The Man with the Golden Umbrella: Kingsman: The Secret Service

     It's basically impossible to talk about Kingsman: The Secret Service without mentioning the 2010 frenetic and brutal take on superheros, Kickass (also directed by Matthew Vaughn) or any of the older James Bond films with over-the-top villains and unique humor. It's impossible because Kingsman: The Secret Service is an off-the-wall combination of both, containing the stylistic brutality of the R-rated kids-turned-hero flick and the gentlemanly-style, dry humor and the most modern gadgetry of any given Bond film. Like Kickass, Kingsman is also based upon a comic book, and Vaughn infuses the film with colorful violence and an entertaining nonchalance about the proceedings that is charming and fun. It's a good start to the 2015 movie season.
     Kingsman is one of those self-aware movies that realizes it's a movie: characters spout quotes about films that fall into similar genres, like Bourne or Bond, and many scenes can end with almost a wink to the camera. But the reason it succeeds on a pure entertainment level is because unlike the movies starring Jason Bourne and James Bond, this one's aimed at adults: London street language vulgarity is spurted at every turn by our young protagonist, and the film contains some almost shocking levels of violence. But the violence fits: it's February--the time of the year when the dregs of the cinematic universe are released--and we could all deal with en entertaining, violent and vulgar story about spies, world domination, and colorful villains.
     The trailer for this movie really annoyed me. It seems like it was shown before every film in the theater for almost a year (part of that is because it was delayed from Fall 2014 until now, which was another reason to be completely skeptical), with the main character saying things like "wicked" and "that is sick" in his British accent. So count me as surprised by the fun-factor of the whole thing: Harry (Colin Firth, in a role that shows he could easily pull off a Liam Neeson-esque mid-career action Renaissance) is a Kingsman, a sort of MI6 badass spy group just as concerned with fashion and manners as they are hi-tech gadgets and hand-to-hand combat. But they need new recruits after a mission goes bad and they are one spy less than they used to be.

     So a group of young recruits, all college age, get sucked into the Kingsman headquarters to take part in a competition involving teamwork, weapon skills, and general perseverance. Our main hero is Eggsy (Taron Egerton, in a career-making role full of flash, humor and charm), whose dad was a Kingsman himself, but whose life has been relegated to low-income housing and his mom's scumbag associates. It's impossible not to root for him with his likability and underdog story. While this is going on, a billionaire villain (Samuel L. Jackson having fun with a Mike Tyson lisp) is developing a technology to secretly control and wipe out the majority of the human race. His main henchwoman is present solely for her sultry, dangerous looks and her sharp feet made out of metal blades that slice and dice any one who dares stand in her way.
      Kingsman moves like a Bond film, full of over-the-top world domination plots and awe-inspiring action, and it's the latter moments that make the film shine: one notable scene, taking place in a Westboro Baptist Church-style teachings congregation, really sticks out at showing the shock value of a hard-rated R spy film--the action is frenetic and brutal, but it doesn't rely on quick-cut editing like the Bourne films. You feel every stab, gunshot and ax wound. And as we learned with Kick-Ass, this is what director Matthew Vaughn is great at: taking a getting-tired genre (in Kickass is was superhero films...here it's Bond-like spy films) and making his own version full of unique humor, weirdness, and stylistic action that gets your blood pumping while this brutally-cold winter piles up another foot of snow outside of our windows.     (B+)

Top 10 Films of 2014

(Honorable Mention)

25. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

24. The Skeleton Twins

23. John Wick

22. Noah

21. Obvious Child

20. Still Alice

19. Locke

18. Joe

17. Enemy

16. American Sniper

15. A Most Violent Year

14. Gone Girl

13. Mistaken for Strangers

12. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

11. X-Men: Days of Future Past

10.

Blue Ruin

     Blue Ruin is a unique American revenge story, a low budget edge-of-your-seat thriller that is as simple as it is tension-packed. Dwight Evans (Macon Blair) is a vagrant who lives out of his car near the beach--he's scraggly and bearded. Once day, he receives a certain bit of news that causes him to clean himself up and return to his hometown with the sole intention of murdering a specific person who wronged him in the past. There's not much to complain about when it comes to Blue Ruin: the directing and visuals are stellar (especially on such a low budget), it's undeniably taut at only 90 minutes, the thrilling unease is felt throughout, and the progression of the story is fast, moving from violent standoff to violent standoff until a satisfying and grim conclusion.

9.

Foxcatcher

     Director Bennett Miller is a sucker for interesting, true-life stories: his past works include a film about the complicated character Truman Capote, and he explored low-budget baseball with Moneyball. Foxcatcher, his new film, slips into the same categories: it contains real-life drama, intriguing characters, and an extremely peculiar story: it focuses on Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his uncomfortable relationship with mega-millionaire Jon du Pont (Steve Carell, prosthetic face and all), a team-up that turned raw and violent and ended in a tragedy. The stars of the film are the atmosphere--the dark, smokey scenes that set the chilling mood--and the acting: Carell is great in a transforming role, and Tatum continues to show that he's not just a meathead with no talent. Another solid entry in Miller's genre of True-life tension. 

8.

Edge of Tomorrow

     Tom Cruise is a god-damned movie star, and anytime anybody doubts him, he stars in an entertaining action (typically with a sci-fi tinge) film that ends up being super fun: see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Oblivion, etc. It's no different with this year's horrendously-titled film, Edge of Tomorrow (adapted from the incredibly better-titled Japanese light novel "All You Need is Kill"), directed by Doug Liman. It's an action-packed and (actually) thoughtful mixture of Groundhog Day (yes, the Bill Murray film) and Source Code: Cruise dies over and over again in a huge Normandy-style battle with Aliens, progressing further and further each time as he starts getting certain things right. It's like a charismatic first-person shooter video game with heart, humor, and an exhilarating performance from Cruise.

7.

Nightcrawler

     Jake Gyllenhaal's been on a roll lately, with last year's Prisoners and now Nightcrawler, a showcase for a sociopath character named Lou Bloom who lives on the outskirts of polite society, flying around the city at night, trying to film grotesque crime scenes to sell to the morning news stations. It's up there as one of Gyllenhaal's great roles ever: he's so damn creepy and weird that it's impossible to take your eyes off of him. As Lou's business grows, he begins to gain more notoriety from the news stations, and he begins to make more and more money for the crazier stuff that he films. It's this turning point, when Lou's self obsessions meet up with his realization that he can push the boundaries of society's morals, that Nightcrawler becomes something special, spiraling out of control until its surprising conclusion.

6.

Snowpiercer

     Snowpiercer is so damn weird and strange that it's impossible to ignore. This is a movie that's in my top 10 of the year, yet after watching about 15 minutes of it I could have shut it off. I couldn't tell if it was intentionally trying to be hokey or if the acting was just terrible: but once the lower-class caboose of the perpetual motion train breaks free of their metaphorical chains, Snowpiercer becomes one of the most entertaining and surprising films of the year. The direction, from South Korean master Bong Joon-ho, is vivid and original, and the action is violent, absurd and shocking. But the best part of Snowpiercer--unlike the protein gelatin blocks that the train's passengers eat--is how fresh it is. It's unlike anything else that was in cinemas this year: the incredibly different and unexpected sets, the peculiar plot twists, the ultra-stylistic action. And like the number 1 film on this list, it's a great example of a non-American director showing us how fun films can be if you can just let loose.

5.

The Drop

      The Drop may forever be known as our last glimpse at the great James Gandolfini, but it's an awesome slow burn of a film in its own right, and it's yet another example of Tom Hardy's greatness. Similar stories have been told before: crime in dank, beer-soaked bars, mob money, shady characters, but The Drop shines because of it's two main actors and the nice script based upon a Dennis Lehane short story. The story focuses on a mysterious bartender (Hardy) and the bar owned by Marv (Gandolfini) that is used as an illegal "drop" point by Chechen gangsters. The pace of the film is slow, but could better be described as natural: we follow these characters as the progression of events continues to raise the tension to the biggest drop night of the year: the Super Bowl. The Drop doesn't look to shock or surprise, but it sets you up to fully enjoy the satisfying climax.

4.

Interstellar

     Interstellar continues the tradition of Christopher Nolan films that have an undeniable epic quality and occasional eye-rolling scenes of sentimentality. But I still loved the Hell out of it. It's chock full of science-fiction mumbo-jumbo, discussions of black holes, the space-time continuum, wormholes and gravitational pulls. I don't know how much of this stuff was true, but it doesn't matter: Nolan has again (like with Inception and the The Dark Knight trilogy) created a theater-going experience rather than just a good movie. It's like a nearly 3-hour amusement park ride at the Epcot Center containing famous actors. I didn't stop thinking about some of its scenes and ideas days after I left the cinema. Much of the film takes place in gigantic vastness and space and completely foreign areas and planets, and it leaves the viewer with a sense of awe. But even though the film sets its sights far, far, away, when Nolan can manage to transcend corny sentimentality and touch on real human emotion, that's when Interstellar shines the brightest.

3.

Birdman

     Micheal Keaton gives the best performance of the year in a Meta-Dramedy about a former superhero (Birdman) movie actor (Riggan) who's now washed up and trying a shot at redemption by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway play. Keaton is the key that locks the film into greatness, but Birdman also relies on its ensemble cast: Edward Norton as the prickish but vulnerable star actor, Emma Watson's just-outta-rehab daughter, Zach Galifianakis' producer friend of Riggan. These actors provide the humor and emotion that fly us into the heart of the story and the satiric wink towards show business culture. And it all fits together perfectly with the seemingly hour-long tracking shots composed by director Alexander Inarritu that make you feel as though your standing on stage or behind the curtain with the play's actors. Birdman is innovative, and you've probably never seen anything like it before.

2.

Whiplash

     Whiplash had been on my radar since its prestigious showing at the Sundance film festival earlier this year, but I didn't expect it to envelop me so completely into it's nervous energy and jazz-music-infusion. It's a fairly simple premise, but one that resonates: Andrew (great newcomer Miles Teller) has just been accepted into one of the best music universities in America. Once we gets there, he catches the eye of an intense instructor who expects nothing less than perfection, a drumming drill-sergeant who is as violent as he is transfixing (J. K. Simmons in a career defining role and one of the best performances of the year). It is an incredibly uncomfortable watch, giving you the feeling of being in a job interview as thinks keep going south far beyond what you ever expected. But what is Whiplash truly about? Having an undeniable talent and going to any length necessary to drum it out of you.

1.

The Raid 2

     Nothing this year could have compared to the exhilaration that was experienced upon the first watch of The Raid 2. It's a 2.5 hour crime epic that contains some of the best actions scenes in just about anything, ever. If you've seen the first film (which you don't need to see to enjoy this sequel, but why wouldn't you?), you know that director Gareth Evans is a master at showcasing the speed and brutality of the martial art, pencak silat: but in The Raid 2, Evans sets his sites on a whole city rather than just one building, complete with car chases and murderous gangsters. The basics of the plot deal with an undercover cop who must infiltrate a dangerous crime organization, and though the plot is much more in-depth than in the first film, the story serves the incredible actions and fight scenes. Like dancers on a stage, the Raid 2's characters glide in an amazingly-choreographed beautiful piece of blood-spurting art complete with bone-crushing beatings and Tarantino-esque style. If only American actions films were this damn good.

7 Favorite Books in 2014

I didn't read as many books this year compared to last year. I just finished number 35. Here are my 7 favorite, in no particular order:



The Orphan Master's Son

     







     I had read an Adam Johnson work previously--2003's Parasites Like Us--and enjoyed it, and I had heard plenty of praise of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Orphan Master's Son: it didn't come close to disappointing. I read it back in January, and it still stuck with me all the way to the end of the year. Starring Jun Do (a nod to the anonymous John Doe), a North Korean orphan who becomes a kidnapper, The Orphan Master's Son's main character is really North Korea: it's totalitarian way of life, its daily acts of violence, a place where one's identity can become lost in the fold. North Korea is a place that many of us can't even imagine, but Adam Johnson does the impossible with The Orphan Master's Son: he takes the facts of North Korea and turns them into one of the most immersive and impressive fictional worlds in recent memory.


The Art of Fielding

     The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach gave me the same feeling as last year's incredible Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Not because the books deal with similar subject matter, but because both are from debut novelists and have sharply-drawn characters that you begin to legitimately care about. The book is around 500 pages, but you'll wish there were 500 more: it's intricately drawn, with every sentence, plot line and character showcasing Harbach's skill with the English language. If you know nothing about it, it may be casually referred to as "that baseball book", and although the sport of baseball plays a major part, The Art of Fielding is about so much more: friendship, love and loss in a college-era story. The heart of the novel focuses on Henry Skrimshander, a prodigal short-stop in high school who gets recruited by Westish College catcher Mike Schwartz, and his experiences playing at the next level. The Art of Fielding marks the exciting beginning for Chad Harbach, and it's a novel that absolutely anyone can enjoy.






Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.

     
      Rob Delaney has been the king of Twitter for years now, and his first book contains a variety of painfully honest stories that showcase his darker side. It also showcases how humor is one of the best ways to overcome situations in life that can fill you with sorrow. The writing world always contains stories and biographies of men getting drunk or high and doing completely stupid shit, but Delaney is a master at portraying the lessons he's learned with an excited fervor that brings the readers in. The highlights: having to take an explosive shit while out jogging with no bathrooms available, drunken near-death experiences that shaped his life (including a drunk-driving accident that left him seriously injured), and the experiences having your first child. But the real lesson of Delaney's book is about the hard times in life: if you can laugh, you'll be much better off.






Tenth of December

     I try and read a couple of short story books a year, but Tenth of December, by George Saunders, may force me to up that number in the coming months: some of the writing here is better than...well...just about anything. This is the first Saunders that I have ever read, but I'll be seeking him out in the future. He is a master at getting deep inside a character's thoughts and feelings and motivations, and these ten stories showcase a simple expertise in telling moving tales. And some of these short stories are incredibly funny and incredibly satiric, but still can surprise you with shocking twists and slow burns of surrealism. Take "The Semplica Girl Diaries", where a father attempts to please his daughter and compete with neighbors by buying her Semplica Girls, women trafficked from third-world countries to be lawn ornaments. Or "Escape from Spiderhead", a satiric look at love and pharmaceuticals--these are the works of an American original.






No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

     
     I'll be the first to admit that you shouldn't read No Place to Hide for a completely unbiased view towards Edward Snowden and the NSA leaks: it was written by Glenn Greenwald, who Snowden contacted to divulge the dangerous information. But God Damn if this is not an incredibly exciting and shocking account of the process of the information leak. It reads like a thriller. If you think that Edward Snowden is a villain, you will hate this account, because it essentially portrays him as an American hero for divulging information that--one could argue--the public deserves to know. And Greenwald displays plenty of his own opinions about the matter. But it doesn't stop No Place to Hide from being one of the most thrilling (and shocking) non-fiction books in 2014.







The Light Between Oceans

     The Light Between Oceans is from yet another debut author, and the skill in which M.L. Stedman wraps the readers into the words is astounding: this book is damn beautiful. Listen to the plot and tell me that you're not interested: Tom is a WWI veteran and a lighthouse keeper on a tiny rock island off the coast of Australia. One day, him and his wife find a rowboat that washes ashore with a crying baby and a dead dude inside. Despite Tom's militaristic moral code, the couple decides to potentially raise the baby as their own, but the past--as it always seems to do--has a tendency to catch up with them. The story is great, and it's already been optioned for a film directed by Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines), starring Michael Fassbender as Tom. Like The Art of Fielding, the subject matter doesn't even matter: The Light Between Oceans can be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys reading a great novel.





The Magician's Land

     I'll start this off with a confession that will piss off many avid readers: I just started the Harry Potter series throughout the past year, and though they are (basically) enjoyable, I don't love them. I'm not sure if the movies ruined the story for me, or Rowling's writing annoys me (which it does sometimes), or I just missed the boat with the total madness when they were coming out. But Lev Grossman's The Magician's Trilogy--full of sex, magic, alcohol, and angst--is more my magical cup of tea. And The Magician's Land, the final novel in the three-book series, is a completely fitting ending. Though Grossman takes plenty from Harry Potter and Narnia, he creates a world that is completely his own, and this third book takes the characters to new, much more mature level. Even the most jaded readers, ones who never thought they could love the fantasy genre, can find something to love in The Magicians Trilogy: the only sad part is that it's over only when Grossman hit his true stride.

Top 10 Albums of 2014

10) Swans--To Be Kind

    Swans are the opposite of easy-listening music. They formed in 1982, broke up in the late 90's and reformed in 2010. In 2012 they released the critically acclaimed The Seer, their 12th album, an exercise in experimental brutality. This year's To Be Kind is similar: it's a mixture of an incredible amount of styles--industrialism, classical, jazz, rock, alternative--that is a legitimate experience to listen to. Sometimes it's an experience that is frustrating and nearly un-listenable (a weird description for an album on a Top 10 list), but it's occasionally transcendent, giving you a feeling unlike any other in music this year. At nearly two hours, To Be Kind is a commitment, but with songs like "A Little God in My Hands" (with its driving, explosive funk) and the album standout "Oxygen" (the closest thing to a normal rock song that Swans have here), it's a violent and scary trip well-worth taking.

Listen to "Oxygen"





9) Vince Staples--Hell Can Wait

   
      Based in strictly rap musical terms (and regardless of how you feel about the explosive subject), the recent microscope on police violence in America has sparked some impressive and real music in the rap genre. Hell Can Wait--a 26 minute, 7 song EP by newcomer Vince Staples--is a great example. It's short run-time is packed with emotion and real-life stream of consciousness thoughts that stick with you. Take "Hands Up", for instance: "North Division tryin' to stop my blackness / I'm watching for them badges when out in traffic / Them 911's been a tad bit frantic / if those lights start flashing / please don't panic." The song also offers a playful and surprising chorus of standard rap shout out "Put your Hands in the air". "Blue Suede" is another standout: its thoughts on gang violence over sneakers is thoughtful--and it helps that the beat is brutal too. The production values on Hell Can Wait matches Staples' great flow: it's the second best rap album this year.

Watch the video for "Blue Suede"




8) Mac Demarco--Salad Days

   

     Mac Demarco makes slacker, loungy music that is perfect for relaxing on a rainy day. This lo-fi soft rock is charming and quite an accomplishment for a 23-year old basically kid who seems to not have a care in the world. Demarco melds real observations about love and life into his mellow pop sounds, and that's why they reach far higher than most of his predecessors. Throughout the entire album--from the opening mood-setter title track "Salad Days" to the ending of "Johnny's Odyssey"--Mac maintains his tone of leisure that causes you to just lay back and enjoy the tunes, man. Sometimes the description of being a slacker can make you feel like the music creator is lazy, but Demarco clearly isn't that: Salad Days is actually a mature achievement that's a solidly great album.

Listen to "Treat Her Better"






7) Spoon--They Want My Soul

   

     Spoon has been one of my favorites bands for years now. But although I enjoyed the new-found poppyness of 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and the more minimalist approach of Transference, those albums never reached the greatness of Kill the Moonlight or Gimme Fiction. When lead singer Britt Daniel formed a new band with other indie legend Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs fame) by the name of Divine Fits, it became one of the best albums of 2012. Maybe that sparked something in Britt, because Spoon's new album, They Want My Soul, is a damn good one. The albums's their 8th, and it clocks in at under 40 minutes, but barely a second is wasted: you instantly know you're listening to something special when"Rent I Pay" fades into the cool groove of "Inside Out". "Do You" is another standout. With They Want My Soul, Spoon has found some additional soul, and it's the sound of a band that--even after 8 albums--is at the top of their game again.

Watch the video to "Inside Out"






6) Ought--More Than Any Other Day

    Ought is a rock band with a palpable passion that you can legitimately feel: this group of Canadians play with an emotion that's impossible not to enjoy. Front man Tim Beeler's inflections and poetic lyrics are the true stars here--he's like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's lead man Alec Ounsworth except far more accessible and better in general. Like Parquet Courts, Ought's influences vary widely from track to track, but they make material with enough of their own post-punk thoughtful urgentness to seem fully original.



Listen to "Habit" here







5) Parquet Courts--Sunbathing Animal

     Parquet Courts drew my attention with last year's Light Up Gold, a solid album from the Pavement school of slacker rock. And that fact is weird, because I find Pavement to be extremely boring--a sacrilegious comment for anyone who is even halfway into indie rock music. But Parquet Courts are a group of weed-smoking slackers who have plenty of clever wordplay, their songs filled with poignant and funny moments about living in a city, trying to connect with girls, or...who knows, because much of main singer Andrew Savage's lyrics don't make perfect sense. That's kind of the point: Sunbathing Animal is full of infectious guitar lines and moments of true excitement, but it's balances nicely with the repetitiveness of songs like "Instant Disassembly" and "She's Rolling" (one of my personal favorites since seeing it on KEXP). You can ponder the Lyrics while taking in the grooves. Parquet Courts is a band that is clearly influenced by many, but they have just enough uniqueness to forge their own path in the current-era indie rock landscape.

Listen to Parquet Courts' "She's Rolling"










4) Future Islands--Singles

     If Future Islands keep on trucking--these dudes seem like they tour for 350 days out of the year--then Singles will be known as the album where they finally broke through to the next level in the music business. By now, their album In Evening Air can almost be considered a modern classic in the indie synth pop genre, but Singles is really their first album with true-sounding production values, complete with actual marketing and appearances on the Late Shows (including their infamous Letterman performance ). It suits them well: Singles has a true character and forward momentum that lacks on their last album, On The Water. The songs are clear and concise, and although some would say simplistic, they fit perfectly into lead singer Sam Herring's inflections and outbursts of emotion. Seeing this man live in an experience that everyone should have. Though Singles shows a calm Sam on many of its tracks, he truly shines in album standout "Fall from Grace", a dark song complete with his trademark ear-shrieking screams. The music business is full of fake, money-grubbing artists and bands that assembly-line-produce shit for our tired ears. But Future Islands are the good guys--let's cheer for them.

Listen to "Fall from Grace"





3) FKA Twigs--LP1

     If you had told me to start the year that one of my favorite albums would be from an experimental R&Bish singer from London, I would have asked what you were smoking. But then I saw the video for "Two Weeks", one of the year's best tunes: It blew me away, and it caused me to check out the whole album. It didn't take me long before I was blasting these catchy, tuneful songs about sex, fame and love and loving every second of it. "Two Weeks" is the obvious peak, but other songs come close: "Pendulum" with it's minimalist approach (which always seems to work with Twigs' incredible, vulnerable voice), "Video Girl" with its chorus that gets stuck in your head for weeks, the regret of past love with "Numbers". LP1 is FKA Twigs' first album, but it's a fully-realized creation from an artist that will be around for years (if she wants to be): it's slathered in great production and surprising moments that are discovered on repeated listens. Twigs is like if Aaliyah and Grimes and Bjork all merged and had a weird, unique baby.

Watch the video for FKA Twigs' "Two Weeks"





2) Sun Kil Moon--Benji

   

     This album is about Death. Nearly every song deals with the loss of a loved one, a close friend, a family member, a school acquaintance, or random people. Saying that, it probably doesn't sound like much fun to listen to. But like everything dealing with Death, it gives insight into life. And what Mark Kozelek, singer and creator of Sun Kil Moon, has done is create an album that is masterful in its storytelling. It's hard to say if any of it is true, and it doesn't matter at all: it is true to the listener, even if his truck driver uncle didn't really die by an exploding aerosol can or if he doesn't really have to pee 50 times a day now that he's in middle age. These songs are about characters (real or imagined) and they are so sharply drawn in their 3 or 4 minutes of fame that they stick with you throughout. The more you listen to Benji, the more connections you make: within the album itself and with connections to your own life. There's been a lot of talk recently about Mark and his attitude (the whole War on Drugs controversy), but it almost adds to the mystique of Benji. How did someone who is seemingly such an asshole make something so incredibly beautiful?

Listen to "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes"






1) Run The Jewels--Run the Jewels 2

     Last year, I came across Run the Jewels from Pitchfork or Metacritic or somewhere (it doesn't really matter). It was near the end of the year when I realized how fun and great El-P and Killer Mike's beats and wordplay were--So I was incredibly pumped when just one year later, Run the Jewels 2 hit the Internet as a free download. And all I can say is wow: RTJ2 is the best music of 2014, a stew of banging beats, a combination of fun and serious wordplay, memorable guest performances (especially by Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine fame), and real-world ponderous thoughts. It's tag-team rap music based in a world of drone strikes, fuckboys (a term for haters that El and Mike are very fond of) and comedic disses ("Style violent, give a fuck if you deny it, kids / you can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks") that will stay in your brain for days. In its best moments, it's relevant anti-establishment protest music, whether it's against religion ("Liars and politicians, profiteers of the prisons / The forehead engravers and slavers of men and women / Including members of clergy that rule on you through religion / Strippin' kids to the nude then tell 'em God'll forgive 'em") or Ferguson-style police violence: ("Everyday I'm in a fight for my soul / Could it be my medicine's the evidence for pigs to stop and frisk me when they rollin' round on patrol?"). Like the best socially-relevant music, it's fun and catchy and transcends rap music to something much more: a bumping soundtrack for 2014 America that rarely leaves my car CD player.

Listen to "Close Your Eyes (and Count to Fuck)"

Quick Looks:

Birdman (or, The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

     Some could easily call Birdman--directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, creator of thought-provoking woks like Amores perros and 21 Grams--a stunt: over half of the film (seemingly) consists of one single tracking shot with no noticeable camera cuts. But it's much more than just cool camera work. Starring Michael Keaton in one of the best performances of the year, Birdman's plot revolves around Riggan Thompson (Keaton), a has-been Hollywood actor who once started the modern trend of superhero films with the Birdman Trilogy. Now, everyone thinks he is a joke: the public, his family...even himself. To try and do something meaningful, Riggan attempts to act, direct and adapt a Broadway play based upon a Raymond Carver story. Inarritu's direction works perfectly in these claustrophobic and confined spaces, tracking different actors in the play from dressing room to stage with time lapses and day changes seamlessly intertwined with the great set and locations. Familiar actors show up: Edward Norton is awesome as Mike, an actor with immense talent and a tendency to be a dick. And Emma Stone is transfixing as Riggan's out-of-rehab daughter. But it's Keaton that is a wonder: even when the film threatens to dive a little too deeply into a meta surrealism, our former Batman grounds Birdman with a wide array of perfect human emotions. His performance allows Birdman to fly as one of the year's best.    (A-)

Still Alice

     With Still Alice, we have another film that is completely defined by its starring actor's performance: this time it's Julianne Moore, who portrays Alice, an incredibly smart and successful Linguistics professor who begins showing signs of mental decline--she's forgetting the occasional word, various thoughts, and even gets lost jogging on the college campus that she has called home for years. When she eventually goes to the doctor, she gets some of the worst news possible: at age 50, she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease, and it's rapidly progressing. Still Alice is not  fun weekend movie entertainment--though Alice's decline is full of dignity, the film is still incredibly sad and heartbreaking, and Moore is such a good actress (like Keaton in Birdman, it may be her best performance ever) that you feel every lost thought, every grasp at a fading word as a punch straight to the gut. This is the type of story that easily could be lost in too much Lifetime-esque sentimentality, but the directors wisely keep it simple, focusing on Alice and her family and the toll the the harsh disease takes on the entire clan. Moore's performance is so astonishing because you can almost see her strip herself away from scene to scene, regressing from an incredibly charismatic speaker to a woman who has lost the most important aspects to her own identity--her thoughts and words.     (B+)

The Babadook

    The Babadook--a low-budget Australian horror film--is a satisfying and creepy entry into the supernatural hiding-in-the-closet monster movie. Some of it is pretty standard: there are possessions, typical "boo" moments and a creepy villain that looks like a top-hat-wearing ugly thing with sharp fingers, like Freddy Kruger's uncle. But unlike most corny, PG-13 American-made creepy-kid films, The Babadook deals with real issues of loss and grief. It makes the horror all the more real. Amelia's husband died tragically as they were going to to hospital to deliver their first child, and now years later, her son Samuel is having troubles at home and school, lashing out against nearly everyone. One night, he has mum read a mysterious pop-up book from the shelf called Mr. Babadook, and strange events begin occurring in their dark and dreary home. It follows a path that is predictable, but it has enough innovative moments and good performances by Amelia and Samuel to stand above American versions of similar stories.     (B)

Interstellar--2014: A Space Odyssey

     Christopher Nolan began his career with a couple of low budget films that were noticeable in their skillful direction and unique story-telling devices: the good Following and the modern classic Memento. Then, as we all know, he branched out into super-hero territory with the new Batman trilogy, making most every other superhero quiver in the darkness and realism of the new and dangerous Gotham. Between the second and third Dark Knight films, Nolan created Inception, a complete and utter mindfuck about dreams, the subconscious, and futuristic espionage. It was filled with hokey dialogue and sometimes-absurd plots twists: and I absolutely loved it. It was one of the best science-fictiony movies in years. In fact, there's never been a Nolan film that wasn't completely transfixing. He's not the best at dialogue and has a tendency to turn towards corniness in emotional moments, but his films are novelistic rides that are nothing if not entertaining. That's what movies are for (escapism), and Nolan's Interstellar is--yet again--no different: it's corny and laughable at certain moments, but it's a damn amusement park ride into the unknown, and I enjoyed every second of it.
    Interstellar takes place in the near future as Earth is beginning to show signs of being done with the human race: vicious dust storms run rampant and food crops are slowly starting to die off. Farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former pilot and engineer, is trying to sustain his family, most notably his daughter, Murph, who is whip-smart and curious about science like her dear old dad. Weird anomalies begin to happen around the Cooper household, and a sequence of events better left unexpected cause Cooper to be Earth's last great hope to find a distant planet that can sustain a surviving population of humans.
     Interstellar is full of scientific and space travel jargon about worm-holes, the space/time continuum, black holes and 5th dimensions. It even has that standard sci-fi discussion involving folding a piece of paper to explain space travel through worm-holes. And I couldn't tell you if any of the plot points are based in fact or fiction (many of them, according to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, are mostly based in truth). But the thing with Interstellar and most sci-fi space-based epics, is that being preposterous can sometimes be a virtue: letting go with reality and suspending your disbelief just gets you invested in the ride even more. If you do that with Interstellar, there's no way you're not entertained.

     Nolan has a knack for setting up big sequences that have a tendency to make your jaw drop, and Interstellar is no different: like in Inception and each of the Batman films, he sets up a couple of scenes that can leave your breathless. And unlike Inception, this new Nolan film actually has a more human emotion that is much easier to relate to. A lot of this has to do with Matthew McConaughey's performance: this dude has been knocking it out of the park lately (namely in Mud, Dallas Buyer's Club, and HBO's epic True Detective), and the nearly 3 hour run time of Interstellar gives him plenty of room to run the gambit of emotions.
     Yeah, it's easy to snicker at some of the plot jumps in Interstellar. Especially during the first third of the film, a couple of coincidences and unexplained happenings bugged me a little bit. But knowing Nolan, I should have assumed that things will connect in the end--and they did in a completely unexpected way. And yeah, some of the dialogue feels hokey and forced, trying to incite an emotional response (particularly with a certain poem) in the viewer. But it didn't matter: Interstellar is an entertaining film filled with massive ideas about the future of the human race, parenthood, love, and human nature. It has space action that rivals Gravity and intimate moments that can bring tears to your eyes. Above all, it's a great success in a year that's almost completely devoid of anything to get excited about.     (A-)

Nightcrawler: Crawling Under Your Skin

     Five years ago, if you heard Jake Gyllenhaal's name, you'd either think about his then-risky portrayal of gay cowboy Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain or his role as the freaky titular character in the teenage cult classic Donnie Darko. Like many actors, he was slowly gaining popularity and also had roles in some less-then-stellar efforts. But starting in 2011 with the slick sci-flick Source Code, Gyllenhaal has redefined his career and turned in some incredibly nuanced and haunting performances: his LAPD cop in End of Watch, his double-identity confused state in Enemy, and--most notably--his awesome turn as Detective Loki in last year's debatable best film, Prisoners. He continues his streak of impressive performances with Nightcrawler, a creepy and tension-packed film that is merely okay if not for Gyllenhall: but because of him it's almost great.
     Gyllenhaal portrays Lou Bloom, a scumbag sociopath weirdo who is trying to find a job. He doesn't have a set or morals or an ethical code, so when he witnesses the aftermath of a violent car wreck on an overpass and sees an independent camera crew filming the carnage to sell to the morning news, he comes up with the idea to start his own business. He buys a camera and a police scanner, and he methodically learns every police code for the city so he can zoom to dangerous crime scenes. Lou doesn't care about human beings or acting like a functioning citizen, so he gets good camera shots and fakes interviews. The morning news channel, led by Nina (Rene Russo: where has she been?), loves his footage and his go-get nature, and they start paying him more and more. And when sweeps week comes, they want more dramatic footage, and Lou isn't too concerned about how he is going to get it.
     Things escalate quickly in the second half of the film. I won't give away too much--but Lou isn't the type of person who abides by a few feet of yellow police tape that say "Do not Proceed." He hires an assistant, a down-on-his-luck dude who works for less than minimum wage and is frightened of Lou's personality, and they traverse the city searching for the most violent, shocking and exciting images to film. And like the images that Lou films, we--the viewer--keep diving down into depths of tension and excitement, wonder if Lou's downfall will ever come. Gyllenhall is not a likable person as Lou, but in the context of watching Nightcrawler, he's an extremely likable character for the viewer because he's so damn weird and interesting and will do anything for a better camera angle and more news recognition.
     Nightcrawler surely touches on the 24 hour news cycle and it's portents of immense fear: they pay far more for footage of violent crimes that take place in the white and wealthy neighborhoods. A carjacking in "the hood" doesn't equal ratings--a murder in a mansion does. This also ties into the exploitation of crime and victims in a world only looking for the next image to shock. But these metaphors aren't what sticks with you for the next couple days after Nightcrawler: it's Gyllenhaal as Lou, his gaunt features behind the hand-held camera, filming a bloody mess until he moves onto the next.     (B+)

Quick Looks:

Horns

     I'm a huge fan of Joe Hill's novels: Stephen King's talented son has written three of them, two of which have produced that same wonder and horror that we've all experienced in older King novels like The Shining. Horns is a tough film to sell to audiences, though: it's about a young guy, Ig, who may or may not have raped and murdered his girlfriend. One morning, he wakes up after a heavy night of drinking and Devil horns are growing out of his forehead, and everyone in his presence begins telling him and acting on their deepest and darkest thoughts and feelings. The tone in the book flashes between horror, humor and fantasy with incredible expertise, but the film doesn't fair quite as well. It's not real fault of anyone: Daniel Radcliffe, portraying another character who has an abnormal bond with snakes, actually does a wonderful job of shedding the Harry Potter skin, conveying anger and hopelessness with a touching fervor. Director Alexandre Aja (whose previous work consisted of the oogle-naked-booby mess that was Piranha 3D) actually portrays some stylish scenes, but they are mixed in with work that seems pretty amateur. When reading the novel, getting sucked into Horns' world of gritty humor and shocking surprises takes no effort at all. But the film leaves you wanting more, and it strikes an uneven tone between amusing, weird, and unintentionally comical.     (B-)

The Purge: Anarchy

     Last year's The Purge had a really intriguing concept: all crime (basically) is legal for 24 hours once a year--essentially purging the country of its over-population problem. And I actually thought the film--anchored by Ethan Hawke's performance--was entertaining enough. But one criticism was that the film's sights were set in too small of an area--one neighborhood street, and specifically one house where a group of freaky teenage bad guys are trying to break in. The Purge: Anarchy attempts the first film's formula, except aiming a little higher: this purge takes place in the numerous streets, blocks and alleyways of an entire populated city. It also deals much more with the socio-economic reasons for the purge, but let's face it: these films are all about tension and violence. Frank Grillo (as Leo) stands out here as the man-of-few words, a sort-of hero on a mysterious mission who periodically resorts to being a badass, mowing down sickos with style and manliness. The Purge: Anarchy is an attempt at saying something worthwhile about the government, the homeless, and crime in America. But since it has nothing specific to say, the viewer just waits for the next set-up for a cool kill.     (C+)

Obvious Child

     Obvious Child is about Donna, a woman who has had a really shitty go of life for the past few weeks: her boyfriend has cheated on her and left her, the bookstore where she works is being sold, and she's sunken into a bit of a depression. Donna is portrayed by former Saturday Night Live cast member Jenny Slate, and she rides the line between being very funny and almost annoying. Luckily the funny far outweighs the annoying: Donna is a comedian and it's clear to see how her self-deprecating ways have led her down this path in life. Then one random drunken night, she meets Max, a cute and nice student who takes a liking to her vulgarity. They have a one night stand and...I won't spoil the rest. Obvious Child was a huge hit at the film festival circuit earlier this year, and the praise is well-deserved: this "romantic comedy" is witty and deals with life issues that should be more in the open rather than shunned and hidden. It's one of the funnier films I've seen this year.     (B+)

John Wick

     John Wick succeeds by keeping it simple, stupid. Every year produces films based on exacting revenge on those who have wronged you, usually because they hurt someone or some thing that you have loved. Just a few weeks ago, Denzel Washington snapped because a hooker with a heart of gold got beaten bloody, taking out hordes of foreign gangsters with guns and power tools. This past week, we had a Keanu Reeves come-back of sorts, as he stars in John Wick, which is surprising in it's simple effectiveness. Rather than attempt to blow the viewer away with massive explosions and action set pieces, Wick impresses with it's claustrophobic gun-play and martial arts fights that are violent and intense. The plot is intentionally a bit of a joke: John's wife dies of Cancer. Bad Dudes break into John's house and do some bad stuff. John breaks out of "retirement" to kill those who have wronged him. Keanu is great in the titular role: when there's barely a back story and plot, we can focus on the cool factor and impressive stunt work that Keanu performs. First time director Chad Stahelski (Reeves' former stunt double) is precise and stylistic in the choreography and cinematography--it's an impressive debut. I did grow tired of John Wick by the end credits, which isn't a great sign since it has short run time. But Wick is still an action journey well-worth taking, and showcases a comeback for fans of Reeves.     (B)

He Said / She Said in Gone Girl

     When it was announced that David Fincher  would be directing Gone Girl, based upon the runaway bestseller full of killer plot twists, super-fast pacing, and a far-fetched story, it seemingly was a match made in cinema paradise: the book's acerbic take on marriage and the occasional flashes of brutal violence begged to be filmed by a director like Fincher whose skills as a filmmaker rely on cool style and an amazing visual eye. And Gone Girl--as a whole--is a success: it's entertaining and at nearly two-and-a-half hours, it never drags even as the plot twists edge closer and closer to ridiculousness. However, I will say that I was hoping for a little bit more. David Fincher has created some modern masterpieces in his career: Seven, Fight Club, even The Social Network. With Gone Girl we just get a good movie--one that is completely self-aware and strikes a peculiar tone between being sarcastic and scary.
     Gone Girl tells the story of a dream (or nightmare) marriage between Nick and Amy Dunne. It's as simple as this: one day, Nick comes home and the living room looks like a crime scene--the coffee table is broken, a ottoman is flipped over, there are spots of blood in the kitchen. But there's no sign of Amy. Nick calls the police (naturally) and so begins the investigation that makes up the entirety of Gone Girl. The film is told through two distinct lenses: the present day one, focusing on Nick and the investigation and corresponding search, and the past one: flashbacks from Amy's written diary, which depicts a far-less-than-perfect marriage as the years went by. It's impossible to know who to trust since we're seeing two differing stories of the relationship, and that's the best part (and the point) of Gone Girl. And in an era of deceit and 24-news coverage of crimes, opinions and allegiances are played like a game of chess.
    The plot twists in Gone Girl hit a bit harder if you've never read the novel, and it's definitely not essential to have read the source material to enjoy this adaptation. It's probably better if you haven't read Gillian Flynn's phenomenon. Once the film gets going, Nick becomes a suspect--too many things are "off", and he has such a weird attitude toward possibly losing his wife. Part of the fun is deciding whether it's just the way he acts or if he's a sociopath. He has plenty of secrets of his own--but so does Amy: she disappeared on their wedding anniversary, and she has left behind a treasure hunt of sorts complete with written clues that may lead the investigators to the actual truth of what happened between this couple.

     Ben Affleck always gets criticized as an actor--many people wish he would stick to directing (which he is great at). But I actually like Affleck as an actor, and this is a great role for him. Some of his detriments--his smugness, his inability to show a wide range of emotions--are actually total positives in Gone Girl: it jives perfectly with his personality, and he also has plenty of experience with a relationship in real life (with Jennifer Lopez) that was covered 24 hours a day by the media. Rosamund Pike gives the film's best performance: her Amy is mysterious and beautiful and cunning, and her performance is fearless in its depiction of a woman thrown deep into dangerous situations. Carrie Coon, as Nick's sister Margot, injects the film with emotion and humor: she's essential in having us relate to Nick, even if it's only a little bit. And even Tyler Perry shows up, which makes Gone Girl a success in itself: it's the first film that Perry stars in that doesn't totally suck.
    Gone Girl is far from perfect. My main complaint deals with the film's tone: Flynn adapted the script from her own novel, and it's actually a bit overwritten. There's too much dialogue, too many attempts at humor (and the film is funny at times, but I just didn't think it corresponded well with the seriousness of domestic violence and murder), too much focus on the pretty obvious satire of The Media, particularly the Nancy Grace-esque character that the film's main stars are constantly watching. And it's views on marriage are a little concerning if you're not the most cynical person in the world. If it wasn't for Fincher's skill at moving things along at a flashy and brisk pace, Gone Girl could have been the equivalent of US magazine: a sleazy, guilty-pleasure waste of time. Instead, it's something a bit more: a not-quite-trash not-quite-treasure entertaining story of one insane marriage.      (B)

Quick Looks:

The Drop

     The Drop, also known as the great James Gandolfini's last film, is a crime drama ripped from the pages of a Dennis Lehane work (his 2009 short story "Animal Rescue"), and it seethes with grimy backstreet Brooklyn drama about the Mob, seedy bars, and the characters that inhabit those drinking establishments. You can almost smell the smoke and stale beer. It's about a secretive and (seemingly) slow bartender (the always incredible Tom Hardy, who is completely transfixing here), Bob, who works hard for his boss (Gandolfini, showing angry regret) and one day finds a beaten-bloody pit bull puppy in the trash can of a woman's house that he walks past after work every night. Gandolfini runs a bar that is a "drop" for the Chechen mob, a dangerous group that takes power tools to their opposition. Bob begins a friendship with Nadia (Noomi Rapace), the homeowner where the dog was found: but nothing is what it seems. Connections are everywhere in The Drop, and the little pit bull sets off a chain reaction of events culminating in one of the biggest "drop" nights of the year: Super Bowl Sunday. The Drop is a slow build in the best sense possible, a film that actually satisfies in the final 15 minutes instead of leaving the viewer disappointed. Gandolfini still brings plenty of that Tony Soprano intensity--it's sad knowing that we won't see him ever again. But Hardy is the true wonder here. Is he too smart for his own good? Or too dumb to care? The Drop will leave you cheering for Bob, even if you're not quite sure who or what he is.      (B+)

The Equalizer 

     This is revenge wish fulfillment, an incredibly violent exercise in pain and torture that's bloody and graphic. Like with Denzel's Man on Fire, there are flashes of great style (this time by Training Day director Antoine Fuqua) and moments of stereotype. The Equalizer is also corny as can be. Maybe that can be attributed to the fact that the film is based up a 1980's television show of the same name: but some of the dialogue is just atrocious. However, none of these reasons stopped me from being completely entertained with The Equalizer, and that's mainly due to Denzel Washington's kick-ass performance as Bob. Him and Liam Neeson have perfected the art of middle age revenge. This is the type of film where you want Bob to slaughter every villain in his path, because, darn it, that's what he was born to do. Bob works at a Lowes-esque home improvement store, dealing out little nuggets of wisdom like a mom-jeans-wearing Confucius. He winks at the ladies, jokes with the younger crowd, and even helps train his fat co-worker who is trying to become a security guard. He also can't sleep at night, plagued by thoughts of a former life. When he befriends a young prostitute (played by Kick-Ass's Chloe Grace Moretz) and she gets beaten bloody by her pimp, Bob decides to use the skills he learned in a former life to take down an over-the-top world-spanning operation of Russian thugs. There's not much humor here: irony need not apply. If you enjoy watching Denzel creatively dispatch groups of bad guys (with a cool climax inside of the Home Depot), your ticket won't be wasted. If it's research for your screenplay, don't bother.     (B-)

Frank

     I had extremely high hopes for Frank in the first 10-15 minutes before the title card flashed across the screen. It was funny and unique watching Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), a bored office worker, attempt to write catchy and profound songs in his head throughout the day. One day, Jon luckily gets the opportunity to play keyboard for a band in town (whose last keyboardist had a mental breakdown), called Soronprfbs, led by an eccentric man named Frank (Michael Fassbender) who wears a paper-mache head over his own like an Arcade Fire roadie. Most of the film follows the band (which Jon becomes a part of) as they stay at a wooded retreat, recording their next record. No doubt Fassbender is incredibly interesting as the mentally unstable Frank, and Gleeson shows a wide range of emotions. But the film didn't stick for me. It takes short looks at unusual creative processes and the effects of fame relating to mental illness, but it doesn't spend enough time with either to become something truly profound. Frank is also about being an outsider in a world of 24/7 technology, but I was left feeling like an outsider myself, drowning in all of the film's eccentricities.      (C+)