October 2014 Preview!

Here is a quick look at the films I want to see in October:

Gone Girl (10/3/14)
"With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent." x
Directed by David Fincher, written by Gillian Flynn, starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, and Neil Patrick Harris.

Dracula Untold (10/10/14)
"The origin story of the man who becomes Dracula." x
Directed by Gary Shore, written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, starring Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, and Samantha Barks.

The Judge (10/10/14)
"Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family." x
Directed by David Dobkin, written by Nick Schenk and Bill Duguque, starring Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Sarah Lancaster.

Kill the Messenger (10/10/14)
"A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb." x
Directed by Michael Cuestra, written by Peter Landesman, starring Jeremy Renner, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Sheen, Ray Liotta, and Oliver Platt.

St. Vincent (10/10/14)
"A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door." x
Written and directed by Theodore Melfi, starring Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O'Dowd, and Terrence Howard.

Whiplash (10/10/14)
"A young musician struggles to make it as a top jazz drummer." x
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons.

The Book of Life (10/17/14)
"Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears." x
Directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, written by Jorge R. Gutierrez and Douglas Langdale, starring the voices of Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Danny Trejo, Ice Cube, Diego Luna, Cheech Marin, and Gabriel Iglesias.

Fury (10/17/14)
"April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany." x
Written and directed by David Ayer, starring Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, and Michael Peña.

Birdman (10/17/14)
"A washed-up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory." x
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, written by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo, starring Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, and Zach Galifianakis.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (10/17/14)
"An old man makes a living by selling bamboo. One day, he finds a princess in a bamboo. The princess is only the size of a finger. Her name is Kaguya." x
Directed by Isao Takahata, written by Isao Takahata and Riko Sakaguchi. English version written by Mike Jones, starring the voices of Chloë Grace Moretz, James Marsden, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Caan, Darren Criss, and Oliver Platt.

Nightcrawler (10/31/14)
"A young man stumbles upon the underground world of L.A. freelance crime journalism." x
Written and directed by Dan Gilroy, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, and Bill Paxton.

Horns (10/10/14)
"In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples." x
Directed by Alexandre Aja, written by Keith Bunin, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Heather Graham, James Remar, and David Morse.

Magic in the Moonlight

So I reviewed Woody Allen's most recent film after seeing it in August (that review can be found here), but recently I've had a few more thoughts about the film and what might have contributed to making it the utter disappointment that it was.

First I must admit that I believe Woody Allen to be great filmmaker. I can't say I've seen many of his films, probably not even his best ones, but the man does have a lot of talent in creating characters and working with actors to bring those characters to life. I loved Blue Jasmine and the absurd-yet-heartbreaking work that Allen and Cate Blanchett accomplished. Allen is also undoubtedly on of the most prolific directors of all time. He has directed forty-four feature length films, and hasn't gone a year without releasing a film since 1982. He has also won four Oscars out of a total of nineteen nominations. Oh, and he turns eighty next year. Regardless of whether or not his films are your cup of tea, you can't deny that Allen is a master storyteller.

However...

Perhaps the soon-to-be-octogenarian should reflect upon his last four films and consider a new strategy. In 2011 he gave us Midnight in Paris, which quickly became his highest grossing film and picked up four Oscar nominations including a win for Original Screenplay. His follow up to that was To Rome with Love, a critical and box office flop. But from those ashes rose Blue Jasmine, which received three Oscar nominations, including Cate Blanchett's win for Best Actress. And of course he follows it with this year's Magic in the Moonlight, which sparked no magic with critics or audiences.

I recognize that his long career has featured many duds, but this recent trend leads me to make the following suggestion:

Dear Mr. Allen,
Please stop making bad films every other year.
Why not, instead, take a vacation?
Spend some time at the beach. Join a bridge club.
Take cooking lessons at the local AARP.
And then, when you have a film worth making,
make it good and we will love it.
You're smothering us with your occasional mediocrity.
Maybe take a lesson from Terrence Malick?
Sincerely,
Someone who wants you to make good movies.

Kudos to you if you've stuck with me through the rambling, because now I'm going to share that thought about Magic in the Moonlight that recently occurred to me:

The text of the film is a meta analysis of the film itself.

What does that mean? In the film, Colin Firth plays an illusionist and debunker of fake spirit-mediums who is asked to prove that the charming and beautiful psychic played by Emma Stone is a fraud. Allured by her beauty and charm, Firth's character begins to fall in love with Stone's, and (with the help of his supposed friend) concludes that she can in fact commune with the deceased. He discovers the betrayal and realizes he was correct in assuming that she was a fraud, though he still loves her and is willing to leave his fiancee for her.

One could read the film as asking both critics and general audiences to undergo a journey similar to Firth's. The film is acknowledging that the audience is cautious, too often lured in by Allen just to be disappointed. But with beauty and charm, surely the viewer will be swept away (and maybe the deception will be aided by a few soft critics?). But even if you discover the truth - that the film is a shallow impression of what we expect from Allen - maybe, just maybe you'll still be enraptured by the film's beauty and charm.

Does that happen? Of course not. The film is all facade, even unapologetically so. Colin Firth's character is wooden and unlikeable, and not even the charming and beautiful Emma Stone is able to rescue this huge disappointment of a film.

But what are your thoughts about Allen's latest, or his career as a whole? Should he slow down, or is sitting through Allen's mediocre work the price we have to pay in order to see his great films?