"LOOPER" 3 stars outta 4

"Looper"
Written and Directed by Rian Johnson
Produced by Ram Bergman and James D. Stern
Director of Photography Steve Yedlin
Production Designer Ed Verreaux
Edited by Bob Ducsay
Music by Nathan Johnson

I liked "Looper".  It's a smart little time travel movie.  I'm just waiting for Bruce Willis to complete his "Man Meeting Himself from a Different Time Trilogy".  Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been in almost everything this year.  But he's a damn fine actor.  And this is definitely his movie, make no mistake.  Bruce Willis really isn't in it all that much.  But having said that, Bruce Willis gives the least sleepwalk through a performance performance since...well...Unbreakable I guess.

I'm not going to get into the plot or anything because it's pretty complicated.  The acting is all-around great.  Jeff Daniels is always a welcome presence in anything he's in.  And Paul Dano's character has a killer "exit" scene.  But for me, the real standout was the performance that Pierce Gagnon gives.  Easily one of the greatest child performances ever.  Every time he was onscreen I was astonished that this kid of about 5 years old was so good.

What can I say?  It's a good movie.  It isn't without it's plot holes, but generally is makes it's time travel conceit plausible.  Fun movie.  Recommended.

-T.B.

"THE MASTER" 2 1/2 stars outta 4

"The Master"
Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Produced by JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi
Director of Photography Mihai Malaimare, Jr.
Production Design by Jack Fisk and David Crank
Edited by Leslie Jones and Peter McNulty
Music by Jonny Greenwood

Eh.

It's always tough giving your opinion of a film by a person who is so obviously...going his own way, so to speak.  I definitely can't say that he's unoriginal.  Paul Thomas Anderson does not make usual films.  And I applaud him for that, even though I will tell you that I've only truly LIKED one of his films in "There Will Be Blood".  And I believe the reason why that's the only film in his filmography that I had a very positive reaction to was because it was his most straightforward STORY.  It was a film that had one undisputed character and we saw his story.

"The Master" is a movie that even now, writing this review, three weeks after having seen it, I still really don't know what to make of it.  And if after all this time, I'm still on the fence, I'm just going to say that it's a movie that has it's moments, but I'm ultimately unable to recommend it.

I think it's pretty clear that P.T. Anderson wants to be the next Kubrick.  Everything about "The Master" is technically flawless.  Mihai Malaimare, Jr.'s cinematography is absolutely gorgeous.  The acting of Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman is fucking brilliant.  And sometimes that's enough to make a movie great and recommendable.  But unfortunately with Anderson's films a lot of the time, he just makes it too difficult for you to like it.  The sheer incoherence of story or structure keeps the film from being great.  Now I'm not one of those people that thinks every movie should be explained.  Kubrick almost never made movies that, when they were over, you knew exactly what you saw.  But Kubrick's films were always well crafted, and most importantly...ENTERTAINING.  "Barry Lyndon" is a very long movie.  Very long.  But for all of Kubrick's famous slow pacing, you just wanted to keep on watching.  He had a sense of humor.  Only recently after rewatching "The Shining" for the first time in a while, I came to the idea that Kubrick was making a dark comedy with that film.  The sheer experience of taking in that movie was enough to make you feel good, even though the famous last shot of Jack Nicholson in the picture from 1921 was like "what the fuck?!"

To me, it seems like Paul Thomas Anderson wants to be the next Kubrick, but he isn't.  I think he's closer to a Terrence Malick.  And that's a guy whose films I CAN'T STAND!

-T.B.

"ARGO" 3 stars outta 4

"Argo"
Directed by Ben Affleck
Screenplay by Chris Terrio
Produced by Ben Affleck, Grant Heslov and George Clooney
Director of Photography Rodrigo Prieto
Production Designer Sharon Seymour
Edited by William Goldenberg
Music by Alexandre Desplat


So my first review is a Ben Affleck movie.  And it's pretty darn good.  How 'bout that?  Now, I must confess I did not see either of Affleck's previous two directing efforts "Gone Baby Gone" or "The Town".  So although the buzz surrounding this movie was good, I really didn't know what to expect from this filmmaker.

So call me very pleasantly surprised that Mr. Voyage of the Mimi was able to craft an amount of suspense and tension that would've made Hitchcock blush.  One thing I want to avoid when I review a film is giving away all the secrets.  Far too many reviews give away the whole goddamn movie.  So I'll try to keep my criticism pointed and non-spoilery.

For the most part, this movie about a CIA operative using the cover of a film shoot to rescue Americans trapped in Iran after the storming of the embassy is tight, well paced, and smart.  Chris Terrio's screenplay gets right to the point and at exactly 2 hours in length, this movie doesn't have a shred of fat that is in need of being burned off.  Having said that, a lot has been made of how entertaining the Hollywood references are in addition to the performances of Alan Arkin and John Goodman.  Yes, they're both very good.  But when are they not?  These are two old pros of Hollywood and yes, they're a lot of fun to watch in this film, but they really aren't in the movie very much at all.  This movie really is more about Affleck's character getting to Iran and teaching the Americans holed up at a Canadian ambassador's house how to fake like they're a movie crew to get out.

So all the Iran stuff is great.  Really tense, well acted, well filmed, etc.  But probably the biggest criticism I can give this movie is that Ben Affleck really shouldn't have cast himself as the main lead.  His character has zero dimension and he plays it even more robotic.  I think if Affleck had cast someone who could show a little bit more vulnerability, that would've made the film even better.  I'm not saying you need a lot, but you still need a little more information about the guy to make him care whether he lives or not.  And giving him a daughter he talks to for one minute doesn't count.

Honestly, I really don't know what all the Oscar buzz about this film is about.  It's a rather good, solid thriller.  It really might just be for the fact that this has been an extremely lame year for movies, that this one seems like a great one.  But there really isn't anything that Oscar worthy about it.  It's just a good movie.  Recommended definitely.  But I would say, lower your expectations a smidgeon.

-T.B.

An Introduction

Hello.  Welcome to my little blog.  A blog about movies.

I've always been a huge movie lover.  Some of my earliest memories were of my family going to the movie theater.  I remember "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" scaring the shit out of me.  Tim Burton's "Batman" was a revelation of how music in movies could be used.

I've always had strong opinions of different movies.  I really wouldn't call myself overly picky, but I do sort of see myself as one of the crotchety old guys reminiscing about the 'good ol' days'.  Unfortunately, I just don't understand why the state of the movie business is the way it is right now.  Actually, that's not true at all.  I just lied to you.  I understand completely the reason.  But it's just sad.

So anyhoo, to make the long story short.

(Too late!)

This is my blog where I review movies and stuff...

Enjoy...

Or not.  I really don't care.

-T.B.