’71 (2014) came out earlier this year with little fanfare. The only thing I heard about it at the time was that Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) gave an amazing performance and because I am a huge fan of O’Connell’s work, this has been on the list. I finally got around to watching it and boy, this is an excellent thriller and as expected, O’Connell does fabulous work here as well.

The story follows a soldier who is left behind during the 1971 riots in Ireland. It’s simple and yet deeply involving. There are some truly staggering moments especially during a scene where a bomb goes off in a pub. The aftermath contains one of the most disturbing and powerful images of the year. One thing I hated was the color palette. A bunch of muted sepia tones that made parts of the film look like they were lighted with cheap sodium vapor street lamps. This is especially noticeable and distracting during the outdoor night scenes but the whole film’s colorization feels off. Despite that minor gripe, this is highly recommended.

Maybe it’s my love of outdoor adventure but I thought Meru was an awesome documentary film about climbing the Meru peak in India. The film follows the story of famous climber Conrad Anker and his longtime climbing partner Jimmy Chin. Chin directed this film and he uses human interest vignettes that provide background as we follow this team up the mountain.

As with all great documentaries, they catch lightning in the bottle a few times with some truly unbelievable events that happen to these climbers as they attempt to ascend this peak. And in between attempts, the drama is high as events back home threaten to tear the team apart. The film is a tribute to unwavering determination in spite of tremendously difficult circumstances.

Gorgeous animation and a wonderful story make Nocturna an absolute pleasure to watch. The story follows a young boy who, before bed, looks up to find his favorite star and realizes the star is gone. This starts him off on an adventure to discover where his star went and along the way, he meets all manner of night creatures. The character designs are truly ingenious, with crazy heads, weird body designs, and a dazzling color palette.

The animation is 2D and although it appears that most was developed using computers, the non-3D really makes this dazzling to watch. I particularly loved the clever ways that many night time activities were explained using this odd characters. The voice acting is solid and the story is excellent. I’m not sure how this has flown under the radar for some any people. Nocturna is truly one of the best animated films of the last decade.

Although it veers sometimes into pretentious hipster territory with overly sarcastic and bitter characters, Comet really comes through in the end with some great emotional crescendos and some insanely well-written dialogue. I have to admit that some of the juvenile relationship issues of these characters grated a bit but I could look past that because there were so many other solid moments. Sometimes the framing of the photography is annoyingly “rule of thirds” to the point of being ridiculous but many of the other shots are beautiful and have a unique coloring. Also, the film’s music is really interesting with sweeping synthesizer soundscapes.

The best part of the film is the acting with Justin Long and Emmy Rossum really connecting on screen and portraying believable, flawed characters. I also really liked the nonlinear storytelling. Comet is an indie film so it’s mostly a collection of scenes with the two characters talking about themselves and their relationship. But with great acting and sharp dialogue, it’s worth checking out.

The main thing that made me want to see this film was the fact that it was written by Max Landis (son of the great John Landis – Max wrote Chronicle which was a cool superhero flick). I think Max is one of the most interesting and exciting writers working in Hollywood today. And the best thing about American Ultra turns out to be the writing. This has been called “Stoner Bourne” and that pretty much sums it up (except there’s much less shaky came – although still too much for my taste – and unlike the Bourne films, everything here is played for laughs).

The film is tonally all over the place. It bounces between moments of total insanity, over the top ridiculous situations, super-serious character moments, fast-paced action, and even elements of a typical stoner comedy. It’s bizarre but in a good way, good as in something you haven’t seen before. It’s a little action film that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Nice to see Bill Pullman getting some work even if it was a bit part. Jesse Eisenberg was fine as the lead (pretty much doing what he does in every role) and I didn’t hate Kristen Stewart’s acting in this. If you think you’d like a Bourne-like movie but played more like a comedy, check this out.

Many critics slammed this film when it was released a few months ago. On IMDB, ratings have a striking discrepancy with some users giving Child 44 only one star while others gave it 10 stars and claimed it to be one of the better films this year. I come down on the side of the more positive reviewers though.

I can see why reviewers didn’t like this. It’s a tough film. It’s about child murders in Russia during the reign of Stalin. It shows the horror and fear of living in Communist Russia during the start of the Cold War. The film’s subject matter is challenging and there is a grim feel to everything. But that doesn’t take away the fact that this is a superbly acted, compelling crime drama with important social-political questions being brought up in nearly ever scene. Noomi Rapace (Prometheus) gives on of the best female performances this year. Tom Hardy is mesmerizing as the lead. The biggest issue this film has (besides it’s gloomy subject matter) is that it’s about 45 minutes too long (due mostly to a script that meanders plot-wise) but there are so many compelling moments that I’d still recommend this as a really solid film.

This is one of those films I missed when it was first released but had always heard from various friends and family it was worth checking out. I finally got around to watching it and I’m glad to report it’s pretty great. I read that Fangoria Magazine completely trashed this film when it was first released and I think that’s just ridiculous. This is a solid little crime thriller with strong performances from Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and an amazing, scene-stealing role by Elias Koreas (The Thin Red Line, Gattaca) as a psychopathic murderer now on death row.

The concept of combining demons & possession with a serial-killer murder mystery is an interesting one and the demon passing between people by touch is used to great effect. There’s a scene toward the beginning of the film that beautifully illustrates the concept, with no dialogue and great choreography. One thing I really disliked was the opening in media res and also the annoying voice over narration. That all should have been cut. The cinematography is pretty drab but that was common for the late 1990’s stretch of murder-mystery films. The direction’s competent and well-paced but nothing to shout about. Just a solid piece of filmmaking from a journeyman director. All told, this is one of the better supernatural mystery films of the 1990’s.

This is Russell Crowe’s directorial debut and it’s a knockout. In addition to directing, Crowe also plays the lead and you can tell he really put his heart into the character. The emotions he’s able to portray in simple facial expressions are nothing short of stunning. Surrounding Crowe is a fabulous cast with a particularly notable female role played by Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace). Also, I have to say I was shocked to see Jai Courtney (Terminator: Genisys) play a role that wasn’t completely flat. I almost remembered his character after seeing this film.

There are some extremely well-staged war scenes of the battle at Gallipoli. The cinematography is gorgeous, the score emotional and evocative, striking the right balance between subtlety and emotion. But the story is the real standout, a compelling tale of a father searching for his lost sons. This is a wonderful film that has thoughtful things to say about religions, peoples, war, and family. It’s the kind of film that would get awards attention if it was released later in the year and done by a prestige director. This is definitely worth your time.

This is a fun little movie. It’s not some masterpiece of cinema, it’s not particularly funny, it’s not even really that clever but it’s well-acted, there’s a couple of good plot twists, and it’s competently shot. This is actually Will Smith’s first R-rated film since Bad Boys II and it’s interesting to see the types of roles he is taking these days. He’s still a huge box office draw and yet he is not prolific so it’s curious that he chose Focus as one of those few and far between roles. He’s solid in the film and his charisma does a lot to keep things interesting but in the end, Focus just feels like the kind of movie that’s instantly forgotten. Even now, I’m having trouble remembering most scenes.

Actress Margot Robbie plays the female lead and foil to Will Smith and she’s every bit as good here as she was in Wolf of Wall Street and Z for Zacharia. The next time we will see Smith and Robbie together on screen is in the Suicide Squad film being released next year and their chemistry was a big part of what kept Focus moving. All of that being said, the film is at least 20 minutes too long, dragging out a story that just wasn’t compelling enough to lengthen. Bottom line is that Focus is one of those “date night” movies you go with your significant other to watch, having fun seeing it, then forget nearly everything about it the next morning.

This is a documentary about the Back to the Future films that was funded through Kickstarter. It’s well put together with competent photography, sound, & editing but if you’re a fan of the series, there’s not much here you haven’t already heard or seen before. There are interviews with Bob Gale (writer) and Robert Zemeckis (co-writer & director) and some of the cast & crew including Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, and Christopher Lloyd.

There’s also an interview with Dan Harmon here and while some of his insights are well-thought-out and insightful, others were completely off-base. Maybe it was just the editing of the film but he comes off as arrogant and a bit Hollywood-jaded as he explains his theories of Back to the Future. One in particular that really stood out is his belief that the first film does not have any type of character arc. I know Dan is a better writer than this so maybe he was just trying to be controversial but just to set the record straight, there are multiple characters arcs in the first film. 1) Marty has no faith in himself and is too afraid to send in his band’s demo to the radio station and then later, he overcomes this fear. 2) George is bullied and has no confidence. Later, he confronts the bullies, becomes a successful student president, and even has his stories published as a novel. 3) Doc is afraid of the consequences of messing with time travel but by the end, he overcomes this fear and uses time travel to his benefit. There is a clear character arc for multiple main characters and a theme of overcoming fear running through nearly every scene.

But really this film spends most of its time talking about all the fans of the series. It shows fan conventions, fan car clubs, fan’s pontificating about the importance of the films to them, and even a fan proposing during a BTTF convention. A lot of this is kind of boring mostly because we as the audience are already fans of the series and know how important it is to us, so there’s not much new to be gained by hearing other people not directly connected with the films tell us this. If you’re looking for info on the behind the scenes of the film, production photos, and insights from cast & crew, there’s not much here. If you’re looking for an analysis of all the fandom around the films and the cultural significance of Back to the Future, then that’s pretty much this entire film.