These Are A Few Of My Favorite Scenes...

So it's the end of the year, and although I kinda want to finish up reviewing all the movies I've seen this year (and the film of the month thing) simply because I started it almost a year ago and I've put too much time into it already, I also don't really care enough. Instead, I think it's about time to start wrapping up this blog and moving on to something different. I've come to realize that, while I love to overanalyze, judge, and rank the movies I see, I don't really enjoy writing about them. Unless I'm making jokes about them, the writing feels wooden and boring. However, one thing I've always loved to do is the end of the year lists. And I'm starting mine off with a four-part "scenes of the year" list. Granted, although I have seen a ridiculous amount of movies from this year (the number's around 75 at this point), I have not seen quite a few films that I have a feeling could crack this list, such as Hugo, War Horse, The Descendants, Melancholia, The Artist, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. I'm bored, though, and don't feel like waiting around for another 2 months for them to come out on video, so I'm just gonna go ahead and do this thing. Each of the four parts will have five scenes, with links to the scene if possible.

Oh. And they're in alphabetical order.

Another Earth - The Musical Saw Scene

This scene is here for two reasons. The first is because of how beautiful that musical saw is. I don't know much about the instrument, but in a science fiction movie, I doubt if there's a more perfect musical interlude than the eerie, warped noises coming from that piece of metal. I also loved this scene for its simplicity. The scene carries some serious emotional content, but the only thing happening on screen is a guy holding a saw and a girl watching him. With their glances and expressions alone, we understand how deep the relationship between these two characters has become. 

Video? Nope, but thanks to the only comment to ever be posted on my blog, you can at least listen to a section of the musical saw from this scene.

Beginners - This is Love

I love the idea of representing life with a collection of photos. Beginners took this concept a step further, using photos to represent not only the person, but the time that they lived in. This particular one focuses on Melanie Laurent's character. As his description of her continues, the photos are replaced with reality and the factual details of her life are replaced with an emotional attachment to the person, the same progression that we follow in real relationships.

Video? Click here.

Biutiful - Father and Son

Biutiful opens and closes with a meeting of Uxbal (Bardem) and his father in a snow-covered forest. Problem is, Uxbal's father died in Mexico years ago. This is a meeting of father and son in the afterglow of life. Is this Uxbal's rendition of heaven? Is this just some final, half-memory of his father, conjured up by the story Uxbal was telling his daughter as he died? I'm not sure, but that serene look of satisfaction tells me that it doesn't really matter.

Video? Click here.

Bridesmaids - The Airplane Scene

Bridesmaids is a hilarious movie, but this is the scene that really makes it memorable. And, just like the rest of the movie, it's memorable because of two people: Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. Wiig's SNL experience playing crazy women really gets to come out here. She mocks her friends, she hallucinates... she calls a flight attendant a stove. McCarthy, on the other hand, goes for the sexpot, simultaneously trying to seduce and blow the cover of an air marshal. It's 4 minutes of hilarious chaos.

Video? Here's a clip of part of it.

Crazy Stupid Love - The Fight

Speaking of chaos. Up to this point in the movie, there were four or five separate plotlines that were very loosely connected with each other. Then, all of a sudden, they all meet, head-on, and the result is one of the funniest scenes from any movie this year. This guy's mad at this guy for doing this... that guy's mad at this other guy for doing this other thing... this other guy's not really mad at anybody, but he's still gonna punch somebody. The actual fight only lasts 10 or 15 seconds, but just watching all these things pile up, one after another, was comedy gold.

Video? Click here.

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That's it for part 1. Stay tuned for parts 2-4!

October Film of the Month/Ricochet Reviews

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.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

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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Outside the Law

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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Buck

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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Hesher

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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Your Highness

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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Red State

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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The Thing

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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Paranormal Activity 3

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...

Film of the Month: September

Yeah, I lied last month. I'm changing the cutoff to 5 or 6 per month, because I'm getting lazier and lazier as this blog progresses. Let's begin.

Film of the Month: Drive (2011)

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.

Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks.

Filled with interesting characters and intense action sequences, Drive is not only the film of the month, but also one of the best films I've seen in a few years. Check out my review for more.

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Honorable Mentions

Contagion (2011)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Starring Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet.

Contagion is like The Andromeda Strain if it were unstoppable and global. Tense, scary, and believable, this is also one of the best of the year. See my review for more.

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The Conversation (1974)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, and Harrison Ford.

Did you know that Coppola made a film in the 70s other than the two Godfathers and Apocalypse Now? Well, he did: he made The Conversation. And while it isn't nearly as dramatic as the other three, it's still a great film. In fact, it is that sense of realism that really elevates The Conversation to the next level. That and Hackman, in probably the best role of his long career (maybe excluding Unforgiven).

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The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)

Directed by Morgan Spurlock.

While not the most informative documentary I've ever seen, it's probably the most entertaining. See my review for more about The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

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Some Like It Hot (1959)

Directed by Billy Wilder.

Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe.

Such a hilarious movie. There's just something about guys dressing up like women that will always be hilarious. Trust me, I've done it. Lemmon had me cracking up every time he came on screen, with the way he slowly accepts his female alter-ego and then begins to embrace it. And don't get me started on Monroe. I don't know if I've ever seen her in a sexier role. Not to be too misogynistic, but damn.

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Other Great Films From September

13 Assassins (2011)

eXistenZ (1999)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Limitless (2011)

Super (2011)

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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)

Ricochet Reviews: Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Jane Eyre, 5050, Win Win

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Director: Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?)

Documentary

On Bluray + DVD: August 23, 2011

Synopsis: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold follows Morgan Spurlock as he tries to get advertisement funding for his movie The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. The film records the different hoops Spurlock has to go through to appease his partners and questions the line between legitimate funding and selling out.

Comments: This is like the Inception of documentaries. Spurlock meets with businesses asking for money for a film he wants to make... while filming the actual movie. I'm a sucker for meta-film stuff like this, and Sold is a great example of how that concept can work perfectly. It also forces you to keep that meta-film aspect in mind when thinking about how these people conduct their advertising business. Would they really work like this off-screen, or are they playing it up for the camera? The commercials Spurlock intersperses throughout the film are also ingeniously integrated. My only criticism of the film is that it really doesn't open your eyes about the inner workings of the advertising-film industry much if you have a good idea to begin with. But when a documentary is this hilarious and entertaining, who cares?

Jane Eyre

Director: Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre)

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench

On Bluray + DVD: August 16, 2011

Synopsis: Jane Eyre tells the same story as that book you probably had to read in high school. Jane (Wasikowska) is an orphan who goes to work at Thornfield, a mansion owned by Mr. Rochester (Fassbender). The film follows their friendship and eventual relationship through many tribulations.

Comments: I don't see Jane Eyre winning anyone over who read and hated the book in high school. This is a fairly accurate adaptation, capturing all of the most important pieces of the book and cutting off a lot of the excess that a novel allows you to have. However, for fans of the book, this should be a great experience. Fukunaga actually restructures the way the story is told, beginning with St. John and presenting the actual story as if she is reciting her history to him. It actually makes the story more interesting, allowing the film to shift between points in time. Technically the film is a marvel, as well. Eyre is one of the most beautiful films of the year, with gorgeous scenery and locations. Wasikowska gives Jane an interesting personality and gives a notable performance. She did seem a bit wooden during parts of the film, but then again, I remember Jane being a bit wooden in the book. The real star here, just like in the new X-Men, is Michael Fassbender. As Mr. Rochester, he takes over every time he's on screen, giving his character a larger-than-life persona, just like his character should be. Again, Jane Eyre is only really for those interested in the book, but if you are, it's a great film.

50/50

Director: Jonathan Levine (The Wackness, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane)

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard

Currently in Theaters 

Synopsis: 50/50 is about Adam (Gordon-Levitt), a radio writer, who is diagnosed with a cancer that has a 50% survival rate. In the film, Adam learns to cope with his disease with a little help from his friend, Kyle (Rogen), and his psychologist, Katie (Kendrick).

Comments: 50/50 is that rare comedy that manages to walk the fine line between drama and laughter without tipping over. Many movies like this feel the need to keep the laughs going during their serious scenes, and this usually ends up ruining what could've been a poignant moment. 50/50 is smart enough to compartmentalize its comedic scenes from its more serious ones, allowing the real emotion of the scene to come through. This isn't to say that the movie is melodramatic. It's just an emotional story, and you can't tell it right if you're cracking jokes in the middle of a cancer diagnosis. Which isn't to suggest that 50/50 is light on jokes. In fact, the movie is hilarious. This balance of comedy and drama works so well because of the performances of Rogen and Gordon-Levitt. As Kyle, Rogen is literally playing himself (the film's writer, the guy who got cancer, was best friends with Rogen during his cancer), so if you weren't a fan of his stuff to begin with, he's not going to win you over here. However, I think Rogen is hilarious, and he definitely brings the laughs here, too. On the dramatic side is Gordon-Levitt, who gives one of the best performances of the year. He's able to bring the right emotion to each scene, reserving his explosive outbursts for when it would have the greatest impact. And it surely has an impact: the scene in the car is one of the more memorable of the film. If you're looking for a comedy that has something extra along with the laughs, 50/50 is a great choice.

Win Win

Director: Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor, The Station Agent)

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Bobby Canavale

On Bluray + DVD: August 23, 2011

Synopsis: Win Win tells the story of Mike (Giamatti), a lawyer and wrestling coach, who decides to earn some extra money by becoming a legal guardian for an elderly client of his. When the old man's grandson, Kyle (Shaffer), runs away from his drug-addict mother to come visit, Mike is forced to take the boy in.

Comments: Win Win is actually a very well-made film. The performances are great throughout (other than the boy), the plot is interesting, and the characters are, for the most part, distinctive. But there's just something missing here that would have elevated this film to another level of greatness. Throughout the film I found myself waiting for the next scene not because I was engaged with the film but simply because I wanted to know how it ended. Like I said, the plot is interesting. It just didn't touch me on any significant level. Additionally, while the characters are distinctive, they seem kind of unrealistic. Which is odd, because it's so obvious that McCarthy was going for a sense of realism with these characters. It's hard to really explain what keeps this film from being really great, but something did. I still liked it, I just found myself wanting something better at the end.