Beyond The Black Rainbow (2010)

"...cannot be unseen."

Beyond The Black Rainbow perfectly encapsulates my favorite kind of horror and/or sci-fi film: atmospheric, visually stunning, synthesizer soundtracked, dystopian psychedelia. Being a fan of these types of movies that came out of the 1970's and early '80s, I'm thrilled to have seen such an homage. I imagine that if David Lynch made a THX1138-like movie with the texture of Stanley Kubrick, this beautifully horrifying film would be the result. Not to mention influences from Cronenberg to Kenneth Anger.

I'm not going to give a plot summary, as the film is extremely slow and mostly atmospheric, and the plot is slightly vague. However a definite narrative is there. I think there are also definite metaphors regarding the selfish Baby Boomer generation and their treatment of their Gen-X spawn. Not to mention the nature of true evil.

I absolutely loved this film. Watch in high-def if you can.

10/10.

Skyfall (2012)

Sam Mendes came pretty close to ruining the newest James Bond outing a couple times. It seemed as if there might have been some kind of battle behind the scenes to make it either a classic superficial Bond film, or one of his characteristic weirdo/twisted character study dramas. The combination was barely pulled off in this case. Javier Bardem's Mendes-esque bizarreness and the long takes during his scenes were pluses as they made him an even more personally threatening and creepy villain. However, exposing Bond's bout with age and weakness was a kind of disheartening turn. In the last two he was such a steely killer that exposing his frailties felt like a betrayal. I understand they've been trying to take a different approach to the franchise since Craig's casting, but this time around they may have taken it a bit too far. Things did manage to slowly grow back to normal by the end though, with Bond's cool veneer shining again.

I'm also adding a full point to my rating because of Roger Deakins' amazing cinematography. I was in complete awe of the Shanghai tower scene, not to mention all the quality dusk/night shots. The Cohen brothers are fortunate to have him on call for their films.

Altogether it was an enjoyable Bond film, but for different reasons than the last two. 7/10.

The Hunger Games (2012)

3/10. In a dystopian society, two children from each of twelve districts are sent to a ruling capitol to play in "The Hunger Games", a survival match to the death where there can be but one victor. To protect her sister, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to play.

This film had the biggest opening weekend gross for a non-sequel ever when it was released. It piqued my interest because of this fact. I thought I should check it out, for cultural relevance's sake. Hadn't seen any trailers, but I had an idea basically what it was about.

Saw it... didn't like it.

I didn't like it for two reasons:

First, the direction by Gary Ross. Specifically, his decision to use the deliberately-shaky-handheld-extreme-close-up shot favored by the last two Jason Bourne movies' Paul Greengrass. Only Gary Ross takes it to an all new, highly annoying level. Imagine the shakiest parts of the car chase scene from The Bourne Supremacy, multiply it by a shaky factor of two, zoom in to just their faces, and use this recipe when people are having a conversation or simply walking. Now use it for over half the movie. This should give you an idea of what it was like trying to watch this film in the theater.

Second, the juvenile and predictable script by the original novel's author Suzanne Collins and (again) Gary Ross. I don't fault the script as much as the direction, as it is already based off a juvenile and predictable trilogy of novels aimed at youth. But, not being a fan of, nor having ever read the novels, my eye was untarnished with any expectation of adherence to the source material. Thusly, I couldn't care less if the dialogue is just as dull as the novel, I just care that it's dull and that I can pretty much predict the whole movie after the first half hour.

The only reason that I didn't rate this movie a one or a two was the acting. All of the younger actors did a pretty damn good job with the material they were given, as did most of the adults.

If you're a fan of the books, wait for it to come out on video. This way you can at least marginally see whats going on during the shaky scenes and won't have a huge screen of blur to try and sort out.

If you're not a fan of the books, save your time an money and skip it.

A Dangerous Method (2011)

9/10. As Dr. Carl Jung takes on patient Sabina Spielrein in the newborn field of psychology, he consults with Dr. Sigmund Freud regarding her case.

Despite a terrible Russian accent, Keira Knightley has won my respect for her acting ability through her performance in this film. Playing Sabina Spielrein, her character's physical and mental contortions and pains are expertly portrayed.

The film as a whole may have surpassed Scanners as my favorite by Cronenberg. To see the founders of psychology laid bare as fallible human beings unable to overcome their natures and sins in spite of their awareness of them or their attempts to overcome them... it was riveting.

Simple direction and cinematography. Expertly written script. Subtle and nuanced acting. A near perfect film.