FilmMattic

Spoiler Free Review: A film that carries the title of a King shall also. on merit, befit a King's royal tastes. Hooper's film not only matches the requisite ilk of a King-size demand, but it also beautifully encapsulates the age-old human drama. A Story Befitting a King (Minor Spoilers Ahead)        I know I could never admonish a person for stammering, but I never thought I would commend someone for it, and I still will not. Instead, I am going to do one better and shower limitless praise upon Colin Firth . His stupendously uplifting portrayal of Prince Albert (King George VI) in The King's Speech is—to quote Dick Vitale—simply sensational. So good, in fact, that I would already appoint Firth the global spokesperson on stammering. So good that, if Firth was commanding the Chicago Bears offense on their potentially game-tying drive against the vaunted Green Bay Packers last week, I'd wager my life's savings on him getting the ball in the end zone. ...

A Visual History of Cinema       Modern filmmaking is instinctively colored by an appreciation of the film world's past triumphs, and to a lesser extent, its noted failures. Contemporary filmmakers owe much of their successes to the seminal work paved by cinema's prodigious auters of past. A simple glance at film history and one will make some startling discoveries. There is, indubitably, a splendid abundance of distinctive and distinguished movie-making leviathans. 

Sundance Film Festival       For the first time with my "Person of the Week" segment, I will award a non-person. It's my blog and I wield all the power. Therefore, I am entitled to make these kinds of ironic judgments. It's a refreshing exercise of opinion boosting. Don't expect me to break rules like this all the time though. I tend to be very methodical. My mechanisms for content generation, generally, are defined by a purposeful consistency, as well as a scrupulously high standard of excellence. It is in this spirit of genuine irony that I award the Sundance film festival as my newest, " Person of the Week."

  Never Hand Hollywood a Lethal Weapon       A host of online news publications reported today (including my go-to site Slashfilm ) that the collective brainchild of director Richard Donner and writer Shane Black, Lethal Weapon, will be...prepare to gasp....rebooted. If your tastes for film are remotely similar to mine, then the audacity of Warner Bros. to reboot a classically unique— in my opinion, iconic film franchise—is laughably appalling. 

       To those of you who are fans of Leonardo DiCaprio's work, I implore you to devote your next five minutes to this montage. You will undoubtedly appreciate it. I promise. 

A Fincher File       Like any impassioned film lover, last night's airing of the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards marked a splendid opportunity to gleefully (no pun intended) remember the year that was for film. Witnessing Al Pacino take the stage and accept his award for Best Actor (in a TV or Miniseries) for his performance in You Don't Know Jack was a memorably giddy experience.  The Robert De Niro career montage that gracefully filled our TV screens was unmistakably, a triumph of cinematic history, casting the glitzy spotlight on the exceedingly well-deserved Rushmore of actors—awarding him the Cecile B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. 

  Death of the Superhero...Film?       With the opening of The Green Hornet upon us , the time has come to address the future of the veritable superhero film.  By definition, a superhero film carries the ilk consistent in an action, fantasy, or science fiction based movie, while predominantly focusing on a superheroes superhuman abilities—in a heroic effort to thwart a grave danger and protect the greater good.         The superhero genre has long been dominated by Saturday serials and comic books; a trademark of DC and Marvel Comics.  But the birth of superheroes in the feature film arena began with Richard Donner's seminal hit, Superman from 1978.  A smattering of other successful entries into the comic book genre soon followed, including sequels to Superman.  Ultimately, the classical take on comic book-based superhero flicks peaked with Tim Burton's Batman in 1989.   ...

127 Hours (spoiler free review) Boyle's unflinching and stylistic direction elevate a static 127 hours to a thunderously heart thumping level; such an apt and distinctive quality, as the film is aided by an equally thunderous and heart thumping soundtrack that even Quentin Tarantino would have to take notice. Review: Spoilers Ahead       Inevitably, every living, breathing soul must boldly face a defining moment of life or death—some individuals are marred by a panicky disposition that clouds our judgment while others are capable of an exacting resiliency, refusing to accept a grim fate.  Director Danny Boyle's mesmerizing portrait of this unenviable circumstance is beautifully captured in his latest film, 127 Hours.  The director tasks the equally handsome and enthusiastic, though unproven actor, James Franco , with the intensive, all-encompassing role of Aron Ralston.  No longer can a film critic deride Franco as a wasteful, unproven ...

A Struggle to the Throne       Following in the footsteps of Colin Firth's mesmerizing portrayal of King George VI that would shine the global spotlight on stuttering—generating unprecedented awareness of the debilitating speech condition and the therapists who treat it—I will reciprocate the good deed and shine the spotlight on Colin Firth by appointing him, my new "Person of the Week."         If any one person can overcome the rigid constraints imposed upon their craft by effecting a performance that breaks through these constraints, then tremendous praise has to be warranted.  The arresting fact concerning Firth's portrayal of King George VI is not simply a reflection of his awe-inspiring depiction, but more so, a robust testimonial to the positive power that a captivating performance can generate.  According to Jane Fraser, President of the Stuttering Foundation, "This movie has done in one fell swoop what we've been wor...

Review: Animal Kingdom (my spoiler free, twitter style review)    In Animal Kingdom, survival of the fittest is the unequivocal rule of thumb—for those on either side of morality—and because of this bleak testimonial concerning humanity, I must surrender a not quite perfect review, and merely just implore you to watch this film. (Spoiler Alert for Review)       Any movie that can make a mundane circumstance such as going to the bathroom an exciting and tense experience is a movie that can blissfully hold my attention.  Animal Kingdom is this ilk of a movie and truthfully, it is so much more.  David Michôd's debut feature film is masterfully defined by a champion's focus and a consistently potent tension; a gut-wrenching tension that wraps a hold of you in a manner so gravely powerful that you feel as if you were stricken by a bad case of the flu.  

Physical Devotion to One's Craft       I was perusing through some stories over at Slashfilm (a routine occurrence for me) and I came across something interesting.  To those of you who consider yourself fervent fans of Christian Bale, take a look at the elaborate image below.          A guy by the name of Matt Ellerbrock took the time to design a mosaic-style image, in order to visually illustrate the abundant physical transformations of Christian Bale's dynamic film career.  It has become something of Hollywood legend whenever an actor undergoes an immense physical transformation, (De Niro in Raging Bull, for instance) but Bale takes the routine a step further.  In order to impeccably match the look of his diverse character roles, Bale exhibits a true perfectionist approach . Personally, I am a big Bale fan so this image immediately aroused my interest.  I was always aware of the depths of Bale's phy...

A Blogger is Thrust onto the Big Stage        In lieu of the impressive work that is perpetrated daily by the diverse slew of talented bloggers in this vast cyberspace, I wanted to take a moment to underscore a recent development from the blogging community.  Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, a 24-year old movie blogger has become the shining example of how hard work, smartly crafted blogging, and a go-getter attitude can benefit from a little fortuity and prominence.  The Chicago native first caught the critically omniscient eye of film's Mount Rushmore, Roger Ebert, by hosting intelligent and informative screenings that Ebert often attended.  Aside from this happenstance scenario, Vishnevetsky also displayed an uncanny, intellectually focused critiquing prowess by writing for Mubi.com , the Chicago Reader and Cine-File.info   Ebert's affection for the young budding film reviewers work grew out of an acknowledgment of Vishne...

      The Writers Guild of America has recently unveiled their nominations for its coveted original screenplay award.  These nominees are as follows: Inception, The Fighter, Please Give, The Kids Are All Right and Black Swan.         Their nominees for the adapted screenplay award are True Grit, I Love You Phillip Morris, The Social Network, 127 Hours and The Town.  The winners will be announced on February 5, 2011 .        Though the Writers Guild's stringent guidelines have disqualified some deserving candidates, notably The King's Speech and Toy Story 3, it is still a tremendously prestigious honor to receive a nomination.  I do not foresee any protest from the soon-to-be winners claiming that the guidelines are flagrantly unfair.        Not to conceal a bias or anything, but I am hoping that Inception takes home the award for original screenp...

A Western Tide Smashes a Familiar Box Office Landscape       This past week at the box office foretells an interesting though surprising story for the future success of the Western genre.  True Grit may have lost out to Little Fockers ( an underwhelming, formulaic comedy) for a second straight week—Fockers managed to capitalize on both it's established name and past two successful entries in the series by taking home $26.3 million for a gross total of $103.2 million over it's two-week run while True Grit totaled $24.5 million bringing it's box office gross to $86.8 million—but the Coen Brothers film provided a more compelling result that requires a more scrutinizing look behind the numbers       The seemingly ho-hum box office number for True Grit is actually quite significant.  The Coen Brothers $86.8 million dollar total (and counting) exceeds the box office receipts for all other Western Drama's since Tombstone in 1993....

     Natalie Portman's Identifiable Prowess           The beginning of a new year is always marked by two certainties.  These certainties are married together by the pretensions of a congratulatory send off of the past years memorable events and an enthusiastic expectancy for the new year's future endeavors.  In lieu of this congratulatory send off, I will announce as my first "Person of the Week" for 2011, the beautiful and precociously talented Natalie Portman.       The star of Darren Aronofsky's latest critical feature, Black Swan, Natalie Portman is cementing her place in Hollywood as a bona fide A-lister, deserving of weighty, significant acting roles.  Her portrayal as the compellingly multi-faceted, provocative ballerina, Nina Sayers, is fittingly representative of her vast acting talents.  Oscar buzz has reached a fever pitch surrounding her performance and a nomination for Bes...