PRISONERS - Review

Prisoners

Mystery/Thriller, 2013
2 hours 33 minutes
Written by Aaron Guzikowski
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Rated R for "disturbing violent content including torture, and language throughout"

Starring
Hugh Jackman
Jake Gyllenhaal
Viola Davis
Terrence Howard
Maria Bello
Paul Dano
Melissa Leo
David Dastmalchain

"Be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best."


Prisoners is pretty fucked up. It's the kind of movie that stays with you long after you've left the theater. It's a tightly written mystery that, despite having a lengthly run-time of 2 1/2 hours, it never slows down.
The film takes place in an ordinary town with an ordinary family. Wolverine plays the central character, a somewhat religious and somewhat overly-cautious father to his older son and young daughter. One day, Wolverine's daughter, along with Terrance Howard's daughter, gets kidnapped. They search high and low, but to no avail. The investigation is headed by Detective Loki (not the bad guy from The Avengers) played by Jake Gyllenhaal. And so it turns into a typical mystery-thriller kind of movie... except Wolverine kidnaps the prime suspect, a mentally challenged man named Alex and tortures him for information. Information which Alex is incapable of giving him.
The film is basically two intersecting stories: Wolverine's morality tale of this kidnapping and his personal investigation, and the detective's actual investigation. The stories obviously intersect and are both equally interesting. And, strangely enough, the whole film feels necessary. There are plenty of interesting, tense, and terrifying twists and turns. I really can't say too much else without giving anything away, but the final moments of the film are really quite incredible.
The performances are excellent, even from it's supporting cast. The movie is full of A-listers, and everybody delivers fantastic performances. It's beautifully shot, intensely edited, and the score is quite haunting.
Really, I don't have a ton to say other than it's most likely on my top 10 list for the year. An excellent movie, but not at all for the faint of heart.

9.6/10

12 YEARS A SLAVE - Review

12 Years a Slave

Historical Drama, 2013
2 hours, 13 minutes
Written by John Ridley
Directed by Steve McQueen
Rated R for "violence/cruelty, some nudity, and brief sexuality"

Starring
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Michael Fassbender
Lupita Nyong'o
Brad Pitt
Sarah Paulson
Benedict Cumberbatch
Paul Dano
Paul Giamatti


"I don't want to survive. I want to live."


As the credits rolled and the lights came up, I found myself unable to compose myself. I could not stand. I could not breathe. My stomach and chest were tingling. I had to sit for a couple of minutes before I could stand and wipe the tears running down my face.
12 Years a Slave is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is, without question, the best film of the year thus far. There are so many aspects that make this film so perfect. Everything, ranging from the performances right down to the subtle execution of the sound design.
12 Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man living with a loving family in New York. He is an exceptionally well-educated man and an accomplished violinist. He cares deeply for his family. One day, he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. From there, he spends 12 years working for various slave owners before he is freed. It's truly an incredible story.
The performances are remarkable. Comprised of a mostly European cast led by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender, pretty much anyone in this film could win an award for their acting. The cast is surprisingly star-studded. Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, and Benedict Cumberbatch have smaller, but important roles in the film. And they're all fantastic. There's so much more that I can say about the acting in this film, but I don't have the patience, or the words, to express how I feel.
It's also insanely brutal. There's whipping, beating, choking, hanging, stabbing, and a whole lot of despair. The sound of the whips actually made me physically wince to the rhythm of the crack, something that's never happened before. I cried more than once. I wept at the end. No other movie has made me cry more than once. There has been a comparison to Schindler's List in it's accurate portrayal of persecution of a group of people. By many, it's been called the Schindler's List of films about slavery. And they're not wrong. Not only is it incredibly accurate and difficult to watch, but it's also incredibly well made in almost every single facet.
I've spent too much time already talking about this. I don't know what else I'm supposed to say at this point. I just don't have all of the words. Just please, please see this movie. If you have to see any movie this year, it's 12 Years a Slave. I still have a few movies I have to see before the year is up, but right now, this stands at #1. This film will not be easily forgotten. It's an incredible accomplishment in filmmaking and deserves to be called one of the finest films ever made.

10/10



*EDIT: Just added a couple of comments at the bottom that I forgot to put in there.

GRAVITY - Review

Gravity

Thriller, 2013
1 hour, 30 minutes
Written by Jonas Cuarón & Alfonso Cuarón
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Rated PG-13 for "intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images and brief strong language."

Starring
Sandra Bullock
George Clooney
Ed Harris


"Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission."


I will never watch Gravity ever again for as long as I live. Once was enough. I was having a fucking anxiety attack for about 75% of the movie, and it's only like 90 minutes long.
I'm not saying I disliked Gravity. In fact, I think it's one of the best films of 2013. 
Gravity's premise is simple: space debris destroys a space station, which sends Sandra Bullock and George Clooney on a desperate run to safety. And in it's simplicity, we get a solid 90 minutes of heart-pounding and anxiety inducing tension. This is definitely more of a thriller than anything else, even though the only real villain is, well, gravity. Or lack thereof.
Gravity is an impressive technical feat. Remember how everyone was really impressed with Avatar? Yeah, fuck that. I've never in my life seen better use of 3D, which is undoubtedly worth the price-tag for this film. The visual effects are beautiful. The soundtrack is terrifying. Even the sound is designed to feel like you're hearing everything happen from inside the space-suits. Cuarón's usual long-take shenanigans really add a lot to the visuals, there ain't no shaky-cam here. If I'm not mistaken, the first shot in the film runs somewhere over the 12 minute mark before the first cut. That's fucking unheard of. And really, really impressive. I'm not joking when I say this is film is basically guaranteed to win a fuck-ton of technical awards for pretty much every kind of technical award that such a film can win.
It's lighter on dialogue than most films, but that's fine. Not a word is wasted. The writing isn't groundbreaking, but it doesn't need to be. It's concise and does exactly what it needs to do. Even when the characters are just chatting in between the tension, it doesn't feel wasted. We get a reasonable sense of who these people are, which is amazing, considering all of the special effects constantly happening.
Gravity comes with my highest recommendation. I'm not quite sure if it's better than Children of Men, but right now, it's one of the best films of the year, easily in my top 10 for right now. It will leave you breathless, and by the end of the film, you'll feel your heart beating through your fucking chest.
No movie has ever made me feel quite like this. No movie has ever caused me to have a near-full blown panic attack. And I've seen a lot of movies. Like, a LOT of movies. Gravity did something that none of those movies could do, and getting me to that point of anxiety is impressive.

On a side-note, I DO recommend seeing it in 3D. If you can't handle the headaches or don't want to pay the price-tag, I won't judge. But you don't want to ignore the 3D for Gravity. At least consider it.

9.7/10