What are you really looking for?

 What is it that makes your heart skip a beat? What is it that you want?

 

 

 

"Something that scares me."

 

Les Misérables: A Christmas Day Experience

Les Misérables is a must-see for all families on December 25th. A Christmas Day experience that will warm your heart. A movie-going outing that will bring the family closer. A story of love, pain and selfless giving.

It's [Jang-go], the D is silent. A film about finding love.

You would never guess in a million years that seeing Jamie Foxx naked would be an uncomfortable experience, but given the circumstances in Django Unchained, it was. This was full of action, emotion, comedy, triumph and everything you'd want from a movie-going experience. It was very Tarantino, as we knew it would be. Having Dorsey's take on the film before sitting down for the advanced screening last week (a very swanky pre-screening might I add, with eco-friendly water bottles, a table full of snacks and a flat screen playing the trailer for Leo DiCaprio's other upcoming film The Great Gatsby) gave way for me to know, for the most part, what to expect from the movie. I wasn't disappointed.

Unchained was refreshing. Different from any other action movie that I've seen in a long time. Somehow a romance/western/historical/comedy all in one.

Foxx and Waltz were an amazing duo. Heartwarming, witty and mischievous. Foxx the most brilliantly heroic and iconic I've ever seen him, so I wasn't surprised to read that he's set to play the new Spider Man sequel villian Electro. Rather HC in this. (Hard core. This month's made up lingo of mine.)

I've been a fan of Waltz since 2011's Water for Elephants, and seeing him in Unchained was much anticipated. Using his trademark natural German accent that we know so well, he played Django's cut throat while sensitive partner-in-crime to a tee. Dr. Shultz brought me back to WFE's August Rosenbluth in the way that they both seemed to be able to do unspeakable things in a very mechanical fashion while remaining completely civil (Until someone beautiful almost gets a bottle smashed over their head). A whole lot of borderline sociopath on-screen goodness.

  

There was another sociopath in this. I'm thinking Leo DiCaprio being dubbed next year's Best Supporting Actor was a spot-on assessment by Dorsey. Filming The Wolf of Wallstreet in New York right now, we haven't seen him on the red carpet much lately, like other potentials. But he did win the Best Supporting Actor title for his performance in Unchained from the National Board of Review last week. 

His 'Calvin Candie' was flawless. At some moments I was trying not to pee my pants. This was generally when he was yelling (which he's unsettlingly great at for some reason). There wasn't one moment of falter, and his egotistical Candie was as unlikable as somehow endearing (and I'm guessing that somehow was only because it was Leonardo playing him). I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this did turn out to be 'his time' for an Academy Award.

Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington were amazing. Sam the majority of the latter half of the movie's comic relief and brutal impact, a masterful performance indeed, and Kerry not having to say much to convey her depth and emotion, and undeniably stealing her scenes with silent beauty.

Favorite Omar J. Dorsey was as pitifully believable as hilarious as Mandingo fighter Chicken Charlie, and almost unrecognizable in time-fitting costume. A high topic of conversation amongst 'bidders' around Candie's plantation. Be on the look out for a hilarious final bit in the movie, a token from Tarantino, no doubt, for a lost scene.

The use of today's slang estimation of the "N" word was thrown around so much toward the end of the movie that it was hard to chalk up whether to laugh or wonder what was going on. A showcase of Tarantino's comedic style no doubt. Those comedic inputs were the only 'Why?' moments of the film- but, it sure made for a short and sweet deal for that final line of the movie.

You laugh and you learn from this one, which is always fulfilling. You learn about history, about perseverance, relationships, love, and via Mr. Calvin Candie, a bit about the human brain.

3.5/5

Warm Bodies

sweet? f*cking gross? you decide.

You're unsettled because you feel you have no role. You have no place.



But you have to ask yourself who's fault that is. Because in fact there's very little in this society that you have to hate. Think.

On DVD January 1

Silver Linings Playbook

I liked how this movie was unique in the way that it was two crazies that found each other and fell in love. That's really different. Usually the crazy person in the movie is the friend, or the sibling, or when the movie is centered on people like this it isn't about finding love. This type of movie's subjects were surprising and somehow satisfying at the same time, just to see something we don't usually see. Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper were great together, their chemistry was alive in their scenes and that's another thing that's rare. When I sat down to watch this, remembering Jennifer Lawrence in 'The Hunger Games' trailers/clips not too long ago left me doubting if she was right for such a seemingly more mature role like this.. It was hard to see her going from a teeny fantasy franchise to the woman she plays in this in such a short amount of time.