Filmmakers with imaginations as wild and uninhibited as Guillermo del Toro‘s (there are only a few) cultivate rabid fan followings because, even if their films aren’t a success, we’re guaranteed an honest expression of their innermost demons and desires. Crimson Peak is the Mexican filmmaker’s latest, a 1901-set gothic horror tale with a wicked sense of humor that pays homage to super-cool stuff like Hammer Films, Edgar Allen Poe, and Alfred Hitchcock. It never brushes the greatness of his most popular work, Pan’s Labyrinth, another lushly-imagined, mildly terrifying storybook picture, but it’s entertaining throughout and visually show-stopping, which won’t come as a surprise to del Toro die-hards.

The film’s ensemble is rich in talent, led by the delicate Mia Wasikowska as Edith Cushing, our virgin heroine who sees ghosts but is more often than not laughably naive to the immediate real-world threats that constantly circle her pretty little head. She lives in Buffalo, NY and has a longtime admirer in Alan McMichael (Charlie Hunnam), an eye doctor and respectable gentleman. Edith’s finds a foreign visitor more fetching, however; British charmer Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) has come to town to seek funding for a clay mining operation on his estate back in England (the valuable resource is blood red in appearance—crimson, in fact!) but finds himself equally enamored with fair-skinned Edith.

They fall for each other and get married, a development Alan takes with honorable acceptance. Less accepting of the arrangement is Lucille (Jessica Chastain), Thomas’ sister, who becomes the proverbial third wheel as the three travel from New York to Allerdale Hall, the siblings’ childhood home. It’s an almost laughably haunted-looking mansion with a big hole stabbed through the ceiling due to weather damage. A nest of dark passageways, dusty-but-ornate rooms, and creaky elevators that plunge you into the dark mines underneath the mansion floor, where the clay operation (and probably some icky stuff Thomas doesn’t want Edith to know about). Del Toro riffs on the same story elements and themes Hitchcock perfected in the feverish Notorious. Del Toro being the Hitchcock expert that he is (he taught Hitchcock classes in Mexico), the film honors its roots well.

Much of the film’s movie’s humor stems from how clueless Edith is to the fishiness of her arrangement with the siblings. Lucille has more than a few obvious psycho-killer tendencies (Chastain hams her performance up to mixed success) and Thomas is just as suspicious in how he always seems to be hiding something. Wasikowska’s aloofness might be a turn-off for those seeking material less littered with silly dialogue, but for this critic, the schtick was fun and good for a laugh. It seems at times the actors struggle with the script’s nimble tone, and it’s hard to tell whether the occasional oddly-delivered line of dialogue is the fault of the actors or the writers (del Toro co-wrote with regular collaborator Matthew Robbins).

Without question, one of the major draws of a del Toro picture is the visual presentation, and Crimson Peak will let no one down on this front. The cinematography is spellbinding, as is the costume and production design. The sets are instant classics and Edith’s handful of interactions with the vaporous ghouls that haunt her are startlingly convincing (del Toro never settles for his movie creatures looking anything less than tactile).

What’s missing in this immaculately presented story is a sense of spiritual involvement, something the film strives for but doesn’t quite grasp (Pan’s Labyrinth felt more fully-realized as an expression of del Toro’s beliefs in the supernatural). The plot is so evasive with the siblings’ motivations that it undermines Edith’s reluctant relationship with those from the great beyond. Nothing, however, could distract from the stunningly detailed gothic imagery which, like in many del Toro pictures, supersedes everything else.

We’re back with another packed show as we welcome filmmaker Evgeny Afineefsky to talk about his documentary Winter On Fire. Bernard and Zach go over the standouts of the still-rolling 53rd New York Film Festival as well as talk about this past summer’s disappointing string of summer blockbusters. The boys also discuss actors whose movies they’ll watch no matter what and share their Indie Picks of the Week.

Topics

• Indie Picks of the Week (2:13)
• NYFF (6:46)
• Summer Blockbuster Rage (27:36)
• Actors We Follow (43:53)
• Evgeny Afineefsky (55:02)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

Carol NYFF Review
Microbe & Gasoline NYFF Review
The Walk Review

What we see on-screen, for the most part, in Ridley Scott‘s The Martian (based on Andy Weir’s popular sci-fi novel) is Matt Damon playing an astronaut, stranded on Mars, who must be resourceful on a resource-less planet in order to return to earth. From that simple premise spawns more entertainment than we’ve seen from Scott in years as we follow the Martian misadventures of Damon’s Mark Watney as he “sciences the shit” out of his dire situation with the (remote) help of his earth-bound astronautic team and the bright minds at NASA.

The movie’s trailers would have you expecting a white-knuckle, isolation-horror story along the lines of Gravity. I was pleasantly surprised, however (as someone who hasn’t read the book), to find a movie that’s optimistic, warm, very funny, and very much un-scary. This is much lighter material than the marketing would have you believe, and that’s a good thing.

The tone is set from the beginning with Mark and his team surveying the martian surface for, uh, science reasons. Mark rattles off smartass quips rapid-fire, and judging from his crew-mates’ joking, amused reactions, it’s clear they’re a tight-knit group. Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) leads the team, who refer to each other on a last-name basis. Martinez (Michael Peña), Johanssen (Kate Mara), Beck (Sebastian Stan), and Vogel (Aksel Hennie) find outer-space comfort in clowning on their good buddy Watney. Suddenly, a violent rock storm barrels through the work site and a piece of equipment slams into Mark, hurtling him into the darkness. Believing their friend dead, the team leaves the planet surface before the storm tears their ship to pieces.

Despite being left to his own devices, Mark finds a way to keep yapping: returning to the Mars base, he starts keeping a video log for whoever or whatever. It mostly keeps him sane as he MacGuyvers his way through the litany of problems that comes with being stranded on an inhospitable planet. The most pressing issue initially is Mark’s limited food supply; should he eventually find a way to contact earth or his crewmates, his current stock of NASA microwaveable meals wouldn’t keep him alive long enough for a rescue team to reach him. Thankfully, Mark’s a botanist, and he figures out a way to make his own water and grow an indoor garden, which bears enough potatoes to keep him going for the foreseeable future.

Much like in Robinson Crusoe and Robert Zemeckis’ Castaway, it’s a delight to watch our hero use his brainpower and willpower to gradually build a little life for himself in a hopeless place. It also doesn’t hurt that Damon finds his groove with the smart and savvy material, adapted by Drew Goddard from the book. Some of the jokes are pretty corny, but Goddard’s always had a knack for making even the cornball-iest comedy sing. Mark’s bright-side attitude is charming: when he runs out of ketchup for his potatoes, he dips them in crushed-up Adderall and jokes bout it; when it dawns on him that, because he’s grown potatoes on Martian soil, he’s technically colonized the planet, he sticks his chin up in the air like a proud child. The movie’s nearly two-and-a-half hours long, but Damon’s so entertaining that it’s a swift, streamlined watch.

The story hops back to earth regularly, where a crowded cast of mostly insignificant NASA officials debate how to tell the grieving public that Mark Watney is not deceased, as they originally reported, as well as figure out a way to bring him back home before his food runs out or a random equipment malfunction kills him. Jeff Daniels and Chiwetel Ejiofor have the most prominent roles as the two highest ranking NASA brains, with the rest of the home planet cast filled out by the likes of Donald Glover, Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Benedict Wong, and Kristen Wiig, who’s in such a nothing role it’s sad. Chastain and the rest of the crew rejoin the story later, after NASA decides how to break the news to them that their friend is still alive.

The visual effects are as spectacular as they need to be, but the movie isn’t enamored with them like too many sci-fi dramas are. Mars looks totally convincing and serene, but the focus is always on what and how Mark’s doing. In essence, Weir’s story is about the wonder and power of science and how the human spirit can unlock its true beauty. None of the action scenes rival anything you’ll see in Interstellar or Gravity, but the that’s not what this movie’s about, after all, which is refreshing. The Martian won’t please those expecting a dark, terrorizing thrill ride where the heroes are in constant peril, but it’ll make the rest of us laugh and cheer, which is something sci-fi blockbusters don’t do enough these days.

This Sunday night everyone will know who the real 2015 Oscar winners are and that person who hasn’t watched a single nominated film this year will probably win your office pool. In our recent Oscar Winners Revisited columns, we’ve gone back to discuss who should have won back in 2011, and 2012. Now we revisit the 2013 Oscars and discuss why we think Best Picture should have gone to Silver Linings Playbook and not to Argo, as well as our picks in the other 5 major categories that year.

Best Supporting Actress

Who Won – Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Who Should’ve Won – Amy Adams, The Master

Amy Adams’ understated performance as the reserved but grounded wife in The Master seemed to have been overshadowed by the thunderous performances from leads Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. But she had an essential role in shaping The Master into the brilliant and well-acted film that it became. After Adams walked away empty-handed three previous times at the Oscars (nominated for Junebug, Doubt, and The Fighter), I thought she’d finally receive the shiny gold trophy she deserves. Yet somehow Anne Hathaway received more votes from the Academy with her imperfect singing in the classic musical remake of Les Miserables. One day you will win Ms. Adams, one day. [Dustin]

Best Supporting Actor

Who Won – Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Who Should’ve Won – Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

2013 felt like a real “anything goes” year for the Best Supporting Actor category. On one side, there was the trio of living legends Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones all playing pivotal roles in films that won elsewhere in major categories. On the other were two men better known as character actors: Christoph Waltz and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Waltz picked up his second win in two nominations (both for Tarantino movies) despite some critics noting Leonardo DiCaprio’s superior performance in Django Unchained. All in all, the overlooked nominee in the bunch was Hoffman. Though we didn’t know it then, The Master would be Hoffman’s final Oscar nomination, his strongest collaboration with his friend, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Playing Lancaster Dodd, the cultish leader of The Cause, Hoffman illustrates the charisma necessary to recruit a legion of followers while also depicting Dodd as a man, “a hopelessly inquisitive man.” It’s a staggeringly complex character made knowable through an honest, vulnerable performance. Lancaster Dodd exhibited Hoffman at his best: charming, empathetic, and exceedingly truthful. He deserved a win. [Zach]

Best Actress

Who Won – Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Who Should’ve Won – Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Nobody was surprised to hear Jennifer Lawrence’s name called for Best Actress in 2013. She was terrific in Silver Linings Playbook, a film that had Oscar wins written all over it, which made this victory feel like an easy lay-up despite the talented group of nominees that year. Emmanuelle Riva nearly broke us down to tears with Amour, Quvenzhané Wallis won our hearts in Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Naomi Watts left us emotionally stirred in The Impossible. But it was Jessica Chastain who shocked us with her bravery in an unapologetic portrayal of CIA agent in charge of tracking Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. Unlike other Hollywood roles for women, Chastain got the chance to play an intelligent, uncompromising heroine, and she did it extremely well. This might have been one of the better years for lead actresses in recent memory, but Chastain’s electrifying performance stood above the rest—perhaps just a touch above Wallis and Lawrence. [Dustin]

Best Actor

Who Won – Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Who Should’ve Won – Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

With all due respect to the World’s Greatest Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Freddie Quell creates a character far beyond imitation. The enigmatic Quell is noticeably disturbed, speaking out of the side of his mouth and prone to sudden, violent outbursts. Phoenix is said to have used a rubber band to tie his teeth together on a side of his mouth to contribute to Quell’s odd speech pattern. But beyond his vocal choices, Quell is likely Phoenix’s most physical performance. The actor contorts himself, throwing his body into walls and at others with an animalistic quality. This type of performance could feel over-the-top in a lesser production but guided by Paul Thomas Anderson, Freddie Quell is both frightening and sympathetic. More than that, he’s simply unforgettable. [Zach]

Best Director

Who Won – Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Who Should’ve Won – Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Obviously nobody at the time knew that Ben Affleck‘s Argo would go on to win Best Picture, a strange thing since he wasn’t even nominated in this Best Director category. While people were scratching their heads trying to figure out why he and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed, some were pleasantly surprised (myself included) to see Michael Haneke on the list for Amour (foreign films don’t often get recognized in this category), as well as first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild. Though the race seemed to be between David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Ang Lee walked away with his second Best Director award. Remarkably, it was the new kid on the block, Zeitlin, who impressed me the most. He shot Beasts of the Southern Wild on location using mostly local actors, and created a poetic fairy tale most seasoned directors couldn’t produce. Even though he didn’t win, Zeitlin should have felt honored to be in such great company. [Dustin]

Best Picture

Who Won – Argo
Who Should’ve Won – Silver Linings Playbook

This is probably one of my least favorite years for Best Picture, a lot of brilliant films didn’t make the cut while a couple mediocre ones did (cough Les Miserables cough). But I’ll take Silver Linings Playbook over the wondrous Life of Pi, the heartbreaking Amour, and the endlessly moving Beasts of the Southern Wild. Silver Linings is one of the most charming movies of the decade and a delightful throwback to the zany screwball romantic comedies of the ‘30s and ‘40s, a better tribute than the previous years Best Picture winner The Artist. David O. Russell’s chaotic and jumpy style perfectly suits this story of a man suffering from bipolar disorder trying to correct his life amidst an unusual romance, a temperamental football-obsessed father, and any other type of everyday drama that can stand in the way of a positive and happy life. There’s a lightning-in-a-bottle feeling of success to Silver Linings Playbook which the uninspired mess of American Hustle only makes me appreciate more. [Ryan]

On a day known for it’s superstitions and inherent spookiness levels, those of us more excited about an excuse to watch horror films tonight than rom-coms tomorrow will be extra thrilled by this new trailer.

We’ve been hotly anticipating Guillermo del Toro’s next film Crimson Peak since he teased us with a creepy walk-through set-up at Comic-Con last summer. With the promise of a return to Pan’s Labyrinth-levels of creepiness and the sort of atmosphere del Toro is expert at creating, this film actually made our most anticipated of 2015 list.

In this new trailer we get a better look at Mia Wasikowska’s Edith Cushing, a Victorian era woman swept off her feet by Tom Hiddleston’s Sir Thomas Sharpe who brings her to his childhood home where his creepy sister (a surprisingly dark haired Jessica Chastain) lurks and the house itself is a menacing character. It may have just the slightest bit too much CG, but as Pacific Rim proves, no one makes you buy-in and root for CG more than del Toro.

Watch and get freaked out for yourself below.

J.C. Chandor’s third feature, A Most Violent Year, is set in 1981 New York City, a year that saw a dramatic spike in criminal activity (hence the odd title). Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, a young, self-made entrepreneur and family man who runs a heating oil business with his mob-princess wife Anna (Jessica Chastain), who handles the books. He’s an ambitious, confident mogul who’s always moving forward. His competitors in the cutthroat home-heating market run their operations like mobsters, but Abel’s got more class than that. He covets transparency and morality, and unlike his rivals, he can sleep at night with a clear conscience (though he’s no stranger to shady back room dealings). “I run a fair and clean business, and I will fight to my last breath to prove that.”

A Most Violent Year is about a man protecting his honor at all costs while the rest of the world, even his family, conspires to strip him of it. The son of Hispanic immigrants, Abel started from the bottom as a heating-oil truck driver and eventually moved up the ranks, married his boss’ daughter, and bought the company from his father-in-law, who played the game as dirty as Abel’s rival merchants. With the company in his hands, he turned things around and made it a clean operation. He’s looking to expand, too: a piece of waterfront real estate looks to be the key to cornering the oil market, and he’s got 30 days to close the deal.

Abel’s a man of conviction, constantly in pursuit of the American dream, but all that surrounds him is nightmarish. The rampant violence and corruption of the city threaten to tarnish his squeaky-clean business on the daily, and jeopardize his chances of closing the waterfront deal. As a result of the vicious turf war, his truck drivers are getting held at gunpoint, his salesmen are getting roughed up, and he even finds an armed goon prowling around his McMansion late at night while his wife and kids are home. Surely arming himself and his crew for protection would be the smart thing to do, but he’s not cut from that cloth.

Reluctantly, Abel allows his drivers to carry guns on their deliveries (the first in a series of moralistic compromises), but refuses to tote one himself. When Anna buys a pistol as a knee-jerk reaction to the would-be home invader, Abel loses his mind. “I don’t want anything do to with this!” he roars. If he or she were to ever be seen holding a gun, his reputation would crumble. Adding to Abel’s stack of problems is a district attorney (David Oyelowo) who’s sniffing around the oil industry in search of corruption and malfeasance. It’s a terribly twisty plot, but Chandor’s pace is set at a slow, steady boil to make it digestible. The tension mounts in small increments, until it’s so thick by the film’s final act you feel like you’re suffocating (in a good way).

On two separate occasions Chandor shows us Abel running through the sooty, sapped NYC streets, and together these scenes comprise the film’s most poetic artistic statement. As the film opens, we see him on a morning exercise run, flying past graffitied walls, past run-down buildings, past the urban malaise: he’s running toward a brighter future. Later, we see him running again, in an impeccably-shot foot chase sequence on railroad tracks that sees him hunting down an enemy, gun in hand, with vengeance and violence on his mind: he’s running toward the devil. He’s lost himself, and the film’s real suspense lies in the question of whether Abel’s will is strong enough to not succumb to the unscrupulous ways of the crime lord.

Isaac is a convincing kingpin, always looking invincible in his mustardy double-breasted coat, but Abel’s so monomaniacal sometimes that he feels less like a human being and more like a crime movie cliché. The same can be said for Chastain, who acts with so much kick and venom that it’s a hit-or-miss situation: she either nails Chandor’s sizzling one-liners and looks like a badass, or she overshoots her lines and comes off like a factory-issue mob-movie wife (the wonky Brooklyn accent doesn’t help). They’ve got chemistry together, though, and generate some real energy in their heated domestic arguments. Taking nothing away from their acting abilities (I’m a big fan of them both), I don’t feel like they were necessarily the best fits for their respective roles.

One piece of the story that feels under-developed is the reasoning behind Abel shedding every bit of his immigrant heritage. One can easily suppose that he did it to make his image more appealing on his way up to the top of the mountain, but that’s an uninteresting supposition to make. Julian (Elyes Gabel), one of Abel’s drivers who gets hijacked and beaten, is Hispanic as well, and Abel’s conversations with him are the only time we hear him speak Spanish. There’s a loose symbolism that Julian represents the former life Abel’s left behind (to detail this would be too spoiler-y), but it’s clunky symbolism at best.

Like Chandor’s first film, Margin Call, A Most Violent Year boasts a supporting cast of vets that add gravity and richness to the proceedings. Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, Peter Gerety, and Jerry Adler make brief, but impactful appearances. Bradford Young’s (Selma, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) cinematography is ashy, atmospheric and textured, and coupled with the phenomenal period set and costume design makes New York City look downright apocalyptic compared to the shining culture hub it is today. Chandor pays homage to Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City and Serpico as far as the milieu he’s created: it’s a city full of tough guys and alpha dogs who were born to screw each other over and hold meetings in dingy, poorly-lit rooms.

A Most Violent Year is my least favorite of Chandor’s films. I’m still a fan, though; the fact that he went from All is Lost, a boiled-down fable pitting a man against the elements, to a labyrinthine crime picture like this verifies for me that he’s one of the most exciting directors working today. Just like Abel, it’s not in Chandor’s nature to sit still; he’s always moving forward.

With filming wrapped all the way back in 2013, it almost feels like Liv Ullmann’s grand return behind the camera has come a year too late. While this can mess with people’s anxieties and expectations; the most important thing is that Ullmann is back, directing an adaptation of masterpiece Swedish play Miss Julie by August Strindberg, a playwright regarded as something of a demigod in Scandinavian culture. Ullmann’s choice of setting the story in Ireland gave her the opportunity to cast Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton in the three roles. This is at once a blessing and a curse; shaky accents and stringent Anglophone translation (by Ullmann herself) make for a tiring watch, at times, but it also gives three familiar actors a chance to give it their 110%. Besides, Miss Julie has been adapted so many times; it’s nice to have it set in the beautiful Irish hillsides for a change.

The story goes as follows; on the eve of Midsummer’s Night, in a famous Baron’s castle, three people contend with escalating passions, desires, and prejudices on subjects of love, lust, and class. There’s the “kitchen wench” and handmaiden Cathleen (Morton), the educated, treacherous valet John (Farrell), and the center of attention whether off-screen or on, the Baron’s daughter Julie (Chastain). The Baron is never seen, but his presence is felt in almost every scene. Julie is presented as a lonely woman, trapped within the confines of her enormous and mostly empty castle, while the relationship between John and Cathleen is purposefully muddled between flirtatious colleagues and engaged lovers. The two servants are the first to meet, and it’s not long before the gossip starts about what the latest scandalous, improper thing Miss Julie has done. Speaking of the devil draws her out of the shadows, and it’s not long before Cathleen is dismissed.

Much of the time is spent listening to the voluptuous, impassioned, monologues between Farrell’s John and Chastain’s Julie. Make no mistake about it; Miss Julie is theatricality wiping the sweat off of the highest brow. If some viewers aren’t prone to fulfillment by way of violent performances, their time would be best spent elsewhere. That’s not to say that Ullmann’s direction doesn’t seep through the emotional cracks of the volcanic exchanges. Barring some fly-on-the-wall angles, elegant exterior shots by the brook or Julie’s garden, and a couple of truly fantastic reflections of Julie against the window superimposed with the only escape out of the castle; Ullmann decides to keep her camera firmly pointed at the actors, in medium shot, reminiscent of her old mentor and friend Ingmar Bergman. Appropriately framed, as if posing for a Venetian portrait, the actors are photographed in resplendent play of light and shadow by DP Mikhail Krichman.

Then there’s Ullmann’s choice of music, utilizing Schubert (his popular “Andate Con Moto” made cinematically infamous in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon) and Bach to exceptionally powerful effects. The music reflects the character’s moods, at times revealing feelings they aren’t aware of, or are trying to hide. It’s stunning. But, Miss Julie never lets you forget that it’s an actor’s showpiece; Strindberg was infamous for his naturalistic style and free-spirited dialogue, which carved multiple dimensions into his characters. Ullmann’s translation feels clunky at times, and some of the delivery (especially from Farrell and Morton) feels too affected to resonate as anything genuine, but only to a small degree. Chastain on the other hand, whose accent does slightly waver but never to egregious levels, truly gives it her all here. She tears the roof off as Julie, going through a whole array of emotions and ranges to near exhausting altitudes. And yet, whether it’s instinct, Ullmann’s inspiration, or a bit of both, she pulls back in the right moments and grounds Julie, making her relatable and never larger-than-life.

This movie may not be the critical darling one would expect from an austere adaptation of Strindberg, by Liv Ullmann, starring Jessica Chastain. People looking for some easy entertainment won’t be praising it any time soon. Despite all of this, if the viewer properly prepares for a bit of a mental and emotional workout, there is much to be gained from the pain here. Three actors at the very top of their games, even with two of them being shaky at times, and a director who is clearly passionate and deeply respectful towards the material. Miss Julie is high-octane, visceral, cinema, raising intensity not with a kiss or a gunshot, but with vile, inebriated, human emotions.

Originally published on 9/22/14.

The story of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet C.K. Williams, The Color of Time is told through a series of flashbacks, voiced over at times by the poet’s own works read aloud by James Franco, who also stars in the film. Walking us through various elements of Williams’ life in no particular order, the film attempts to slowly unravel his existence into a series of experiences that not only inspired his poetry, but combined to make his work a visceral reflection of life as he knew it. Yet problematically, the film fails to do so in a way that delves into who Williams was as an individual, instead allowing his story to blend into the commonly held, stereotypical understanding of troubled young men becoming troubled old poets.

Written and directed by twelve students from Franco’s class at NYU, The Color of Time is a film for students; its heavily filtered aesthetic and non-linear structure will appeal far more to the artistic undergraduate than the average cinema-goer. This is not merely the result of a film that is too intellectual or abstract to appeal to a mainstream audience, but rather a fundamental flaw in the established style that has been liberally applied to the entire piece. While on the one hand it is commendable that a film created by twelve individuals is so cohesive, on the other it could certainly be argued that this is simply a uniformity born of a lack of originality. Indeed, the film is clearly inspired by the picturesque beauty of Terrence Malick films, down to the sepia-toned fields of long grass. In allowing the film to be thus influenced to the point of detraction from its core subject, the filmmakers make sure that though it may be a beautiful imitation, it will never stand out. Rather than remaining honest to the needs of the story, the different aspects of Williams’ life have been manipulated to fit a stereotypical understanding of how such biopics tend to go.

Jessica Chastain also stars in the film, but appears to essentially be reprising her role from The Tree of Life; she performs admirably, but even this does not distract from the knowledge that we have seen this character before. There is only one point at which the film seems to truly break out of its self-imposed shell, and this comes through the portrayal of a drug-induced stupor that Franco, as a young Williams, finds himself in. It is, ironically, a breath of fresh air – a reminder that the film does in fact have some creative minds behind it. Yet just as we come to hope that the film might continue to break away in such a fashion, it snaps back to what the filmmakers have no doubt decided is the “tried and true” method.

The biggest problem with all of this, however, is not simply audience exasperation, but in fact the disservice it does to Williams’ poetry. Poetry as an art demands a personal reaction: an interpretation through which it can become a powerful force in our own lives. Few would expect that film could be the medium to reduce it to little more than a series of platitudes set to melancholic piano music. Perhaps the poignancy lies only in the poetry, and not in the film—an implication only made further apparent by the lingering feeling that The Color of Time should have been far more thought-provoking than it was. Though Franco seems to have attracted other stars to the project, including Mila Kunis as his wife, and Zach Braff, they are all evidently underused, functioning as fleeting moments in Williams’ life and with no real identities of their own.

Biopics, regardless of how artistic or loosely interpreted they are, are stories about people—namely, real people. The Color of Time is not a story about people, but a story about what we expect certain people to have been. Masquerading under the honesty of Williams’ poetry, it is a confirmation of our assumptions, and a pretense of profundity. By rejecting creativity in its vision, it becomes, at its core, a superficial film that–though visually appealing—does neither itself nor its subject justice.

The National Board of Review has put out the list of winners for their 2014 awards. They’ve named A Most Violent Year the Best Film of the Year. Starring the Board’s Best Supporting Actress winner Jessica Chastain and their pick for Best Actor Oscar Isaac, the film is set in the early ’80s in the belly of New York’s crime world. The Board’s picks come as somewhat of a surprise to many critics as Boyhood and Birdman have generally been two of the most talked about films this year and have been the first to pick up awards this week from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Gotham Awards.

Other Awards to be given at the Gala on January 6th, 2015 are to Julianne Moore for Best Actress in Still Alice where she plays a woman dealing with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and Clint Eastwood for Best Director for American Sniper.

Michael Keaton did end up tying with Oscar Isaac for Best Actor and Edward Norton for Best Supporting Actor for their performances in Birdman which so far has been incredibly well received.

All in all, the dissension among early awards just proves this could be an interesting and varied awards season.

Here is the full list of the National Board of Review Awards:

Best Film: A Most Violent Year
Best Director: Clint Eastwood (American Sniper)
Best Actor (TIE): Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year) and Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton (Birdman)
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)
Best Original Screenplay: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice)
Best Animated Feature: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Breakthrough Performance: Jack O’Connell (Starred Up and Unbroken)
Best Directorial Debut: Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child)
Best Foreign Language Film: Wild Tales
Best Documentary: Life Itself
William K. Everson Film History Award: Scott Eyman
Best Ensemble: Fury
Spotlight Award: Chris Rock for writing, directing, and starring in Top Five
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Rosewater
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Selma

Top 10 Films
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Fury
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Lego Movie
Nightcrawler
Unbroken

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
We Are the Best!

Top 5 Documentaries
“Art and Craft”
“Jodorowsky’s Dune”
“Keep On Keepin’ On”
“The Kill Team”
“Last Days in Vietnam”

Top 10 Independent Films
Blue Ruin
Locke
A Most Wanted Man
Mr. Turner
Obvious Child
The Skeleton Twins
Snowpiercer
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Starred Up
Still Alice

J.C. Chandor‘s first two films, Margin Call and All Is Lost couldn’t have been more different — the first was a talky, smart depiction of Wall Street’s collapse and the second a quiet, small-scale tale of one man’s survival. For his third film, A Most Violent Year, Chandor is taking a look at the lives of an immigrant family in New York City during the crime-filled winter of 1981.

A Most Violent Year is now set for a December 31, 2014 release in New York and Los Angeles, before expanding in early 2015. The release puts it in prime contention for this year’s wide-open Oscar races — though Chandor’s films have arguably under-performed with the Academy, the film sports a great cast (Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, David Oyelowo and Albert Brooks) and Chandor will most likely be considered for original screenplay.

The film will be released by A24 Films, which has only existed since 2013 but has quickly become a hotspot for daring indie films. The company is most notable for Spring Breakers, Obvious Child and Under the Skin.

While we wait to hear much more about the film in the coming weeks, check out the first trailer for A Most Violent Year below:

Viewing an on-screen relationship from somewhere in the middle can be a difficult place to be in as a film viewer. Finding two characters in a juncture in their story when one’s had no time to form any sort of attachment yet, makes for the sort of film viewing that practically demands distance. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby most certainly asks that of its viewers. Asking for patience in abundance as it fills us in on the current, past, and potential future of a young New York couple. And to make sure the severity of their rift is felt, the film opens with a suicide attempt.

Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain) has a name inspired less by the Beatles and more by missed opportunity and a sense of fate. After a brief scene of young love between her and boyfriend Conor (James McAvoy), she’s seen biking down the Brooklyn bridge. With a sense of calculation, she leaves her bike and heads for the fence.

In the hospital, Conor, her now husband, flies to her side, panicked. But when she’s healed and it’s time to leave, it’s her sister Kate (Jess Weixler) who takes her back to their childhood home to stay with their parents. Her French musician mother Mary (Isabelle Huppert) awaits her on the front steps, glass of wine in hand. Her father Julian (William Hurt), the academic and therapist, is especially concerned and encourages Eleanor to take some classes while she figures out her life.

Eleanor enrolls and when her father encourages her to crash Professor Friedman’s (Viola Davis) class, she does so with hardly any real argument why Professor Friedman should allow her to join the class, but an unlikely friendship is sparked between the two and Eleanor finds her to be an encouraging outsider. A safe friend unaware of Eleanor’s tragic recent past.

Meanwhile Conor does his best to find out how Eleanor is, since she’s thrown away her phone, resorting eventually to stalking her at the school. He passes her a note in her class one day and upsets her enough that she leaves class. Despite what little we know of their former selves before this juncture in their relationship, it’s clear Eleanor has changed greatly and it’s equally true Conor wants to return to what they once had. One of them stuck in the ambiguity of who they are, and who they are as part of a couple after a major life change, and the other stuck in the remembrance of how good things once were.

It’s easier to understand The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby when one takes into account that it was originally two films. Him and Her. One focused on their relationship from Conor’s perspective, the other from Eleanor’s. At times throughout the film there seems to be much left unsaid, much that was most likely covered in the individual films that was cut to make Them work without being overwhelming.

But it’s exactly that hesitation that keeps The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby from true greatness. In his feature directorial début (or should we call it third film?), Ned Benson has crafted a tale of two people completely unable to communicate. And though the inability to communicate with someone at a juncture where grief makes it entirely hard to relate is realistic, as an editing and filmmaking tool it makes for somewhat frustrating viewing.

The emergence of the so-called “anti-romance” is a sign of the times, of the burgeoning destruction of the Hollywood ending in favor of realism and relatable romantic scenarios. And while I appreciate this perspective and the way it resonates in our modern world, I can’t help but always wonder where the realistic side character is, the one yelling at the main characters to grow up and just have a normal conversation. Bill Hader‘s Stuart, Conor’s best friend and chef at his restaurant, comes close. Doing his best to explain to Conor the egg shells he has to walk on around his friend when it comes to his marriage. And Viola Davis is truly fantastic as Professor Friedman, but her wisdom and usefulness to Eleanor seems to stem entirely on her not actually knowing anything about Eleanor and her immediate life. She just seems to accidentally give Eleanor the friendship she needs at a time when she accidentally needs it.

Plenty of conversations with their family members would seem to be the ideal pathway to character growth, but strangely it’s these scenes that drag the most. Much of the time spent skirting around the obvious topics needing real study.

The audience is only clued in to Eleanor and Conor’s central concern rather late in the film, though it’s not hard to figure out they don’t suffer from simple relationship troubles. Strangely Benson chooses to show flashbacks from the couple’s early days, before they were married and in the blissful throes of young love, rather than scenes from their marriage. In a sense it brilliantly shows the same blind spot the main characters seems to possess, an idea of when things were new and good, juxtaposed with the present when they seem so bad, while showing an unawareness of when they were just in the middle, living out their love on a day by day basis.

With all that anti-romance, anti-Hollywood ending, the characters fall into an age-old trap, resorting to reinventing themselves, albeit by returning to former passions and plans they once had before their marriage and troubles. So although the film won’t allow us to call its ending “sad” per se, it certainly doesn’t warrant the descriptor of “realistic”. Though I’ll give kudos to Son Lux for the musical placement, toying quite effectively with our hearts in a few key areas with some well-placed songs in a way that gives the implication of romance without actually showing it.

Chastain and McAvoy give phenomenal performances, every other scene playing out like the clip played by the Academy before they announce who gets the Oscar. But without the structure the story needs, their performances simply hit the screen as heavy and ineffective, the lack of insight into their psyches making for a detached relationship with viewers.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby has all the realism of watching a pair of friends go through a rough spot in their relationship, without any of the catharsis of being able to advise and yell at them as perhaps a good friend ought to.

The roller coaster Ned Benson has been experiencing with his first feature would make anyone’s head dizzy. Last year at TIFF, he premiered his film, The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby, as a check-this-out-and-let-me-know-what-you-think concept which people have since been calling a “work in progress”. It was still fresh out of the lab without a buyer in sight, and told a familiar story in a truly original way; a break-up of a relationship told from both the guy’s and the girl’s perspective. Him and Her. Then, after some months of deliberation, Benson re-cut his film and premiered it at this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regarde section as a two hour “Them” version.

The story centers around Jessica Chastain‘s Eleanor Rigby who, after we are introduced to her and her boyfriend Connor (James McAvoy) in a charming opening dine-and-dash date, attempts suicide and disappears from Connor’s life. She retreats back to her family to figure out how to move on, he feels lost and tries to put all his energy on saving his restaurant slash bar. The loss of a child is quickly established here, whereas it was something hidden in the original format. So many of the things I loved about the original version are still present; the performances from Chastain and McAvoy are fantastic, the rest of the stellar cast (including William Hurt, Cirian Hinds, Isabelle Hupert and Viola Davis) are still some of the best supporting ensemble I’ve seen in quite some time, the tone of the film helped by the sonorous soundtrack is still as delicate as it should be. Yet, I can’t help but feel a big chunk missing, as a lot of what happens in Them feels somewhat forced, rushed, or tacked on. In any case, the good news is that the roller coaster ride will end with all three versions being released in theaters. While Them is still a solid effort on its own legs, I would strongly urge you to watch the Him and Her versions instead.

The Golden Globes Award show got off to a bit of a shaky start when the Teleprompters malfunctioned during Paul Rudd and Salma Hayek’s award presentation, leaving them in an awkward speechless moment. Despite a couple minor out of sync setbacks though, the awards giving out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association went fairly well, thanks in part to the wonderful hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. A couple other highlights on the night were ex-president Bill Clinton appropriately presenting the film Lincoln and Jodie Foster gave a wonderful coming-out speech while accepting a lifetime achievement award.

There were some surprises at the Golden Globes, but because the HFPA voting size is approximately 1.5% of the voting size of the Academy, using the results here to predict the Oscars would not be highly advised.

The biggest surprise was when Argo picked up the Best Picture in drama and when Ben Affleck won Best Director for it, an award for which he was not Oscar nominated for. Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained also received some love from the Globes when it won Best Original Screenplay and the Supporting Actor award by Christoph Waltz.

Full list of 2013 Golden Globes award winners:

(Winners are highlighted in bold red font)

FILM

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Picture – Comedy/Musical
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director
Ben Affleck – Argo
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Ang Lee – Life Of Pi
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actress – Drama
Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea
Helen Mirren – Hitchcock
Naomi Watts – The Impossible
Marion Cotillard – Rust And Bone
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor – Drama
Richard Gere – Arbitrage
Denzel Washington – Flight
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
John Hawkes – The Sessions

Best Actress – Comedy/Musical
Judi Dench – Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Meryl Streep – Hope Springs
Maggie Smith – Quartet
Emily Blunt – Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor – Comedy/Musical
Jack Black – Bernie
Bill Murray – Hyde Park On Hudson
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor – Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
Sally Field – Lincoln
Amy Adams – The Master
Nicole Kidman – The Paperboy
Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin – Argo
Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Best Screenplay
Chris Terrio – Argo
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
David O Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat – Argo
Dario Marianeli – Anna Karenina
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil – Cloud Atlas
Mychael Danna – Life Of Pi
John Williams – Lincoln

Best Original Song
Keith Urban – For You (Act Of Valor)
Taylor Swift – Safe & Sound (The Hunger Games)
Hugh Jackman – Suddenly (Les Miserables)
Adele – Skyfall (Skyfall)
Jon Bon Jovi – Not Running Anymore – (Stand Up Guys)

Best Animated Feature Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise Of The Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Film
Amour
The Intouchables
Kon-Tiki
A Royal Affair
Rust & Bone

TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Homeland
The Newsroom

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Connie Britton, Nashville
Glenn Close, Damages
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lena Dunham, Girls
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis CK, Louie
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfields & McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gelhorn
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
Sienna Miller, The Girl
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Toby Jones, The Girl
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gelhorn

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sarah Paulson, Game Change
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Ed Harris, Game Change
Danny Huston, Magic City
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Writer/actress Zoe Kazan stars in Ruby Sparks as the title character that is created out of Calvin’s (Paul Dano) mind as he is writing his latest novel. In addition to Kazan, Way Too Indie outlines our other favorite “Indie Film Pin-Up Girls” that include; Brit Marling, Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Olsen, Miranda July and more.

Brit Marling

Unofficially dubbed the Sundance Darling a couple years back, this blonde-haired beauty has written and starred in two sci-fi-esque Fox Searchlight films: Sound of My Voice and Another Earth. In the latter, she stars as Rhoda Williams, a young girl whose entire life is thrown for a loop when she crosses paths with a composer in a tragic accident. In Sound of My Voice, she portrays the mysterious Maggie, a cult leader who claims to be from the future. Now, she’s working on her latest outing with Voice director Zal Batmanglij, The East, which stars Marling alongside Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgard and Patricia Clarkson.

Every life is death, and most deaths are suicides. Some are just more gradual than others. — Maggie

Miranda July

If Brit Marling is to indie than Miranda July would be to arthouse. She portrays herself (as she stars/directs/writes) in her directorial debut masterpiece Me and You and Everyone We Know; a quirky but creative artist who often struggles to fit in. July’s second film The Future is another prime example of her adorable yet slightly flawed character.

If you really love me, let’s make a vow – right here, together… right now. — Christine

Zooey Deschanel

It is impossible to have a indie pin-up girl feature without including everyone’s favorite, Zooey Deschanel. Zooey turned heads when she starred in the hit romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer alongside Joseph Gordon–Levitt as Summer, a girl not sold on true love. The bright-eyed comic talent is now starring in the popular sitcom New Girl on Fox as another quirky and offbeat chick with a sense of humor trying to figure out life in her early thirties.

You weren’t wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me. — Summer

Elizabeth Olsen

The other Olsen sister has been busy making a name for herself with smaller, critically acclaimed films, like the tense and dramatic Martha Marcy May Marlene. In the film, Olsen plays Martha, a traumatized ex-member of an abusive cult trying to separate her past’s memories from her current day-to-day. Olsen has several films in the works including Theresa Raquin and Very Good Girls.

I am a teacher and a leader. — Martha

Parker Posey

Deemed the “Queen of Indies” in the 90’s by none other than ‘Time’ magazine, Parker Posey certainly deserves to be mentioned on this list. Even though she has been doing independent films for a while now, she still is as busy as ever appearing on TV Shows (recently on New Girl with Zooey Deschanel) as well as several films.

I watch soap operas. I bake brownies. Normalcy is coursing through my veins. — Jackie-O

Jessica Chastain

2011 was the year of Jessica Chastain as she starred in seven films, including The Help, The Debt and The Tree of Life. In The Tree of Life, Chastain stars opposite Brad Pitt as Mrs. O’Brien the matriarch of a family in Texas in 1956. Told through the eyes of her eldest son, Jack, the story revolves around the family’s struggles and hardships that leave lasting impressions on their children. Chastain has not slowed down since last year and can be seen in next year’s Mama and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.

Grace doesn’t try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries. — Mrs. O’Brien

Zoe Kazan

The granddaughter of famed filmmaker Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan had movie making in her blood at a young age. After acting in several movies like It’s Complicated and Happythankyoumoreplease, Kazan wrote her first feature film this year with Ruby Sparks. Kazan also stars as the title character in the movie that tells the story of famed writer Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) as he creates the love of his life on paper, and she miraculously comes appears in his apartment. Kazan has several films in the works that she stars in, including the newest from Joss Whedon – In Your Eyes.

Just don’t tell me how it ends, okay? — Ruby

Debuting on Blu-ray and DVD Oct. 30
From the directors of Little Miss Sunshine comes a “charming and delightful” (Marshall Fine,Huffingtonpost.com) romantic comedy starring Paul Dano and writer-actress Zoe Kazan. Struggling with writer’s block and a lackluster love life, once-famous novelist Calvin (Dano) creates a beautiful fictitious character named Ruby (Kazan) who inspires him. But not only does this bring his work to life- it also brings Ruby to life- literally! Face-to-face with an actual relationship with his once virtual girlfriend, Calvin must now decide whether to pen this love story or let it write itself. Also starring Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Elliott Gould, Ruby Sparks is a smart coming-of-age story that proves true love can be remarkably magical.

John Hillcoat’s Lawless, which feels more like it belongs on HBO instead of theatre screens, is a mediocre attempt at a crime drama. Assembling a strong team of people in front of and behind the camera, Hillcoat has the materials to make a good period piece but, as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Set in 1931 during Prohibition, Lawless takes place in Franklin County, Virginia. Thanks to some awkward exposition-filled narration at the beginning, we learn that Franklin County is referred to as the “wettest county in the world” due to its massive production of moonshine. The Bondurant brothers are one of the most popular bootleggers in the entire county. Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (Shia LaBeouf) make and sell some of the best liquor in the area, and a brutal fight early on establishes Jack as the weaker brother in comparison to Forrest and Howard’s brute force.

Trouble comes from the law when Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce), a corrupt representative for the District Attorney, tries to intimidate the brothers into paying him off with some of their profits. Forrest refuses, and in no time people start getting killed. Meanwhile Jack manages to score a distribution deal with a mobster (Gary Oldman) which leads to more money and, for Jack, an inflated ego. Love stories also come into the mix as Forrest falls for a city girl (Jessica Chastain) who works at his bar, and Jack constantly tries to court a preacher’s daughter (Mia Wasikowska).

It’s obvious that Hillcoat and screenwriter Nick Cave are going for classical storytelling with its formulaic approach, but nothing is brought to the film that elevates it beyond its generic foundation. When Chastain’s character is introduced, her coupling with Forrest is inevitable. As an audience we see point A and can immediately figure out point B, but Lawless makes the journey between those two points a dull one. Once we get to point B, none of it feels earned or believable. The only reason why all of Lawless’ point A’s get to their respective point B is because it’s what’s expected of them and nothing more.

The cast, while impressive, does little with what they have. Tom Hardy spends his time grunting loudly, and Clarke screams more than he speaks while Chastain and Wasikowska simply play their parts. Guy Pearce’s transformation into Nicolas Cage levels of insanity appears complete with his hilarious, campy performance as Agent Rakes. Gary Oldman, taking the same route as Pearce, hams it up in his small role.

The only exception in the cast is LaBeouf, who has yet to build up a resume as impressive as his co-stars. His performance comes across as someone desperately trying to prove themselves as a serious actor. It might have worked in a more somber film, but with Pearce flailing about and Oldman smacking people with shovels LaBeouf looks like he’s unable to have any fun.

Lawless’ late-August theatrical release came as a surprise to some. Despite its presence in Cannes’ main competition, the film was getting released in what’s usually referred to as a dead zone. Most late August releases are reserved for mediocre fare, the kinds of films that are burned off from studios instead of being hyped up like their summer releases. Although the talent involved suggested a different outcome, Lawless turned out to be a perfect fit for the late-August release window.

Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter is a gripping thriller about a man who is convinced that his dreams of an earth ending storm are a warning signs of impending doom. In almost every scene it is storming out which blend his dreams and reality together making it harder from him to tell what is real. The film has the right amount of unsettling suspense with such a genuine tone that makes it exceptionally eerie.

The opening shot of Take Shelter is of Curtis (Michael Shannon) staring up at dark clouds with yellowish rain splashing down on him. There is a storm coming or at least there is until Curtis wakes up from his dream. He is a caring father to his hearing-impaired daughter (Tova Stewart) and a loving husband to his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain).

Curtis has a vivid dream about a tornado coming toward him while his dog is barking furiously at him. After a few moments the dog snaps the chain it was tied up to and attacks Curtis, viciously biting his forearm. Curtis wakes up terrified and is sweating profusely. The rest of the day he clutches his arm now and then as if he was actually bitten.

Following that nightmare he starts acting more paranoid. He builds a fence in the backyard for his dog (who is normally an inside dog). After putting up the fence he moves on to cleaning up the old storm shelter that may not have been used for many years. He stocks the shelves of the shelter with canned soup; he is beginning to take shelter.

His dreams continue to get more frequent and start involving his daughter. In two consecutive dreams he is trying to protect his daughter from zombie-like people trying to steal her away. Each time he wakes up from these dreams his reactions get worse. First he was just sweating, then he was wetting the bed, and finally he bleeds and nearly has a seizure before waking up.

Realizing that he may have a problem, he checks out a book from the library on mental illness. But he does not stop there; he visits the doctor to try to get help. After the doctor prescribes him with some sleeping pills, he asks Curtis if he has been up to see his mother lately. It seems like an irrelevant question at first but we come to find out that his mother suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Having just a simple shelter is not enough for Curtis. He becomes obsessed with the shelter. So much so that he takes out a bank loan in order to build an expansion to it, even hooking up running water and sewage. He borrows large tools for the project from his construction job which ends up getting him fired for doing so. His paranoia may not only cost him his job but also his family.

Michael Shannon has a breakdown scene that may be the best emotional scene of the year. His anxiety, obsession and paranoia increases with each passing scene which is played to near perfection by Shannon. His performance earned him well deserved recognition at the Independent Spirit Awards this year for Best Male Lead.

The role of Samantha must have come pretty natural to Jessica Chastain as she played a similar role as the wife and mother in the magnificent film The Tree of Life. However, this film is her role is centered on her dealing with her husband more so than her being a mother like The Tree of Life did. Overall she had an incredible year in films as she was also in The Help and Coriolanus.

Given the synopsis of Take Shelter, a man that envisions storms of apocalyptic magnitude, it took have easily took the path of laying it on thick with over the top science fiction ploys but thankfully instead it remained very conceivable. The plot may have been a little too thin for the 2 hour runtime. Take Shelter has a slow moving narrative in which the build-up surpasses the outcome. The final scene is quite satisfying though.

From the acclaimed director Terrence Malick comes The Tree of Life, an artistic and profound film about the meaning of life centering on a normal and rather insignificant family of the Midwest. The film forgoes traditional narrative in favor of a visual opus that even Stanley Kubrick would appreciate. The best thing you could do is go into the film expecting a cinematic experience; it rids itself of any conventional qualities.

The Tree of Life starts off by tells us that there are two different ways through life either nature or grace and we must choose which one to follow. Grace does not try to please itself and accepts being forgotten, disliked, insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself, like to have it’s own way and finds reasons to be unhappy. Clearly that symbolizes the differences between how the mother and father end up raising their children.

The film then briefly shows a glimpse of Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) and Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain) who lost one of their children. We hear from the father, mother and brother how they regretted things they did or did not do while the son was alive. A quick introduction is given to the present day Jack O’Brien (Sean Penn) who is an adult but is remembering his deceased brother from childhood.

To say the film is visually stunning is a gross understatement and it does not take long for the film to show it. The film shifts not just back to the beginning of the story but the beginning of time. Beautiful shots depicting how the universe expanded and life as we would know it began.

Fast forward millions of years and Jack O’Brien is born. It slowly shows different stages of him growing up, mostly consisting of his upbringing in the house with his family. A short while later another son is born into the world and shows Jack curious of him. The children grow up together living normal lives under the somewhat strict guidance of their disciplinary father. In one immensely emotional scene, the father breaks down a bit and admits his regret of pushing his kids too hard.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the film is how Malick shows us the smallest of detail and we can instantly relate to it. Such as the way the sunlight is reflected onto a wall, the way your hand moves through the air when you put it out of a moving vehicle, or the way the wind blows through clothes hanging from the clothesline in the summer. The way he evokes emotion through visuals instead of words is amazing.

There is definitely more style over substance overall in the film which is why a lot of people have a problem with the film, it can be a bit of a challenge to watch. I would say it was more of an experience than it is a traditional film. People hated 2001 Space Odyssey when it came out because of the long absence of dialog during the opening 25 minutes. If you dig deep though the film does touch on some philosophical questions such as the age-old nature vs nurture debate.

The cinematography and use of the camera was done masterfully from the very beginning and carried throughout. It might be the most technical and beautiful American shot film since 2001 Space Odyssey. The film would certainly have my Oscar vote for cinematography but time will tell if it actually will or not. It did, however, win the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival this year.

It is a rare that a film so poetically written and masterfully filmed comes along. Watching what Malick perceives what life and death looks like is stunning. The Tree of Life may be hard for most people to watch because of it’s non-linear narrative and art like visuals but that is really quite a shame because I think it would take multiple views in order to fully appreciate. Although, to fully understand the film may be difficult to do because of how subjective the film is, which is a subject that the film itself brings up.