The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Summary:  Seven British retirees move to India as strangers to live in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, what they believe to be a resort of sorts.  Upon their arrival, they see that it's much more of a work in progress than they originally thought.  They all moved there for different reasons:  Evelyn because her husband died leaving her in debt, Graham to rediscover a past love, Jean and Douglas because they lost money investing in their daughter's company, Muriel to receive hip surgery, Madge to find a wealthy husband, and Norman who looks to act younger than he is.

Jean and Douglas are in a very unhappy marriage.  She constantly scolds him and keeps to the hotel while he is out exploring.  Evelyn finds a job for herself and settles into life, while Muriel finds it difficult to be amongst those different than her.  That's a nice way of saying she is a bit racist.  Graham's story is a bit heartbreaking, and I don't wish to ruin it, but it was one of the highlights for me.  Madge and Norman provided more comic relief.

OaTs:  I love films that take place in far away lands, making the location a character of its own.  I have never been to India, and I have to say it's not that high on my list, but this film makes me want to give it a try.  I know the crowds and the traffic would do me in, but it's such a beautiful place.  I can understand the allure that bought them there.

I really liked Evelyn, played by Judi Dench.  She was such a lovely person, open to all new experiences and hoping that the later years of her life would be put to good use instead of wasting them.  The opposite could be said for Jean, Penelope Wilton, who spends most of her time in the hotel because she's scared to go out.  I also enjoyed how adventurous Douglas, Bill Nighy, was, and he kept trying to get his wife to go out.  You start to feel bad for the guy eventually.  Graham, played by Tom Wilkinson, was a really great role.  A man you can really root for.  And Muriel, the exquisite Maggie Smith.  I love her to pieces, and the way she learned to accept others and turn her back on her prejudices was a lovely story.  I wasn't expecting her to be quite so nasty when the film started, so I enjoyed her growth.

A truly delightful film that made me smile the entire way through.  I enjoy watching character grow and change, learn and teach.  Characters who seem real, and good at heart.  Oh - and Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire played the hotel manager.  His storyline with his mother and his girlfriend added a nice comparison to  the lives of the retirees.  His youth was a nice touch.  He wasn't just used as a manager.  He had a backstory just like everyone else, and changed along with them.  A very well told story.

Score:  8/10

The Intouchables

Summary:  Philippe is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down.  When he needs to hire a body man, Driss applies for the job in order to fulfill an application requirement to receive government benefits for being unemployed.  But Driss stand out, and gets the job.  There begins the tale of how two completely different men can form in incredible bond.

OaTs:  I love French films.  I'm contemplating learning French just so I can watch them and understand them without subtitles.  For some reason, and I think I can credit Marion Cotillard and her performance in La Vie En Rose for this, I prefer French films to any other foreign films, as a whole.

Francois Cluzet plays Philippe.  I had previously seen him in another French film called Tell No One, which I loved. He reminds me a bit of Dustin Hoffman.  He's simply wonderful in this film.  Dealt such a rough hand, he brings a sense of humor to things, and handles it better than most people probably would.  He has is struggles, sure, but his outlook on life is a lot better than some people who don't have to deal with what he does.

Omar Sy won the Caesar for Leading Actor this past year for his work in this film as Driss.  He won over Jean Dujardin, the Frenchman who won the Oscar this year for The Artist.  (The Caesar is the French equivalent of the Oscars.)  I thought, if he won in his home country over the guy who was winning all of these other awards, then he must be something to see.  And he was.  He has lead a rough life as well, and there are family problems showed throughout the film.  But he's a genuinely good man at heart, a side that not many people get to see.

I don't like a lot of drama in my life, and I don't find entertainment in people arguing and not getting along.  Probably why I don't watch those Real Housewives shows.  So to watch a film that does nothing but tell you the story of how two men began their lifelong friendship was a complete pleasure.  And to think that this was based on a true story makes my heart a little bit warmer.  The world could use more uplifting stories like this one.

Score:  8/10

The Way

Summary:  Martin Sheen plays a doctor named Tom, whose adult son, Daniel, has always been a bit distant.  They have different life philosophies.  When Daniel leaves to travel Europe, they are on rocky ground.  Then Daniel dies while traveling the Camino de Santiago, an old pilgramage trail in France and Spain.  Tom travels to France to collect the ashes.  While there, he decides to travel the Camino, since Daniel didn't make it far, and spread Daniel's ashes along the way.  He meets some really great people while on his journey, who provide him with perspective on his own life and his relationship with his son.

OaTs:  Being a die-hard fan of The West Wing, I knew I wanted to see this as soon as I heard about it.  Martin Sheen is a favorite of mine, and he does a wonderful job in this film.  He is rather quiet throughout the journey, only really speaking when he has something to say.  His quiet grief was so wonderfully protrayed.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child, especially one that you are estranged from.  And with Daniel being played by Emilio Estevez, Sheen's real life son, I'm sure the journey in making the film was just as incredible as it was to watch it.  Estevez also directed the film and wrote the screenplay.

I rented it from a Red Box, and wish so very much that I could have seen it on the big screen.  The scenery was so beautiful, I took my breath away.  It really made me want to make the journey myself some day.  Maybe I will.  Maybe I'll just dream about it.

But it was a really great story.  I man exploring the world and his faith at the same time.  I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in faith, or even just the human spirit.  It will make you think, but it's not a lecture.  Those are the best kind for me, where you leave the theater (or turn off the television) thinking about things in a different way than you did before.

Score:  9/10

The Hunger Games

Summary:  Based on the literary sensation by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games follows the story of teen girl Katniss Everdeen.  This takes place in a fictional future age where America is no longer American, but a country called Panem.  There are twelve districts, and every year, two teenagers from each district will be forced to participate in The Hunger Games - a fight to the death on national television.  It's the Capitol's way to keeping people in line.  One boy and one girl are chosen as tribute by lottery.  When Katniss's younger sister is chosen, Katniss volunteers in her place.  The rest of the story follows her journey into the arena, alongside fellow District 12 tribute Peeta, a boy she has known her whole life.

OaTs:  I'll start by saying that I loved the book.  The movie was one of the best and most faithful adaptations of a book I have read.  Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as Katniss.  She had a quiet strength about her that the character demanded.  Katniss is a wonderful role model for teen girls out there, much unlike fellow literary sensation "herione" Bella Swann from Twilight.  Katniss takes charge of her life, not waiting on anyone to rescue her or do things for her.  She takes care of her mother and sister since her father passed away.  She's a dependable, courageous, strong young woman who girls and women of all ages can respect and look up to.  And Jennifer Lawrence brought all of that to the table.  I really liked her performance.

Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz were horribly underused in their roles as Haymitch and Cinna, two of Katniss and Peeta's confidantes.  They were surprising casting choices, but absolutely perfect once I saw them on screen.  Hopefully we'll see more of them in the movies to come.

It was a truly faithful adaptation, only making changes when necessary.  For instance, the Mockingjay pin that Katniss's friend gives to her in the book is a very important symbol in the books to come.  It may seem minor in the first book, but you wouldn't be able to leave it out because of its meaning in books two and three.  (The pin is featured on the poster above.)  Instead of having a friend give it to Katniss, therefore introducing a character that isn't really necessary, they have Katniss find it in a shop.  It makes more sense.  In a book, you can easily create backstory and include characters for small amounts of time.  When a minor character pops up in a film, it's much harder to tell the audience who they are without including them for a longer amount of time.  A small change, but one that I noticed.  Since it has been a while since I have seen it, I remember there were other differences, but I can't remember what they were.

All in all, I really enjoyed it.  I think I could have enjoyed it more had I not read the book, but that's not important.  Thank you, Gary Ross, for being faithful to the source material, and creating the world's first real blockbuster featuring a female lead.  I can't tell you how much that means to me.  Really strong female roles are hard to find in mainstream film.  It's about time a female carry a film to blockbuster status.  Batman be damned.  (But I still love Harry Potter.)

Score:  8/10

Friends with Kids

Summary:  Julie and Jason are best friends.  They are both single.  Their group of friends consists of two sets of couples, both with kids.  They both want kids eventually, but don't want the romance to disappear in a relationship like it has with their friends.  So she and Jason decide to have a kid together and remain friends, splitting the duties.  So they have a son.  Their friends think they are crazy, but it seems to be working out.  Until they can't decide if they want to be more than friends.

OaTs:  Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars as Julie, this movie was a really great way to start off 2012 for me.  It was my kind of humor - dry and sarcastic.  I may be a little bias since I love the idea of a film written and directed by a woman, with interesting female characters.

The cast was fantastic.  When I heard Megan Fox was in it, I wrote it off without looking into what the film was about.  Then I found out Westfeldt wrote and directed it, so I thought twice.  And Megan Fox pleasantly surprised me.  She's not the world's greatest actress, but she isn't as bad as I thought she'd be.

It was also a little mini-Bridesmaids reunion with Krist Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, and Jon Hamm.  I feel like these people must be friends in real life.  And I want to be friends with them.

I am also getting more and more interested in alternate families.  I came from a very normal family.  I find different dynamics interesting because I know nothing about them.  I'm also getting to the age where friends are getting married and close to having kids.  Though I'm not there myself, I can start to relate to characters like these.  

My feelings about children and being a parent are complicated, so I like the idea of people making it work for them, instead of trying to fit themselves into a mold they don't belong in.  Just because the world expects certain things, doesn't mean that you have to fulfill these expectations.

Anyway, that got a little deep.  But I like when films are entertaining first and thought-provoking second.  I laughed a lot, and came close to crying a couple times.  And as I have said before, if you can make me laugh AND make me cry, then you've got me.  Not a perfect film, but an entertaining one.  It also made me think, which I can appreciate.  There's nothing wrong with having a family a little different than the norm.  The ending was a happy ending, with a little bitterness included with the supporting characters.  Nicely done, Jennifer Westfeldt.

Score:  9/10

Finishing 2011

Since going to Sundance and moving to New York, I have lost track of this blog a little bit.  So I'm going to try and catch up.  I saw three more films in 2011 that I'd like to give small reviews of.  Small because I don't remember a whole lot.  None of them really stood out.

Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy:  I was really excited about this film, since my recent obsession with British television.  British made movies don't get a whole lot of playing time in the U.S., so when one catches on, I'm always grateful for the chance to see it.  I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.  I think I need to watch it again to catch everything.  I won't say I was lost, but I definitely didn't follow it after a certain point.  Gary Oldman was sublime.  Well deserved Oscar nomination.  Score:  7/10

The Descendants:  After Michael Clayton in 2007, I have become a George Clooney fan.  And I have to say, he let me down a bit in 2011.  The Ides of March was less than stellar, and I felt that The Descendants wasn't as good as it was played up to be.  He was great, and so were many of the other actors and actresses.  But I didn't really get what was so special.  I didn't understand why it stuck out to so many people.  I found the setting interesting.  You don't find many films set in Hawaii.  And it was well written.  I don't know why all of these strong components didn't add up for me.  Sometimes, I just don't connect.  Don't know why.  Score:  7/10

A Dangerous Method:  I love all three main actors of this film:  Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightly, and Viggo Mortensen.  The acting was great.  And the characters interesting.  But again, I didn't feel a connection to it.  I wanted to.  And it was the first film I saw after moving to New York.  I'll probably always remember it for that.  I just wished I liked it more.  Maybe it's because I don't find psychology all that interesting.  It was about Freud and Jung, after all.  Score:  7/10

All of these films were ones I was expecting to like.  Maybe that was the problem.  Expectations get in the way sometimes.  I hate that.  Oh well.  On to 2012.

Favorite Performances Since 2000

Here are some of my favorite acting performances since 2000.  I didn't start really watching films until high school, which is why there is a cut off year.  I didn't think it was fair to include all the classics I have seen.  So this is a more contemporary list.  May do a classic one in the future.  

I tried to rank them, but found it impossible.  So here they are, in alphabetical order by film name.

Carey Mulligan in "An Education"

Mulligan was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for this role, but lost to Sandra Bullock.  Still can't believe that.  Such a powerful performance, as you can see in this clip.  This role really makes you think, but doesn't preach, which I really appreciate.

Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"

The best female villain character I have seen outside of a Disney film.  Weaver is slyly powerful as the mother of a group of criminals.  You think her sons are bad?  They get it honest.  How Melissa Leo won the Oscar over Jacki Weaver is a mystery to me.  People must not have seen this movie.  That's all I can think of.

Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Departed"

I have found DiCaprio to be a little over the top for my tastes as of late, but I will always love his performance in this film.  So conflicted, but ultimately, a truly good person who wants to go the right thing.  You can't help but root for him.

Meryl Streep & Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"

I was rooting for Kate Winslet this year in the Best Actress Oscar race, but for the life of me, now I don't know why.  Meryl Streep is one of the greats, sometimes nominated just because she is Meryl Streep.  But she really is very good in this one.  My favorite of hers, I believe.  And Philip Seymour Hoffman can do not wrong.  For some reason, his shouting voice makes me happy.  Haven't figured out why, but it does.  He's good.

Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"

Heard a story that Amy Ryan was kept from entering the movie set because someone thought she was a Boston citizen, not an actress in the film.  That's how good she was.  She made you hate Helene for the way she treated her daughter, then sympathize with her in another scene.  You don't know how you feel about her until the end.

Marion Cotillard in "La Vie En Rose"

Breathless.  I was completely breathless after watching Cotillard in this film.  It was a complete accident that I saw the film in the first place, and then when she was nominated and eventually won the Oscar for this performance, I was so elated.  The recognition brought so many more roles to her, which I am grateful for.  I'm a huge fan of hers.  I couldn't embed the clip.  You can watch it at the link below.  Worth the detour.

http://youtu.be/qlKujrTom2w

Guillaume Canet & Keira Knightly in "Last Night"

I am a big fan of subtle acting.  When the pauses mean as much as the words.  I totally bought into the story between these two characters, and really cared about what happened to them in the end.  I believed their history, and enjoyed reading in between the lines.  They are two of my favorite actors, and I would absolutely love to see them do something else together.  Love their chemistry.

George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"

Another fine piece of subtle acting.  He lost the Best Actor Oscar to, what I consider, an over-the-top performance.  But that's fine.  I'll enjoy it on my own, without validation from the Academy.  This is a film I can watch over and over again, mostly because of Clooney's performance.  Also, just because it's really really good.

Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road"

How do you steal a movie starring two of the greatest actors of the past decade?  While you're out of focus on screen?  You'd have to be Michael Shannon.  Only in the film for two scenes, he completely grabs your attention and doesn't let go.  Haunting performance.  One that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Paul Newman in "Road to Perdition"

My favorite actor of all time, in his last performance in the big screen, unless you count his voice work on Pixar's "Cars."  One of his finest.  I feel he got better with age, though his performances in the 1950s and 1960s are some of the best I have ever seen.  I can't get enough of him.  Even a depressing scene like this makes me smile, just because I'm watching him.

Colin Firth in "A Single Man"

He should have won the Oscar for this, not "The King's Speech."  But that's my opinion.  I found this to be a truly daring performance.  One that not all audiences can sympathize with, which makes me sad.  The grief he feels from losing his boyfriend, though fictional, is some of the best proof of real love that I have ever seen.

Michael Fassbender in "Shame"

I've seen few performances in my life where the look on the actor's face tells me more than the words they have spoken.  This is one of them.  I remember the expressions of his face more than I remember anything he said.  I don't know where such emotions come from.  He made me sympathize for the character, even pity him in some cases.  Something I wasn't expecting, to be honest.

Joel Edgerton & Tom Hardy in "Warrior"

I really couldn't choose which one I liked best.  They were so different.  Edgerton was subtle.  Hardy was fierce.  They were both brutal fighters, but very human and even broken on the inside. I don't know how they were each such bad asses, but also so relatable as well.  You felt their hurt and knew where they came from.  Brothers, but so different.  And you understood it.

John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"

Hawkes is now one of my favorite actors.  He took this character, a violent meth-addict, and made him likable.  How does that happen?  I'm still confused by it.  Don't get it.  But he did it.  And I love him for it.  He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, but lost.  To someone who played a drug addict that was completely unlikable.  It goes without saying that I disagree with the decision, but oh well.  Like with the others on this list that lost or weren't even nominated, I'll just enjoy them myself.  The Academy can shove it.  :)

Top 10

So here is the [tentative] list of my favorite films of 2011.

1. Warrior
2. The Artist
3. The Music Never Stopped
4. Midnight in Paris
5. Hugo
6. The Help
7. Margin Call
8. Bridesmaids
9. 50/50
10. Last Night

NOTE:
Still have not seen the following that are on my list:

• Melancholia
• The Descendents
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• A Dangerous Method

Take that into account when reading the following list as well.

-------------------------------------

The normal superlatives:

Favorite Director:  
Gavin O’Connor, Warrior

Favorite Lead Performance by an Actor:  
Michael Fassbender, Shame

Favorite Lead Performance by an Actress:   
Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Favorite Supporting Performance by an Actor:  
Nick Nolte, Warrior

Favorite Supporting Performance by an Actress:  
Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Favorite Original Screenplay:  
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris 

Favorite Adapted Screenplay:  
Steve Kloves, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling 

Favorite Musical Score:  
The Chemical Brothers, Hanna 

-------------------------------------

The fun superlatives:

 
Overrated:  
Moneyball

Underrated:  
Warrior (obviously)

Favorite Ensemble Cast:  
Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, Penn Badgley - Margin Call

Favorite Male Ensemble Casting:
Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, and Nick Nolte - Warrior

Favorite Female Ensemble Casting:
Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper - Bridesmaids 

Favorite Performance by a Minor:  
Asa Butterfield, Hugo 

Favorite New (to me) Actor/Actress:   
Michael Fassbender - X-Men:  First Class, Shame, Jane Eyre 
(hope to see A Dangerous Method soon)

Favorite Action Movie:   
Source Code 

Favorite Male/Female Chemistry:
Keira Knightly and Guillaume Canet, Last Night 

Favorite Performance In A Movie I Didn't Really Like:
Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Pleasantly Surprised:
The Lincoln Lawyer (though all the good reviews alerted me a bit)

Unpleasantly Surprised: 
J. Edgar (though all the bad reviews alerted me a bit) 

Wish I Could Have Changed Half Of The Movie:
Tie between The Debt and Last Night


Film I Am Most Looking Forward to in 2012
Anna Karenena by Joe Wright
or
The Hobbit by Peter Jackson
or
The Hunger Games by Gary Ross

Mission: Impossible IV - Ghost Protocol

Summary:  Ethan Hunt, played in all four Mission:  Impossible movies by Tom Cruise, is in prison.  Two other agents break him out because their last mission went awry and they need help.  Their mission as a trio also goes horribly wrong, to the extent that it is believed they are the cause of a terrorist attack.  Their organization disbands and they are forced to rectify the situation on their own, knowing that if they fail, they will be condemned as terrorists themselves.

So the mission is to stop a man from detonating nuclear weapons and starting a nuclear war.  They have limited equipment, which keeps malfunctioning, and, of course, limited time before the world is destroyed.

OaTs:  The main reason I wanted to see this film was because it was directed by Brad Bird, of Pixar fame.  His previous credits include The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar, as well as the animated film The Iron Giant.  All three are highly acclaimed animated films and this is his first live action film.  He did a fantastic job.  The action was thrilling and heart-pounding.  Even if the plot and villain were a little weak.

The plot was a little hard to follow.  I got the gist, but I would have rather had a more straight forward plot.  There seemed to be so many things going on at once.  I guess that's how action movies are, though.  The villain wasn't my favorite villain, to be honest.  I absolutely hate when I'm supposed to hate a bad guy because I'm told to.  I need a reason.  I know he wanted to detonate nuclear weapons, but his motives weren't made clear.  I need to believe he's a nasty character, otherwise, I won't root against him.  I just root FOR the heroes.

Tom Cruise, no matter your opinions of him as a person, is a movie star.  He's perfect as Ethan Hunt and I really enjoyed his performance.  You get snippets of his personal life, away from his missions, and it makes him a really sympathetic character.  And with such a lack-luster villain, you need a great hero if you want any chance of a good story.  I need to really hate someone or really like someone in order to have any interest.  Since I didn't hate the bad guy, I'm really glad I liked the good guy.

Jeremy Renner as Brandt was a great addition to the team.  You find out about a connection he has to Ethan's past.  I found him easy to root for as well.  Very conflicted man, which is always a good thing for a story.  Paula Patton played the token female of the film, Jane.  Her love interest was killed in the mission that lead her and her teammate break Ethan out of prison.  I liked that Jane wasn't involved in a love story with Ethan.  I mean, I love romance, but it's refreshing for things not to be so predictable.

Simon Pegg was the last member of the team, and he provided excellent comedic relief from the intense story.  After Ethan, Jane, and Brandt performed a death-defying trick and all almost died, Pegg's character, Benji, comes into the room after setting the scene for their mission before the bad guys showed up.  He comments on how difficult his part of the plan was, and the three of them stare at Benji, who has no idea of what they just went through.  He had a lot of great one liners throughout the film, which I really appreciate.  I like to laugh.

All in all, the cast of heroes made the film.  The lack of villain really hurt the story, in my eyes.  The action was great, though some of the dialogue was plain.  A great movie theater experience, though probably not a repeat viewing for me. 

Score:  7/10