Big Screen Ballyhoo – “Silver Linings Playbook”

I absolutely love stories about dysfunctional people. Honestly, they may be my favorite stories, be they in books or theatre or film.

“Silver Linings Playbook” is definitely one of those movies. Directed by David O. Russell, this movie is one of the Oscar darlings, with nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and each of the four acting Oscars, the first movie since 1981’s “Reds” to manage that feat.

The movie starts with Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) being taken home from a mental health facility by his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver). Pat’s immensely superstitious Philadelphia Eagles fan father, Patrizio (Robert DeNiro), is a bit worried about Pat being home from the facility, but tries to use Pat as a lucky charm to help the Eagles win and thus boost his income for his bookmaking, intended to support his eventual restaurant.

Pat’s return to the life at home is troubled at best. He has to go to court-mandated therapy with Dr. Patel (Anupam Kher), where we learn why he was in the hospital. Apparently, Pat nearly beat the man his wife Nikki (Brea Bee) was cheating on him with, and the song that was playing when he discovered them – his wedding song, Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” – sets him off into hysterics when he hears it or imagines it playing.

Pat ends up going to dinner with old friends, and friends of his wife Nikki, Ronnie (John Oritz) and Veronica Maxwell (Julia Stiles). While there, he meets Veronica’s sister Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a very recent widow who is just about as messed up as Pat is. She still acts as though she’s married to her dead husband, as Pat acts with Nikki, and has recently lost her job because she slept with several coworkers.

Pat, trying to reach out to Nikki and prove he’s a better man, agrees to help Tiffany with a dance competition in return for her slipping a letter to Nikki under the radar, in spite of the restraining order currently against him. While dancing together, with some choreographic assistance from Pat’s mental health facility friend Danny (Chris Tucker), they both work on their neuroses and friendship, growing as people and learning more about themselves.

Honestly, this may be my favorite Best Picture nominee, even moreso than “Les Miserables.” Like I said, I absolutely adore stories about broken people. Someone suggested that’s because I’m dark or something… but I like to think of it as the stories being more honest about people. The perfect people are always the ones we can’t actually connect with. Superman is easily one of my least favorite superheroes because he’s just too good. He’s got too much. In the same way, stories about “ordinary, normal people” turn out too often to be about people that have nothing wrong with them beyond being, say, lonely or in not the greatest job.

I’m not suggesting everyone’s secretly bipolar or depressed or any other medical malady. I am saying, though, that stories about broken people crawling back toward normalcy, trying to etch out a life despite their fractured psyches, are far more interesting and compelling for me. People that live lives that aren’t a perfect fit, that aren’t exactly comfortable, trying to figure out how to make it work… that’s what I enjoy, and that’s a large part of what “Silver Linings Playbook” is.

This is a fantastic movie, I think, and I’d put it in my top 5 of 2012 now. Granted, I’ve seen it in 2013… so maybe I’ll put it on a top movies of 2013 list at the end of the year. The acting, particularly from DeNiro, Cooper and Lawrence, is phenomenal. Cooper and DeNiro share some frightening and amazing moments, and Lawrence is certainly showing off her talents throughout the movie. It’s perfectly paced, amazingly acted and utilizes music and editing very well. The moment where Pat begins to have a breakdown searching for his wedding video is one of the more emotional and harrowing moments of the film, and fights with some of the best moments of the year.

Now that the movie is finally out in wide release, do yourself a favor and go see it. It’s so much more than a romantic comedy. It’s a story of people that anyone should be able to connect with.

Big Screen Ballyhoo – My Favorite Films Of 2012

Ha. I wrote Favorite Films of 2011. My bad. These are from 2012, I swear.

It’s the end of the year, and I think you know what that means. It’s the time of year where everyone and their mother starts compiling lists. Some lists are of course better than others… I think my list of lists last year proved that. This year, as I’ve actually been seeing a decent number of movies from this year (well into the double digits, which might actually be a first for me), I’ve decided to actually tell you what my favorite movies are.

Note: These are not my picks for Oscars or anything like that. The Oscars will ignore at least one movie on my list, likely more than that. My Oscar picks will be around the time the Oscar nominations come out because who the heck knows what those crazy people are actually going to nominate. If I can get 50% of the picks right, I’ll be doing fantastically.

Anyway, here’s my favorite movies of the year.

1) “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” – I adored this movie. I never read the book, but I can tell you that the movie was just fantastic. And, as the movie was both written and directed by the author of the book, Stephen Chbosky, the purity between book and movie was very likely maintained. Also, people that did read the book say it was. It has some fantastic acting, particularly from Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller (Emma Thompson has fantastic moments, too), and is delightfully quaint and surprisingly emotionally heavy-hitting. It may be the best coming-of-age film I’ve ever seen.

2) “The Avengers” – Holy crap, this was just a fun movie. I very nearly ended up watching it in theaters three times. Would have if it weren’t for an excessive nap. King of the nerds Joss Whedon directed this massively dangerous film, an attempt to balance Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and S.H.I.E.L.D. in a cohesive action story, and he pulled it off fabulously. One of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen and perhaps my favorite superhero movie, with humor, action and heart combined in a fabulous combination. That’s how superhero movies should be made. I’m looking at you, Spider-Man franchise.

3) “Wreck-It Ralph” – I saw “Brave.” I liked “Brave.” It’s a good movie, and it’s almost certainly going to win the Oscar for Best Animated Film. Pixar has a habit of doing that. But, frankly, “Wreck-It Ralph” was beyond my favorite. As someone who enjoys video games, the premise and massive number of cameos/references from old video games was just beautiful. The nostalgia of the arcade was pitch perfect (I miss the mess out of those things). And the movie brought the emotions on way more strongly than I expected. I’m talking “Toy Story 3” levels, just about. Fantastic movie.

4) “Les Miserables” – I’ve been waiting for a film version of this musical forever. No joke. It’s my favorite musical of all time. And, while the movie isn’t perfect and misses some emotional moments many versions of the stage musical have, but it brings its own powerful emotions and beautiful picturesque scenes that would be unachievable on stage. It may have problems, but it’s ambitious and, I think, ultimately a major success. I find it hard to imagine a better version of the musical being put into film.

5) “Argo” – Ben Affleck is really coming into his own as a director, and becoming more comfortable as an actor, I think. A movie that deals with a far too neglected part of American history, this movie was one of the better thrillers I’ve seen in a while. Not only was it a great thriller, but it also had some surprisingly funny and well-crafted moments of lighthearted comedy, particularly when they’re trying to craft the phony film back in Hollywood. While I personally don’t think it will win, I wouldn’t mind “Argo” winning the Golden Globe, or maybe even the Oscar, for Best Picture. I may change my mind about that once I see “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” but for now that’s what I think.

6) “Skyfall” – I’m really hoping that this movie gets more Oscar recognition than just a Best Original Song nomination. I never really watched many Bond movies in my life. Beyond “Skyfall,” I only ever saw “Die Another Day” all the way through. For some reason, my dad doesn’t own any of the old movies. So I may have missed some of the jokes and references in the newest Bond film, but I didn’t miss out on the action and humor. This was, in my opinion, the best crafted action film of the year after “The Avengers.” Beautiful use of colors and shadow throughout, great imagery, wonderful acting from Javier Bardem… I know others will rail against me for saying this, but I would much rather Sam Mendes and this film get Oscar recognition over “Django Unchained.” But that may just be me.

There were so many other good films this year, too. There were only five films that I saw this year that I didn’t like or thought were bad. That’s quite a bit less than half of the movies I saw, too, so I think this year is doing alright when it comes to movies.

Sing, Sang, Sung – “Nothing Else Matters” By Scala & Kolacny Brothers

I’m trying to be a good boy this year when it comes to culturing myself. Last year, I had seen exactly two of the movies nominated for Oscars: “The Muppets” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” One of those won an Oscar, too.

But, this year, I’m trying to watch good films (and some bad). As a writer and actor, watching movies helps to hone one’s craft, lets you find things to emulate and steal or gives you ideas of how to do things better. It’s just a good idea. And, also, I just really want to beat 50% in the guessing game of who wins what Oscars. That’d be a personal best, to be sure.

Anyway, the current frontrunner and likely winner of the Best Picture Oscar this year is Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty.” While Oscar nominations haven’t officially come out yet, I’m guessing that both Bigelow and Tom Hooper will be nominated for Best Director, and both of their movies nominated for Best Picture. That’ll be interesting as both directors would be coming in defending their Oscars, in a sense, neither having made a film for the big screen since winning those awards (Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker” and Hooper for “The King’s Speech”).

While some of Hollywood has already managed to see two of the films likely to be nominated for Best Picture I have yet to see (“Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty”), here in Alabama, the movies have yet to come out. They’ll come out within the next couple of weeks or so, though, and I plan to see them when they do. During the wait, trailers for “Zero Dark Thirty” have been going crazy playing before most every movie. And the newest trailer has this fantastic song that I always thought I recognized but kept forgetting to Google.

Until now! I Googled the trailer and found out that the song is “Nothing Else Matters,” originally by Metallica. This one, sounding more like a slow, haunting children’s choir version, was done by Scala & Kolacny Brothers. And it’s pretty great. And it makes the trailer look exciting as heck. I’d certainly want to watch the movie if I hadn’t already decided to a while back. Give it a listen.

“Nothing Else Matters” – Scala & Kolacny Brothers

So close no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters

Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don’t just say
And nothing else matters

Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know

So close no matter how far
It couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know

I never opened myself this way hey
Life is ours, we live it our way hey
All these words I don’t just say hey
And nothing else matters

Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters

Never cared for what they say
Never cared for games they play
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
And I know, yeah yeah!

So close no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters.

Big Screen Ballyhoo – My Most Anticipated Films

Alright. In another kind of weak post, as I’m feeling a bit week (I may have to visit a doctor tomorrow after all), I want to talk about movies that are coming out this year. Some of you may be aware that we’re on the cusp of “good movie season,” or the time when a massive glut of films contending for Oscars pop up. They like to put Oscar movies toward the end of the year so they don’t get outshone by other films or just plain forgotten.

And there’s quite a few.

So here are MY picks, categorized by my excitement for them, with the trailers linked with the title of the film.

Movies that I ABSOLUTELY WILL SEE in theaters, I don’t care who I have to punch and shove out of the way.

Okay, more accurate would have been to say “movie,” because there’s only one in this category.

“Les Miserables” is a novel by Frenchman Victor Hugo. It’s a rather meaty piece of work, detailing love and revolution, but more often focusing on one man, Jean Valjean, as he escapes from prison and attempts to live out his life, all while Inspector Javert hunts him down through the years. The novel has seen at least two film adaptations, one starring Liam Neeson, Uma Thurman and Geoffrey Rush. And it was rubbish. But I never managed to get through the novel. I was introduced to the story via the smash musical, one of the most popular musicals of all time (and I think the longest running one worldwide, though I’m unsure). And, for the first time ever, the musical is being brought to the big screen. Directed by Tom Hooper, Academy Award-winning director of Best Picture-winning “The King’s Speech,” the movie stars Broadway veteran Hugh Jackman as Valjean. Also in the film are Russel Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and some stage talent like Samantha Barks. And the singing is being filmed live, as opposed to pre-recorded and lip synched.

This is my favorite musical of all time. I’ve got a couple of worries (Seyfried’s voice sounds a bit too vibrato-y to me in the extended look trailer and I have to wonder what they’ll cut from the 2.5 to 3 hour monster), but you BET I’ll be there. The film comes out Dec. 25. Christmas Day present. I might even abandon my family to watch this.

Movies that I am really quite excited about seeing.

First, this one came out yesterday. “Trouble with the Curve” marks Clint Eastwood’s return to acting. The movie’s about an old baseball scout (Eastwood) losing his eyesight and trying to reconnect with his daughter (Amy Adams), as well as the old butting heads with the new. The movie also stars John Goodman (he’s getting a lot of work lately, and I love it) and Justin Timberlake (who earned my respect as an actor with “The Social Network”). Baseball’s not my favorite sport, but it’s Eastwood in his element, reminiscent of his work on “Million Dollar Baby.” If I’m not completely dead, I’m going to try to see it tomorrow.

Second, Ben Affleck has jumped back into the director/actor’s chair after the critically acclaimed film “The Town.” Affleck’s new movie, “Argo,” is based on the weirdly true story of a CIA extraction unit attempting to rescue six American refugees/people hiding from Tehran, Iran in the middle of the violent Iranian revolution in 1979. Their plan? Send in a Canadian film crew to film a sci-fi movie called “Argo.” Get them out that way. The movie stars Affleck, as well as John Goodman (I really like this guy!), Bryan Cranston and Alan Arkin. Affleck’s been doing well as an actor, taking on more serious roles and stories, and I like how he’s dressed down for this movie. I really want to watch it. The film comes out on Oct. 12.

Another I would really like to see is “Wreck-It Ralph.” It’s a Disney computer animated film about an 8-bit arcade character who’s tired of being the bad guy in his video game. So he leaves to find another video game to be part of. Featuring the vocal talents of John C. Reilly as Ralph, Jack McBrayer as his nemesis Fix-It Felix, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk and others, the film also features many recognizable video game characters, such as Bowzer, M. Bison, Zangief, Dr. Robotnik and Pac-Man ghost Clyde. It looks like it’ll be a cute, original film about one of the things I enjoy: Video games. And it starts in an arcade. I miss those. The film comes out on Nov. 2.

Finally in this category is “Looper.” A sci-fi film by writer-director Rian Johnson of “Brick,” the movie focuses of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, a man whose job it is to kill people forcibly sent back in time, specifically for assassinations. And it’s all going alright. Until he, played by Bruce Willis, is the one he has to kill. Willis escapes, Gordon-Levitt hunts for him and the people in charge hunt for both. It looks like an intriguing plot and treatment of time/space, what with the way some objects are acting in the trailer. I think I’d rather enjoy it. The movie comes out on Sept. 28.

Movies that I think I would enjoy seeing, but don’t yearn to see.

First on this list is one that sort of exists in between this category and the previous. It looks fascinating and has a great cast, but it also looks like it could be tedious and too drawn out or forced. That movie is “Cloud Atlas,” a film by the Wachowskis (“The Matrix”) and Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”). Based on a novel by David Mitchell, the movie tells six stories across many, many years. The trailer seems to suggest that it’s about two people being reborn throughout history and finding one another, but I can’t be sure having never read the source material. However, the film stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, all solid actors. It looks like an interesting premise, to say the least. The movie comes out on Oct. 26.

I suppose this film kind of exists between like “Cloud Atlas” did. And I’d be murdered if I didn’t mention it now. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which has released a new trailer just recently, worries me a bit. Director Peter Jackson has turned the J.R.R. Tolkien story into a three film monster, like “Lord of the Rings.” It makes me wonder what he’s adding in. And the trailer seems to show a few things added in. I, for one, don’t recall there being any giant rock creatures throwing giant rocks at Thorin Oakenshield and company. Still, I enjoy the story, and it does look pretty, so I’ll probably go watch it. The movie comes out on Dec. 14.

In the not in between lies “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” based on the young adult novel of the same name from the late 1990s. Starring Logan Lerman as a high school freshman feeling like a bit of an outcast without friends, as well as Emma Watson as a friendly senior in her first starring role in the post-“Harry Potter” era, Paul Rudd as a friendly English teacher and Ezra Miller as Thompson’s friendly gay step brother (there are a few friendly people), the movie is coming-of-age to a T, but it looks like it will be a nice spin on things. The film is already out, actually, just not in Tuscaloosa. I’ve been told it may have a wide release on Oct. 5.

“Silver Linings Playbook” stars Bradley Cooper as a man struggling with his bipolar disorder and Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who also has some sort of problems she needs therapy and drugs for. It will be nice to see Lawrence in an adult role (she may have some already, but none I’ve seen). Romance blossoms between the two as they work through their problems together and join some dance competition… thing, I’m not sure. The movie also stars Robert DeNiro and Chris Rock, and comes out on Nov. 21.

“Rise of the Guardians” is Dreamwork’s competition for Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph” this year. Featuring the vocal talents of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law, the film is about mythical characters that protect children coming under attack. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman all have to work together to fight off the incursion of the Boogeyman as he begins to strike fear into the hearts and dreams of children. It looks adorable and potentially quite good. This movie also comes out on Nov. 21.

Movies I wouldn’t mind seeing. They’re probably really good.

No real summaries for these… Just the name and the release date. I suggest watching the trailers if you want to know more.

“Anna Karenina,” limited release on Nov. 16. Stars Kiera Knightley, Jude Law.

“Django Unchained,” released on Dec. 25. Stars Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz.

“This Is 40,” released on Dec. 21. Stars Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segel.

“The Master,” already released. Stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams.

“Lincoln,” released on Nov. 16. Stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Sally Field, Bruce McGill, James Spader, Jackie Earle Haley.

A LOT of good movies coming out. Definitely give some of them a look. Now, I’m going to bed. I’ve written far too much for a “filler” post.