Contagion (2011)

2/4

At best this is a tense, powerful look at the worldwide paranoia that results when a lethal virus begins to spread; at worst it is a jumpy, conjolted attempt to bring a fresh look to an exhausted sub-genre. Steven Soderbergh returns to the similar star-powered, collage-like storytelling style that he used with such grace in his award-winning film, Traffic (2000). He is unable to recreate that success because of a plot that is far too busy to allow us any emotional attachment to its characters which ruins the humanism that Soderbergh tries so hard to establish.

The Kid with a Bike (2011)

2.5/4

Films that embrace the use of subtle storytelling have the duty of attaching audiences completely with the emotion of the characters. Directors Jean-Piree and Luc Dardenne give us the characters, but only brief tastes of their heart and soul. One can help but think of Vittorio De Sica's subtle masterpiece Bicycle Thieves (1948) while watching this film. Both passionately utilize realism and tell stories of the desperation of human nature. The Dardenne brothers capture the realism, but what is realism if we are not convinced what we are watching really matters?

The Help (2011)

2/4

For a film about so much struggle, The Help flows too smoothly and much of it feels like it has been done before. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett and set in Jackson, Mississippi at the height of the civil rights movement during the early 1960s. Director/writer Tate Taylor handles his subject without giving us anything new; just another dramatized, inconsistency characterized Hollywood civil rights vehicle. Like countless other Hollywood pieces dealing with sensitive racial subjects, this film is full of forced emotion.

The Ides of March (2011)

I am a harsh skeptic when it comes to political thrillers, it is far too easy for dramatic stories about the corrupted nature of today's politics to be made, yet we rarely get one that feels honest (how ironic). But this film is different, it digs deep into the corrupted nature of politicians and the unfortunate people who get hurt when "the shit hits the fan." George Clooney directs this tense, chilling portrayal of modern day American politics.

Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, a young, optimistic campaign manager who has naive hope and confidence in his candidate, Mike Morris, and of politics in general. Gosling delivers his second great performance of the year, he plays his role with a chilling calmness as his character's moral values are challenged and twisted. This performance is equal, perhaps even better, than his other great performance in the film noirish thriller, Drive. George Clooney plays Mike Morris, a likable candidate who at face-value seems to be the perfect person to become to support and become next president, but as the story unravels we get a hash lesson of why nobody is ever what they seem. A wonderful supply of strong supporting performances featuring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. George Clooney deserves his award season nominations for his direction, this film is meticulously plotted and the brutally honest portrayal of today's politics that we need, but only get once or twice a year.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

A delightful dose of wonderfully imaginative nostalgia. Woody Allen makes it look effortless. Owen Wilson plays Gil Pender, a Hollywood script writer who is working on his first novel which is about a man who works at a nostalgia shop. Wilson seems like he would have been an odd choice, he is known for his outgoing, charming roles in silly rom-coms, but here brings his irresistible charm to a more serious and completely un-formulaic film. His performance isn't going to steal your heart and won't win any awards, but it is still a good, satisfying lead performance by an actor who should show off his real talents more often. Gil and his fiancé, played by Rachel McAdams, travel to Paris for business reasons and to prepare for their wedding. One night while wandering the streets of Paris, at the stroke of midnight Gil is swept away by an early 20th century can and thrown right in the midst of his dream decade, the 20s, in a Paris inhabited by the great literary and artistic minds. He befriends Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and is smitten by Parisian beauty Adriana who just happens to be having an affair with Pablo Picasso. Marion Cotillard plays Adriana, a classical beauty who puts all other women to shame. Her performance is the depth of this film, she is a lover who is trampled on by love, her fragile personality is adorable. At midnight each night, Gil spends as much time as possible indulging himself in all the gloriousness of the 20s only to return to the present the next day. As his trips to the 20s become more frequent he begins to let it effect his normal life which causes him and his fiancé to begin to drift apart. But as his meets an endless supply of early 20th century culture figures that also includes Salvador Dali - played hilariously by Adrien Brody - he also begins to learn from their views and outlooks on life. The way the film comes together is a bit abrupt, but nothing that should bother anyone. Through Adriana, Gil sees a lot of himself, dissatisfaction with the time periods they were born in and trying to live in other time periods to escape those dissatisfactions, and he comes to understand that no time period is the best, all are great for reasons of their own. Not once does this film stop being an absolute joy to watch and you can see Allen having such fun with his idea. This film may not be that emotionally deep, but it wants nothing more than to be clever, original, and entertaining and Allen is all of that. Not to say that there isn't depth here. A nostalgic exploring story crafted gracefully with easily the best script of the year that mixes historical personalties, time periods, and creates colorful characters all at once. Woody Allen is at yet another peak in his work.

Hesher (2011)

1.5/4

Hesher is an empty shell of a film which has an outlook on life reminiscent of an angsty teen trying to be as loud and crude as possible. The strength of the performances are diluted down by brash outbursts of hate and a complete abundance of sentimentality. Here is film about sadness and dealing with loss that rarely gives us any heart or sympathy for its suffering characters, and when it does its anarchic, hate-fueled aggression once again ruins the moment. Simply put, this is one of the most unsatisfying films I have seen all year long.

Black Swan (2010)

The perfect psychological-thriller to end the decade. Nina Sayers is a dedicated dancer who works with a prestigous ballet company in New York City. She is played with shocking passion by Natalie Portman in a role of a lifetime, and she doesn't disappoint. Nina's dream is to be the Swan Queen in the production of Swan Lake, but when her dream comes true her mental state slowly crumbles. What makes Black Swan so irresistably powerful and shocking is the Darren Aronofsky's overpowering direction. Aronofsky is able to use excessiveness for the entire film to allow us viewers to feel just as overpowered as Nina's character.

As the Swan Queen, Nina must be able to embody both the White and Black Swan. French actor Vincent Cassell plays Thomas Leroy, the agressive and controversial director. A role that has been overlooked by the two female leads, but in reality turns out to be one of the deeper and more important performances.  Consistently throughout the film Leroy tells Nina that in order for her to cross the barrier of just being the pure and innocent White Swan to being able to be the dark and passionate Black Swan, that she must "lose herself." In Black Swan Aronofsky  takes one of the most common themes in film -- the loss of innocence -- and uses dark direction with horror qualties and is able to take the film to unheard of heights. Never have I been so terrified when watching a mental breakdown, when Aronofsky begins this insane journey to "perfection" he allows viewers not one moment of let up or ease.

The major struggle of the film is as said before, Nina's attempts to lose her innocence and to finally have the emotional passion required for her to be the Black Swan. Lily played by Mila Kunis is a role that shows her true acting talents. Lily is a free spirited beauty who is the complete opposite of Nina which makes her the true Black Swan of the film. Nina's insanity convinces her that Lily is out to get her part at all costs. Perfection is what Nina seeks and the women who she sees as perfect is former Swan Queen Beth MacItyre who is played by Winona Ryder. Ryder's performance begins the insanity of the film with her reactions to her apparent forced retirement.  A smaller role that has major effects on the film is Barbara Hershley's performance as Nina's mother obsessive mother Erica who's pregnancy with Nina brings a sudden hault to her own dancing career. Her controlling nature seems to be what truly makes Nina so emotionally unbalanced and shielded.

Melodramatic from start to finish. Clint Mansell's music paves the way for all of the shocking times in the film. Insanity is another theme that is used so often in films that it would be harder to find films without it than with it, but only a director with unlimited amounts of courage could make this story as magnificent as it turns out being. Portman has earned endless praise as the mentally weak and emotionally unstable Nina, and you will not get one work of rebuttal from me. Real dialogue is the only thing her performance lacks. It is her beautiful dancing -- which Ms. Portman worked very hard on no matter what anyone else has to say -- and emotional destruction which will dominates this terrifying, suspenseful thriller.

A journey to perfection, that ends with the usual Aronofsky flair. Black Swan doesn't have a storyline with any real level of uniqueness, what it does have is a cast filled with stars all at the highest levels of their careers. Portman in a potentially career defining role, Kunis in a star making role, and Cassell bringing his endless acting talents overseas. The crew for this film is a match made in heaven, the technical aspects of this film are at the highest levels. There is no real classification for Black Swan; you could call it a drama, but that would be far to broad. It could be called a psychological study, but it is much deeper than that. You could even consider it a horror, but that just doesn't seem right. So I guess I will settle with saying that Black Swan is a overpowering experience that is powered by shocking but undoubtedly great direction by Darren Aronofsky, and the greatest performance of Natalie Portman's young career.

A Separation (2011)

4/4

Ashgar Farhadi's unforgettably harrowing portrait of of modern-day Iran is patient, to-the-point filmmaking at its finest, one of the most magnificent films of the year. This film isn't a spectacle to watch; simplistic in every aspect, but loaded with seething emotion, social and religious unrest, and political criticism.

A Dangerous Method (2011)

3/4

Based on the stage play The Talking Cure which was based John Kerr's non-fiction novel, A Most Dangerous Method. David Cronenberg continues to show-off the diversity of his talents. Set at the beginning of the 20th century. Fictionally portraying the relationship between young Carl Jung as his psychiatric abilities progress, Sigmund Freud who becomes his mentor, and Sabina Spielrein, one of Jung's patients who becomes his gifted assistant, tortured lover, and muse.

Attack the Block (2011)

3/4

Alien invasion meets gangland wars, pure entertainment at its finest. Joe Cornish's first directorial effort is an exciting, fun thrill ride. Full of exuberant life that is what you love to see coming from a indie debut. But what I was surprised by most was the level of genuine, mature emotion in the midst of the visual, hilariously lighthearted aggressiveness that made this film such a wild time.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

I'll admit it, my opinion of this film is biased due to me being an avid fan of the source material. My soft spot for this film was guaranteed from the very start. But at the same time, I am also praised the original Swedish version which makes me a suitable person to analyze David Fincher’s new adaptation that shows Hollywood at its most daring

The Price of Pleasure (2010)

The Price of Pleasure is a documentary that explores pornography and the effects it has on American society: our tolerance and intolerance of it and how porn has become a one of the most profitable businesses in the world - earning in the range of $10-$14 billion a year. Starting with shocking, but irresistibly fascinating, statistics and studies of the phenomenon that is porn. Its ideas are jumbled and unable to have any decipherable intent other than to inform; for most of the film that isn't a problem. But once it goes down the darker path to show the violent nature and content of porn, watching it show content that made my stomach churn and force me to question the sanity of our entire country only to end on the weak conclusion that porn is bad infuriated me. Fortunately, one of the strongest parts of the film came at the end where a porn user explains how once the arousal and "passion" is gone and you are left looking at a video/pic of a women after she has been dominated by a man it leaves a sickening feeling in your stomach. If only the film would have stuck with that intent and wasn't a mess of ideas and conflicting opinions.

Your Highness (2011)

Modern day profanity and sex jokes, tasteless gore, and not a laugh to be found is what you can expect from this medieval-set knights and sorcerers tale. I guess a redeeming factor for Your Highness can be that the film doesn't try to give off the impression of being anything more than a appalling, tasteless travesty. From the opening scene that takes within a kingdom of midgets gives a perfectly clear picture for how the rest of this moviegoing experience. At no point did this film earn my full attention, I fell no shame saying that in the midst of watching this I let my mind wander.

Friends with Benefits (2011)

Friends with Benefits doesn't cover new ground; rom-coms never do. They are made of of recycled ideas and situations about the cliches of love that have been used over and over again. We know what to expect and often can even predict the mood changes and outcomes. But we always return to them, especially on a rainy day or after a breakup hosting a tub of ice cream, because watching people, played by beautiful actors, struggling to find true love is just to appealing to pass up. Although, that definitely doesn't guarantee that we will enjoy them; for the most part they are brutally cliched, corny, and are comic failures. Why Friends with Benefits succeeds and is so much better most of the other rom-coms from this year is that it makes fun of the cliches and once it goes down its own  unavoidable cliched path, it embraces it, letting the charm, sweetness, and humor that sucked us in so easily still shine through.

Sucker Punch (2011)

Sucker Punch has an inconsistent appeal that will satisfy a limited audience, a failure of marketing and effort. The explosion-filled action and digitally-powered visuals will appeal to all modern audiences, but the layered plot will be confusing and test their attention spans. The eroticism of the cast of women will get appeal mass appeal from boys to young men, but their young ages will turn away older men. The explosion-filled action and digitally-powered visuals will appeal to all modern audiences, but the layered plot will be confusing and test their attention spans. Zach Snyder's first attempt to express his own ideas is a pathetic mess that fails miserably; proving that technical talents, alone, cannot form a strong film.

The Tree of Life (2011)

The Tree of Life is Terrence Malick's long-awaited return to the exploring, questioning, image-soaked form that he first explored a decade ago with The Thin Red Line (1999). It is a project Malick has been working on and planning for decades, so to say that this film has some hype following it is a major understatement. He is not a director who doesn't work at specific pace; he takes his time and passionately expresses his ideas and views through his work. With this film, Malick finds a project that works extremely well with all of his conflicting questions on existentialism, our troubled relationships with God and nature, along with Malick's humanistic sympathy that is beautiful and tragic all in one breath.

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation....while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God sang for joy?"

Drive (2011)

4/4

Drive opens with an ongoing heist, but the attention is not on the burglars, it isn't on the people being robbed, actually, we don't see the inside of the building being robbed, at all. Instead an we follow the driver (Ryan Gosling), he has his own code that he follows religiously - he works anonymously, refuses to carry a gun, and only waits five minutes before leaving. For the first ten minutes of the film we watch as he goes the driver goes about his work: patiently waiting his clients to return as he listens to a police radio, then avoiding attention, and once they are ultimately spotted he works his magic. Not one word is spoken by the driver in this period of time.

Monsters (2010)

Extreme dissapointment is what I felt when Monsters ended.One of the most unfortunately anti-climactic endings I have ever had to witness. This is just one big tease of a film. The premise is very interesting, full of tension and suspense. I have always been a bit of a sucker for sci-fi apocalyptic films, and I probably always will be. It's highly doubtful that I'm the only person who finds a film that just keeps you waiting for something major and shocking to happen, only to find out that there is barely anything of the sort. Most audiences going to see films like this are expecting loud explosions, tons of violence, and a outrageous amount of "monsters" (at least a handful is needed). So it doesn't suprise me at all that Monsters earned barely 3.5 million dollars worldwide. Using subtlety to power an emotional relationship in hard times, but not utilizing its setting or tension well. Monsters gets an A+ for how interesting it is, but relationship studies and sci-fi dramas do not mix well.

Red State (2011)

Rating: 2.5/4

Kevin Smith does something new, to him, with Red State, moving away from his dialogue and character driven comedies. He calls this film a horror, and for about 30 minutes it kinda is, but Smith's fast-paced direction and inability to create scares quickly ends that dream. I always admire when directors toy around with other genres and Smith is a director with talents that could work well with exploration. This film is a start; some good qualities, daringness always gets bonus points, and his direction in his first serious toned project works decently with plenty of violence with contained gore. If Smith continues to explore genres like he does with this film, I see him finally finding an idea that will show him, and us, talents that he doesn't even know he possesses.

Win Win (2011)

Rating: 3/4

Win Win is a wonderful film that doesn't cover any new ground. Telling a story of simple people with simple problems -- simple in the movie world. Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is an attorney who is struggling to keep his firm running, he has a loving wife (Amy Ryan) and two daughters. In a desperate attempt to help his family's financial situation, Mike takes up being the guardian of one of his older, wealthy clients (Burt Young), who also happens to be suffering from dementia. What Mike doesn't expect is for his client's grandson (Alex Shaffer) to literally show up on his doorstep. At first, Mike tries to send the boy back, but after letting him stay and realizing the boy's wrestling talents he sees this as an opportunity to bring some direction into his life. With Mike being the local high school's wrestling coach he brings Kyle, who happens to be a wrestling prodigy, onto his team who hasn't won a match in years.