Gravity is out of this world

The most anticipated film for me this year was Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity.” With his first film since the 2006 sci-fi drama “Children of Men,” Cuaron has broken new ground here, creating an experience unlike anything audiences have seen before. When a routine repair job on the Hubble telescope goes awry, a medical engineer, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), and a mission commander, Lt. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), must work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.

Believe the hype, this is one of the most visually stunning films ever, with its groundbreaking CGI that features jaw-dropping single-shot sequences. Clocking in at 90 minutes, Cuaron wastes no time in moving the story along. Bullock ventures outside of her normal orbit of roles and gives an amazing performance while Clooney is great in his supporting role. This is masterful technical achievement with Cuaron, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and Visual-Effects Tim Webber creating a movie going experience worthy of Oscar consideration.

WORD COUNT: 159

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: N/A

Requiem for a Dream is a hard truth

Requiem for a Dream consumes your mind, body and soul like a drug and holds onto to you after the final credits are over. Your skin feels like something is crawling on you, but nothing is there. It is one of the most powerful films ever. Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of Hubert Selby’s novel follows the lives of four different people, Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), her son Harry (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) and his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans). The film explores the direct and indirect effects drugs have on each of them and reveals their blossoming hopes turn into a state of moral and physical helplessness.

Editor Jay Rabinowitz perfects Aronofsky’s hip-hop editing technique. The drug scenes are ground-breaking and the downward spirals of each character is a gut wrenching experience that stays with you forever. Everyone in the cast gives powerful performances, especially Burstyn and Leto whose addictions are scary reminders of the hard truth.

WORD COUNT: 160

Adam’s Grade: A-

Chuck’s Grade: A+

The Dark Knight is a diabolical masterpiece

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight raises the bar and turns the sequel to Batman Begins into one of the most memorable action films of all time. It exceeded most audience’s expectations because of its complexity, rich story, exhilarating action, and Heath Ledger’s legendary performance as The Joker. No one should ever put on the white make-up again after Ledger’s diabolical performance. Gotham will never be the same and Batman (Christian Bale) had to use everything at his disposal to combat his arch-nemesis.

Even at a running time of over two and a half hours the story and characters have no problem holding audiences’ attention. The visual effects combined with adept sound design/editing elevate the film and become an integral part of the unforgettable masterpiece. The Dark Knight is not only the best superhero film, but one of the most entertaining and satisfying films of all time.

WORD COUNT: 146

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: A+

On the Waterfront contends for best all time

Marlon Brando is a heavyweight actor that delivers a championship caliber performance that paved the way for actors to see the perfect execution of “the method.” Elia Kazan directs this masterpiece about dockworker and muscle for the local mob Tony Malloy (Brando), who witnesses the murder of a fellow dockworker. Malloy struggles with his conscience after he engages in a relationship with Edie (Eva Marie Saint), the victim’s sister while his brother Charlie (Rod Steiger) pleads with him to look the other way and forget about it, or else become the next “accident.”

On the Waterfront is one of the most important pieces of art in the 20th century.  The film is as relevant now as it was sixty years ago. The actor, the character, and the story continues to inspire artists and audiences to fight the good fight and to do the right thing in spite of the consequences.  It is a contender for the best film all time.

WORD COUNT: 160

Adam’s Grade: A+

Chuck’s Grade: A+

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Collateral creates a disagreement

Michael Mann’s Collateral is one of the best modern noir films of the 21st Century, although my partner in crime (Chuck) completely disagrees with this statement.

Like Mann’s previous film Heat, Collateral was shot entirely in Los Angeles and the environment comes through. Tom Cruise uncharacteristically plays an antagonist while Jamie Foxx serves as the hero in this film about a hitman (Cruise) getting into a cab and “asking” the cabbie (Foxx) to bring him to five locations to carry out his “business.” I believe the stars are dynamic together and each give one of the best performances of their career, but my partner feels they are wrong for the parts. Screenwriter Stuart Beattie creates two original characters that help keep the film grounded in a game of cat and mouse. Mann allows the tension to build, which has become a trademark of his thrillers. Collateral has substance, whereas Chuck thinks he is caught up in his style.

WORD COUNT: 158

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Inception questions our understanding of reality

With Inception, Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the best writer/directors in Hollywood. His multi-layered plot filled with jaw-dropping visuals, adept acting from an ensemble cast, and well-paced action is like no other blockbuster to date. Nolan challenges his audience to think, as opposed to simply enduring one explosion after another. This has led to a love it or leave it response to this film.

Leonardo DiCaprio takes on one of his most complex roles as Cobb, a professional thief hired to commit corporate espionage by infiltrating the minds of his targets and leaving an idea that would benefit Cobb’s employer. Inception is an original film that successfully makes the “familiar strange and the strange familiar” by blurring the borders of the conscious mind with the subconscious dream world to the point audiences are questioning their own reality as they leave the cinema. We love it and hope to see Cobb again in our theater of dreams.

WORD COUNT: 159

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: A+

Shaun of the Dead kills you with laughs

Shaun of the Dead is the first entry of the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy created by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, with the other films being Hot Fuzz and the upcoming The World’s End. Shaun (Pegg) is an Everyman character that is trying to get his life back on track when flesh-hungry zombies start to rise in numbers around modern-day London. He must spring into action and come to the rescue by holding up in what he believes is the safest place during a zombie invasion… a pub.

Shaun of the Dead works as a parody of the classic zombie films because they do it out of love for the genre. They provide enough blood for die-hard Zombie fans (pun intended) and enough humor for those that want to enjoy a comedy. The writing is crisp, hilarious, and very English as they keep the pace brisk, even with slow moving hands out stretched Zombies.

WORD COUNT: 155

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: B

Young Frankenstein is a much different monster

Rarely can parodies transfer meaning from one generation to the next, but director Mel Brooks with the help of comedic actor Gene Wilder create one of the funniest films of all time. The 1974 film, Young Frankenstein balances satire with originality to transform the 1931 Universal classic horror film into a much different monster that makes audience laugh until hurts.

Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson (Wilder) inherits his grandfather’s castle begins conducting experiments with the help of his lab assistants Igor (Marty Feldman) and Inga (Teri Garr). The next thing you know, Dr. Frankenstein is screaming, “It’s alive!” and the creature (Peter Boyle) with the abnormal brain escapes.

Brooks and Wilder understand how to bring a good story back from the dead. Their attention to detail and their passion for the project separates them from the long list of ordinary comedic artists. Brook’s characters become part of pop culture and the film remains relevant to audiences forty years later.

WORD COUNT: 155

Adam’s Grade: A+

Chuck’s Grade: A

Silver Linings Playbook scores

After a brief stint in a mental institution, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) to reconcile with his wife. Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who has her own issues, but agrees to deliver a message to his estranged wife if he agrees to her conditions. As their friendship grows, it seems that a silver lining starts to grow in each other’s lives.

Writer/Director David O. Russell captures all of the right emotions, and although the story seems overwhelming at the beginning, it shifts once we are introduced to Lawrence’s character. The acting is sensational. Lawrence deservedly won the Oscar while Cooper would have won if it wasn’t for Daniel Day-Lewis. Also, De Niro gives his best performance in over a decade. Silver Linings Playbook sounds like a film that shouldn’t work, and yet it does to perfection because of its brilliant writing, acting and portrayal of mental illness.

WORD COUNT: 158

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: A+

Blue Velvet leaves a bruise

Blue Velvet is one of those rare films that change the way people understand cinema. Writer and director David Lynch takes audiences into a dark and mysterious place where rational people try to figure out an irrational world. Jeffery Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) finds a severed ear in a field and he brings it to the police, but to satisfy his curiosity he attempts to solve the crime on his own. His investigation will lead him to a lounge singer, Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini) who is part of a bizarre world of dangerous characters. Like a great poet, Lynch strikes a nerve, but he never gives audiences enough information to feel comfortable. He makes sure everyone remembers the film like a bruise left after a fight. Its dark blue color serves as a reminder of the struggle, but also as a rite of passage to something much greater.

WORD COUNT: 146

Chuck’s Grade: A

Adam’s Grade: B+