The Impossible

Film: The Impossible

Starring: Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Naomi Watts (J. Edgar) and Tom Holland

Director: J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage)

U.S. Release: September 21st, 2012 (Limited - Rated PG-13)

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 114 minutes


Many people believe that the Best Picture race for the 2013 Oscars has been narrowed down to three films: Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln and Les Miserables. But after seeing J.A. Bayona's The Impossible, it's clear that even the Academy doesn't get it right every time. Based on a remarkable true story of survival, The Impossible follows a family separated by the 2004 tsunami that rocked Thailand, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Henry (played by Ewan McGregor), his wife Maria (played by Naomi Watts) and their three young sons all travel to Thailand for a winter vacation to celebrate the Christmas holiday. While experiencing the beauty and paradise of their beachfront resort, the family finds itself forever affected by one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of the world. Divided by a tsunami that killed north of 200,000 people, the family struggles to reconnect and defy the greatest of odds.

J.A. Bayona's The Impossible is a game-changing drama characterized by artistic direction and unparalleled acting. The young, but mightily-gifted, director uses the camera to perfection and places the moviegoer in the center of this horrific tragedy. By literally filming on top of the characters, The Impossible forces the audience to join its subjects on their unfathomable journey. In doing so, the strong bond formed between the viewers and the onscreen family becomes the foundation of the feature. This connection demands a variety of energy and emotions, making The Impossible a true testament of humanity. Even through all of the destruction and despair caused by this devastating tsunami, Bayona effectively illustrates the power of human compassion. And while sentiment can become a difficult sell, Bayona's once-in-a-lifetime cast makes it feel effortless. Naomi Watts steals the show and stakes her claim as a legitimate Best Actress contender. Right on her heels is youngster Tom Holland who portrays the family's eldest son Lucas. His character commands an enormous amount of screen time and Holland makes the most of every moment. It's shocking to discover that this is Holland's first motion picture, but the future is clearly bright for this budding star. Backed by strong direction and extraordinary performances, The Impossible stands out as one of 2012's most compelling and moving dramas.

To be perfectly honest, there are no detrimental faults with J.A. Bayona's latest masterpiece. One minor blemish resides in what some will call an "average" screenplay. The dialogue is adequate but nothing exemplary, and various other areas of the script mirror the same level of mediocre acceptance. However, the emotional force of the feature is carried out through Bayona's original sense of direction and a well rounded cast. By simply serving its purpose, a less than glaring script appropriately allows for the fascinating true story to take control of the film. Playing more as a complementary figure, the screenplay never diminishes this unbelievably amazing account of survival. Even at its weakest points, The Impossible is nothing shy of cinematic euphoria. 

Throughout the course of time, meaningful movies have slipped through the cracks of a blockbuster-driven society. Thankfully, I expect the Academy to find some way to acknowledge the profound work of director J.A. Bayona and his entire team. Filled with amazing visual sequences, top flight acting and a beautiful score, The Impossible is an iconic feature that should be savored by everyone. Currently playing in select theatres, make it a point to seek out The Impossible. You won't want to miss one of 2012's finest features.

Stars: 4 stars out of 4

Grade: A+

DVD Outlook: December 2012

With Christmas less than a week away and the weekend right around the corner, chances are you'll have enough extra time to check out a new movie. Here's a look at the best rental options that will be available to you, so listen closely.




The Dark Knight Rises - 3.5 stars out of 4 (Read my review here)

Is there anyone who still hasn't seen the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy? If so (or if you just need to see it again), The Dark Knight Rises is an action-packed thrill ride that wraps up Batman's story in appropriate fashion. Watch as Bruce Wayne returns to superhero form after the destructive villain Bane creates absolute chaos throughout Gotham. Wayne must be tested mentally and physically in order to match the power and brains of his evil nemesis and restore order to Gotham. Although there's plenty of noticeable flaws in the film, they become easy to overlook and ignore as you quickly realize that you're witnessing something great. Therefore, spend your holiday sitting back and enjoying a top-ten finalist on my 2012 list of the year's best movies.




Ted - 3 stars out of 4 (read my review here)

Writer, creator and director Seth MacFarlane attempts to bring his line-crossing brand of humor to the big screen with Ted. When John Bennett (played by Mark Wahlberg) makes a childhood wish that his best friend and teddy bear would come to life, the entire world is turned upside down when the wish actually comes true. As the years pass and John gets older, his relationship with the love of his life Lori (played by Mila Kunis) becomes tested by John's inability to move on from his lifelong friend Ted. Hysterical beyond belief, there's no joke too shallow or too politically incorrect for MacFarlane. If raunchy and vulgar humor tops your wish list, then look no further than Ted.




Arbitrage - 3 stars out of 4 (read my shortened review here)

Perhaps a foul-mouthed talking bear and a superhero action movie don't appeal to your interests. If you're looking for a well-paced thriller, then Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage should top your list. Receiving a Golden Globe Nomination for his role, Richard Gere stars as a hedge fund magnate and family man named Robert Miller who gets caught up in a scandalous ordeal. When Miller becomes involved in a terrible car accident with the potential to unravel a shocking discovery of infidelity, the businessman makes some questionable decisions and turns to an unlikely person for help. In a race against time, Richard Gere gives a knockout performance and helps elevate Arbitrage to one of 2012's best thrillers. Arbitrage will be available for rental on Friday December 21st.


Honorable Mention: Another politically incorrect comedy starring Jennifer Garner and Ty Burrell called Butter, a creepy and skin-crawling drama starring Orlando Bloom called The Good Doctor and a potential Oscar Nominee called Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Oscar Outlook: December 2012

With awards season getting into full swing and early precursor winners and nominees being announced every couple of hours, many of the major Oscar races are starting to take shape. The Golden Globes, Critics' Choice and SAG nominations have also been handed out, which helps paint a clearer picture of who to expect in the acting categories. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) won't announce their nominees until Tuesday January 8th, therefore, my confidence in the Best Director category remains limited. Here's how the six major races appear to shaping up:

Best Picture

Zero Dark Thirty claims the lead in the Best Picture race with only Lincoln and Les Miserables as potential spoilers. Since Zero Dark Thirty and Les Miserables are still awaiting nationwide releases, this mess could remain up in the air until late January. However, all three of these movies are as close to stone-cold-locks as you can have and each of them should find their way to a nomination.

Other expected nominees: Silver Linings Playbook, Argo and Life of Pi.

Long-shot nominees: The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Amour.

Best Director

In 2010 director Kathryn Bigelow rode a tidal wave of acclaim en route to Best Picture and Best Director victories for her film The Hurt Locker. The honor made her the first female to ever win an Academy Award for Best Director. All early indicators point to her as a strong candidate to repeat her 2010 success for 2012's Zero Dark Thirty. Bigelow finds staunch competition from fellow directors Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and Ben Affleck (Argo), both of whom should find their way into the final five.

Other expected nominees: At this juncture, you can expect to see Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) and Ang Lee (Life of Pi) closing out the group of nominees.

Long-shot nominees: Even though the odds are clearly against them at this point, it's still too early to count out David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master).

Best Actor

Perhaps the safest bet of any resides in the Best Actor race where Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) has all but given his award-winning speech. In fact, I wouldn't call anyone else in the crowded group a "safe" nominee. Hence, only the biggest of upsets would change this otherwise universally accepted Oscar race.

Other expected nominees: While there's no other "sure-thing" nominees in the collection of actors, I think we'll see John Hawkes (The Sessions) in the final five alongside Daniel Day-Lewis.

Long-shot nominees: I would refrain from calling these men "long-shots", it's more so a crowded six man showdown in the Best Actor category. Therefore, any combination of Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Denzel Washington (Flight), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) and Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) should be expected.

Best Actress

The Best Actress race has dwindled down to a head to head match-up between Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty). Since I am still yet to see the latter film, I am going to default to Lawrence who gave the most notable performance in her entire star-studded feature. 

Other expected nominees: At this stage of the game, it's fair to expect the often-snubbed Naomi Watts (The Impossible) and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) in the final mix as well.

Long-shot nominees: The fifth nominee should come from the collection of Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) and Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), with the other two being left out.

Best Supporting Actor

Much like the Best Actress race, Best Supporting Actor has turned into a two man slug-fest between Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master). I am forced to give the slight advantage to Tommy Lee Jones based on the outspoken love for Spielberg's film and the fact that any glory for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master seems to be fading away ... and quickly.

Other expected nominees: Despite Robert De Niro's (Silver Linings Playbook) exclusion from the Golden Globes, I still expect him and Alan Arkin (Argo) to land two of the three remaining nominations.

Long-shot nominees: The Globes showed an outpouring of support for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, but it remains to be seen if voters end up splitting between Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz. This means a dark horse contender like Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike) could be a potential spoiler and benefactor from any split voters.

Best Supporting Actress

Much like Daniel Day-Lewis in the Best Actor category, Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) feels like a mortal lock to win this race. Clearly a step down but still expected nominees, Sally Field (Lincoln) and Helen Hunt (The Sessions) are as safe a bet as any to make the final cut. While I was shocked by Amy Adams (The Master) getting the SAG subbing,  I'd still bet on her being the fourth nominee. 

Other expected nominees: Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy) came out of left field and was catapulted into the race after major precursor nominations from both the SAG and Golden Globes. Therefore, she has to be the frontrunner for that highly coveted fifth and final spot.

Long-shot nominees: Far from safe, both Kidman and Adams should be concerned about some possible spoilers. The most likely candidates to up and steal either of their nominations would have be the beloved SAG Nominee Maggie Smith (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) or Ann Dowd (Compliance). 

Dissecting the Golden Globes

Earlier this week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its annual Golden Globe Award Nominations. The Globes, which will air on Sunday January 13th, always seem to play the peacekeeping mother role on the long road to the Oscars. Offering five Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress Nominations in both the drama and comedy/musical genres, the Globes make sure that just about everyone gets a little recognition. For a full and lengthy list of nominees in both television and film, click here (courtesy of IMDB). While we still have a month until the winners are announced, let's take a moment to dissect these nominations and ponder their effect on the mighty Oscar races. Here's four eye-opening revelations from the Hollywood Foreign Press and their Golden Globe Nominations:

1. Django Unchained is a REAL contender

After receiving an astounding five nominations including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Screenplay and two for Best Supporting Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz), Django Unchained has claimed itself a legitimate contender for the Oscars. Although the Academy is very unpredictable when it comes to Quentin Tarantino, strong critic reviews and a hearty box office could propel Django Unchained deep into the Best Picture race.

2. Best Director is an overly crowded race

This year's Best Director field is huge and, unfortunately, a few big-name filmmakers will have to be left out of the top five. With the way the precursors have been shaping up, it appears as though Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master) is the first major contender to fall from the pack. Keeping in mind that it's always too early to talk Best Director before the Directors Guild of America makes their selections, Anderson couldn't find his way into the Critics' Choice Award's top six or the Golden Globe's top five. 

3. Nicole Kidman isn't going away

I was completely blown away when I heard about Nicole Kidman's SAG Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Not because of her talent, but because of the lack of enthusiasm for the film The Paperboy. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, Lee Daniels' follow up to the 2010 Best Picture Nominee Precious left critics and audiences craving a better result. Although I haven't seen The Paperboy, it's becoming evident that Kidman is a strong candidate for Best Supporting Actress. However, we said the same thing after Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) received nominations from the SAG and Golden Globes last year, only to be left out of the Best Actress category by the Academy. 

4. De Niro may not be a "sure thing" nominee

Being from the Philadelphia area, it's a given that I loved David O. Russell's mental illness comedy Silver Linings Playbook. The laugh out loud affair had its moment in the spotlight and is all but assured a Best Picture nomination from the Academy (but a win is very unlikely at this point). Outside of its leading pair, Robert De Niro garnered massive amounts of praise for his heartfelt supporting role. Therefore, I was shocked to see him miss out on a Golden Globe nomination for his onscreen work. This omission left me thinking about the Best Supporting Actor race and wondering if there's a possibility that the category could be crowded enough to dismiss De Niro. With a highly valuable SAG Nomination in his grasp, I find his exclusion from the Oscars to be unlikely. Yet this Golden Globe snub is surprising enough to throw caution to the wind and make me think twice about where De Niro actually stands in the race. 

Promised Land

Film: Promised Land

Starring: Matt Damon (We Bought a Zoo), John Krasinski (It's Complicated) and Frances McDormand (Moonrise Kingdom)

Director: Gus Van Sant (Milk)

U.S. Release: January 4th, 2013 (Rated R)

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 106 minutes


Whenever Academy Award winning screenwriter Matt Damon develops a script, there's only one director he's taking it to, Gus Van Sant. The pair first matched wits with the 1998 Best Picture Nominee Good Will Hunting. In 2002 the duo teamed up for a second effort, Gerry, that turned out to be an under-seen and admirable piece of work. A decade later and Damon is at it again, partnering with actor John Krasinski and penning another screenplay. This time, the result is a highly controversial drama called Promised Land. Expecting to make his directorial debut but forced to step down, Damon went to none other than Gus Van Sant to helm the feature.

Matt Damon stars as Steve Butler, a fast-rising corporate salesman who visits a rural town facing a huge economic decline. Butler and his sales partner Sue Thomason (played by Frances McDormand) seek drilling rights from local farmers in order to drill for natural gas, a safe and clean energy source of the future. Promising lucrative returns to the entire town, the corporate team's plans are threatened when an environmentalist named Dustin Noble (played by John Krasinski) shows up to educate the locals on the dangers of such drilling (AKA "fracking").

Promised Land is an agenda-motivated drama that glimmers rather than shines. Capped off by a strong third act, director Gus Van Sant's latest project is a rewarding piece of filmmaking no matter what debatable topic serves as its primary back-story. While Krasinski and Damon demonstrate almost no difficulty in conjuring up a collection of affable characters, the writers ride the wave of an adequate opening and barely survive a lifeless mid-section to the feature. But in typical Matt Damon-style, a closing series of personal reflection and self betterment leads to a familiar, yet never diluted, finale of redemption. Even more so than the script itself, Damon's strongest collaborative efforts to the film come in the form of his perfectly executed acting chops. Although Damon's only Academy Award comes from the writing side of his career, he continually delivers strong performance after strong performance to reiterate where his greatest talents truly reside. As for his sales partner in crime, they couldn't have cast anyone better than Frances McDormand. Never overbearing or too flashy, McDormand has benefited from a lengthy career of genuine and honest portrayals. In Promised Land, she once again sticks to the game plan and gives a quietly effective performance. Beyond its talented cast and satisfying conclusion, Promised Land emerges from a weak second act with a surprising turn of events. Without this carefully calculated and imperative "twist" to the story, Promised Land would never recover from an otherwise pedestrian script.

During Gus Van Sant's newest feature, there's a pivotal moment where the audience is on the fringe of closing the door on Promised Land. While any truly "great" piece of filmmaking clearly avoids such crossroads, Damon's and Krasinski's paper-thin plot holds the movie hostage and creates a lengthy standstill that inevitably tests the patience of the audience. Caught in a downturn and desperate to go anywhere, Promised Land eventually takes a drastic 180-degree turn that sets the film on a new course and salvages the final project. Even the slightest change to this vital new direction that the feature takes could have proved fatal, but Damon and Krasinski come through when they are most needed. In addition to a mostly bland script, Promised Land becomes a combative source for political debate. While I attempt to view any film with a clean and unbiased slate, many moviegoers don't. Therefore, movie's centering around controversial issues such as fracking tend to polarize and turn off a wide spectrum of audiences. Hence, Promised Land is a faulty release that is undoubtedly open to a multitude of criticisms.

For as objective as Promised Land attempts to be, unfortunately the film is forced to take a side on the highly debated issue of fracking. However, by simply labeling Promised Land as "anti-fracking" propaganda, you're missing a more prominent message. Bigger topics such as corporate foul play and personal ethics become the resonating themes throughout the picture. No matter what side of the issue you stand on, Promised Land is a film that should be savored for its character development and gratifying resolution. We should all aim to become better people by continually doing what's right. Promised Land gives us a lead character who constantly claims "I'm not a bad guy" and, by the end of the film, he proves it. For that alone, we should all be grateful for Matt Damon, John Krasinski and Gus Van Sant's latest collaboration, Promised Land.


Stars: 3 stars out of 4

Grade: B

2013 SAG Nominations

Just like yesterday's Critics' Choice Award Nominations, today's Screen Actors Guild Nominees tipped in favor of three Oscar frontrunners. Once again, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, Tom Hooper's Les Miserables and David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook walked away with the 4 nominations apiece. Set to air on Sunday January 27th, the 2013 SAG nominations offered a few startling twists with their announcements.

(above: Maggie Smith and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel recognized by SAG)

The most shocking surprises were nominations for Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy) and Maggie Smith (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) in the Best Supporting Actress category and Javier Bardem (Skyfall) who finds himself in the middle of the Best Supporting Actor race. The most notable snubs from the SAG appear to be believed Oscar contenders such as The Master's own Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams who were widely speculated as "shoe-ins" for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories. In another surprising revelation, there were zero nominations for dark horse contenders from the lesser known films Amour and Beasts of the Southern Wild as well as the more popular Django Unchained. Unlike other precursor awards, SAG sees a larger overlap in its membership with the Academy and, more often than not, becomes the strongest indicator of Oscar Nominees (i.e. 2012's surprising Best Actor Nominee Demian Bichir). Here's a full list of SAG's film nominations:

Best Acting Ensemble

Argo, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Miserables, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook, Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln, John Hawkes - The Sessions, Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables and Denzel Washington - Flight

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty, Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone, Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook, Helen Mirren - Hitchcock and Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin - Argo, Javier Bardem - Skyfall, Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook, Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master and Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Field - Lincoln, Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables, Helen Hunt - The Sessions, Nicole Kidman - The Paperboy and Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2013 Critics' Choice Nominations

The 18th Annual Critics' Choice Awards announced their nominations today. Although headlines all across the internet world will talk about how Steven Spielberg's Lincoln garnered a record-setting 13 nominations, allow me to clarify the gray area to this "achievement". In recent years (this one included), the Broadcast Film Critics Association has added more and more categories to the event, making Lincoln's 13 nominations a gaudy, yet somewhat less impressive, honor.

Following Lincoln with 11 nominations of its own was Tom Hooper's Christmas release Les Miserables, and rounding out the top three was David O. Russell's comedy Silver Linings Playbook (9 nominations). Here's a list of the finalists in the six major categories:

Best Picture

Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi,

Lincoln, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director

Ben Affleck - Argo, Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty, Tom Hooper - Les Miserables, Ang Lee - Life of Pi, David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook and Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook, Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln, John Hawkes - The Sessions, Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables, Joaquin Phoenix - The Master and Denzel Washington - Flight

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty, Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone, Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook, Emmanuelle Riva - Amour, Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild and Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin - Argo, Javier Bardem - Skyfall, Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook, Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master, Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln and Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - The Master, Judi Dench - Skyfall, Ann Dowd - Compliance, Sally Field - Lincoln, Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables and Helen Hunt - The Sessions