An Education

What if someone offered you a shortcut to everything you ever wanted? What if your friends and family supported your abandonment of the original path in favor of the short cut? Could you say no?

In An Education, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is the top student in her class with dreams of going to Oxford to study English. She adores the finer, sophisticated thing in life and has, by and large, been isolated from them. When she meets the older, worldly David, he not only offers her these things, but wins over her parents in the process.

The film is called An Education because Jenny learns a lot. She learns about life, love, people, expectations, morality, beauty, and how to put it all in perspective.

Overall, a solid, intriguing film. The script is simple yet very well constructed. The acting is understated, but sincere, giving the whole thing a realistic feel. Not a best picture contender in my opinion, but definitely one that will garner some attention.

Where the Wild Things Are

This movie is great to look at, but not to watch. The Wild Things and their world are very well done and shot nicely. Unfortunately that's the extent of the positive things I can say about this movie. It's not that it's that bad, it's just not that good. The acting is adequate. The biggest problem is the script. Nothing happens. Max runs away, finds the Wild Things, hangs out with them for awhile, the end. To get away with something like this, you have to have very strong character development, so that even though the plot is secondary, the audience is still engaged. Cool scenery was not enough to hold my attention.

I was bored.

Zombieland

Movies are rarely this much fun to watch. Zombieland works because it doesn't waste any time trying to explore where the zombies came from or how the main characters can save humanity or anything like that. It gathers a small band of quirky characters who have managed to survive after zombies have ravaged most of the U.S. or world. They refer to each other by city of origin/destination to keep from getting attached. The hero, Columbus, is anything but heroic and has survived through sheer boy scout like efficiency and dedication to safety. He meets the surprisingly carefree Tallahassee who is on a quest to find one last Twinkie while he can and encourages Columbus to enjoy the little things. The dialogue brings to mind Pulp Fiction as the characters chat about the mundane in the midst of this zombie apocalypse.

Zombieland is simple yet bold and provides plenty of original laughs.

Bright Star

The beauty of the English language is center stage in this period romance. I've never been particularly interested in poetry, but I have to say that this film will have me searching for the works of John Keats on Amazon. Even when I didn't have time to process what was being said, the words had a melodic quality to them. I sat through the entire closing credits, which I rarely do, to listen to the poetry reading that accompanied them.

I would ultimately call this film a mood piece. There isn't really much in the way of plot - girl likes boy, boy likes girl, but boy is just a poor poet. But it works as you completely buy in to the 19th century repressed longing they feel for each other. It is remarkable how their relationship is simultaneously chaste and sensual .

Abbie Cornish shines as the titular star and may very well find herself in the Best Actress race this year.

On the whole, the movie is good, but not great. A best picture nomination would only be a gift of the expansion to ten films in that category.

District 9

The most realistic alien movie ever. Period. If you're looking for mind blowing special effects, crazy plot twists, popular catch phrases, etc. then this is not your movie.

District 9 is part social commentary but never gets preachy. It's part character study, but we don't really get to know the protagonist all that well. We mostly just watch the story happen to him instead of the other way around. The movie neither asks questions nor offers answers. The entire thing is one big, "what if?"

The majority of the movie is archive footage that was shot for a documentary of sorts within the movie. The problem is that there are also times when the forth wall is thrown back up and we are seeing things no one else in the world of the movie sees and it's not always obvious who is behind the camera.

It's an enjoyable film that had lots of potential. The effects are seamlessly incorporated with the live footage. Ultimately, however, it falls a little sort in trying to find a solid identity.

Inglourious Basterds

Some people make movies for a living, some people are artists. Guess which category Quentin Tarantino belongs to? Ever since Pulp Fiction emerged in 1994 writers and directors have tried to either directly imitate Tarantino or at least to find a QT inspired spark of their own. Most have failed to do so and even those who've made successful career of it (I'm looking at you, Guy Ritchie), fail to approach the master.

What's the difference? How does he do it? Most movies are about a story happening to a group of characters. In a Tarantino movie, the characters happen to the story. From Mr. Orange to Jules and Vincent to the Bride, Tarantino's protagonists control the show even when they lose control of the situation. Add the Basterds to their ranks.

One can tell Tarantino has no master but his own vision. The film is beautifully shot, conventions are thrown out the window, rules are broken, and the viewer has absolutely no idea what is going to happen down to the final minutes of the movie. If Tarantino had been born in an earlier generation, one could see him writing of once upon a midnight dreary or painting a coy smile on an Italian lady.

The Hurt Locker

If actors were stock, I'd tell you to put all the money you can on Jeremy Renner. The 38-year-old has been acting steadily since the mid-90s, but his work in The Hurt Locker will make him a star between now and the Oscars, even if he's not nominated. He demonstrates that he's skilled enough to carry a movie on his shoulders. Now he may just end up being another Jason Statham, but his pay checks are on their way.

Hurt Locker holds you at the cliff's edge for its entire run time. Every moment is life or death, which is exactly the point. This is what our soldiers in combat have to deal with every day. Any plot is secondary to simply putting you into the shoes of a soldier for a couple hours. There is no political agenda here, nothing rings false. War is what it is. And, as we are told in the movie's opening, for Renner's Staff Sergeant Will James who lives for the next challenge and risk of death, war is a drug.