Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Big Eyes - 8 stars out of 10

Big Eyes - 8 stars out of 10

“Big Eyes” is the fascinating true story of artist Margaret Keane and her big-eyed artwork.  Her unique style is unlike any other, but the story of her jealous husband is even more exceptional.  This is a pretty big change of pace for Tim Burton.  It seems that he has traded in long, spider-like legs for big eyes as he tells the story with accuracy and restraint.  The script carefully paces the events so that each new development is a surprise.  These surprises create some strong emotional responses as our perspective allows us to see what the rest of the world could not.  This well-written script set the film up for success, but the heart of the story lies in the acting.  I won’t spoil the story but I will say that Christoph Waltz’s characterization is so good that you will be torn between loving him and hating him.  Likewise, Amy Adams delivers a performance that allows us to really cheer her character on through her challenging predicament.  These two actors steal the show and really create a slice of reality before our own big eyes.  I greatly appreciate that “Big Eyes” is cleaner than many of its competitors and this is definitely a film that can easily be recommended to a wide audience.

[Pictured: Waltz and Adams carry the entire film on their shoulders from start to finish]

Monday, April 20, 2015

District 13 (Banlieue 13) - 6 stars out of 10

District 13 (Banlieue 13) - 6 stars out of 10

“District 13” is pretty much what you expect from a dystopian French action film.  The plot is interesting, the characters are pretty standard, but the thing that makes this film special is the use of parkour in its action sequences.  Parkour (aka “extreme running”) has seen various waves of popularity since its conception in the late 80’s but this film has been a window to the extreme sport for the next generation.  The film stars David Belle, the founder of parkour, as a vigilante who tries to cleanse his Parisian suburb of gang violence.  I enjoyed the story, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed watching Belle get chased around buildings and over rooftops by various bad guys.  Naturally, he ends up being paired up with Cyril Raffaelli (another insanely awesome parkour guy) so that they can get chased around together.  Bibi Naceri plays a pretty despicable bad guy and Dany Verissimo provides the damsel in distress.  A lot of the story is predictable and far-fetched, but it’s worth it for the action sequences.  “District 13” isn’t an amazing film, but it is an important preservation of parkour with unbelievable stunts that were filmed without wires or CGI.


[Pictured: It seems like every other scene sports a cool stunt or a long string of stunts by the cast]