Interstellar (Film Review)

What a beautiful film.

Big Hero 6 (Film Review)

When creating my top ten animated films of the 2010s, I contemplated waiting until Big Hero 6’s release; considering it the only animated film left which had a possibility of placing.  I released the list anyway, compromising to give special notice if Big Hero 6 was good enough for placement.  Having finally seen the film, I unfortunately found it did not exceed enough to make the list; nonetheless Big Hero 6 is far from a failure, being visually beautiful, funny and above all, enjoyable to watch.

St. Vincent (Quick Review)

To put it bluntly, St. Vincent is fundamentally a Jason Reitman film without the overabundance of pretentiousness.  It’s a character comedy-drama combining cynical, dark humor with a heartwarming center.  One of St. Vincent’s primary highlights is its acting, with Bill Murray starring as Vincent; a cynical, politically incorrect, old fart who underneath possesses a surprising (though quite unconventional) heart of gold.  Murray’s portrayal stands alongside the top of effective grumpy old men performances, balancing dry pan humor alongside hidden benevolence without becoming too mean-spirited or overly-whimsical (in one scene he saves a boy from a group of bullies...then threatens to beat up their moms while breaking the leader's skateboard and using it as a projectile weapon).  In fact the majority of the film balances comedy, drama, and sincerity effectively well; having dark comedy prevent full-blown sappiness, while drama prevents the film from becoming a complete gag.

Nightcrawler (Quick Review)

While an actor can make or break a film’s effectiveness, occasionally the actor exclusively creates the film’s success.  Nightcrawler is of the latter, working because of Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance.  Without Jake Gyllenhaal there is no film, no acclaim, no effectiveness.  If there’s a reason for recommending Nightcrawler, it’s for Gyllenhaal’s frighteningly brilliant performance.