Curiosity Inc.

I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to this one. Leaving aside the title that says precisely nothing, this looked like yet another movie made exclusively to pander to black audiences in the wake of Tyler Perry. Yes, it stars Chris Rock, but so what? The guy’s a legendary stand-up comedian, sure, but it’s been a very long time since he made a film worth watching. I assume. Can anyone tell me if he was the least bit funny in Grown-Ups, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, or any of the Madagascar films? I’ve made a point to avoid them all like the plague.

Yet I was willing to give Top Five a shot because the critical reception has been overwhelmingly positive and it’s not like I have anything else to write about right now.

And oh my God, it was so good.

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Ridley Scott really should have quit while he was ahead. Yes, Alien is an immortal masterpiece, Blade Runner is a classic by any definition, and even Gladiator was a very good film. But what has he given us more recently? Between the infamous failure of Prometheus and the baffling misfire called The Counselor, to say nothing of his already-forgotten Robin Hood retelling, Ridley Scott’s reputation isn’t nearly as pristine as it used to be. Sure, a couple of bad movies could just be a dry spell, but the man is 77 years old. How much does he have left in the tank, really?

So here’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, in which Ridley Scott attempts to dramatize the story of Moses. I’ll say this for Scott, he’s not afraid to swing for the fences. I was very much looking forward to reviewing this one, given the talent involved, the sheer scale of the production, and the present status of Scott’s career. This could either have been a triumphant return to form for Scott or a failure so catastrophic that it would be the final nail in the coffin. So let’s see how things worked out.

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Sorry, gentle readers, I know it’s been a while. I was out of town for Thanksgiving, I’ve been hard at work on finals, and I’ve been desperate for Portland cinema to give me something I can work with. Seriously, anything. I don’t care about any of the Madagascar films, I’m already resolved not to see Mockingjay Part 1 until the last film is closer to release, and there isn’t much of anything else right now that I haven’t already covered. I’m glad that some relief is on the horizon this coming weekend, but first let’s talk about The Homesman.

This was apparently a passion project of Tommy Lee Jones, who co-wrote, co-produced, and directed this picture. Luc Besson is also listed among the pro Read the rest of this entry →

A couple years ago, there was this movie called Lincoln. It grossed $275 million worldwide, racked up a 90 percent Tomatometer, and earned two Academy Awards (Best Actor and Best Production Design) out of a staggering twelve nominations (including Best Picture). It was a good picture and it was very well-received. I bring the movie up because it was a biopic that didn’t try to summarize the entire life of Abraham Lincoln. Instead, it portrayed the last four months of Lincoln’s life, using that little slice of life to represent the greater whole.

Why is that so hard?!

No, really, why hasn’t this approach caught on? I completely fail to understand why biopic filmmakers continue to persist in cramming years — even decades — of story into two hours’ running time. Not only does it cheapen the source material, but it practically guarantees that the resulting story will not be clearly focused or well-paced.

Case in point: The Theory of Everything.

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I think it’s fair to say that in recent years, Christopher Nolan has become a victim of his own success. Ever since Memento — and Batman Begins to a much greater degree — it seems like everyone has been expecting Nolan to reinvent cinema. And not just once, but with every film he makes. It’s certainly not without reason: Nolan is a highly skilled filmmaker and he’s one of the few people in Hollywood with the leverage and creativity to try and make the next great intellectual masterpiece with an original premise and a hundred-million-dollar budget. Read the rest of this entry →

Wow, 2014 has been bad for Pixar.

So far this year, animation fans have been blessed with such offerings as The Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Book of Life, and The Boxtrolls. Hell, even Mr. Peabody and Sherman had its moments. And what did Pixar bring to the table? An announcement for a Toy Story sequel that absolutely nobody asked for.

This was a sterling year for animation even before anyone from the Mouse House threw their hat into the ring. Yet here’s Disney Animation Studios, the perpetual sibling rival to Pixar, coming off a trio of increasingly great films that culminated in the world-conquering smash called Frozen. Even better, DAS partnered with their new friends at Marvel, another Disney subsidiary that seems to have taken over the world within a few short years.

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