The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I
Dir. Francis Lawrence
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The revolution has started. And its "mockingjay" is Katniss Everdeen. The penultimate film in the Hunger Games franchise begins with Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) suffering from PTSD after the recent events from the last film, Catching Fire, with her friend from the Games, Finnick (Sam Claflin) touting that he wishes everyone he loved was dead. Yeah, Mockingjay is a particularly dark film for a PG-13 "young adult" adaptation. Still a reluctant hero, Katniss has become a symbol of rebellion within the 12 Districts and is hiding out with the rebels organized by Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and President Coin (Julianne Moore) while the outside world is heading towards an all-out war against the Capitol. The cast here is fantastic, and the tone is bleak - which pretty much falls in line with the other films. Although it has a stigma for being "YA," Mockingjay Part I, along with its predecessors, are rich sci-fi stories that deal with class warfare, murder, politics, and brings it together with memorable and likable characters. This is a solid first part of the finale and I look forward to seeing the ending!
Since Catching Fire, a noticable leap in production value occurred with Francis Lawrence in the director's chair, and although this maybe isn't quite as good looking as his previous film (there aren't many opportunities to get colorful shots of the Capitol in this one), I really like the dark, brooding look of the film. Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic as Katniss, and, as I've mentioned in previous reviews, she couldn't be more perfect for the role, which somewhat reflects her own career. She gets a lot to work with here, and everything from the tragedy of District 12's destruction to the awkwardness of trying to "act" in a rallying PSA for the rebels are all expertly performed by Lawrence, who's possibly the saving grace of this franchise (just imagine if someone like Kristen Stewart was hired). All of the living side characters also get their moments to shine, and it's bittersweet to see Hoffman after his tragic death earlier this year.
While the film isn't perfect (Katniss and Gale are still an unconvincing couple), I really enjoyed this next-to-last chapter of one of the better major franchises to come from Hollywood in a while. It's a little slower than the other films, but the character work is great and the last couple scenes felt pretty intense. I'll be there for Part II, which I hope to god is the last movie. I don't want to see more spin-offs or TV shows or any of that crap. I just want a solid franchise to end it while it's good.
Rating: B+
The Theory of Everything
Dir. James Marsh
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After watching a screening of The Theory of Everything, a nurse had to wipe away a tear from Steven Hawking's face. He said that the film was vaguely true and it felt as though he was watching himself on screen. These statements from the world-renowned theoretical physicist come as high praise for a risky performance. Eddie Redmayne is abso-goddamn-lutely amazing in this film; similarly to John Hawke's performance in The Sessions, Redmayne has to believably convey that he has ALS, and transforms himself completely. His central performance is wonderful, and the film around him is also a sweet/sad love story about his ex-wife Jane (Felicity Jones). Even though the film felt "safe" in the story department, the performances around this simple love story were astonishing.
Benoît Delhomme's cinematography also makes the film stand out, with soft tones that evoke memories of the sixties and seventies. This film just felt really lush to me, especially with Jóhann Jóhannsson's romantic piano score. Although Hawking's life was extremely difficult, and this film deals with one of the most important relationships in his life, The Theory of Everything is a beautifully rendered, if slight, celebration of life.
Rating: B
Top Five
Dir. Chris Rock
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Chris Rock is one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, never afraid of tackling controversial subjects, but when it comes to his movie career he's been kind of a sell-out. With Grown Ups 1 and 2 and the Madagascar films, it seems like he uses those movies as more or less a supplemental income; but with Top Five, Rock brings out his inner "writer-director" a la Woody Allen. The film follows Andre Allen (Rock), a big-time actor who's most famous for his series of "Hammy" films: low-brow action-comedies about a talking bear. Trying to break out as a serious actor, however, his latest film about the Haitian Revolution has been met with criticism, and a profile writer for the New York Times (Rosario Dawson), is interviewing him in an effort to get him to open up and embrace his comedic roots. The film deals with all sorts of themes, mostly carried out in a "walk-and-talk" manner through his conversations with the reporter. This felt to me like Stardust Memories for black celebrity culture.
This movie has a ton of funny moments and great celebrity cameos (it seems like Rock brought in every comedian friend he could find - and it's bittersweet seeing Tracy Morgan pre-accident), but overall, I thought the movie was too similar to other "showbiz" character pieces (like the recently released Birdman) and too few of the lines stuck with me as I left the theater. I laughed at regular intervals, but I found it forgettable (save for two of the strangest sex scenes I've ever seen). If the pitch of a Chris Rock comedy told in the style of Woody Allen appeals to you, it's worth watching.
Rating: B-
Wild
Dir. Jean Marc-Vallée
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Reese Witherspoon wants another Oscar in Wild, a film about the real-life woman Cheryl Strayed, who went on a 1000-mile hike in an effort to deal with her recent divorce, the death of her mother, and her overall destructive behavior. The film tries to add meaning to her journey by having strategically placed "poetic" flashbacks, but I honestly thought this whole movie reeked of Oscar-bait and hippy-dippy BS. Maybe I'm missing the meanings behind things, but there was so much asinine symbolism in this film (repeatedly a fox comes out just to "look" at Cheryl, which I guess is the "spirit" of her mother? I don't know. And don't get me started with the damn horses. And the llama...). I was half-expecting some kind of survival story akin to 127 Hours, but in this movie Cheryl can basically quit whenever she wants, and practically every problem she faces along the way is taken care of, or she's helped by a random stranger. For a movie about self-revival and exploration, you'd think there'd be less "other people helping" in the movie.
While the movie has some beautiful scenery, and Witherspoon and Co. does a serviceable job (it's all but guaranteed that she and Laura Dern, playing her mother, are up for Actress and Supporting Actress), I just really didn't care for this movie. Drawn out, pretentious (I can't count how many times I had to see Witherspoon just look out into the outdoors, inhale, and do this dumb half-cocked smile as if she was having some sort of religious experience), and to my feeble mind, had too many episodic, extraneous scenes with no bearing to what little plot there was (the camera lingers on a newspaper headline "Jerry Garcia Dead" for a long time...why? I don't know). Just not my thing.
Rating: C
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