Life of Pi

Pi Patel is on his way to Canada with his family and a group of zoo animals to make a new life in North America when a storm rocks the ship they are traveling on and makes it capsize. At first Pi rescues several of the animals and places them on a life raft with him: an orangutan named Orange Juice, a hyena, a zebra and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. One by one the animals die off until only Richard Parker and Pi are left on the raft. Pi Patel must learn to control the tiger and also find water, food and shelter if they are to survive their ordeal.

Going into Life of Pi I didn't know what to expect. The previews made it seem like it was basically a remake of Castaway with a Bengal tiger. Life of Pi is much more than that. It is a deep philosophical and almost spiritual film which focuses its attention on the importance of faith and believing that you can accomplish anything. The film never goes so far as to say which religion or belief system to follow; it has a more Universalist feel to it. Pi himself says that he is a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian. The film itself is absolutely breathtaking. My favorite scene is about halfway through when it is night time and Pi meets a humpback whale. The whale is feeding on a group of krill and out of the blue leaps over the boat that Pi and Richard Parker are seated in. I have never been a big fan of 3D, but I saw Life of Pi in 3D and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen onscreen since Avatar. Some people may or may not get turned off from the spiritual and philosophical content, but I highly recommend it.

Argo

It's 1980 and tensions are high in Iran as protesters are furious over their former leader taking asylum in America. The citizens want their leader to be returned to Iran so that he can stand trial for perceived crimes against the nation. As tempers start flaring many protesters begin to make their way to the American embassy to take everyone there hostage. During the takeover six embassy employees make an escape and take refuge in the home of the Canadian embassador. The American government must find a way to get into Iran and extract the six embassy workers unnoticed. Ideas are thrown around until one man named Tony Mendez comes up with an idea: make a fake movie and have the six people pose as a film crew with Mendez as their agent. It's not the best idea ever, but everyone agrees that "...this is the best bad idea we have by far". And so Tony Mendez makes his way into the middle of a war zone to bring back the American citizens alive.

Argo is a rare movie which has received nothing but great reviews that for once I completely agree with critics. Even though I kind of figured out they would get out of Iran alive since this is based on a true story, Argo still had tense moments that had me on edge for the majority of the film wondering if they really were going to make it. Ben Affleck shines as Tony Mendez and also as the director. I've yet to see a movie with Ben Affleck I haven't liked. John Goodman and Alan Arkin were great as the comedic relief with Goodman as the make-up artist and Arkin as the producer. I ended up seeing Argo at least 2-3 times I liked it so much. I will most likely get it when it comes out on DVD. It was another of my favorites for the year.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jackson brings us back into Middle-earth about 60 years prior to the event of The Fellowship of the Ring where we meet Bilbo Baggins as a young Hobbit living a quiet life in the Shire. That tranquility is shattered when an unexpected visit from a certain well-known wizard named Gandalf leads Bilbo on the adventure of his life. Bilbo is recruited by Gandalf to assist 13 dwarves on their quest to take back their homeland in Erebore, now called the Lonely Mountain, from a dragon named Smaug. It is on this journey that fate is set in motion to ultimately lead to the finding of the Ring and the re-emergence of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings.

When I heard that they were making The Hobbit into a movie I was ecstatic because it is one of my favorite books. My happiness waned a little when I heard it was being turned into a trilogy instead of just a two-part deal. The book is so short that I didn't think there was enough that Peter Jackson could stretch out into three parts. I felt a little better when I heard later that Jackson had inserted parts of The Silmarillion into the film. The result is a fantastic thrill ride that is sure to make die hard fans of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings happy. Peter Jackson even got several people who were involved with the original trilogy to come back for the prequel: Frodo, Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Galadriel, the older version of Bilbo, and of course Gollum/Smeagol. Overall I was happy with Peter Jackson for returning to Middle-earth and recreating the same atmosphere as the original trilogy. Some have expressed concern that The Hobbit is more kid friendly, so it lost some of its appeal. That argument is somewhat crazy because if you know anything about the book then you'll know that the book itself is more light hearted than the original trilogy and also geared more towards kids. In that regards Peter Jackson stays true to the nature of the book. The movie does feel a little stretched at times due to the (almost) three hour length, but it's worth every second. I can't wait until the next two parts come out.

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is a ghost. He has no credit card, no identification and no cell phone. There is no possible way for anyone to track him unless he wants to be found. So when a man named James Barr is accused of murdering five people and asks for Reacher, the police are at a loss of how to contact him. Then out of the blue Jack shows up and as a result the prosecutor tries to hire him as a consultant. This attempt raises another issue: Jack Reacher believes that Barr is without a doubt guilty because of his violent past. Jack agrees to help thinking it'll be an open-and-shut case. However, as he digs deeper into the murders, he uncovers a mystery that will prove to be lethal for everyone involved.

Jack Reacher is a brutal action-filled movie that at times is a little painful to watch. I am actually a bit surprised that it didn't get an R rating. The first ten minutes alone might be disturbing for some viewers who may have flashbacks of recent events in the news such as the Sandy Hook Elementary murders. Reacher is a man with nothing to lose, and he shows little to no mercy when it comes to bringing certain people to justice (or at least his form of justice). I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants a good action flick with a good story and a couple decent twists. Tom Cruise as the title character is a near perfect fit. Seeing him in this movie reminded me why he is one of my favorite actors.

That being said, I would also recommend people exercise caution before taking their kids to see this. Because of the brutality of some of the scenes it may or may not be detrimental for kids to see Jack Reacher. I honestly would recommend kids under the age of 15 to not see it, but it is entirely up to the parents.

Les Miserables

The worldwide phenomenon known as Les Miserables is brought to the big screen for the second time in a musical adventure telling the story of love, forgiveness, and mercy among the residents of France. Jean Valjean is a former convict who was thrown into prison for stealing some bread to give to a little boy. After Valjean is released he tries to find work among the towns in the area, but no one offers any assistance to the ex-convict. Instead they shun him and even at times physically abuse him. Fortunately Valjean eventually comes across a priest who has pity on him and offers Valjean food, water and a place to rest for the night. Despite the priest's kindness towards him, Valjean returns to his stealing nature and swipes some silver items from the priest. He is soon caught and brought back to the priest to return the silver and then be taken back into prison. It is at this point in which Valjean has the concept of forgiveness and grace revealed to him. The priest not only tells the authorities that he had given Valjean the silver, but that he had forgotten the most important pieces. When the authorities leave the priest he tells Valjean that he must use the silver given to him to become an honest man. Wrought with grief over what he had done, Valjean vows to make a difference not only in his own life, but in the lives of others around him. He rips up his parole papers and sets out on a journey of redemption.

I had really high hopes for Les Miserables because it is one of my top three favorite musicals ever, however after watching it with my family I felt a little disappointed with the result. For starters Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe were not very good singers; some of the others did ok from a staying on key standpoint, but they lacked the power behind the voice to do their parts justice. I felt like the passion of the resistance and the pain of losing one's loved ones was virtually non-existant save for Anne Hathaway as Fantine and a 12 year old kid who becomes a vital part of the revolution. I almost wondered if the director went for popular actors to draw people in instead of getting performers who could act AND sing. Anne Hathaway's song near the beginning of the musical was phenomenal - if she doesn't at the very least get an Academy Award nomination for her part then something is wrong with whoever votes on the Academy Awards. She deserves it. Unfortunately, for me her amazing voice was not enough for me to care for the film as a whole. I was expecting to feel pain at Fantine's situation, anger at the death of a couple of characters, and get a feeling of sympathy towards the revolutionaries. Those feelings were not apparently meant to be, because I left the theater feeling nothing. This was the most disappointing thing about Les Miserables.

Django Unchained

In Django Unchained Jamie Foxx is a slave named Django who is bought by a dentist turned bounty hunter by the name of Dr. King Schultz with the hope that Django can help Schultz identify and capture three dangerous slavers who have a bounty on their heads. Schultz agrees to free Django when the deed is done, and also to help Django find his wife named Broomhilda. The journey to find the three slavers brings Django and Schultz to the home of an evil man named Calvin Candie. Django and Schultz must fight for their lives if they wish to find the three men to bring them to justice (read: kill them) and to find Broomhilda.

If you know anything at all about Quentin Tarantino, then you'll know that his movies are all ultra violent with an almost gleeful attitude towards blood and gore. Django is no different. Within the first ten minutes several people are already dead and the violence only gets ramped up from there until the very end. I went into it expecting large amounts of blood and gore, but Django took my expectations and multiplied the amount tenfold. I left the theater a little queasy from how much gore was shown. In a way I wasn't expecting to like Django because so far the only Tarantino film I have ever actually liked was Inglourious Basterds. That fact still remains true after seeing Django.

I hate it when movies are rated R just so they can show graphic violence. I'm ok with R-rated action films in general, but only if it's not wall-to-wall graphic violence; and only if the violence is necessary for the story i.e. almost any war movie or action thriller. I don't see the point in having someone shoot a pistol and there be what seems like 5-10 yards worth of blood splatter. I do realize that it is Tarantino that is the director, so I should have expected quite a bit of blood and gore (which I was). It's just that I personally feel like this was too graphically violent even for Tarantino. I think he could have dialed it down a notch or two and it would have been great. I also could have done without all the language. The N-word alone is said about 100+ times, not to mention the "normal" (using that term loosely by the way) curse words. With the language I also realize that the N-word was commonly used back then and it was culturally ok, but I was concerned because it seemed unnecessary to include it that many times. I somehow doubt that any amount of language was used that often by anyone back then, let alone the N-word. I certainly have never heard anyone use that much language in real life nowadays as it was used in Django. All in all I wanted to like it; it had its moments that I actually did enjoy, but they were far too few.

Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance is a comedy that takes a look at the different parenting styles between generations. Alice and Phil Simmons are a 21st century couple who have raised their kids in a hectic world filled with trying to get their three kids to violin lessons, speech therapy and play dates, among other things. They also raised their kids by eliminating any risks or injuries that might damage the kids for life. Artie and Diane Decker are polar opposites. The Deckers are a more free-spirited couple who, to paraphrase a quote from Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus TV show, believe in taking chances and making mistakes. This conflict of parenting interests comes to an explosive turn when Alice and Phil are stuck with asking Alice's parents to babysit the kids while they go to a conference for Phil's job. Artie and Diane must find a way to relate to their grandkids who they rarely see if they have any hope of surviving the week without the parents.

Parental Guidance is a very sweet, charming little movie with a big heart. Comedies these days are filled with "bathroom" humor that is rarely actually funny, but this was a pleasant surprise. Sure, it had it's moments where the humor got a little off-color, such as a running joke that has Artie and Diane's grandkids calling Artie "Fartie". In the end the truly funny moments and the positive messages of the importance of family and marriage outweighed the more off-color moments. Originally I wasn't planning on seeing it because it didn't look like a movie I would enjoy, but I am very glad that I went. Parental Guidance turned out to be one of my favorites of the year.