Life of Pi

Life of Pi (2012)

Director: Ang Lee

Leads: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan

Oh, man, you gotta see this.

Based on the young adult novel by Yann Martel and brought to life by Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), a guy with wicked vision and so a disgusting budget, Life of Pi is the story of a young displaced Indian stranded at sea with a tiger. Kind of a weird premise. But the book reads like water - all steady, easy, and charming until you're swept up and can't breathe and need to see how in the world Pi could get out of this. 

The screenplay was well constructed

&

the style of the film is riveting: beautiful and vibrant - as colorful and engrossing as Avatar's Pandora. 
I'm very into bright colours. 


Tremendously well-acted, the young Suraj Sharma interacts like a boss with Richard Parker, the incredible cg bengal tiger.

Budget: $120mil
Gross: $100mil (at time of writing)
 

On IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Brave

Brave (2012)

Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Leads: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson


This is a good'un.


Let's begin with Merida's hair: a physics engine was developed so it would flow and fall freely (read: realistically), and this detail that must have cost a fortune (took six developers three years to create) helps make the princess incredibly unique and memorable.The rest of the film is vibrant and edible, with great characters, some magic and a little darkness.

Brave is fabulous to watch because it's just lovely - Pixar outdid itself with design and visual execution. Watching is just intoxicating. To match that note (oddly), I noticed the movie's ambient sounds were terrific: the forest's birds and breezes, the field's grass, ad-libbing in the crowds all helped to flesh out this piece of art.

The soundtrack wholly pays homage to the film's Scottish heritage, though at times struck me as a little poppy.

I adore these movie posters, but I feel the tone they set has the oomph to outlive the faulty storytelling of the film itself. The movie had two directors, Chapman leaving halfway through production for some reason, and the effect is strongly felt in the heft of the movie. It seems like it tries to do a couple things at once under the tagline 'Change your fate', and the effect is slapdash. A little about hubris and humility, a little about reconciliation, a little about finding who you are, a little about taking the reins, a lot about being strong and just doing whatever the hell needs to be done.
More than once I wondered 'Why is this scene still going?', this at a couple lighter scenes, and thought they were trying too hard to flesh out the movie with rote 'entertainment'.

With solid characters, a great setting, buckets of talent in veteran actors (and, c'mon, they're Scottish, which is a win for everyone), the story has cracks that show.


But watch it, because, wow, it's gorgeous. 
(Stay after the credits.)


Budget: $185mil
Gross: $235mil


On IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Director: Marc Webb
Leads:  Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans

 Oh, man, see this movie.

Spiderman Reboot. Why? Didn't the one with Tobey McGuire come out just a couple years ago?
Try 2002 (that's 10 years and enough time to make two highly grossing sequels.) Start again?

I loved the film. Good pacing, less cheesy than the earlier ones - also less a comic-book film - and more a movie. I wasn't sure how well it would do distancing itself from the Sam Raimi take on Spidey, and while watching I had several 'Aha - I recognize this. I like (this one/the first one) better' reactions to certain things, but I think that made the experience more engaging. I haven't read the comics, but am growing to appreciate how writers and directors can take a long-standing franchise and choose to stay true to, give nod to, or utterly ignore the originals.
The Lizard makes his appearance here, a large reptile with regenerative properties and slack moral code. This one has wicked gymnastics from Spidey; some really satisfying moves and camera work that make it more engrossing and dynamic than the plodding and often drama-laden Raimi version.

Andrew Garfield, whom you'd recognize from The Social Network and Never Let Me Go, is a totally endearing teenager with family issues and enjoys his powers more than the previous incarnation.


Emma Stone rocks her part as Gwen Stacy because she's the best thing since sliced bread, inhabiting the skin of Peter Parker's love easily, with humour and sincerity.


Absorbing, with great special effects, appearances by Martin Sheen, Sally Field, and Dennis Leary, and some really cool fights scenes, there's only two hours to love here. (Stay after the credits.)

Budget: $230mil
Gross: $697mil


On IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/