the nonsensical and shapeless plot, which is less a cohesive narrative than it is a series of ideas for potentially funny scenarios that never really develop into anything.

Review: 12 Years a Slave (2013)

* * * *
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender

Whether its the story of IRA hunger strikers in the 1980s, a sex addict in the present day, or a man kidnapped and kept in slavery in the 1840s, director Steve McQueen has a way of telling stories in an unvarnished and largely unsentimental way, laying bare the unique brutality of each individual situation in a direct and unflinching fashion. This method worked to brilliant effect with Hunger, but rendered Shame just a touch too cold and clinical, and where 12 Years a Slave is concerned it falls somewhere in between (though it leans towards the Hunger end of the scale). This is a hard film, full of horrific events and evil in many guises, but although excellent overall it is also, at times, oddly bereft of passion. It's still one of the best (if not the best) films dealing the subject of slavery that I've ever seen, but its excess of formality and arm's length treatment of its subject does sometimes make for a film that favors the intellectual at the expense of the emotional.