Ryan's 1000th Movie Extravaganza (plus a Quick Review of Top Gun)

It finally happened.  After spending 21 years (plus a week) on this earth, I have finally reached the milestone of having completely watched 1,000 movies.

Now I do have a confession to make about this milestone that few of you were aware of me being near and even fewer of you care about me reaching: I probably watched my 1,000th a month or two ago.  After logging in my 1,000th movie (the Tom Cruise film Top Gun, which I will review later on in this post), I did some more searching on Letterboxd and discovered several handfuls of movies that I have seen from start to finish, but forgot to log in to the website.

http://letterboxd.com/rytherb/

So if you take a look at the link above you'll notice that I am at 1,041 films seen as of now (Thursday, August 20th, 2015), and not currently sitting at the 1,000 mark.  So it's a bit like if baseball fans searched the archives of baseball footage and discovered that Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit ball, which he kept as a souvenir was actually his 3,041st hit, and instead his actual 3,000th ball was hit and then played with for a little bit until the pitcher threw a wild pitch and the ball got a little dirty, so the catcher gave it to the umpire to put in his pocket next to his sweaty crotch where it would stay for the remainder of the game before it inevitably ended up in baseball heaven (or wherever MLB baseballs go after they're used).  

I'm being dramatic.  Anyway, I reached (over) 1,000 movies seen, and there are still so SOOOOO many movies from the past that I have not yet seen, as well as many great films being released each year.  The situation I am in is similar to that of a heroin addict who has an overwhelmingly large amount of heroin at their disposal, but they are also being shipped tons of delicious, delicious heroin every week.  And they LOVE heroin, so really their best option is to try and continue doing as much heroin as they can until they die.  And maybe later on in their life, after college, if they get the opportunity, they'll start making some heroin of their own.  But they are still going to do other people's heroin, because other's people's heroin is just as awesome, in fact probably better.  And one day when the heroin addict is old and the heroin industry has changed in so many ways, he or she will be able to vividly describe to his or her grandkids what heroin was like when he was younger, and the kinds of heroin that he or she has tried.  And they'll say, "Shut up Grandpa, we're going to go play on our Hover Heely's."  Basically the heroin is a metaphor for my movie watching.

Here are a few statistics of my movie watching history:

-The oldest movie I have seen is Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1896).  It's 1 minute long, and it's just a silent film of a train arriving at a station.

-The newest movie I have seen is the awesome N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton (2015), released last week.

-The average length of every movie I've seen is about 1 hour and 49 minutes long.  Using that average and multiplying it across 1,041 movies adds up to 113,469 minutes, or a little over 1,891 hours, or almost 79 days.  And that's not including the time that would be added from the additional viewings of movies after the first time seeing them.  If that time was included you could probably double the time I've spent watching movies in my lifetime.

-The shortest movie I have seen is the same as the oldest.

-The longest movie I have seen is the extended cut of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which is 4 hours and 11 minutes long.

-I have never walked out of a movie that I was seeing in theaters (not even R.I.P.D.)

-The movie I have seen the most is my at one time favorite movie, The Dark Knight, around 30 times.  The closest competitors are childhood favorites, which I still enjoy today, The Sandlot and Remember the Titans, around 20 times, and my current favorite movie, Boogie Nights, about 15 times.

-The only movies I have seen more than once in theaters are Fred Claus (twice) and this year's The End of the Tour (twice).

Plus a Quick Review of Top Gun

Ahhh, the 80's.  A time when the sun was setting 24 hours a day.  A time when straight men could play topless beach volleyball in jeans, and no one would think anything of it.  A time when Tom Cruise, was just starting to take your breath away.  Times were simpler...I'm guessing; I don't know, I was born in the 90's.

Risky Business gave Tom Cruise a nice jumpstart to his career, but Top Gun put that thing into overdrive and it hasn't slowed down yet.  With Maverick, as well as his several other cocky, be-the-best-there-is roles, Cruise brings a level of confidence and charisma that equals that of the characters he is playing.  Maverick is the kind of guy who at one moment is flying through the sky with a weapon surrounded by enemy fighter jets, and in another moment is trying to pickup a hard-to-get Kelly McGillis with same level of confidence.  To Maverick, there are two kinds of people in the world, those who are charmed by him, and those who are wrong.

While watching Top Gun, it's easy to get taken out of the film a little bit due to it's cheesier moments (silhouetted sex scene, volleyball montage, c'mon).  That's especially true if like me, you watch it for the first time ever, during the 21st century.  But what I'm sure were probably the film's best qualities back in 1986, remain it's best qualities today.  The relationship between Maverick and Goose is still perfect, the soundtrack is still great, the flying sequences are exciting and edited together really well, and Tom Cruise is still able to charm the pants off of anyone with a pulse.  If it was led by a lesser actor than Cruise, I don't see Top Gun being a very successful film, and without (SPOILERS even though it's been almost 20 years) the Maverick and Goose relationship in the announced Top Gun 2, there is no way it comes anywhere close to the original.  The only think that could possibly get me excited for it would if they change the title to Top Gun 2: Goose's Revenge.  I miss you Goose.

Rating: 7.5/10

-Ryan

Review: Every Film Released in 2015 That I've Seen So Far

So I have been slacking when it comes to reviewing movies from this year that I've seen.  And I'm sorry, because I understand that this is literally the only blog/website that does movie reviews on the entire internet.  While I was watching movies, you were all refreshing and refreshing, dying to know what I thought about the latest movies, and I kept you waiting.  So as an apology for causing countless accounts aimlessly wandering around movie theaters looking for any sign of indication as to which movies are good and which movies are bad, I will now give a short review of every movie I've seen that was released this year, and I'll let you know how badly you should want to see it.  Because if there is anyone on this planet who knows exactly what you, ::insert random reader's name here::, likes, it's me.

In All Seriousness:

The Lazarus Effect (Director: David Gelb)

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger, Donald Glover

Even with the help of the usually great Olivia Wilde, The Lazarus Effect was a rough film to see first this year.  The premise interested me in the beginning, but not enough to keep me heavily invested until the end.  Filled with one horror movie cliche or rip-off after another, the film drowned in it's own unoriginality.  That and the fact that it relied way too heavily on jump scares and built very little suspense throughout.

Rating: 3/10

Should I watch this?: Only if you're forced to.

Furious 7 (Director: James Wan)

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emannuel, Kurt Russell

With the Fast and Furious franchise, you pretty much get exactly what you'd expect.  Impossible car stunts, ridiculous action sequences, and one-liners from Tyrese Gibson.  It's kind of like the creators copy and pasted the previous film and then reworded it to make it their own (Sound familiar anyone who has ever written a paper for school ever?).  Having seen all of the films in the series, minus Fast Five (which is the best one apparently), I don't go into these movies with any hopes as to what they might do this time.  I kind of just go into them and then leave when it's over.  This movie was fun,  and it's touching tribute/bookend to Paul Walker and his character of Brian was nice.  But with that being said I only need to see this movie as many times as Iggy Azalea appears in it, once.

Rating: 6/10

Should I watch this?: If you're a fan of the series or would really like to see Ronda Rousey and Michelle Rodriguez fight.

Lost River (Director: Ryan Gosling)

Starring: Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith, Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes

For anyone who actually reads a lot about movies, film festivals, and other aspects of the industry, I don't need to tell you how this movie was initially received by critics.  For those (most of you) who don't read very in depth into the film industry, it was received poorly, very poorly.  Which is the wrong reception in my opinion.  The film is nowhere near perfect, and clearly takes a lot of influence from well-established directors (such as David Lynch, Terrence Malick, and Nicolas Winding Refn).  But I thought it was a really interesting debut film for Mr. Gosling with a few really good performances and a cool looking aesthetic.  I look forward to any future projects that Ryan Gosling chooses to direct.

Rating: 7/10

Should I watch this?: If you like weird movies with elements of horror, or you think you'd be interested in a David Lynch movie that was directed by an actor instead of David Lynch.

It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi

While The Lazarus Effect relies on jump scares, It Follows relies on suspense to bring it's horror, and boy is it scary.  Without giving anything away, I'll tell you that it's an interesting idea for a horror film that I haven't seen before, and it's executed very well.  The acting is pretty decent for a low-budget teen horror film with essentially all unknown actors.  This film does what I think the best horror films do, it pushes aside the need for excessive amounts of gore, and instead focuses on building suspense and releasing it in various scary ways.  Like The Babadook from last year, I believe that this will be a horror film we talk about years from now.

Rating: 8/10

Should I watch this?: If you like horror movies, it's a must.

Slow West (Director: John Maclean)

Starring: Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius

This is a classic case of a movie I was excited for not quite meeting my high expectations.  The presence of Michael Fassbender and Ben Mendelssohn (both actors I'm a big fan of) was the main cause for my excitement, throw in my love for the Western genre and you got a recipe for a movie made just for me.  However, I found it hard to really like any of the characters and therefore wasn't really interested in the story.  The film's finale however was really intense, it ended on a good note for sure.  And the lack of too many exhausted Western genre tropes was a big positive in my book.  I just wish I cared more about anything that happened in the movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

Should I watch this?: Yeah maybe.  Other people liked it more than me so maybe you will too.

The Tribe (Director: Miroslav Slaboshpitsky)

Starring: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova

A brilliant film that I'm not going to be able to recommend to many people.  It is essentially a gangster film set entirely at a boarding school for deaf teenagers.  The Tribe has many scenes that are tough to watch, and some that are really tough to watch.  And to cap that all off, there are zero words of spoken dialogue.  The film is told entirely through sign language, and there are no translations.  Unless you are fluent in sign language, you are basically figuring out what is going on through the action of the film.  This is a little easier than it sounds, but still can be a daunting task for the casual filmgoer.  However, it's a really great idea, and deserves the praise it has been getting.

Rating: 7.5/10

Should I watch this?: Only if all of what I said above sounds good to you.

Ex Machina (Director: Alex Garland)

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander

Science fiction films, especially modern science fiction films, have the most room to be as creative as possible.  When that creativity is geared towards showing aspects of science that are seemingly achievable in the near future (ex: Her, this film), that's when I am the most interested in science fiction.  Although it's not here yet, the AI in Ex Machina is something that seems achievable with how quickly technology is advancing.  And the way the film treats this thought, and the uncertainty of what it would be like to achieve these scientific feats is really fascinating.  Also Oscar Isaac has been on a fantastic streak of films since Drive, and I'm excited to see what else he'll do in the future.

Rating: 8/10

Should I watch this?: Yes.  (Is this me telling you yes, or your computer?! Wooahhhh, mind games!)

Mad Max: Fury Road (Director: George Miller)

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

I'm sure a lot of people are going to tell you, or have already told you that this movie is great.  Listen to them, because it is.  The energy is ramped up to 10 from frame one to the final frame.  It's exciting, it's fun, and has three lead actors in Hardy, Theron, and Hoult that all carry their own weight through out the film.  Visually pleasing, and still entertaining to those (me included) who haven't seen any of the other Mad Max films.

Rating: 8.5/10

Should I watch this?: If you have eyes and are physically able to watch it, then you should.

Love & Mercy (Director: Bill Pohlad)

Starring: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti

It's rare for a biopic to use two different actors to portray the same person.  It's executed to incredible success here, with both Paul Dano and John Cusack giving different but similarly terrific performances.  Both the actors and the screenwriter capture the genius and the nervousness of Brian Wilson.  Also, as a big fan of The Beach Boys, the amount of time put into showing the creation of some of their music was a real treat to watch.

Rating: 9/10

Should I watch this?: Highly recommend it to everyone, but it's a must-see for Beach Boys fans.

Pitch Perfect 2 (Director: Elizabeth Banks)

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Skylar Astin, Adam Devine, Ben Platt

The Bellas are back pitches!  (Please excuse me while I go waterboard myself for a few minutes for having just said that.)  I'm back.  Sorry to keep you waiting.  Anyway, I'm a fan of the first Pitch Perfect.  I was excited for Pitch Perfect 2.  I'm a fan of Pitch Perfect 2.  What can I say other than that they are fun movies.  The first one was definitely more original, and felt more put together.  This one was a little more of an attempt to rekindle what made the first one fun, but it still worked.  Just not as well.

Rating: 7/10

Should I watch this?: If you liked the first one, yes.  If you didn't like the first one, watch that one again.  If you still don't like the first one, I'm sorry but you shouldn't do everything I tell you to.

Inside Out (Director: Pete Docter)

Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Kaitlyn Dias, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane, Richard Kind

When I first heard the premise of Pixar making a film about the emotions inside one's brain, I had no idea what it was going to be like.  After seeing the film, my imagination was far exceeded by the brilliant imaginations of the people at Pixar.  The ideas at work in this film, and the adult themes that are found throughout are what will have the adults leaving the theater with a smile on their face.  The adorableness of the characters and the child-level themes that are found throughout are what will have the kids leaving with a smile on their face.  Only a Pixar film could have a character named Bing Bong, who is an elephant/cat/dolphin/cotton candy hybrid, and also have a reference to the movie Chinatown in the same film.  Not only is Inside Out a return to form for Pixar, which hasn't been at the top of their game for quite a few years, but it's also one of the better films that they have ever made.

Rating: 9/10
Should I watch this?: Yes.  All of you.  Why didn't you watch it on Friday when it came out?

Well those are all of the films from 2015 that I have seen so far.  If there are any that I missed and you think I should see, let me know in the comments.  Hopefully I'll get back to giving movies their own reviews in the near future, but who knows?  I'm so unpredictable, I could really do anything.

Review: Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson adapted the novel 'Inherent Vice' by Thomas Pynchon, which I read.  I read the book over the summer in preparation for this movie.  Once I found out Paul Thomas Anderson was adapting this novel, I immediately bought and read it.  Due to the fact that I read this book, I can make comparisons between this book that I read and the movie that was written based on the novel 'Inherent Vice' (which I read).  While I was reading this novel I thought about how the characters would be portrayed in the movie, and then when I was watching the movie I thought back to when I read 'Inherent Vice' and thought, "I remember these characters from when I was reading this book."  I read this book.  I read.

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Martin Short, Joanna Newsom, Jena Malone, Eric Roberts, Sasha Pieterse, Peter McRobbie

As I said repeatedly before the break, I did read the novel 'Inherent Vice' once I found out PTA would be adapting it for his seventh feature film.  I don't want to make this review about the book though, so all I will say about it is that I loved it, the movie cast the actors very similarly to how I imagined the characters while reading it, and the movie stayed very faithful to it.  As much as I love Paul Thomas Anderson's original screenplays, it was nice to see him tackle a complete adaptation for once (he loosely adapted his 2007 film There Will Be Blood from Upton Sinclair's book 'Oil!', for which he received an Academy Award nomination).

Inherent Vice centers around Larry 'Doc' Sportello, who is played hilariously by Joaquin Phoenix.  The stoner investigator that Phoenix plays here is a drastic change from his animalistic role in Anderson's last film The Master.  During last year's Golden Globe Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio joked after winning Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical, that he was surprised to win in that category.  He also thanked his fellow "comedians", which included Joaquin Phoenix for his performance in the wonderful film Her.  Although DiCaprio sarcastically called Phoenix a comedian last year, this year it wouldn't seem so odd as he does some of the best comedic work of 2014 here.

Except for maybe There Will Be Blood, all of Paul Thomas Anderson's films can be really funny at times.  Whether it's John C. Reilly making margaritas in Boogie Nights, or Joaquin Phoenix farting in The Master, or just all of Punch-Drunk Love, PTA is constantly slipping comedic moments into his films.  Vice's main source of comedy comes from the brilliantly acted dynamic between Phoenix's Doc Sportello and Josh Brolin's tough guy cop, Bigfoot Bjornsen.  The two share a handful of scenes together, and every single time it is magic.  Josh Brolin is someone I would love to see PTA add to his arsenal of frequent collaborators, like he has done now with Joaquin Phoenix.  Other actors in Vice, whom I would love to see work with Anderson again are: Martin Short, who steals the two scenes he is in as a coked-up, womanizing dentist; Benicio Del Toro, who is great in his few scenes; and Katherine Waterston, who provides the bulk of the great dramatic work in the film.

Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit (working with Anderson for the 6th time on this film) collaborate successfully again here, with the constant moving shots, the lingering shots, and the grainy 1970's-look that made the film look authentic to the time period being portrayed.  One reason why so many actors have been nominated and/or won awards for acting in PTA's films is because he gives his actors the opportunity to do great work.  He'll stage scenes where two actors will perform for minutes and he won't cut at all, forcing these talented actors to give their very best performance each time.  It shows the trust he has in them, and it works.

Inherent Vice is the film I've been waiting for all year.  It gave me everything I wanted in a PTA film, hilarious awkwardness, insane characters, witty dialogue, and a constantly moving camera.  It has to be hard for Paul Thomas Anderson to continuously live up to the hype that an acclaimed filmmaker like himself has set for them, but for me at least, he meets or exceeds these expectations with every film he has made since I discovered his work.

Rating: 9.5/10

-Ryan Moncrief

Album Review: Ultraviolence - Lana Del Rey

Deluxe Edition Track List

1. Cruel World

2. Ultraviolence

3. Shades of Cool

4. Brooklyn Baby

5. West Coast

6. Sad Girl

7. Pretty When You Cry

8. Money Power Glory

9. F****d My Way Up To the Top

10. Old Money

11. The Other Woman

12. Black Beauty

13. Guns and Roses

14. Florida Kilos

15. Is This Happiness

It was hard to go into this without bias, due to the fact that I really enjoy all of Lana Del Rey's previous work, and also because the album title references one of my favorite books/films (A Clockwork Orange).  But I attacked this 15-song album with an open mind, hoping that Lana would stick to the mellow, almost dream-like sound she had on her fantastic debut album Born to Die, rather than trying to produce formulaic pop hits.

Lana (apparently we're on a first name basis) did not disappoint.  She didn't sell out, or succumb to producing accessible music for the sole purpose of being accessible.  She took her massive success, and made a sophomore album that feels even more personal, and more organized then her well-received first album.

My main criticism would be that she recycles a few ideas here, especially in the first two songs.  Cruel World has a mention of the red party dress that she's talked about in a few songs.  Every time I hear her sing about it I think, "She's got some money.  Can't she buy some different colored dresses?" She also uses the adjectives "Young", "Wild", and "Free" again here in the early songs like she has done a lot in Born to Die.  

Other than this, her lyrics are great.  Del Rey uses her unique voice to talk about unusual relationships (such as being the on-the-side girl in Sad Girl), her new fame (in Money Power Glory), and enough sadness and loneliness to fill your twitter feed with quotes for days.

Something that's evident in the beginning are the bluesy riffs that are in all of these songs.  Co-producer of the album, Dan Auerbach, is also the lead singer/guitarist of rock band The Black Keys.  The combination of Black Keys style music behind Lana's soft, echoey voice is fantastic.  They're two kinds of sounds that you wouldn't expect to enjoy together until you actually hear them mixed.

Overall, Lana Del Rey follows up her great first effort with a great second effort.  Ultraviolence feels more complete and lyrically it is superior to Born to Die.  Lana fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief.  She's done it again.

Grade: B+

Favorite Song: Brooklyn Baby

You can listen to these songs on Youtube right now.  You can also listen to the singles West Coast, Ultraviolence, Shades of Cool, and Brooklyn Baby on Spotify or iTunes.  You can and should pre-order the album on iTunes now, or buy it when it is released on June 17th.

-Ryan

Review: HBO's 'The Normal Heart'

An HBO Executive: Okay here's our next great movie.  We're gonna take The Hulk, but we'll make him a writer instead of a scientist.  He's gonna be gay and dating that hot guy from White Collar.  He's going to be just as angry and loud as The Hulk, but he never actually turns into him or smashes anything.  And it's gonna be sad.  It'll be great!

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Written by: Larry Kramer
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Julia Roberts, Joe Mantello, Alfred Molina

Ryan Murphy, who is known for creating the extremely successful and not at all similar shows Glee and American Horror Story, returns with another television creation in the form of a TV movie for HBO.  The Normal Heart is adapted by Larry Kramer, from the play also written by Larry Kramer.  Two of the film's stars (Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons) have recently come out as gay.  This is an important story about homosexuality and AIDS awareness, told by important members of the gay community.

Now I'm not going to use this review to talk about any sort of politics, or try to persuade people to lean towards either direction of any sort of political issues.  I am going to be approaching this film strictly as a form of entertainment.  So if you were hoping for some kind of political rant, *Tyrion Lannister voice* "You've come to the wrong place."  Since I doubt most of you were hoping for that, enjoy the review.

The Normal Heart is a based-on-a-true-story tale of a group of gay men who attempt to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s.  Mark Ruffalo leads the cast as the initiator of this movement, and he does some of the best work here that I've seen from him.  Which says a lot, because I have been a big Ruffalo fan for a few years now.  Matt Bomer is great as well, and nearly unrecognizable at parts having lost 40 pounds for the role.  It's good to see the sometimes on and sometimes off Taylor Kitsch in a good role that allows him to show off his acting chops.  Film veteran Julia Roberts and stage veteran Joe Mantello each get moments to shine in a film that gives it's entire cast plenty of on-screen time.  Jim Parsons does well in the first non-comedic work film or show that I've seen him in, and Alfred Molina is great and welcome on my TV screen as always.  Expect a good amount of nominations from this group at the the various awards shows this year, and maybe a couple of wins too.

You can feel the sense of how important this story is to Larry Kramer, especially knowing that Mark Ruffalo's character is based on himself.  The themes he is going for here are loud and clear, but at times they are a little too loud and a little too clear.  He probably could have benefitted from being a little more subtle.  This way the film would have felt less down-your-throat with it's message, although that might have been what him and Ryan Murphy were going for.

The film has a lot to say, and it doesn't say it in a short amount of time.  The 2-hour-and-ten minute long movie drags on at times.  Some of the many long monologues go on a little too long.  Overall, The Normal Heart is very similar but inferior to the 2008 film Milk, which I am a big fan of.  I did enjoy it enough to be glad that I watched it, but I'm not sure I'll be dying to watch it again anytime soon.  I do, however, hope that a lot of people give it a chance.

Rating: 7/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Warning: This is not a sequel to the movie "Hotel for Dogs".  A Grand Budapest is not a type of large, muscular dog.  Even though that would be such a cool dog name.  And this hotel is not filled with dogs.  Just people, for the most part.  I can not stress enough that this is not about a dog hotel.  Don't make this mistake.

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Wes Anderson
Written by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, Saiorse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, I'll stop here.  There are soooo many notable people in this movie.

In the few years since I became an avid viewer of films, Wes Anderson has been one of my go-to filmmakers whenever I'm asked to list a few of my favorites.  I look forward to each and every one of his films, and I love the style of filmmaking that Wes has created for himself.  The story book feel, the symmetrical shots, the large ensemble cast, the adult-like kids and kid-like adults; all of these things are Wes Anderson trademarks that are quite apparent in his newest film.

While The Grand Budapest Hotel does have a lot of these Wes Anderson quirks, it seemed to be the most different from the rest of his filmography.  First off, it felt the most R-rated of his R-rated films.  More cursing/nudity/violence than I was expecting, but it was a nice change of pace from Anderson's two previously most recent films, the PG-rated Fantastic Mr. Fox and the PG-13 rated Moonrise Kingdom.  

This film also felt like the most fast-paced of Anderson's films.  He is usually able to squeeze a lot into his hour-and-a-half-long films, but this film moved very quickly.  The characters all talked, and moved quickly, the camera moved quickly, the story moved quickly.  It felt like a Wes Anderson film on speed.  That being said, I liked how fast it was.  It forces you to give your complete attention to the film from the very beginning to the very end, or you'll miss something important.  There is not a wasted second of film here.

The cast of Grand Budapest kind of felt like the Wes Anderson All-Star team.  He has a good amount of newcomers, but many of the supporting roles are filled with actors he's used in previous films.  All of them did their part, no matter how small their role was.  Although, like with any film I've seen in my life, a little more Bill Murray wouldn't have hurt.

I've always loved the writing in Wes Anderson's films.  All of his scripts are so clever and funny.  I think this might be might favorite script of his though.  The dialogue is fast and every punch-line hits.  Anderson also does a great job of creating suspense and intensity at several points throughout the film, which is a bit unusual for one of his films.  He can create drama very well, but this is the first time during one of his films where my heart was actually racing with anticipation multiple times.

In conclusion, The Grand Budapest Hotel both fits perfectly with the rest of his filmography, and feels a little different from his previous works.  So if your a Wes Anderson fan I obviously recommend you see it.  If you're not a Wes Anderson fan, maybe you'll like the slightly different feel, so I recommend you see it.  If you have never seen a Wes Anderson film before, this is a good entry point to his work, so I recommend you see it.  Or if you're just looking for a well-made film with strong themes of friendship and fighting loneliness, than I would definitely recommend this.  Basically I just really like this film, and you should watch it.  Really soon.  Like this week.  Or today.

Rating: 9/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: Her

What is this movie about?  Imagine if Siri (the iPhone voice) was funny, and had human-like qualities, minus the body of course.  Wait I think I kind of like talking to Siri, she's actually pretty cool.  I think I'm starting to like Siri, but I definitely want to only date human females.  On second thought, human females are actually insane, maybe I can date Siri?  But seriously, that's what the basic premise of this film is.  I know I usually do fake premises in this section, but I'm not kidding.  This is real.

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Spike Jonze
Written by: Spike Jonze
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson's voice, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde

'Her' is a lot of things.  It's a love story.  It's a story about a man and the women in his life.  It's a story about going through a relationship, no matter who the other person in the relationship is.  Some people will think it's weird.  Some people will think it's creative.  Some people will think it's weirdly creative.  I think it is the best movie of the year (although there are definitely a few contenders that I have yet to see).

In a year with flashy, over-the-top performances in films like 'American Hustle' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (still some great performances in these films), it was nice to see a skilled actor give a more reserved performance.  Joaquin Phoenix does some of the best work of the year as the main character, Theodore.  Since a majority of the scenes include him alone talking to or listening to a computer's voice (that hasn't been edited into the film yet), it takes a talented actor to get everything spot-on.  Additionally, Scarlett Johansson's voice-acting in 'Her', which was added at the end of production after Samantha Morton had already recorded all of the dialogue, is probably the best work of her career.  She's believable and gives a truly emotional performance, which I imagine is difficult when only being able to use the sound of her voice.

'Her' is the first screenplay written solely by Spike Jonze, that he also directed.  Jonze writes some beautiful dialogue, and creates touching and funny moments from page 1 of the script to the very final words.  He displays a near future that is believable, possible, and fun to look at.  An effort to avoid the clichés of a Hollywood romantic-comedies is evident and successful in 'Her'.  It's always nice to see a unique film, although I wouldn't really classify this as a romantic-comedy.  I wouldn't know what genre to place it in really.

Joaquin Phoenix by far has the most screen-time as he is in basically every scene.  However, an important aspect of the film is the multitude of female characters.  I don't want to give away too much plot detail, but Phoenix's character Theodore has relationships, whether long or short ones, with several women throughout the film.  He is surrounded by women, and they all affect his life dramatically in different ways.  The title 'Her' could really be referencing any of these women (or all of them collectively), as they are all crucial to the film's story.  'Her' is a good commentary on the different roles that women play in a man's life, and the reverse, which is a single man's role in all of these women's lives.

I know people who are hesitant about seeing this film, because the concept seems weird.  The only thing I can say is that it is way more than what it seems, and a chance should be given to what could potentially be a movie that you like a lot.  If you're really THAT creeped out by the thought of the story, then you probably won't like 'Her'.  But try using an open mind, because it could benefit you and the film industry.  I hope that more creative, original films like 'Her' starting getting made more abundantly, rather than 4th or 5th installments of franchises that haven't been good for years.

Rating: 9.5/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

Fun for the whole family!  Martin Scorsese's follow-up to Hugo, has the typical elements of a family movie such as: drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, greed, crime, orgies, strippers, violence, car accidents, adultery, swearing, and bad decisions!  Bring your kids, bring your grandma, bring the dog!  No matter who you are, go and see this movie!

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Martin Scorcese
Written by: Terrence Winter
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal, Jean Dujardin, Jon Favreau, and a ton of other people.

This easily could have been Scorsese's last film if he wanted it to be (although I'm glad it's not and I hope to see films from him for years to come).  He fearlessly just shoved whatever he wanted to on to that screen, and didn't worry about it being too much or not.  'The Wolf of Wall Street,' like the real story it is based on, is excessive.  There are excessive amounts of sex, drugs, drinking, just overall craziness, and enough of it to fill up 3 hours of movie.  And there is not a second wasted.

I don't like giving many plot details when reviewing films because I think it's always best going into a film knowing as little as possible, but the basic premise of 'Wolf' is Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker, works his way from the bottom of the business to the top (Drake would say that he started from the bottom now he's here) and becomes really rich by scamming tons of people out of their money.  With his unbelievable riches, Jordan lives life like a member of Guns N' Roses and just causes havoc everywhere he goes.

I'm not going to go into too much of the acting.  Everyone is fantastic, you shouldn't expect anything less from this talented group of actors.  Terrence Winter's (creator and showrunner of the HBO show Boardwalk Empire) script is a treat to hear be performed.  All of the voice-overs, monologues, and dialogue heavy scenes are never boring because of Winter's success in writing good dialogue.  Filled with mostly funny moments, my favorite being an argument between Jonah Hill and Rob Reiner's characters, The Wolf of Wall Street can be classified as a dark comedy.  There are however, some really dark and intensely dramatic moments as well.  The best thing Winter does is allow the audience to root for a character, who from the get-go is seen as a horrible, egotistic person.

Scorcese's use of quick editing, slow-motion, and tracking shots above masses of people help capture the craziness of the story.  Scorsese is a genius and proven master of film.  He has adapted to the rapidly changing film industry and created a film that feels modern, and also fits in perfectly with his filmography.  With a running time as long as 3 hours, some people might find it to be too long.  Others will find that there could have been even more added to this already lengthy film.  I always have high expectations when one of my favorite filmmakers releases a film, and it's always a great feeling when those expectations are met.

Rating: 9/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: Saving Mr. Banks

Tom Hanks is back again in this sequel to Saving Private Ryan.  Tom Hanks's character must fight to save Mr. Banks a.k.a. Agent Cody Banks (played by Frankie Muniz) from the Germans after a secret mission goes wrong.  The action is abundant in this film that mixes the war, spy-thriller, and musical genres together.  If you told me you wouldn't see this movie, I would call you a liar.

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Written by: Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
Starring: Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, BJ Novak, Jason Schwartzman

It may be easy to overlook this film about Walt Disney's struggle to adapt the novel Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, being that it is up against box office hits such as Anchorman 2, Frozen, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug...damn how has anyone seen this?  Well despite the tough competition it has, Saving Mr. Banks is doing solid at the box office, which is fitting because this is a solid film.  It didn't blow me away as I usually would hope from a potential Oscar nominated film, but it also didn't underwhelm me.  My expectations were pretty on par with the outcome.

Saving Mr. Banks goes back and forth between Mrs. Travers (played very strongly by Emma Thompson) and Walt Disney (played by the always entertaining Tom Hanks) both trying to get Mary Poppins made (or not made) the way they want, and flashbacks of Mrs. Travers's childhood.  While it is important to the story, I found the flashbacks much less interesting than the present day timeline.  Maybe I'm in the minority, maybe it's because I'm vastly interested in the making of films, but the flashback sequences were the weakest part of the film for me.  Despite this fact however, Colin Farrell gave a great performance in these scenes.

Technically this is a rather average film.  The strengths of this film are more in the story and performance category than anything else.  The cinematography is not worth talking extensively about, because it's just okay.  The editing is decent, but there is one scene sticking in my brain as being exceedingly good.  The scene I'm referencing is the one where the Sherman brothers (Jason Schwartzman and BJ Novak) and Mary Poppins screenwriter Don Dagradi (Bradley Whitford) are performing for Mrs. Travers the song 'Fidelity Fiduciary Bank', and it's intercut with a flashback scene of Colin Farrell talking about the bank he works at in front of a crowd.  The energy and cohesiveness of the actors is at it's peak in this thoroughly enjoyable scene.

While there are plenty of films currently out that I still need to see, I can recommend Saving Mr. Banks as a safe choice for anyone who is unsure of what late December film is worthy of their hard-earned cash.  However, give some thought to the other box office and Oscar contenders that are currently playing in theaters, because there could be a different film that you would consider great rather than just good.  Or you could wind up seeing a huge pile of trash, and regret not seeing Saving Mr. Banks.  But that's just part of the excitement of being a film goer.

Rating: 7.5/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: Blackfish

The long awaited documentary Blackfish, that is written and directed by Orca whales, is about their fight to put an end to the array of offensive names given to them.  Mainly the names Blackfish and Killer Whale.  For years, Orcas have asked to be called African-American fish, or literally anything other than Killer Whale.  Blackfish explores the topic thoroughly with exclusive interviews with whales about the history of these nicknames, and why they have remained offensive throughout the years.  The whale from Free Willy calls this film the only documentary produced by actual whales, and I have to say that I agree.

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Gabriela Cowperthwaite

This documentary is actually about the several injuries and deaths of Sea World whale trainers caused by the whales they are training, and the possible reasons for them.  There are essentially two schools of thought as to why these injuries (and deaths) keep happening.  Sea World argues that they are all due to trainer error, and the former trainers and organizations that the crew interviews say that the conditions in which the whales are living in causes them to become upset and lash out at the trainers.

With access to people who have trained whales at Sea World, eye witness accounts of the accidents, and footage of some of the whale attacks, Blackfish is able to show a great amount of detail of these accidents.  This film is one of the most important films released this year.  It sheds some light on the subject, and it allows someone who was in the dark about these events before watching this film (me), get a good idea about what is going on behind the scenes at Sea World.

The use of archival footage and skillful editing creates some great intense sequences and emotional.  It's hard not to get choked up while watching family members of the deceased trainers talk about what happened.  Additionally, you can't help but get a little nervous every time a trainer is in the water with a whale, even if you know it's not a clip of one of the accidents.

Blackfish is a gripping, crucial documentary about an important topic, and deserves to be viewed by as many people as possible.

Rating: 8/10

~Ryan Moncrief

Review: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave.  It's about slavery.  This is the part of the post where I'm supposed to be funny.  About slavery.  As a caucasian male.  And not be offensive.  Should be easy.

So uhhh, yeah slavery was pretty uncool, right guys?  Yeah I think I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead on this one.  I'll make more jokes when I'm talking about films with a lighter subject, like Dallas Buyers Club! (It's about AIDS, you have to know that for that joke to be funny.)

In All Seriousness:

Directed by: Steve McQueen

Written by: John Ridley

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'O, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Michael Kenneth Williams

As of now, Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the American actor of the same name, who died in 1980) has a perfect filmography.  He has directed a total of 3 films: Hunger, Shame, and now 12 Years a Slave, all 3 of which are fantastic.  I look forward to every film he makes and will make in the future because he is without a doubt an extremely talented director.

There are a lot of technical aspects of this film that people who are interested in that stuff (me) will enjoy thoroughly.  The cinematography is beautiful.  The color schemes and use of locations in this film are a joy to look at, and seem to brighten the mood slightly despite the horrible acts of violence that take place during some of these shots.  One of my favorite shots of the entire film is of a close-up of embers from a fire, and the camera stays on it until the embers are completely put out.  It's a simple, but effective shot.

One thing McQueen has done in his 2 previous films, and continued the trend with this film was lingering on a shot for a while before cutting away.  He does this multiple times throughout '12 Years,' staying on a subject for maybe longer than he even should, but that's might be the reason I like it.  He doesn't want you to see something else just yet, he's created this wonderful shot (usually during very hard to watch shots such as a female's face as she's being whipped or a slave that is being hung) and he wants you to look at it for a while.

The final thing I'd like to mention is this film's superb acting.  Every year there is usually one film that is nominated for most, if not all of the acting awards.  12 Years a Slave will absolutely be that film.  Chiwetel Ejiofor (for Lead Actor), Lupita Nyong'O (for Supporting Actress), and Michael Fassbender (for Supporting Actor) are not only locks for being nominated, but I would not be surprised if they won in any of these categories.  Ejiofor and Nyong'O lead some of the more emotional scenes in the film, and they do it with ease.  This couldn't have been an easy film to act in, but the two make 12 Years a Slave as powerful as it is.  Michael Fassbender is the main antagonist, and he plays the villainous slave owner Epps perfectly.  He is one of my favorite actors working today, and it's always a joy to see him in any film.

12 Years a Slave is a very safe choice if you're looking to see one of the better films made this year.

Rating: 9/10

~Ryan Moncrief