Wow, I'm behind. I've got a Film of the Month post due on top of 13 more reviews. So I'm just going to knock them both out with one post. It'll be a little longer, but whatever.
Film of the Month: Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Directed by Craig Gillespie.
Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, and Paul Schneider.
This movie came out of nowhere and blew me away. I'm still not sure how they managed to take a film revolving around a sex doll and create such a powerful and touching story out of it, but that's exactly what Lars is. Probably the best aspect of the film is how well it blends its serious and comical elements together. Gillespie was able to keep the story realistic and believable while also addressing how absurd it is to fall in love with a sex doll. Of course, the heart of the film is Gosling's performance. After seeing him in 6 separate films so far this year, I am amazed at his versatility. Few people could take a role like "guy in love with a sex doll" and make him not seem crazy, but Gosling is able to capture that. This was easily my favorite film of the month and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.
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Honorable Mentions:
50/50 (2011)
Directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackness).
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick.
Another example of a perfect blend of comedy and drama, 50/50 is smart enough to know that a movie about cancer doesn't need to make fun of cancer to be funny. JGL and Rogen play great alongside each other, with JGL giving a terrific dramatic performance and Rogen being his typical hilarious self. A great movie from beginning to end, and one of the best films of 2011.
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Attack the Block (2011)
Directed by Joe Cornish (debut film).
Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, and Alex Esmail.
This is an example of style over substance that actually works. Block is low on plot but more than makes up for it with great camera work, pacing, music, and effects. The aliens are simple enough to look good on a low budget but cool enough to still be entertaining. A note of warning though, these are extremely thick British accents, but if you bear with it, you'll eventually get habituated to it.
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Hanna (2011)
Directed by Joe Wright (The Soloist, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice).
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Cate Blanchett.
After telling them how much I liked Hanna, a friend of mine felt it necessary to point out the three or four minor logical flaws in the film. I felt it necessary to slap her. Luckily she lives in another state. Hanna is an action-packed film with some great cinematography and chase sequences.
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Jane Eyre (2011)
Directed by Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre).
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, and Jamie Bell.
Have you ever read Jane Eyre? If not, you probably won't like this movie. If you did, did you like it? If not, you won't like this movie. However, for us fans of the book, Jane Eyre is a much better adaptation than I expected. The film stays true to the book while rearranging the story in a more film-friendly manner, a small thing that has a big impact on how good the film is. Jane also hinges on the performances of Wasikowska and Fassbender, who are great in their roles (especially Mr. Rochester).
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Troll Hunter (2011)
Directed by Andre Ovredal (debut film).
Starring Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen, and Tomas Alf Larsen.
Language: Norwegian.
Probably my favorite found footage film ever aside from the original Paranormal Activity. The actual troll hunts are really exciting and the side story about the film crew running from the government was interesting. If they had just toned down the religious themes a bit (really? Trolls can smell Christian blood? That doesn't even make sense), Troll Hunter would have been a masterpiece. As it is, it's still a great movie worth your time.
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Previous Films of the Month:
January - Children of Men (2006)
February - Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
March - Rango (2011)
April - Source Code (2011)
May - Blue Valentine (2010)
June - The Tree of Life (2011)
July - Once (2007)
August - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
September - Drive (2011)
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...and now the rest of the October 2011 film reviews that weren't good enough for honorable mention (in viewing order). These are gonna be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally short.
Directed by Rodman Flender (Idle Hands).
Documentary.
Well, if you're a huge fan of Conan this is probably great. For me, it was entertaining but masturbatory.
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Directed by Rachid Bouchareb (London River, Days of Glory).
Starring Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem, and Sami Bouajila.
Language: French, Arabic.
Good movie, but it needed to be longer to fully tell this story. And it was already 2.5 hours long.
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Directed by Cindy Meehl (debut film).
Documentary.
Not usually a fan of biographical documentaries about people I've never heard of, but Buck Brannaman had a great story to tell.
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Directed by Spencer Susser (debut film).
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman, and Rainn Wilson.
This one disappointed me. Great cast with some good moments, but mostly pointless and crass.
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Directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express).
Starring Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel.
...And this one surprised me. Very stupid humor, but the mix of that and the medieval setting cracked me up.
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Directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma).
Starring Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, and John Goodman.
I give credit to Smith for branching out, but the film itself is very sporadic. Special mention to Michael Parks for his complex portrayal of the cult leader.
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Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (debut film).
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, and Ulrich Thomsen.
Nowhere near the magnificence of the 80's version, but this remake was still suspenseful enough to recommend seeing.
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Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish).
Starring Jessica Tyler Brown, Christopher Nicholas Smith, and Lauren Bittner.
Pretty good. Better than the second, not even close to the first. The trailers are hilarious though: literally none of that footage is actually in the movie.
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And that's it! I'm caught up through the end of October. Just one month to go...
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