Blue Valentine

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Writers: Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, Joey Curtis
Starring: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling
Release Date: December 29, 2010
Length: 1 hour 52 minutes

Academy Award nominated actors Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling star in one of the most touching romances of all time. Blue Valentine tells the story of two people that weren’t necessarily wrong for each other, but had unfortunate circumstances and bad luck in their relationship. The film starts off with Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) as an already married couple living with their toddler, Frankie (Faith Wladyka). The film flashes back to when the pair first met, when Cindy was a college student and Dean was working at a moving company, both in their early twenties. The audience clearly sees the difference from when they got together to the present time in both the relationship and in the characters themselves. The film recurrently goes back and forth from past to present with the flashbacks becoming shorter as the film continues and the scenes in present time becoming longer. Blue Valentine is obviously not a feel good movie but should not automatically be categorized as a depressing film. The movie perfectly captures the definition of bittersweet. There is a balance of happiness and sadness within the film but as previously said, the present becomes more prominent toward the end of the film. Therefore, the end has most of that melancholy. How you see Cindy and Dean start their romance is very sweet and romantic and what you see of their marriage now is quite stressful and complicated. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is that the film only shows you the first few months of their relationship and the implied last few months of their relationship. There is no middle or in-between because the audience can easily figure out how the marriage ended up the way it did.  The extreme differences in the characters makes it seem like twenty years has gone by because they seem like adolescents in the past and mature adults in the present, when really it’s only been four or five years. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling perform a wonderful heartbreaking relationship to watch on screen. Both actors are simply remarkable in this film making some scenes seem extremely real. By the end of the film, you feel like a third invisible character in their relationship and you may not be crying but maybe breathing very hard from just leaving someone else’s life. Blue Valentine tells one of the most honest beautiful stories of a wrongly failed relationship that could have been successful given different circumstances. It is an intense experience watching this film but not a miserable one. Don’t be scared to see Blue Valentine.

Barney's Version

Director: Richard J. Lewis

Writers: Michael Konyves, Mordechai Richler (author)

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Dustin Hoffman

Release Date: December 24, 2010

Length: 2 hours 12 minutes

The adaptation and release of Mordechai Richler’s classic, Barney’s Version has been highly anticipated and long awaited. Fans of the novel have either been waiting for this day to approach since reading it or have feared the day the story would not translate well onto screen. There is a lot of pressure on a film like this to be made in the right way and all the questions need to be asked. Did director Richard J. Lewis convey the essence of the novel on screen? Did Screenwriter Michael Konyves capture the Canadian Jewishness from the book in the characters? And finally did Paul Giamatti do justice to our favourite lovable schmuck, Barney Panofsky? The movie starts off with middle-aged, hard-drinking Barney already thrice divorced. He runs into an old acquaintance at a bar who has just released a book describing the murder Barney should have been committed for twenty five years ago. After arguing and wittily telling him off, that Barney does so frequently, Barney spirals into the memories of how he remembers his life and his version of the story. We dive into his past with his adventurous best friend, Boogie, his crazy lovable father, Izzy and his three very different wives; the whimsical Clara, the exasperating second Mrs. Panofsky and the beloved apple of his eye, Miriam. Every fear and every worry that this movie would not be faithful to the book or enjoyable in the same way was squelched within the first five minutes of the film. Screenwriter Michael Konyves beautifully condensed Barney’s whole life from the novel into two perfect hours. Even when important characters only had two or three short scenes, they still came across to the audience as vital people in Barney’s life. For example, when the character of Clara is introduced, she is already pregnant and about to marry Barney the next day. At first, I was a little peeved there wasn’t more back-story to her character but soon realized the film incredibly caught the significance of her and Barney’s relationship within six short minutes. Something else that was effective about this adaptation was the interesting changes to the story and setting of the film taken from the original book. For example, the novel spans his life from the 1950’s to the 1990’s, when the book was released. The film bumped everything up 20 years to make it current. Also, in the novel, although Barney grows up and loves Montreal, he moves to Toronto later in his life with Miriam. In the film, Toronto is changed to New York City as Toronto in the book is not important and may as well be any other popular North American city. These choices made the film globally appealing to those who haven’t read or heard of the original novel while still keeping it close to home for the fans, with Barney’s love for Montreal and hockey. What makes a great adaptation from a novel are a carefully altered story that this film clearly had and a phenomenal cast to bring those beloved characters to life. There are many crucial characters in Barney’s Version that need to be done accurately and every actor given a character in this film performed that task exceptionally. Whether it was Dustin Hoffman with his hilarious dirty-mouthed performance as Barney’s loving, close father or Minnie Driver, with her nailed down Montreal Jewish accent as Barney’s neurotic second wife, every actor was a joy to watch. Rachele Lefevre’s performance as Clara was undeniably one of the best in the film. The audience knew that because she only had, as mentioned before, a few short moments on screen at the beginning of the film and you still remembered her at the end. British actress Rosamund Pike wonderfully captured the understanding beautiful character of Miriam from the novel. Her relationship with Barney on screen was the same in the book, in that you know she is the most important person in his life because she puts up with all his shtick and will always love Barney for his big heart. She encapsulates that essence of perfection that the character of Miriam always has in Barney’s mind. Wonderful performances also came from Canadian actors Scott Speedman as Boogie, Bruce Greenwood as Blair, Miriam’s second husband, and Saul Rubinek as Charnofsky, Clara’s father. The greatest performance of this film and by far one of the best performances of the year was Paul Giamatti as the man himself, Barney Panofsky. He kept the same personality of Barney from the book, while incorporating his own slight take on the character and carries the entire movie so well. One of the best qualities of this character in the book is that Mordechai Richler does the best job of making us love him and hate him constantly. Giamatti does the exact same thing, if not more so than Richler’s writing. Director Richard J. Lewis and producer Robert Lantos, who was a close friend of Richler’s, give us a touching adaptation of Richler’s classic masterwork and by far one of the best films of the year. Do not miss out on Barney’s Version. 

The King's Speech

Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: David Seidler
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
Release Date: December 10, 2010
Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush star in the highly anticipated true story of the stammering King George VI, The Kings Speech. The film, directed by Tom Hooper, takes place in England just before World War II and Hitler’s rise to power. Prince Albert, Duke of York (Firth) has always been teased and tormented for having his nervous speech impediment and the only person he can confide to about it is his loving wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter). Since a failed public speech Albert was asked to give in 1925, Albert has been trying to shake off his stutter with different speech therapists and vocal coaches. None of them having worked, Elizabeth finds the peculiar speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Rush). Although Albert goes through a successful first appointment with Lionel, he dislikes how personal the therapy is and chooses not to go back. When Albert’s father (Michael Gambon) dies and his older brother David (Guy Pearce) becomes King, Prince Albert worries among others that his unreliable brother will not be able to lead his country through a time of dreaded war. It is suspected that Albert will have to replace him at a certain point so Albert decides to go back to see Lionel and continues to do so weekly. David eventually steps down from his title as King due to a scandal between him and a married woman. This leaves Prince Albert to change his name to George after his father and prepare to be king, which includes speaking like one. Colin Firth is nothing short of extraordinary as King George VI and carries the entire movie so beautifully. He makes the audience do nothing but empathize for him from beginning to end. Upon every stammer of a word, the audience has their heart torn for him. Between each word of his speaking, everyone sits there in intense anticipation waiting for him to either heartbreakingly stutter or blissfully speak without a hitch. Firth simply makes The Kings Speech one of the most heartwarming films of all time. He is accompanied by a fantastic cast of British actors including Michael Gambon as his father, King George V, Guy Pearce as his older brother, Edward and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill. Geoffrey Rush, who also produced the film, is hilarious and also touching as the loving family man Lionel Logue. Rush and Firth create one of the best “bromances” ever on screen. Helena Bonham Carter is also wonderful as the composed Queen Elizabeth. The almost unseen romance between her and the king is quite cute and Bonham Carter also provides extra humor here and there during the film. David Seidler’s original script provides such a moving quality to the film and deep characterization of King George VI for the audience to fully understand and appreciate the stammer. It is no surprise that The Kings Speech won the People’s Choice Awards at the Toronto International Film Festival last September as it is by far one of the best films of the year. You’ll feel like you want to hug the film when it is over and will be an extreme misfortune if The King’s Speech does not receive winning recognition at the Oscars this February.  

The Fighter

Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams
Release Date: December 10, 2010
Length: 1 hour 46 minutes

Mark Wahlberg takes on the compelling true story of championship boxer Mickey Ward, as the main producer as well as starring in the title role. Wahlberg went through a long, complicated struggle to get this film made and done in a way to really give Ward’s story justice. In 1991, Ward was living in Lowell, Massachusetts, fighting low profile matches set up by his manager mother (Melissa Leo) and one hit wonder half brother, Dicky Ecklund (Christian Bale), who took down Sugar Ray Leonard in the boxing ring 15 years ago. Dicky is referred to as “The Pride Of Lowell” despite his current cocaine addiction everyone chooses to ignore. Tired of losing fights and his constant unreliable brother, Micky begins training professionally with encouragement from his girlfriend, Charlene (Amy Adams). Soon though, it becomes difficult to keep family separate from business when he remembers his brother has taught him everything he knows. This Fighter is not a sports epic of a film. There is no exaggerated or overdramatic family troubles or rough childhood. Everything you see in the movie seems genuinely real. Of course, a lot of this movie revolves around his family, much more so than the actual sport of boxing but it is done in a subtle authentic way that isn’t shoved in your face to make you think his life is so hard when it isn’t. This is a bona fide, humorous, touching depiction of an inspiring true story with groundbreaking performances. No one would ever guess that Christian Bale is a Welsh actor from seeing this movie. Bale portrays Dicky Ecklund as a good-for-nothing egotistic coke addict who also loves his brother more than anything. If it’s the way Bale walks or the way he speaks or just his physical presence on screen, you forget that this is the same actor we saw play the stone faced Bruce Wayne just two years ago in The Dark Knight. This is a rare exceptional performance similar in a way to Jeremy Renner’s in The Town, where the second hand man or sidekick steals the whole entire movie. Bale, believe it or not, did not steal the entire film. He shared it, not with Wahlberg who is the star, but with actress Melissa Leo who portrayed Dicky and Micky’s mom, Alice. Not many movies come out in a year with a real knockout performance. The Fighter amazingly enough manages to include two of the best performances of the entire year. Melissa Leo plays the judgmental, confident, slightly ignorant mother of the two boys. She manages to capture the same unexplainable essence that Bale captured, where we dislike her character for who she is but love her for how much she cares for Micky. She also adds surprisingly constant humor to the film that makes the movie so enjoyable all around. There are only three or four scenes in this film that made me laugh but during those scenes, I couldn’t stop laughing. The slight humor added makes the film well rounded and you know you truly loved it because you enjoyed it on more than one level. Amy Adams is also very funny in the film as Micky’s strong willed girlfriend and Mark Wahlberg carries the film as the protagonist very well.  The screenwriters focus the plot of The Fighter entirely on Ward’s personal life, which makes for such a unique sports biopic. Sometimes you forget about this theme of sport in the film because it’s just a well-told story of a family. It may have taken five years for Wahlberg to get this endearing movie made the right way but I hope he’s patting himself on the back right now because it was completely worth it. Director David O. Russell nails every part of this movie to the ground and there is nothing left to have a resistance to. As one of the best films of the year and one of the most incredible sports films of all time, you would seriously be missing out if you didn’t see The Fighter.

True Grit

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Charles Portis (author)
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon
Release Date: December 22, 2010
Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Based on the 1968 novel by Charles Portis, True Grit is the latest Coen Brother’s film to hit theatres. Although there is a famous 1969 adaptation of the novel starring John Wayne, the Coen Brothers said this wasn’t a remake of the first film but a faithful adaptation of the original book. This is one of the only inexplicit films of theirs to receive a PG-13 rating making it more of a family film. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and fantastic newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as the incorrigible Mattie Ross. After a man named Tom Cheney shoots her father to death, 14-year-old Mattie Ross makes it her duty to find Cheney and kill him. She hires the crude one-eyed Marshall Rooster Cogburn to help find her father and is annoyingly accompanied by Texas Ranger Labeouf on their dangerous expedition to capture Cheney. The vital difference between this adaptation and the original with John Wayne is that this film still includes the comedy of the characters beautifully but has much more, with no pun intended, grit. The Coen Brothers can always blend comedy well with intensity and action but they had a slightly harder job keeping the tension and eeriness without making it gory or disturbing. Personally, that’s what I found this film had over the original was the combination of comedy and suspense while the original was a fun goofy adventure story. Whether you like the Coen Brothers or not, you can’t deny that they always make sure to have an exceptional cast of actors. Jeff Bridges, a frequent collaborator with the Coen Brothers, was the perfect choice for the old Rooster Cogburn. Bridges gave the character power and intimidation while also showing a certain laziness that comes with his constant drunkenness. Matt Damon took on Glenn Campbell’s old role of the handsome LaBeouf that doesn’t get along well with Mattie at first but develops an odd connection with her by the end of the movie. Damon also brought a surprising humor and easy-going attitude to the character and film, which we are not used to seeing him give. Josh Brolin, with only two scenes, gave a funny performance of the idiotic redneck murderer, Tom Cheney. The real star of the movie was the scene-stealing Hailee Steinfeld as the stubborn Mattie Ross. If there is one thing I definitely enjoyed in this film more than the original was Steinfeld’s performance as Ross as compared to Kim Darby’s in the original. Steinfeld has made Mattie a much stronger, tougher character that has a hidden young vulnerability she never lets through. Her robust performance made the entire movie, as it should with Mattie being the main protagonist. Her zealous presence constantly stole the screen away from Brolin, Damon and even Jeff Bridges himself sometimes. It’s easy to say I preferred this film to the 1969 version, not because I thought it was a better film in general but because it came off as quite a different movie from the first that I found myself enjoying more. True Grit is fun to watch but is certainly not one of the Coen Brother’s best. They’d probably be better off making films for their usual mature audience however True Grit is still quite a great film.

How Do You Know

Director: James L. Brooks
Writer: James L. Brooks
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd
Release Date: December 17, 2010
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

Academy Award winning writer/director James L. Brooks seems to be a guy that hits or misses a movie. An example of the hit would be As Good As It Gets that won 2 Oscars in 1997 and an example of the miss would be Spanglish, a film starring Adam Sandler from 2004. I have only become aware of this hit/miss theory for him in recent weeks as I thought that my enjoyment of As Good As It Gets or Terms of Endearment would be trust enough that I would enjoy any of his movies, including How Do You Know. Lisa Jorgensen is a thirty something Team USA softball player who’s unexpectedly been cut from her team. She starts to see Major league baseball player Matty Reynolds who is very attractive but also a complete moron. George Madison is a business executive who finds himself the target of a criminal investigation for corporate malfeasance, which might have something to do with his demanding father, Charles (Jack Nicolson).  The first and possibly the only thing to appreciate about this movie is that it is a romantic comedy done in an original different way. You can tell that that’s all the movie is (or trying to be) because the only thing that ever happens in this movie is the slow changes of Lisa’s love life. This film is also trying in every way to be funny and the rare one-liners that were humorous were all put into the movie trailer that most people going to this movie have seen. It wasn’t that there were bad jokes that made you feel embarrassed but there were scenes or odd situations where you awkwardly knew you were “supposed” to be laughing. The usual result of not laughing in a hypothetical comedy is being completely bored which is, of course, what happened. In order to not be bored, you don’t necessarily need humor. Genuine interest in the story can help you sit through a film a lot easier even if it lacks humor. Lisa, the protagonist of the film was the furthest thing from intriguing because of a combination of uninteresting writing and Reese Witherspoon’s performance. I didn’t know or really care if she wanted a relationship or casual sex because sometimes she was happy with the great sex from her boyfriend, not caring that he’s an idiot and at other times she would be getting angry at him for doing something a serious boyfriend wouldn’t do, like cheat on her for example. Lisa’s confusion about where she was in her life and what she wanted left no impression on the audience whatsoever. Her two love interests played by Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd were actually interesting and sometimes funny but were usually overpowered by the weak character development and dull plot. Owen Wilson provided the few laughs generated from this movie and Paul Rudd’s cute performance only made me feel sorry for him being in such a pitiful vehicle. Those two actors were probably the only things keeping me from detesting this movie with a passion. The great Jack Nicolson was involved in the most wearisome part of the movie, with a sub-plot that wasn’t completely clear. I never fully understood what the business-related crime was and how it was connected to George’s father but by the end, I just wanted that sub-plot over with. The romance between Witherspoon and Rudd was a little cute but not much more due to Witherspoon’s annoyingly indecisive character. How Do You Know is not a complete disaster of a film but given the fantastic movies out this season, you’d be wise spending your money elsewhere. You won’t regret skipping How Do You Know.

Black Swan

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Mark Heyman, Andre Heinz, John McLaughlin
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Release Date: December 3, 2010
Length: 1 hour 48 minutes

The beautiful Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis star in Darren Arronofsky’s eerie sexual thriller Black Swan, a beautifully reflective story about a girl named Nina who lands the lead role of The Swan Queen in the company’s rendition of Swan Lake. Sheltered, innocent and mid-twenties Nina is unexpectedly chosen by the head of the company, Toma, a passionate, crude Frenchman that is oddly attracted to her. Toma knows that Nina can easily play the flawless White Swan but worries she wont be able to embody the dark sexy character of the Black Swan, the White Swan’s evil twin sister. Nina meets the new member of the company, Lily, a free-spirited easy going dancer who is virtually the opposite of the near-perfect Nina. At first, Nina is scarily confused by Lily but soon she befriends her and realizes how secluded her life is. She begins to awake the Black Swan within herself, which helps her in the performance but starts to corrupt her mind and drive her insane. This is a very artistic creative film that can be left up to interpretation without confusing you. It is just strange enough to keep your interest without being too unusual for the general audience to appreciate. Black Swan isn’t a complete mind trip where you wonder if it’s real or not but is an enthralling stunning two hours of subtle questioning of reality. Without the story, the film is visually magnetic enough to captivate the audience. It’s like watching a moving piece of art from one shot to the next. The hallucinatory aspect of the film allowed it to have intriguing and extraordinary visual backdrops and surroundings that set the disturbing tone of the movie so well. Natalie Portman is fantastic in her role as Nina as we watch her transform from naïve cold girl into a wicked grown woman. Portman somehow makes it saddening to see her go from good to evil but at the same time makes the audience intrigued by the black swan and desiring her to finally take over Nina. It is unsettling to say the least but I found myself under a binding spell where I was enchanted by this second personality. This is by far one of Natalie Portman best performances and rightly deserves recognition this coming Oscar season. This is Mila Kunis’ first role in a real dramatic film or at least in a film as dark and twisted as this. She also makes her character completely alluring but in a different way. Right off the top, she seems like a charming likable funny girl but obviously with a slight dark side. As Portman’s character becomes unstable, we see the interesting Lily, who may have caused this transformation, as really quite nice and normal. Not only is Kunis beautiful but she also makes her character extremely intriguing without making her seem crazy in the slightest. French actor Vincent Cassel is wonderful in his role as the sexually driven Toma. His constant sexual advances and comments toward Nina come off a little gross but sometimes funny as well. His relationship with Nina, although a bit creepy, is also extremely engrossing as the two actors share an unconventional chemistry. In a completely different direction from The Wrestler, Darren Arronofsky delves into a thrilling story that leaves you feeling upset and wonderful at the same time. Black Swan will make you not only question the character but how you yourself came to love this film so much.