Killing Them Softly

Movies to See Right Now – the big Holiday movies

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DJANGO UNCHAINED

It’s the Holidays and big Holiday movies are joining the great choices already in theaters.  I haven’t yet seen Tom Hooper’s all star epic Les Miserables, but the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal exploitation.

In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man.  Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. All three films are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Don’t overlook The Matchmaker, a gem from Israel or the solid thriller Deadfall that is flying under the radar this holiday season.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism.  Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore.  The crime drama Killing Them Softly wastes an excellent cast on a run-of-the-mill gangster story. Skip the forgettable non-comedy Lay the Favorite. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

Movies to See Right Now

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Charlie Hunnam and Olivia Wilde in DEADFALL

It’s the Holidays and three major releases are joining the great choices already in theaters. In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man. Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. All three films are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Don’t overlook The Matchmaker, a gem from Israel or the solid thriller Deadfall that is flying under the radar this holiday season.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. A Late Quartet is a gripping drama with a superb cast led by Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The wild and puzzling art film Holy Motors has its moments, too.

The engrossing but overlong drama In the Family is more than just another social issue picture because of Patrick Wang’s authenticity as a writer and brilliance as a director. The indie odd couple drama Starlet packs a surprising emotional punch. In the entertaining Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren star as Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock as they collaborate on making Psycho. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

The crime drama Killing Them Softly wastes an excellent cast on a run-of-the-mill gangster story. Skip the forgettable non-comedy Lay the Favorite.  The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

I haven’t yet seen the FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson, the critically praised French drama Rust and Bone or the Judd Apatow comedy This Is 40, which open today, or Tom Hooper’s all star epic Les Miserables or the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained, which open on Christmas Day. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the singular comedy Sleepwalk with Me.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

My top picks remain the same. In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man.  Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.  All three films are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.  The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. A Late Quartet is a gripping drama with a superb cast led by Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The wild and puzzling art film Holy Motors has its moments, too.

The engrossing but overlong drama In the Family is more than just another social issue picture because of Patrick Wang’s authenticity as a writer and brilliance as a director. The indie odd couple drama Starlet packs a surprising emotional punch. In the entertaining Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren star as Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock as they collaborate on making Psycho. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

The crime drama Killing Them Softly wastes an excellent cast on a run-of-the-mill gangster story.  Skip the forgettable non-comedy Lay the Favorite.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the fun and funny Men in Black 3.

Movies to See Right Now

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LIFE OF PI

Three films on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far are now in theaters.  In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man.  Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis.  The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.  The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. A Late Quartet is a gripping drama with a superb cast led by Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The wild and puzzling art film Holy Motors has its moments, too.

The engrossing but overlong drama In the Family is more than just another social issue picture because of Patrick Wang’s authenticity as a writer and brilliance as a director.  The indie odd couple drama Starlet packs a surprising emotional punch.  In the entertaining Hitchcock, Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren star as Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock as they collaborate on making Psycho.  Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

The crime drama Killing Them Softly wastes an excellent cast on a run-of-the-mill gangster story.  Chasing Mavericks is a predictable and heartwarming true story that is just OK for most movie-goers , but is a Must See if you’re into surfing and/or have an interest in the Santa Cruz and San Mateo coast. Cloud Atlas delivers six fast paced stories set across six centuries with lots of movie stars playing multiple roles; it’s fun to watch, but it’s not as good a film as the ones listed above. A Royal Affair is an overlong historical costume drama with two fine performances.  Skip the forgettable non-comedy Lay the Favorite.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the superb and important Beasts of the Southern Wild, which is currently #2 on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Killing Them Softly: almost as good as a Sopranos rerun

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In Killing Them Softly, a low-level gangster gets two hapless losers to hold up a poker game that is protected by the mob.  The mob, of course, brings in an enforcer to put things right.   Perhaps Killing Them Softly would have been a great gangster movie in the 60s, before Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and David Chase raised the bar.  It was a big hit at Cannes, but that crowd may not be used to watching The Sopranos.

We know what is going to happen in the plot.  Fortunately, we have some excellent actors, led by Brad Pitt in a character role as the ruthless and nihilistic mob enforcer.  Pitt’s enforcer brings in a trusted colleague, a hit man from New York (James Gandolfini) to help him out – but the hit man is emotionally damaged from a betrayed romance and can only focus on drinking and whoring.  Richard Jenkins plays an unusually squeamish mid-level manager in the mob.  Scoot McNairy (one of the “house guests” in Argo) and Ben Mendelsohn (the most psychopathic criminal in Animal Kingdom) are especially good as the doomed hold-up men.

As good as the cast is, there’s just not much here.  An attempt to intertwine a thread about the 2008 economic collapse and Presidential election is a misguided device that only serves as a distraction.

Movies to See Right Now

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Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

The strong autumn movie season continues.  In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man.  I recommend the rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook for its strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.

Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism.  A Late Quartet is a gripping drama with a superb cast led by Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman.   The wild and puzzling art film Holy Motors has its moments, too.

Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a Daniel Craig’s more shopworn 007. The Paperboy is a deliciously pulpy crime drama, enhanced by a trashy Nicole Kidman and a canny Macy Gray.

Chasing Mavericks is a predictable and heartwarming true story that is just OK for most movie-goers , but is a Must See if you’re into surfing and/or have an interest in the Santa Cruz and San Mateo coast. Cloud Atlas delivers six fast paced stories set across six centuries with lots of movie stars playing multiple roles; it’s fun to watch, but it’s not as good a film as the ones listed above.   A Royal Affair is an overlong historical costume drama with two fine performances.

I haven’t yet seen the crime drama Killing Them Softly, which opens this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

This week, there’s no DVD of the Week.  There are too many good movies in theaters for you to stay home.

In the next two weeks: 2012’s most promising movies

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LIFE OF PI

Lincoln, Argo, Flight and The Sessions have been in theaters and three more of 2012’s most promising films open in the next week or so.

Silver Linings Playbook won the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and looks to be a crowd pleaser that will be in the running for the Best Picture Oscar.  It opens today.

So does Life of Pi, Ang Lee’s visually spectacular version of the Yann Martel fable.

Next weekend, we’ll get to see Killing Them Softly,  a stylishly violent crime movie with Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins and Sam Shepherd.  It was a big hit at Cannes.

Here’s the trailer for Silver Linings Playbook.

Return of the Gangster Movie

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During the next few months, we’re going to see some major releases of violent crime dramas.

The first, opening on August 29, is Lawless, written by musician Nick Cave.  It is set among moonshiners in Depression Era Appalachia.  The cast includes Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and (why is he a movie star?) Shia LaBeouf.

On October 19, we’ll see what I expect to be the best of the lot,  the stylishly violent Killing Them Softly, a big hit at Cannes.  It’s a contemporary story with an ensemble cast featuring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins and Sam Shepherd.

Those two movies were going to sandwich the release of Gangster Squad, a mob movie based on Mickey Cohn’s 1949 sojourn in LA, starring Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) and Giovanni Ribisi.  But one scene in Gangster Squad is a shooting in a movie theater; the Aurora, Colorado, tragedy made the distributor skittish, and the release has been delayed to January 13.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.  Here’s the trailer for Killing Me Softly: