Boyhood - 10 stars out of 10

Boyhood - 10 stars out of 10

"Boyhood" is one of the boldest and most fascinating film undertakings in cinema history.  Richard Linklater, the innovative director who conceptualized the "Before Sunrise" trilogy (whose characters and actors age nine years between each film) has used that idea to make a much bigger statement. I have always been blown away by the experience of watching his characters at three different stages of their lives and with "Boyhood," you have the opportunity to literally watch two children grow up on-screen.  It is like looking through a photo album of these children’s lives from first grade through graduation.  While watching these characters grow up, we also get to see the world progress around them. Everything from the music to the politics to the hair styles change with each new scene.  This is the story of our culture – not the Hollywood stereotype, but the culture of our everyday lives.  Beyond the conceptual genius of this film, the story is fascinating.  The script was adapted throughout the years, sometimes even on the night before shooting, to harness the emotions that Ellar Coltrane was experiencing in his life.  We don't always realize the impact of one small event on a child's life, but this story uses a mixture of significant and insignificant events as a window through which we see the child develop.  The candid dialogue creates a documentary feel but more importantly shows the evolution of the characters’ personalities, priorities, and aspirations.  The performances by Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, and Marco Perella are stunning, particularly Arquette’s emotional commentary on how quickly life passes by.  It is interesting to see how the parents rotate from being the good parent to the bad parent and back again throughout the years.  It really makes you consider how much selfishness and selflessness affect parenting.  There are certainly moments where the acting of the kids falls short of expectation but, since we have never watched a child play one role for twelve years, it is natural to expect stronger and weaker movements throughout the film.  It was actually pretty fun to see Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater’s acting chops mature throughout the movie.  The movie is a bit of a marathon since there isn’t much action in this 165-minute, conversation-driven story.  I wasn't terribly impressed with the first half hour, but then the full scope of the film started to set in. You can't help but continually say "Can you believe that this is the same kid from the beginning!?!?"  This film is destined to take home some Oscars, particularly Best Original Screenplay.  The sheer undertaking of this project and the final product are absolutely stunning.  When Linklater and these actors began this 12-year project in May 2002, there is no way that they could have anticipated the true magic of watching these characters age.  Some of the drug usage and strong language is unfortunate because I wish that this was a family-friendly film that everybody could experience; however, the ups and downs of “Boyhood” are what make it such a true telling of the formative years and I believe that it will forever remain a significant landmark in the history of film.

[Pictured: When this movie begins, you can’t imagine what this child will look like at age 18]

Interstellar (2014) - 10 stars out of 10

Interstellar (2014) - 10 stars out of 10

“Interstellar” left me speechless.  Just a year after “Gravity” blew audiences away and took home seven Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s space epic has captivated audiences and become the must-see film of 2014.  Nolan is known for his thought-provoking stories (“Memento,” “The Prestige,” “Inception”), but all of the mind-blowing concepts in this film are entirely supported by physics.  It feels very sci-fi but the entire film is theoretically possible!  Wormholes, relativity, and fifth-dimensional portals become a part of our vocabulary through Jonathan Nolan’s script, which works as a subconscious textbook that explains and creates understanding of these challenging concepts.  While you expect to see a story about space travel, this is actually a story about the love of a father for his daughter.  Your mind will be processing a new perception of time and space as you walk out of the theater, but you will find yourself talking about Cooper and Murphy.  I believe that this is what makes this movie so appealing - regardless of your interest in space exploration and physics, every heart aches for this father to return to his daughter.  This incredible display of acting makes the story resonate with each of us, as if we are the ones saying goodbye.  When did Matthew McConaughey become such an amazing actor?  He has separated himself from his romantic comedy reputation through roles in “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” and now this emotional performance.  His chemistry with Mackenzie Foy drives the entire film, even though they only appear together for a small percentage of the story.  The goodbye scene will surely leave you in tears.  Once you add in the rest of this acting all-star team, which includes Jessica Chastain (wow.), John Lithgow, Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, and Matt Damon, it is no surprise that we are emotionally engaged from start to finish.  The film has been criticized for its three-hour runtime, but so much happens that it never feels like three hours.  The story, which stretches from a small family on Earth to an isolated man in another dimension, is tied together through Hans Zimmer’s inspired musical score.  I have never heard a Zimmer score like this and you can tell that he tapped into his love for his own children to get to the heart of this story.  His use of organ is stunning.  He exploits the instrument’s ability to play without any dissipation of sound to create tension in the most important moments of the film.  The music becomes unrelenting in the goodbye scene as it continually builds without ever backing off.  Unlike the epic themes that we expect from Zimmer, this score creates an ambient background for space.  His unique instrumentation includes 4 pianos and a 60-voice choir facing away from the microphones.  Perhaps the only thing more breathtaking than the musical score is the contrasting silence of outer space when the music disappears.  This film takes us to places in the universe that have never been seen by human eyes.  The visual effects artists really hit a homerun with the spherical wormhole, giant tidal waves, ice clouds, and planet-like black hole.  The effects are so impressive and there is so much to see that it is easy to forget that TARS (the robot) isn't real.  This film is so much more than it seems, introducing us to new perspectives of time but also serving as a commentary on our misled societal priorities (overemphasis of wasteful spending and sports, under-appreciation of farmers and natural resources).  “Interstellar” may seem intimidating with its long running length and advanced physics principles, but the heart of this story leaves a lasting impression that you will want to take with you forever.

[Pictured: This is what Interstellar is actually about]

The Sword in the Stone - 4 stars out of 10

The Sword in the Stone - 4 stars out of 10

“The Sword in the Stone” is an interesting chapter in the Disney Canon.  It has Disney’s entertaining characters and classic animation style, but the story did not transition well from the novel to the animated adaptation.  It is more like an episode of Tom and Jerry than a Disney Animated Classic.  Merlin’s transformation of Arthur into different animals to educate him seems perfect for Disney, but instead it compartmentalizes the story into different segments, each of which eventually includes a chase sequence between different animals.  This interrupts any flow of Arthur’s childhood journey.  The antagonists are barely even in the movie because the story is so often interrupted by extended educational lessons with Merlin.  These school-like sequences make the film seem overly kiddish, almost like Disney’s version of School House Rock.  The lack of consistency from beginning to end is also echoed in the characters who only appear for a brief amount of time or disappear from the story without much explanation.  A prime example is The Wolf, who chases Arthur in several early scenes and is never heard from again.  Another example is Madam Mim, who is one of the more interesting characters in the story but is only present for one sequence.  That being said, the Wizard’s Duel is probably the most creative part of the movie.  This is the moment where our Disney expectation is met as the animators take two character personalities and transform them into many different animals.  It is pretty random in the grand scheme of the story, but the writers set it up so that it fits perfectly.  This sequence, along with the main characters, are the reason to watch this film.  The comedic interpretation of Merlin is awesome.  His references to modern culture are too much at times (particularly the whole Bermuda thing), but his character gives us something to cling on to amidst the bland story.  I find Junius Matthews’ voicing of Archimedes to be the highlight of the film.  We have all known a curmudgeon in our life and that’s why we can relate to this owl’s negativity with so much whimsy.  One of the most bothersome parts of this film is that three different actors voiced Arthur.  You can literally hear his voice change from a kid to a teenager in puberty and back again, all in one scene!  I cannot understand why Disney thought that this would be okay because it is incredibly distracting.  However, my biggest issue with “The Sword in the Stone” is that the titular Sword in the Stone is introduced at the beginning of the film and then ignored until a quick resolution in the last five minutes.  They should have named this film “Sing-a-Long Lessons with Merlin” so that we wouldn’t expect the story to actually be about Arthur’s quest.  The film isn’t bad when viewed amidst the history of animated films (as evidenced by a positive critical response), but it does not live up to the Disney standard and it is not a surprise that most kids have never heard of “The Sword in the Stone.”

[Pictured: One of Disney's most iconic moments]

The Real Story: Indiana Jones - 5 stars out of 10

The Real Story: Indiana Jones - 5 stars out of 10

Indiana Jones is one of the coolest movie characters ever.  At times, he seems invincible.  Other times, he is completely human and his situation seems helpless.  How did George Lucas and Steven Spielberg come up with such a fascinating character?  The Smithsonian Channel investigates the real-life adventurers that inspired the 1930’s and 1940’s characters from whom Lucas and Spielberg’s vision developed.  The parallels to the character that we know are pretty convincing, to the events that caused one explorer to fear snakes to the Grail-hunter who had a run-in with the Nazis.  “The Real Story: Indiana Jones” cannot pinpoint precisely who inspired the Indiana Jones character, but it helps to explain why this fictional character seems so rooted in history.

[Pictured: Regardless of the inspiration behind the character, Harrison Ford was the perfect choice.]