The lost films of January
Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 9:30PM Tim here. For such a slow, snowbound month, January sure is busy: talking about Sundance, talking about the Oscars, talking about the political ramifications of not recognizing Selma vs. the blockbuster box office of American Sniper. And with all that talk about films that have been and films that will be, it's a bit too easy to lose track of the actual films that are actually sitting right there waiting to be watched.
So I'd like to ask you to take this moment with me, just before we enter the second month of 2015, to reflect on the movie year that has been. All 28 days of it. Sure, January is a dumping ground, but that doesn't mean that there can's be secret gems hiding in the junk, and before it's too late, I'd like to call your attention to some of these midwinter presents that, if we go by the snoozy box office for all films that don't involve shooting Iraqis, you probably haven't seen yet.
Paddington and more January diamonds in the rough below the jump
Paddington
The U.S. ad campaign made this look like a shrill nightmare of lowest common denominator jokes, but it includes virtually all of the film's weakest moments, and none of its best. The actual experience of viewing Paddington – which has been quite a critical and commercial success in its native Great Britain, where it opened during the more appropriate Christmas season – reveals a sweet-natured family fable with a deliciously bone-dry sense of humor to help the sentiment go down. And it's a surprisingly rich showcase for Gary Williamson's colorful production, with its picture book attitude towards populating an impossible charming middle-class home.
Meanwhile, the Film Experience's sizable population of actressexual readers will undoubtedly be pleased to find out, as I was, that we finally have a children's movie featuring Nicole Kidman as the icy, platinum-blonde villain that makes great use of her brittleness and her top-notch comic timing. The Golden Compass can finally be forgiven.
Blackhat
It's apparently been so long (almost five years!) since the last Michael Mann film, that people have forgotten what Michael Mann films are. No, the plot does not hang together. No, Chris Hemsworth does not convince as a brilliant hacker. He does, however, convince as Chris Hemsworth in various states of shirtlessness, which is more of what the film demans, anyway. Like most Mann films, it's less about narrative propulsion and more about the emotional state of being involved in that narrative. Like most Mann films, that psychological state is depicted as a function of gleaming surfaces and artificial lights, with the hum of urban nights spaces dominating the whole (there's no other working director who makes such a point of foregrounding his use of digital cameras, and it has paid of terrifically for Mann on four movies now). The human element is a bit thin – even the great Viola Davis doesn't get to do much besides deliver a few amusing badass lines – but the visuals and the unrelenting pace are in perfect form. Trying to write this off as another hacky January thriller misses the boat entirely. (For the record, Michael didn't like it, so consider this an unofficial second opinion)
The Boy Next Door
Speaking of hacky January thrillers! Honestly, you get exactly what you're promised with this one: Jennifer Lopez looking aghast as she's menaced by a sexy 19-year-old boy played by a 26-year-old who looks 30. Ludicrous double entendres fill the air. Sex is had, and director Rob Cohen does not stint and try to make it tame, PG-13 sex: it is tacky, '90s erotic thriller sex, and it's as hilarious as it is sleazy.
The good news, then, is that everybody involved in making the film clearly knew what they were doing, and instead of being a hokey, corny embarrassment, The Boy Next Door turns out to be a hokey, corny delight, with J. Lo in particular giving an iconically overripe performance for the ages that's all shocked reactions and breathless line deliveries. It's a self-knowingly trashy, bad film, one that takes an abrupt swerve into slasher movie territory for its last act, after it has exhausted every possible contrivance to keep its ridiculous plotline purring along. To hell with Oscar nominees and social importance: it's been months since I had so much fun in a movie theater as I did with this one, and I want all of you to go see it.
Strange Magic
This long-gestating George Lucas passion project about fairies from the Uncanny Valley...
Okay, I got carried away. This one is actually terrible. Don't see it.
How have you spent your cinematic January? Tell us in comments!
Reader Comments (18)
Girlhood comes out Friday.
I saw Paddington over the Xmas season and really enjoyed it, I don't understand the marketing of the US release. It's easily as witty and whimsical as Nanny McPhee and Babe - with a nice comic villain turn by Kidman. Sally Hawkins is delightful as always, and everyone else in the cast has excellent comic timing. A real pleasure to watch. Btw. Emma Thompson helped with the screenplay. I hope this picks up and becomes a word of mouth hit, it's doing well in Vancouver where I live.
THAT PICTURE. WHAT IS HAPPENING
Kidman was great in Paddington, I love her.
There is no proper answer to that, Nick.
I walked out of a Penelope Wilton play at the Haymarket on Monday and felt guilty afterwards but also relieved. I don't know, I feel that theater, as a live and alive phenomenon, has to present productions that stir up the blood otherwise you wanna go home. Fringe shows are the best, they're often post-realistic and no longer than 60 minutes. No intermissions, no bullshit, no "here we are for a theater visit, at the bar" bullshit.
I finally saw "The Master" and was disappointed. I don't get the huge love for Phoenix's performance. He's acting brilliantly and you have the most wonderful opening but then you think "OK, so what's happening with this character? Not much... Better writing next time Paul, thanks." Also Amy Adams' nomination runs along the lines of Jacki Weaver's WTF nomination of the same year. Maggie Smith and Nicole Kidman should have been the chosen ones.
"...she's menaced by a sexy 19-year-old boy played by a 26-year-old who looks 30."
Perfect
TV, mostly, catching up with: Broadchurch (UK version), Gotham, The Americans, Arrow, and Grimm.
Movies on VOD: Lucy (ugh, so ridiculous, though Scarlett really can be a bad-ass, would love to see her in a different revenge thriller with the likes of Uma, Lucy Liu, Jolie, Theron, and/or Blunt), We are the Best and Pride (yay, what a great film, thanks to TFE and all commenters who championed this movie!)
FYI-I watched the Sundance livestream event last night with George Lucas and Robert Redford. Man, Lucas can talk, and talk, and talk. Some good stuff though in the two hour session. Hope someone does a highlight reel, because I was working while listening, and kind of drifted off whenever Lucas talked more than three minutes at each point.
Psssht! I loved The Golden Compass!
Yay! Glad someone else in this lonely world dug Blackhat as much (or nearly so) as I did. Totally underappreciated little auteurist gem. It's not just the past five years though - Mann's once loyal fanbase has been eroding at a pretty serious clip since at least Miami Vice. Seems like a lot of people just can't get past, or forgive him for, the radical shift in his style once he fully embraced digital.
This has been a great January - aside from Blackhat, there's also the NY/LA only release of Bruno Dumont's L'il Quinquin, and now TImbuktu and Girlhood (both opening today). I haven't had a chance to catch up with Mommy yet, but if that lives up to hype, that's a pretty solid top 5 for any given YEAR, let alone the generally dire month of January.
I'm also really intrigued now in Paddington, which I was fully prepared to write off after the trailers. Boy Next Door looks like a great future rental for trashy movie night
Nathaniel HAS GOT to see Paddington, I would love to see his take on it. Mostly because it features Nicole Kidman and Sally Hawkins. How could he resist it?
I don't even care if Boy Next Door is any good. Ryan Guzman can just stand there and look pretty and that's enough for me.
Yavor, thank you for your assessment of The Master. Phoenix is one of my favorite actors, but I think this is his low point. He hopelessly miscalculates this performance. Then again, the movie casts him adrift, and he's probably doing anything he can to make it work. Not possible. From almost the beginning, the film is completely disingenuous. An utter failure.
The only thing I liked about The Master was the score. Can't fault the actors and their commitment to the work, but.............
brookesboy, I remember how many people were outraged that Jeremy Renner passed on "The Master" to do "The Avengers". Now that I've seen "The Master" I'm like... "I'll be an avenger for a fat paycheck right now, thank you."
Yavor: Absolutely. Now, if it were between The Master and The Bourne Legacy, I'd tell him to take The Master. Because that WOULD mean he had "run out of brain". Bourne Legacy will never NOT be stupid.
brookesboy: I think the problem is there was no way to calculate that part "right" as a leading role, unless the film were supposed to be just cringe comedy.
The Master is a might have been of a movie or less: aGertrude Stein Oakland movie.
The Academy might have known there wasn't to be a place for Joaquín the following year when he deserved it for Her.
Anything Amy Adams has gotten since is due to her truly unique performance in June. Indelible.
Volvagia, well, the movie definitely made me cringe quite a few times...but I wasn't laughing LOL