The MacGuffin

There are many reasons to dislike Sleeping Beauty, the new film from first-time writer/director Julia Leigh, but at least being sick of half-hearted fairy tale updates is not one of them. This is because the film has almost nothing to do with the traditional Charles Perrault tale, or any of the versions that have come since. If you were hoping for a smart commentary on one of the ultimate damsel-in-distress scenes, or even just a satisfying re-telling of the much-loved story, look elsewhere. What we have here is oblique randomness in which, yes, at several points a beautiful girl does catch a few winks. That’s about it.

Here is a way to know you’re watching a great film: every scene contains both an element of surprise and a sense of inevitability. Surprising a savvy audience that has seen every trick in the book is tough; doing it while following the rule of inevitability—but not predictability—is tougher. It’s master-level storytelling. It’s what fills every moment of Tyrannosaur, the new film from writer/director Paddy Considine.

Marilyn Monroe has been a mystery for me—mainly, what it was that made her leave such an impact on film. I have only seen two of her movies, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like it Hot, and in both she seems to be just simply a blond bimbo with little range, and based on what was said about her on set (that she had to have lines written on blackboards while filming) seemed to confirm that. I still do not get what her appeal was, but there is no denying that she captivated people and there were complexities and pain inside her. The new film My Week with Marilyn is not a biography of her, though. We are getting to see her closer than most, but there is still a distance to her.

Matthew Lillard is a talented actor who is unfortunately often overlooked. Despite a long career, he hasn’t received many opportunities to be the lead in a film, at least in part because he is known for playing over the top characters. It is hard to not think of some of the misses he has been involved with, most notably Scooby-Doo, but I would argue that he is usually the best parts of those films (his portrayal of Shaggy was certainly the best part of that film). Occasionally he has received an opportunity like SLC Punk—a project that has a lot more heart than people give it credit for—and he has proven that he can handle subtly and nuance.

Director Alexander Payne likes to take serious situations, combined with great characters and humor, to get people involved in his stories and that trend continues in his newest film, The Descendents. The strong characters and dark humor abound in the film, though here there are times when it is too funny.

There are many ways film can be entertaining, but one of my favorite ways is for it to be a vehicle for entertainment and escapism. That isn’t to say film shouldn’t be thought-provoking, but I’m always excited to see movies that push my imagination and make me want to be more creative. One of the most consistently creative areas of film is the world of independent cinema.

I’m so liberal I think the Democrats are fascists. Therefore, one might be led to believe that I would not like a movie that would even suggest that the right thing to do with out-of-control drug dealers would be to torture them for information and then shoot them in the head. You could not be more wrong. While that is not the whole plotline of Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, it surely does happen once or twice, and I could not be happier about it. This film is Brazil’s entry into the 2012 Academy Awards and it is an amazing movie. It’s brutal, it poses a lot of questions that it can’t answer, and it proceeds at a breakneck speed to a conclusion that is somewhat anti-climactic, but it kicks butt all the way.

Aardman Animation proves themselves once again in the delightful new holiday animated movie Arthur Christmas. Aardman is the production company behind both Chicken Run and the delightful Wallace and Gromit series of shorts. While there was some trepidation that their expertise in stop motion animation might not carry over into the medium of high budget computer animation, those fears are long left behind now. Arthur Christmas is a delight.

If you are the sort of person who sees a film title like Another Happy Day and hopes it’s trying to be ironic, you are in luck with Sam Levinson’s new film. It doesn’t seem there’s been a happy day in a long while with this lot of characters, gathering for a long weekend of sniping at each other over little things, ignoring real issues, occasional bouts of violence, and, oh yeah, celebrating a marriage. Happy days, indeed.

I think most Alexander Payne movies are good, but I have a hard time talking myself into liking them. In fact, the better they are, the less I enjoy them. I can see that Sideways is a good movie, but I find everyone in it repellant, and there is no emotional resonance for me. Election is the same way; it’s a really well made film, and I don’t care about the characters at all. I appreciate that Payne is a real director who makes films for adults who like to think about things, but appreciation and enjoyment are not the same thing. His new film, The Descendants, is pretty flawed, but I was able to connect to this film in a way that I never have with any of his others.