Earlier this year the Cannes Film Festival took place in France, and one of the films that had everyone talking was Inside Llewyn Davis. The movie is directed by the Coen Brothers who are most well known for their 2007 best picture winner "No Country for Old Men." Now that alone sold the film for me, besides "Burn After Reading" I've loved pretty much everything they've done; I even ranked No Country as the second best film of the decade. The film revolves around a want to be folk singer in a time where folk songs aren't what people want. While that may not sound like the most compelling plot ever, pretty much everyone who's seen have praised it highly. Suffice it to say I am very interested in seeing if the Coen Brother's new movie could live up to the success of their past features.
Talk about the comeback actor of the year, Matthew McConaughey is on a role. Five years ago he was a laughing stock in the film industry, starring in several box office bombs and terrible romantic comedies no one took the guy seriously. But about two years ago he started taking some great roles, now he's become one of the most respected actors out there. He even won several awards for his roles in Bernie and Magic Mike, and for his part in Mud he's considered a front runner for best actor this year. But after the release of the Dallas Buyers Club trailer, I'm sure he's going to win. Based off the true a true story of Ron Woodroof, man in the 80's diagnosed with AIDS, who flew all over the world to find medicine that isn't available in the states; not just to save his own life, but the lives of anyone who needs it. I love movies like these, movies about a person on the brink of death who will go to hell and back in the hopes that they might live. And the Dallas Buyers Club looks just like that.
2012 was one of the best years for movies in recent memory; there were so many great films that the what I ranked as the 20th best movie of the year would have made it on top 10 lists some years. One of the years stand out films, biggest surprises, and my personal favorites was David O' Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook." Well his follow up film is set to come out in early December, and it has a few familiar faces. Five of the main actors (Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Amy Adams, and Bradley Cooper) starred in Russell's previous two movies. While I've heard some criticize Russell for relying on the same actors and not taking chances with new stars, the fact that all of these actors are great is reassuring to me.
Up until recently, Gravity was not a movie I concerned myself with. I had seen the trailer in the movie theater a while back, it looked beautiful and it has a great director but I wasn't sold yet. Two weeks ago it premiered at the Venice film festival, the reception was nothing less than phenomenal. "Avatar" and "Titanic" director James Cameron even called it the best space film ever made. The film has been praised for its stunning cinematography, groundbreaking visual effects and 3D, tense story, and an Oscar worthy performance from lead actress Sandra Bullock. A critic from Variety magazine said the film "restores a sense of wonder terror, and possibility to the big screen that should inspire awe among critics and audiences worldwide." To be honest this was unexpected for me, after watching the trailer the first time I thought it would be all style and no substance. I'm a big enough man to admit that I was wrong. Now I can't wait to see it.
Few movies the rest of the year are as anticipated as this one, and any movie directed by Martin Scorsese all ready has my attention. The Wolf of Wall Street is upcoming film by Scorsese based off the true story of Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker who refused to take place in large scale banking scam during the 90's. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, making this the fifth team up between him and Martin; and in the past they have worked out very well together. The movie also co-stars Oscar nominee Jonah Hill and future Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. The thing that's most interesting to me would be the overall tone of the movie, it looks a little less serious than some of Scorsese's other films; which is a problem I've had with some of his movies before. The movie looks great; it has an all star cast, one of the all time greatest directors, and the promise of being one of the year's best films.
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