Top of The Lake (**** out of ****)

Top of The Lake is transcendent it's story telling of a typical police mystery story. No emotion to big or to small in this series. Everyhting flows at such a natural pace and relies much rather on the emotional implications of an event rather than just throwing a big twist for shocks and gasps. Ther series leaves out overdone cliches and reworks others. A hauntingly beautiful story about child abuse, sexual assualt, incest, and cromes against women. Top of the Lake doesn't take these issues lightly and deals with them with maturity. It's some of the most compelling series  in this "Golden Age of Televesion".

Robert Griffith (Elizabeth Moss) has returned home to New Zealand as her mother's (Robyn Nevin) illness is progressing to a point of no return. While there she receives a call from her old department asking for aid in a crime. A young girl Tui (Jacqueline Joe) one morning rides her bike out to a large lake, walks into it and attempts to freeze her self to death. The next day she disappears. What follows is a wide search for this girl and the people responsible for her strife. Tui's father Matt (Peter Mullan), a leader in the area's criminal world  will make this search far more complicated. There is also a group of women seeking refuge and enlightenment lead by the mysterious GJ (Holly Hunter) that will play a role in the fates to come.

It's a long story that so rarely goes off track and if it does it knows how to use those elements to its advantage. It's a fierce feminist work that yet works spectacularly as entertainment. There are issues here that plague the world over and director Jane Campion deals with it in a responsible fashion. A engrossing mystery filled with true character development make it rewarding. Elizabeth Moss leads the terrific cast, but she gives a tour de force performance. It's a work that I can honestly say was a privilege to watch.

**** out of ****
note: this is a mini series originally aired on Sundance and now available on Netflix Streaming. The nature of the series is that it is continous with every episode blending into the next. It feels like a long movie he anything else

Pain & Gain (** out of ****)

Pain & Gain is perhaps the strangest film I've seen all year. Not completely in the abnormal way but I really had no idea what to make of it. The first thirty minutes or so were dreadful. The pacing is so erratic I was more confused on a why a film would construct itself like this then actually what was happening. Every character is given a narration,  in making every character important, they made them irrelevant.  However the second half the film gets progressively better. Things slowed down a bit. It's also at this point things become incredibly dark. I'm still 100% sure what to make of it.

Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) works as a fitness trainer in Miami Florida. He's tired of looking at people having wealth when he feels he should have it (yea he doesn't really have a good moral reason). He decides to kidnap a client he trains Victor (Tony Shalhob), a millionaire who's done some dirty dealing to gain his wealth. Daniel recruits fellow trainer Adrian (Anthony Mackie) and a former convict who trains at the gym, Paul (Dwayne Johnson). The three bumbling fools manage to pull off the kidnapping but a former cop (Ed Harris) won't let them get away with their crimes.

Besides the pacing is the odd story. It's based on a true story which is almost shocking since it looks like it was a story conceived by a Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly during their coked up phase of Boogie Nights (borrowed that line). The characters leap back and forth on the sympathetic line, which isn't neccisarily bad, but by the end I was just hoping the Ed Harris, the one sane man here, would win. I mean Mark Wahlberg is really the villian when you get down to the brass tax. He organizes a kidnapping to steal Victor's life and wants to kill the man without a second thought. I think this was the intnet of Michael Bay, but I could be wrong. It is a Bay film so it's longer then it should be and contains no compelling female characters. Yet it only has like two explosions, What's going on with Bay?! I did find some some scenes quite amusing, the comedy is absurd in the unusual way (a coked of Dwayne Johnson making a mess of Mark Wahlberg's "nerighborhood watch" rape seminar being one such scene). The story might is so out there it might have made for a surreal Paul Thomas Anderson film. Pain & Gain is Bay having some fun and doing something different but the man still has some structural problems in his career.

** out of ****
 

GI Joe: Retalitation (*1/2 out of ****)

GI Joe: Retaliation is a clunky, dumb, confusing, and an eye sore of an action film. The President of the U.S (Jonathan Pryce) has been replaced by the master of disguise Zartan. He sends the GI Joes on a dangergous mission to only double cross them and have their orginaztion destroyed. Now Zartan can safely free the imprisoned Cobra Commander and continue their plans of world domination. Yet not all the Joes died. Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (D.J Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) have survived and look to stop these villains while avenging their fallen brothers. There are several things here that make this film do dreadful. First the action is so fast and disorientating it leaves no impression, it feels all to generic. The plot is whisker thin and only serves as a reason for non constant action. Most of Snake Eyes story is so second tier that it might as well have been a different film. You can see for yourself, but why bother. If anything it felt like a waste of time.

*1/2 out of ****

Oblivion (*** out of ****)

In some ways Oblivion is a fresh and original science fiction film. On the other hand it is a movie clearly in love and influenced by the past works in the genre and is splendid in its homages and borrowed concepts. Director Jospeh Kosinski is making a name for himself in the digital/CGI cinema world and Oblivion is mystery filled thrill ride with some genuinely interesting genre adding to the man's credentials.

Jack (Tom Cruise) is assigned to a job that is responsible for repairing defence drones. He flies out to their downed location while under the watch of his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) back at her command center. The two have been a team for years and are involved romantically. Their location is Earth. The planet had been invaded decades ago and left nearly uninhabitable, now the humans look to extract resources and start life elsewhere. Jack's drones defend massive resource gathering machines that float high in the sky. There are a few aliens left on the planet and they are known as Scavs (short for scavengers). Jack's time on assignment is running out when a ship crashes in the wastes and changes everything he's every known.

Refrences to several Arthur C Clark works, Star Wars, Tron, The Matrix, Independence Day, and Wall-E make this a somewhat science fiction heaven. The characters are nearly fully realized. Victoria's feelings for Jack and how she reacts to an unwelcomed guest  are brilliant little pieces of character development. Still one has to wonder if the two major female characters are a bit too dependent on advances Jack's story line only. Oblivion is a gorgeous  looking film and seemingly blends CGI and live action. Another great component of Oblivion is its mystery. It has some twists and turns and there I was plesntly suprised. It's a great science fiction film this year.

*** out of ****

The Place Beyond The Pines (***1/2 out of ****)

Director Derek Cianfrance has done something special here. It feels like far to often times a director just looks to their next project as simply their next movie. Cianfrance gives the impression of a man who looks for nothing less than working his hardest to contributing to cinema. A film divided into three acts the story sweeps across the ages. This is a showcase for acting but treats the actors as part of the story and not work for their celebrity personas. The film is a true epic that does come off the rails every now and then, but for the most part it is a striking force of film.

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcylce stunt man at a traveling amusment park. He returns to Synecdoche New York after a year on the road and is greeted by Romina (Eva Mendes), a woman he had a fling with during his last visit. However he finds out that while away, she had his child. Luke wants to be there for his child, unlike his own father. However Romina has a boyfriend and starting a a new life. Luke has no skills outside of his riding abilities, which he decides to use for a life a crime. Rob a bank and use his talent to get out of the area as fast as possible. This sets him on a collison course with Avery (Bradley Cooper), a local cop. Avery has dreams of doing actual justice in town and Luke may be the catalyst to all of this. There is also two teenagers (Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen) that will play a massive role on the story.

The film has a true scope of it's goals. Telling a story of father/son relationships and the effect they have on one's life. An attempt to look beyond the traditional looking glass in to the raw emotion that fuels people. There is a lot happening here, I'm sure there is a lot I missed (religious symbolism), so the film has a strong rewatch capability. There are several beautiful and meaningful shots namely two following from behind two different characters on bike via an aerial view. All the actors give it their all here, making it a roller-coaster of emotion  The Place Beyond The Pines tries hard to tell story of some magnitude and for the most part succeeds in its ambitious drive.


***1/2 out of ****

The Host (*1/2 out of ****)

The Host commits many sins, these leads to the film being not just bad, but nearly a waste of time. It's contains quetionable acing, mostly bland visuals, a non-engaging story, cheesy and is very slow (and not the good kind).

Earth has been taken over by aliens. They are known as Souls and are parasitic lifeform that takes over the human's body and now the Souls live a normal life on Earth. I would secribe the souls as a ball of light with a vague shape of some sort of sea urchin. Melanie Strider (Saoirse Ronan) several years after the invasion is found by Jared Howe (Max Irons). Two good looking teenagers find each and love, it's so heartwarming. That is until Melanie is captured and has a Soul placed in her body. The Soul is known as Wanderer and Melanie and Wanderer often yell at each in the apparence of a yound woman yelling at the voices in her head. Wanderer eventually goes in search of Mealinie's realitives and thus begins the love square of Jared, Melanie, Wanderer and Ian (Jake Abel), te boy who falls for The Soul. William Hurt plays Mealinie's uncle who belives that a person can still live in a body taken over by a soul and Diane Kruger plays a Seeker (Soul cop) who looks to hunt any surviving humans down and preventing our oh so dear love square, she's the square! The plot is more stupid then it is complicated.

A sci-fi movie in the in the vain of maintaining one's will with a hint of Invasion of The Body Snatchers could have been cool, having Andrew Niccol direct with Ronan, Hurt and Kruger lending their acting talents could have made this a good movie. Yet the source material based on a Stephenie  Meyer book is so weak the film leaves no impression. The movie moves at a snail's pace and there are very few scenes of interest to break on the mundane fair. The romance is nothing beyond the "you live on the opposite side of town but we can fall in love anyway" cliche. The most redeeming qualities is the movie is that the music is hauntingly lovely and bad sci-fi is normally somewhat entertaining. Still The Host is so meaningless in execution that I have no need to remember it rather than actually want to block it from my brain.

*1/2 out of ****

Trance (**1/2 out of ****)

Danny Boyle has never made two similar movies. Every film is different in story. Yet they are all connected through the man's kinetic style. A mad dance through cinema. Trance is not one of Boyle's better films, in fact it's closer to the bottom of the man's collection. Still Trance is often wicked fun and engaging.

Getting started on describing the plot on Trance is a tricky thing. How much is too much to give away? James McAvoy plays Simon, an art auctioneer who gets invloved ona heist for very valuable painting. He sustains a blow to the head however and forgets much of what happened during the event, including where he hid the painting.Yet Frank (Vincent Cassel) and his team of criminals won't let amnesia stop them. Simon in order to recall where he hid the painting goes a hypnothearpist to unlock his mind. The thearpist is Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) who will make things interesting and complicated.

Boyle has a made a neo noir of the mind. Leaping around in narrative, Trance is quite intoxicating but often confusing. There are far more plot holes then there should be. While the actors are all very good, they lack chemistry with one another making their realtiionships somewhat dull. This leads to the problem of the plot feeling forced rather than organic. Boyle and the cast do their best with a weak script and often make up for its short comings. Quick editing, camera work shifting to what is happening in the film, and the always dazzling Boyle's choice in soundtrack lend a helping hand here. Trance is messy film, but a well made one


**1/2 out of ****

To The Wonder (*** out of ****)

Terrence Malick films are one of much debate. Some would claim his films are pretentious and the lacking a narrative approach is boring. I fall on the side where the director creates rapturous and euphoric films. Some of the most stunning images, intriguing reflection ad pure love I've seen in Malick's career. To The Wonder is his first completely  contemporary film but not one of his better ones.

Neil (Ben Affleck) is in love with Marina (Olga Kurylenko). The two enjoy blissful emotions while in France. They one day visit Mont Saint-Michael, a monastery that stands high upon a beach in Normandy. The place represents the plateau of their love, but also sets the idea of isolation. Malick looks to find symbolism in the most basic of concepts and images. Marina and her daughter from a previous marriage move with Neil to Oklahoma where things become more difficult. The nature of the countryside creates a vastly different feel then France and Marina reacts to it. Neil in his troubles reconnects with a woman from his past Jane (Rachel McAdams). Javier Bardem also plays a priest with a shaken faith in the lord and love, but his story seems very disconnected from Neil and Marina.

I appreciate the way Malick works with actors. The unique way of using them as models to express emotion and story instead of just letting actors playing a role. Malick tells a sometimes beautiful and sometimes devestating love story here. However in his lack on narration, the director creates some confusion, which distracts from the attachment. Another aspect of Malick's style I marvel in is the way the director can take a simple story and tear apart its basics to create something unique. To The Wonder spoke to me, not as much as other Malick moves but still I will never not long for the next film in this wonderful director's career.

*** out of ****

Evil Dead (**1/2 out of ****)

Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead is a horror classic. An unsettling gory feast, it's an over the top violent romp. However then a man decided to remake that movie, he was named Sam Raimi. The director remade his original with Evil Dead II, a comedic "Three Stooges" like joy. So decades later comes a somewhat blessed remake of the original film. Those looking for the fun Raimi saw later in his horror career should stay away, but for those looking for nauseating effects of the original, you won't be really disappointed.

Once again five young adults come out to a cabin in the woods. They are there for Mia (Jane Levy), who has sworn to kick her drug addiction and this remote location will serve as the "perfect" place for her to ride out the withdrawals. Her brother David (Shilo Fernandez) hasn't been always there for her and is making attempt to make up for it. This is all before they find "the book". Next thing you know  reading the ancient language inscribed in the pages begins and all hell breaks looks. Possession, tree rape, demons, the whole shebang.

The remake succesds in some ares but fails in others. In production of the film, practical effects were given a priority. So the gore has a sick pleasure in it. Problem is it sometimes becomes all to obvious when they touched up those effects with CGI. Yet still when the blood flies is just as disturbing as before. There are several callbacks to the original film, and for the most part (it's always hard with today's horror genre) finds ways to show love for what inspired this adaptation. However the film does have it's faults. The supporting characters don't add too much to the film, just bodies in the way. You'll still see characters behaving stupidly (it's almost a horror movie requirement now). What it comes down to is the era of horror films we live in, so many of them just feel the same. Even in Mama, which I enjoyed greatly, still can't escape all the cliche scares. There are still very good horror movies out there (Ti West is doing some fine work), it's just the average movie becomes so forgettable. In the end Evil Dead is a decent remake, has some scares, a lot of blood, but just isn't anything special in the now classic franchise.

**1/2 out of ****