Movie Review: Her

Image via Huffington Post.

Yes, “Her” is about a man who falls in love with his computer. But eventually, the fact that the love interest in question is a computer will not faze you at all. That is the magic of “Her.”

“Her” is a little bit of everything. For anyone looking for a good laugh, a tear-jerking romance, and a science fiction fable all in one, “Her” is the perfect solution. The film takes place during an unspecified date in the future, though time doesn’t exactly matter. This is, however, one of the more accurate imaginings of the future on film. There are no flying cars or hoverboards here. "Her" is on par with “Children of Men,” minus all of the random acts of violence.

Movie Review: Spring Breakers

“Spring Breakers” walks like art. It talks like art. But it is not art. It is a scatter-brained collection of pretty colors and hot bodies disguised as art. Or maybe it is art and you just don’t get it, man.

The reason I just didn’t get “Spring Breakers” is that there was nothing for me to get. There was nothing to cling onto or explore deeper, and there was even less to be entertained by.

“Spring Breakers” follows four sheltered college girls from Kentucky. Their one real dream is to go to Florida for a real spring break experience. The problem is, they have no money. So, out of nowhere they decide to rob a store. They make off with a big enough score that they can have their spring break in a state that is mostly occupied by criminals and old Jews.

Movie Review Anchorman 2

I was going into the seventh grade when "Anchorman" came out. I was just the right age to be completely inspired and blown away by a fairly raunchy PG-13 comedy. Watching the original "Anchorman" was basically a right of passage for anybody around my age. If you can't quote it by heart, then there might be something wrong with you.

So of course something this iconic called for a sequel.

"Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" knows at this point that it is kind of a big deal. Hell, it even has "The Legend Continues" in its title. That means that unfortunately, like many other sequels, it lacks the surprise of its predecessor.

Movie Review: The Wolf of Wall Street

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"The Wolf of Wall Street" is the rare film in which its trailer is not misleading. If you came anticipating flying midgets and strippers with money taped to them, that is exactly what you will get.

Although he has dipped his toes into very different territory over the years ("The Aviator," "Hugo"), Martin Scorsese returns to the world of crime and money again and again. Each time, he seems to have something new to say about it, and gives us another rags to riches villain to engrain into our memories.

Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks

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Hollywood loves nothing more than itself. So I guess it's fitting that a movie about Walt Disney was made by Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney made a movie about Walt Disney whether you like it or not.

That sets the tone for "Saving Mr. Banks," a sometimes dark but mostly sugarcoated view of a Hollywood story that didn't necessarily need to be told, but here it is anyway.

In actuality, “Saving Mr. Banks” is not even that much about Walt Disney, even if it was one of the film’s major selling points. It is really about P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), the eccentric author of “Mary Poppins.” Mrs. Travers (as she would want you to call her) is the farthest thing from a sellout, but she is strapped for cash. Disney, who is played here by a mustached Tom Hanks, wants to buy the rights to “Mary Poppins” from her for a film, but Travers won’t do it until she can approve of Disney’s vision. So he sends her from London to Hollywood to work on the script.

Movie Review: American Hustle

Here Comes the Sun(glasses). Image via TotalFilm

From the very beginning, "American Hustle" announces that it is only sort of based on true events.

Fitting, as this is an historical event so complex and bizarre that the whole truth simply could not do it justice. This is where movie truth steps in and offers a helping hand.

"American Hustle" constantly blurs the line between real and fake. In fact, the film opens with Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) giving himself the most passionate combover you'll ever see. Irv's life philosophy is to fake it until you make it. He kind of has to, as this is part of his job: Irv is a con man, and a very good one at that.

Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

"You see Mr. Powers...I love gooold!" Image via WhatCulture

If insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting different results, then it is the perfect word to describe my viewing of the "Hobbit" series.

"The Desolation of Smaug" is at least a little better than its predecessor "An Unexpected Journey." However, it still feels like a lot of filler space for a trilogy that did not need to be a trilogy.

"Smaug" begins with a prequel-to-a-prequel introduction where Gandalf (Ian McKellen) meets Thorin (Richard Armitage) at the Prancing Pony (a fun callback to "The Fellowship of the Ring"), and the two of them set the entire "Hobbit" adventure in motion. This little scene is there simply to declare that Thorin, and not Bilbo (Martin Freeman), is the main character of "Smaug."

Movie Review: Inside Llewyn Davis

Cat in the big city. Image via Rotten Tomatoes

Yes, Joel and Ethan Coen have given us a musical biopic. It doesn't mean they had to give you one about a real musician. Or even make the movie you wanted to see.

"Inside Llewyn Davis," the Coen Brothers' first film in a very long three years, is a welcome return to the big screen. It is the perfect awards season film that is also an anti-awards season film. It's a tale for the holidays that wears its icy heart on its sleeves.

Like most Coen Brothers films, "Inside Llewyn Davis" is based on something else, but how much it's based off of that thing is questionable. Davis is based on Dave Van Ronk. Most the songs in the movie are his, but Davis' personality is different. This mystery just adds to the charm.

Movie Review: Nebraska

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Watching a director who has always directed their own writing suddenly bring somebody else's vision to life is always interesting. "Nebraska" marks the first occasion that Oscar winning writer Alexander Payne has directed a screenplay written by somebody else. Maybe the fact that it takes place in his beloved home state helped out a bit.

"Nebraska" marks Payne's first foray back into his home territory since 2002's "About Schmidt." However, it takes some time to get there. "Nebraska," like "Fargo" and "Chinatown" before it, are about more than the setting that their titles suggest. "Nebraska begins in Billings, Montana, the current home of the Grant family. Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) is the patriarch of the family, whether he is aware of it or not. Woody is a sad man living a sad life. He walks with a slouch and acts like he never wasted any potential because he never had much to begin with.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Here's the thing about sequels: they are usually at their best when they are planned and more importantly, when they come at the center of a trilogy.

"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," the second installment in "The Hunger Games" series, and the umpteenth edition of Hollywood's colon obsession, shines as an outstanding blockbuster long after the end of the regular blockbuster season.

Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave

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WARNING: Spoilers for real life. According to the Internet, this is now something I have to say. 

Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" is about as intense and emotionally devastating as you might expect. Then again, a drama about slavery probably couldn't go any other way.

"12 Years a Slave" is a great film that I don't think I can ever watch again. And that's a compliment. It plays like a series of terrible atrocities that you wish you had never witnessed, but you feel like a different person for having viewed history from a new perspective.

Movie Review: Evil Dead (2013)

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Well, if you're going to remake a classic that didn't need to be remade, then you might as well remake it like this.

"Evil Dead" pulls a Sean Parker and removes the "The." While it would be funny if this was the only change made in this remake, "Evil Dead" defies a lot of expectations by actually being its own movie. Unlike the recent "Carrie" remake, "Evil Dead" knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be: a spectacularly gory horror movie. At that, it definitely succeeds.

Once again, "Evil Dead" begins with a group of young adults heading up for a pleasant weekend in a cabin in the woods. At this point, you'd think that people would watch enough horror movies to know that you're probably screwed if you go to stay in a cabin in the woods.* Even if reminders of "The Evil Dead" past abound, including the car, a deck of cards, and that ticking clock, this new group has no clue what they're in for.

Movie Review: Carrie (2013)

Poor Carrie White. 37 years later, and she still can't catch a break. The latest update of "Carrie" is not a total facelift, but it does take the White family and places them in the present day. If you've already seen the original, you might be interested to see how much more the White family feels out of place in 2013 than 1976.

Even for newbies, I believe the story of "Carrie" is well known enough at this point that I shouldn't use too much time to lay it all out. Carrie (Chloe Moretz) is still a misfit, and her mother Margaret (Julianne Moore) is still a religious fanatic. Carrie still gets bullied, gets covered in pig guts, and then gets sweet, sweet revenge.

Movie Review: Captain Phillips

People praise Paul Greengrass for his sharp action directing and quick cuts. What he rarely gets credit for is that he is the rare action director who realizes that there is no way to be prepared for tragedy. This is why "Captain Phillips" doesn't start on a boat.

It's just another day, and just another mission for Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), who's preparing for umpteenth mission as captain at sea. He drives with his wife (Catherine Keener) to the airport and talk about anything but his trip. They talk about their children and lament about how lazy good for nothing punk kids are today.

The trip seems simple enough, like something he's been doing for years. The ship he's commanding is meant to bring supplies around the horn of Africa, which, if you didn't already know this, is not the friendliest place in the world. Nonetheless, a job is a job and Captain Phillips is the definition of salt of the earth. However, what Phillips is about to find out is that this isn't like any other job he's had. Captain Phillips is about to get his mojo back.

Spoiler Review: Gravity

Spoiler Review is a new series where I will review movies that require many spoilers in order to review them properly. This is my review of "Gravity." This goes without saying: SPOILER ALERT.

Every time a movie comes out that uses 3D really well, like really really well, I never hesitate to call it the second coming of cinema. "Avatar." "Hugo." "Life of Pi." Yes, I do strongly regret giving "Avatar" that much credit.

I don't want to say "Gravity" has changed the game. It's just responded to the tools of our time so well and it has done what many others only wished they could accomplish. More importantly, if you ever doubted that the wonder of the movies has been stolen by TV, then look at "Gravity," and you'll understand that it never went anywhere.

Movie Review: Gravity

"In space, no one can hear you scream."

This is now the famous tagline from "Alien," and the basis for "Gravity." "Gravity" hasn't been advertised as a horror film, but it captures the fear of being alone in space better than most others that have tried way too hard to do so.

"Gravity" marks the long awaited return of Alfonso Cuaron who last directed "Children of Men," which is still one of my favorite films of all time. Like "Children of Men," there is no indication of when the camera starts and stops rolling. Cuaron is one for relentless action. Immersive might not even be a strong enough word to describe "Gravity." I get the feeling that Cuaron just wanted us to float in space with him forever. There were multiple times where I felt short of breath. Apparently, you don't need any dimensions beyond 3D to get all your senses this invested in a movie.

Movie Review: Touchy Feely

If you were to watch "Touchy Feely" for any one reason, it should be for Josh Pais' performance as Paul, a dentist who's basically dead inside, or "wan," as his sister Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) keeps describing him.

"Touchy Feely" is the latest film from Lynn Shelton, who is a secret weapon in the independent film world. Her loose and mainly unscripted films are refreshing in a world dominated by formula and safety. With "Touchy Feely," Shelton feels like she is trying to move towards something more structured all while holding on to the characteristics that have defined her work as a filmmaker. Yet, there is a difficulty in balancing the two, and it is not achieved here.

Movie Review: The World's End

"The World's End" marks the end of the Cornetto trilogy, a trilogy connected only by theme and named after ice cream. It's as much about a trilogy of humans as it is about a trilogy of movies: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have created a pitch perfect cinematic universe where the code of law is alcoholism and arrested development.

Clearly, I will stay away from all possible spoilers, yet it is important to know that "The World's End" comes full circle in the most, well, circular way possible: it starts and ends with people talking in a circle. In the beginning, it's Gary King (Simon Pegg), a man who is a former shell of himself. Gary is a recovering alcoholic who can't quite erase the memory of the best night of his life: The Golden Mile Pub Crawl.

Movie Review: The Butler

"Cotton was all I ever knew."

Pop quiz hotshot: Is this quote from the opening of "The Butler," or a proposed sequel to "The Jerk." Surprisingly, the answer is the former. 

"The Butler" is a big historical drama that is filled with some shining moments, and some others where Lee Daniel is practically screaming "Give me an Oscar!" at the screen. 

"The Butler" is based on an incredible true story. It is one of those stories that chronicles history from a character who was always behind the scenes as opposed to the forefront. Those stories can often be the most truthful, as observers tend to be a little more objective than participants. 

Movie Review: The Spectacular Now

Finally, here's a teen drama that has so many things that I never thought I was looking for in a teen drama, mainly because I never thought I was looking for a teen drama. First of all, it's not on CW or ABC Family. "The Spectacular Now" is not about petty problems but, well, the big things we face right now. Also, there's no vampires.

"The Spectacular Now" is based on a novel, as opposed to director James Ponsoldt's childhood. However, the one thing that the film actually has in common with his life is that it takes place in Athens, Georgia where he grew up. There is a strong sense of familiarity with the whole thing, as if he is reminiscing on all the spots he once called home.