GRAND PIANO is pretty cool. Scott Weinberg called it "PHONE BOOTH in a concert hall--except it's quite a bit better than that." If I heard the elevator speech for this film, I'd say "Not gonna work." But they made it work.

There's a lot you can pick on here, but overall it worked for me despite the clunkiness. I wasn't sure whether the VFX were good or a little off, which leads me to suspect that maybe there was something a little off (?). I enjoyed this. I have a blast with most Paul W.S. Anderson films.

More like Winter's Stale! This godawful film was written and directed by the guy who wrote A BEAUTIFUL MIND, BATMAN & ROBIN, and THE DA VINCI CODE. It's the first film I've seen in a while that's so aggressively bad that I actually sat there in a state of disbelief. Apparently it's based on a book. I haven't read the book, but somehow I'm able to tell you with absolute certainty that the book is better. If you explained magical realism to someone on peyote, then told him to remember that "love conquers all," then asked him to tell you a story--he would tell this movie's story, except he'd do a better job telling it and wouldn't force Russell Crowe on you.

I enjoyed Jack the Giant Slayer with kids. It was a bit by-the-numbers and full of anachronisms, but it had some good humor and characters (not Jack, unfortunately) and kept up a good pace.

And what is odd is, he actually contributed to some good Fringe episodes. He should stick to TV, frankly.

I'm going to be that film snob and say that the original "Infernal Affairs" is better

Edit: Saw After Earth - it's ok, I love the design work on the ships and Nova Prime, main flaw is that it hasn't really thought through the concept of how humans would handle the Ursa monster, and seems to insist on giving the human rangers only bladed weapons, which is utterly retarded. We don't try to fight lions and tigers with swords, we use these things called guns.

Last edited by redxavier (2014-02-23 18:10:12)

There's a lot to unpack in The Departed.  It's possibly my favorite Scorcese, and damn, my girl Thelma is on fucking POINT in this one.  Tons of metaphor and every visual plays to theme about self deception and the poison of ambition.  Rewatch the movie, but with this thought:  Matt Damon's character is closeted.   They don't come out and say it, but it's heavily hinted at through the story.  It adds an extra layer of depth behind his choices.

Last edited by Eddie (2014-02-24 17:55:35)

Rewatched The Insider again, as I try to do every year.

Still a fucking masterpiece and possibly the crowning achievement of the 90s as far as I'm concerned. This time in particular I noticed how amazing the cinematography is, the way Mann uses his edits and frame compositions. Stylistically, it really is one of the most powerful examples of filmmaking talent I've ever seen, taking a totally un-cinematic story and making it extremely tense and compelling.

All Is Lost - Frustrating.  I don't know what I was expecting with a title like that, but there was really little to like about this movie.

Drinking Buddies - Enjoyable, great performances, mostly.  Zero plot.  Olivia Wilde made a believer out of me.

All Is Lost seems to be the most binary Love it/Hate It movie of 2013. *

I loved it, but I absolutely understand why someone would hate it. 

* Except maybe Upstream Color, which I haven't seen yet.

That's how it works, I think. Movies that are perplexing seem to get people's hate juices flowing more than movies that (they find) merely boring. The beef people seem to have with UPSTREAM boils down to "I don't know WTF is happening" whereas with ALL IS LOST people could follow the action easily (it's as simple as a story gets) but were bored by it. Being told a story that makes you feel bored versus being told a story that makes you feel stupid, I guess.

Also, will someone PLEASE end Paul W.S. Anderson.  END HIM NOW.

8/10

6.5/10

6/10

5.5/10

8/10

Upstream Colour boils down to people who watched it and people who pretended to like it!