THE BOTTOM 20: the worst films of 2013

 

2013 actually was not a landmark year for cinema – sure we had some excellent new films – many were in the middle, what my old college roommate used to say when he didn’t want to make a decision about a movie (and rather frequently) “two – two and a half stars”. It was that kind of year.

With that said we must revisit, or shall we say – take a walk of shame first before we get to the best. This year I had knocked back a little over 300 films in theaters. The rule for qualification is simple (yet I still struggle with them). I had to have seen them in 2013 in a finished state and accessible to those willing to pay for them in a public setting (like a film festival, theatrical run or a screening where money was exchanged for a ticket). It’s even more painful when MoviePass doesn’t cover one of these stinkers.

So why revisit the bottom 20? I should caution this is entirely subjective, some movies on this list were hits and were widely loved, others have yet to surface beyond a festival run (many of those were Tribeca films). Some were action movies that had little going on under the hood, and some where made by people with good intensions. It may seem unfair to call them out but they do quality under the rules. (One in particular, a Buffalo, NY indie that I had considered leaving off the list, however any publicity is better than no publicity - right?). And so it goes – and the funny thing is this isn’t 50 hours of my life I wish I could get back no matter how painful certain moments pained me – there is always something to learn from the awful.

20 – Teenage (Matt Wolf) – Simply put Teenage tells an interesting story in a rather dull way. An academic study told in recreations framed to appear as found footage, it functions in both the poetic and expository documentary modes. Amongst several problems is the lack of voices – only four to represent teens everywhere. The style recalls the reflexive, personal film essays of Terence Davis (in  particular Of Time and the City) without the emotional connection. (Full Review)

19 – Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus and 2012 (Sebastian Silva) – I might have missed the boat on this one, a drug filed romp through Chile staring Michael Cera, the problem is as innovative as certain moments are it’s just not very funny. Watch El Topo instead.

18 – Diana (Oliver Hirschbiegel) – How did a smart director make such a misfire (perhaps contractual obligation), this is the story of Prince Diana (played by Naomi Watts) and her last days including her nearly secret relationship with Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews) before her well documented fling with Dodi Fayed. Poorly written in passages, it suffers from the same problem Jobs did – it lacks ambition.

17.- Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor) – Again perhaps I missed the boat on this one. I enjoyed the first Thor movie, this one I didn’t really provide me with a reason to care with no much going on under the hood I was mostly bored.

16.- Bullet to the Head (Walter Hill) – Such a shame, I was in the mood for an 80’s throw back (especially after seeing Arnold’s return in The Last Stand, one of the best action films of the year) – and this is what I got. Most noticeably, the film is poorly color graded, so much so I had to confirm the theater removed the Real-D polarizer from the projector. The movie lacks fun and wit. On a side note Sly Stallone’s latest film Grudge Match, is pretty enjoyable.

15.- Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro) – My friend James claims I hate this movie because I never had a childhood. I like to think I had a great childhood, raised on a steady diet of Ang Lee, Spike Lee, and Mike Leigh. This is a giant game of Rock Em Sock Em Robots that’s not very interesting save for Ron Pearlman. Guillermo del Toro is a great filmmaker and a wonderful visual storyteller, this one represents a lapse in judgement. 

14. – GI Joe: Retaliation (John M. Chu) – Pushed back to digitally convert the film to 3D, the strange thing is it never resolves anything – Channing Tatum appears and then is gone with no explanation like Judy from Family Matters. A mess that was likely made worse due to studio intervention and a lame 3D conversion (sadly its directed by Jon M. Chu who knows how to use 3D well, if only he knew how to 'use' story…)

13.- Movie 43 (various) An omni-bus crash – Movie 43 should have been released in webisodes. Various A-List celebrities appear in a film that was clearly has been designed to be consumed on cable – hey look it’s Emma Stone, what movie is this? It’s not cinema.

(Full Review)

12.-  The Big Wedding (Justin Zackham) Another star studded dud with too few laughs – it’s the worst kind of safe “product”.

11.- Bluebird (Lance Edmands) Set in a small Maine town at the height of logging season, this is essentially the story of a small town transfixed by tragedy – but its no Atom Egoyan film. Leaving the more interesting parts off screen, it’s slow rhythm eventually grows maddening and indulgent – it’s a shame, the film contains excellent performances by John Slattery and Louisa Krause, but it would be better off 20 minutes shorter.

10.- Safe Haven (Lasse Hallstrom) Okay – when they make the Chris Brown/Rihanna biopic they must hire Nicolas Sparks to write the screenplay. This one contains all the narrative material of a Sparks novel (abused, lonely women on the run – a nice guy – crooked cops). It’s like he’s not even trying anymore. Not original or exciting – it like other Sparks adaptations contains pretty people and beautiful cinematography so it’s at least got that going for it.

9.- Deep Powder (Mo Ogrodnik) Inspired by a true story, Deep Powder chooses to tell the least interesting part of the story – a classic rich girl falls for a poor boy, they together smuggle drugs in to the US for her rich asshole prep school friends. I wish they were the prep school kids of a Whit Stillman movie, but they speak about nothing original or interesting. A dull picture that takes itself way too seriously to have any fun. (Full Review)

8.- Battle of the Year 3D (Benson Lee) Geared perhaps for a global audience, Battle of the Year 3D is one of the worst 3D films of all time with action moving so frantically you’ll leave the theater feeling like you’d been out drinking all night. Adapted from Benson Lee’s documentary Planet B-Boy, it’s a very boring, poorly written mess with a 110 minute running time. Caution. (Full Review)

7.- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Harald Zwart) A strange, dull and otherwise downright lazy that contains very little of interest – poor character development and lame action. A mundane movie for an audience of “mundanes” (the film’s term for human). (Full Review)

6.- A Case of You (Kat Coiro) Bafflingly bad, a hipster romantic comedy staring Justin Long as a writer (of course) and Evan Rachel Wood as a woman he follows obsessively on Facebook, learning her interests in order to be her perfect man. Creepy, dull and sad – just like its characters. (Full Review)

5.-Smurfs 2 (Raja Gosnell) A few years ago my friends and I saw The Garbage Pail Kids movie at midnight at Brooklyn’s Nitehawk Cinema – as scary and weird as that movie was at least a massive amount of cocaine can be blamed for its making. Smurfs 2 is just awful – scary, weird and creepy – I can’t imagine kids would have found joy in it, I certainly didn’t. (Full Review)

4.- Salinger (Shane Salerno) Unnecessary is the best way to describe this. Director Shane Salerno adds too little to the conversation, telling us first the story we know and a little behind the mystery leading up to its big reveal – the last photographs of JD Salinger alive as he baits the filmmaker. I wish it was as witty as a Nina Davenport movie, but no, Salerno keeps himself off camera.

3.- Ombis: Alien Invasion (Adam Steigert) A Western New York indie made by a dedicated army of volunteers with good intentions. The problem is that it wasn’t funny, scary or all that interesting. Described as a 1950’s style B-Movie it never really had fun with the genre by offering up surprises and twists.

2.- I’m In Love with a Church Girl (Steve Race) The worst kind of faith-based film, an advertisement rather than a movie. Good faith-based films do exist (consider Grace Unplugged, a good one released a few weeks before this one) but this one, existing within a Christian consumer ecosystem is awfully strange. Underscoring every emotional beat with music it doesn’t need it’s a shame – the film was written and produced by Galley Molina, a drug trafficker who later found faith – that’s the movie I want to see. (Full Review)

1.- InAPPropriate Comedy (Vince Offer) The worst kind of movie – mean spirited, vulgar, dirty and stupid. It offers a chuckle or two but like the products Vince Offer hocks it doesn’t deliver the goods. Featuring several former A-list celebrities the only rational for this movie was a potential tax write-off, maybe? (Full Review)

The Agony of Year End: Top and Bottom Lists

The Broken Circle Breakdown - perhaps "the one that got away"

I’m not slacking off, nor am I procrastinating. I’m at the point where I truly believe the remaining films I’ll see this year and in early 2014 – including August: Osage County, Dhoom 3, Justin Beiber’s Believe and Walking with Dinosaurs 3D will fall into that neither here nor there category. That isn’t to say I won't later see the one that got away - but at a certain point I should be selfish: if I had not been presented the opportunity to reasonably see a movie, should that be my problem?

Yes and no. A few that got away came recommended by friends (I had solicited feedback on Facebook) they included Dan Mecca’s (co-founder of The Film Stage) suggestion I seek out The Broken Circle Breakdown, a Belgian film that I missed at Tribeca (as well as other screening opportunities). I imagine the picture is bleaker if you’re someone like Jeff Simon, our film critic in Buffalo (who briefly covered Toronto) – especially if you have to recommend films that will only be showing in Buffalo.

Still I remain slightly haunted – and so are others. Following Alamo Drafthouse CEO and Founder Tim League (the company just announced in 2013 they’ll be showing 100 essential films – favorites of their programming team) it becomes challenging to see everything, he’s been posting his progress on Facebook. This year I closed out a new record, 300 in theaters – including festivals - perhaps another 50 more when you consider screeners and Netflix. (Bill Graham – a Texas based correspondent for the Film Stage wrote in with Drug Wars, which was an excellent action picture, but narrowly missed my top 50).

With that said I attempt to walk into theater with an open mind and heart – sometimes it’s not so easy to leave one’s baggage at the door and submit. 2013 had been a rather interesting year geographically for me – spending it divided amongst three locations – Edinboro, PA (outside of Erie – with a 17-plex that may occasionally show a Focus Features/Sony Classics indie and a weekly film society screenings), North Jersey/New York Metro (where you can see anything you want), and Buffalo, NY (limited but some weekends we'll see as many as 6-7 new movies if we’re lucky between our art houses, multiplexes, micro cinemas and local screenings). What I’m most haunted by is regional filmmaking which can be a little like folk art – I’d like to think film festivals serve communities well but like any exhibitor its about putting butts in the seats.

Too many don’t take risks. I will specifically call out the Teaneck International Film Festival (Teaneck, NJ) for this one – they quite frankly programmed films that were widely accessible – some with theatrical and video releases - without the courtesy of notifying filmmakers who were not selected to screen. Festivals that are not transparent with regards to their selection process including how they define themselves are the worst kinds of gatekeepers – the Teaneck community would be best served by a weekly screening series.

The best film festivals still are political – I applaud the programmers at Toronto for acknowledging what is largely unknown to amateur filmmakers (we’ll address those in a moment). Programmers are often tracking films in production, produced by friends, contacts, etc. It still comes down to quality. At Toronto it’s acknowledged who had brought the film to the programming department’s attention (normally a talent agency). At two of the 20 screenings I attended this year, programmers acknowledged seeing works in various states of rough cut before inviting them to the festival – in one instance the filmmakers worked on the film for over a year in post.

The gatekeepers continue to exist at a time when distribution costs have in essence skewed down to zero. If you consider that inevitably a hidden masterpiece made by a kid in Iowa who never attended film school likely exists on YouTube, you’ll be kept up at night. Therefore we need some rules – what makes a “2013 film” a real “2013 film”? (The Independent Spirit Awards struggle with this every year). So here are my rules – imperfect as they are. I had to have seen the film in 2013, the film had to be have been in a finished state and accessible to those willing to pay for it (at a screening, festival, etc). Still this is not everyone’s rules and films morph over time – I was blown away by Spring Breakers in 2012 when I saw it at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and it’s power grew when I saw it in 2013 in an Erie, PA multiplex.

With that said where does Buffalo’s local film stand up? Painfully I have debated myself as to whether or not one local film deserves a spot in my bottom 25 – is it fair? Is it politically a good move for me? Yes – I paid to see the movie, but was it really a movie? Did it have the same characteristics of a professional movie with a large budget made with bad intensions or was it more of a hobby? I respect when people with full time jobs come together on weekends to make something happen but it really wasn’t very good or ambitious? Then again should my film – Brandonwood join it on the bottom 25 (I don’t think so but I certainly cringe when I think what I could have done differently, and frequently – then again I’ve seen the film more than anyone else because I lived with it for two years)? I just don’t know, this is all a gray area.

In closing, access remains an issue – my life experience and geography is different than others so I shouldn’t feel bad. Nor should I pretend year-end top and bottom lists are perfect – some critics will even see films twice to measure if their impact still holds up (sadly that’s not always an option – and besides “ain’t nobody got time for that”). At 300 films in theatres this year I feel like I’m a pretty well informed consumer, few films blew me away, some films last forever, and others fade.

My process is this – I assign each film I see a star ranking (that may change in my mind over time as I process – I normally like to reflect on a film a week after I see it). Those that achieve 3 ½ (of 4) are put on a list; those that achieve 4 are given a star on that list. Those that achieve 1 ½ or lower are on the “naughty” list. One film, which will be my worst film of the year (thankfully also reviewed at Film Stage) achieved zero – it was awful, mean spirited and above all not funny (no, it wasn’t produced in Buffalo).

Then the magic happens – is Nebraska a better film than Wolf of Wall Street? Enough Said is brilliant in its own way but does it stand up to the ambition of Fredrick Wiseman’s At Berkley. Joshua Oppenheimer’s Act of Killing stuck with me – but how does it rank against Nils Tavernier’s The Finishers, a film I saw at TIFF that left not a dry eye in the house (it should be picked up by Harvey Weinstein and made into a global hit)? Those difficult decisions will be finalized tonight and tomorrow.

MINI-REVIEWS 12/13

Here's what's currently in theaters and worth checking out or avoiding this weekend.

Fink on Films uses a four-star scale

0 - offensive on every level
* - dreadful
** - decent
*** - great
**** - outstanding

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12 Years a Slave (****) - An impressive feat of filmmaking from Steve McQueen, who immerses audiences within the experience of Solomon Northup, a free man sold into slavery, an important brutal story that's brilliant even if the presence of Brad Pitt is a tad distracting.

About Time (*** 1/2) - A beautifully told and genuine story about fathers and sons led by newcomer Domhnall Gleeson in a breakout role - so much of things rings true, well as much as movie magic can.

All is Lost (*** 1/2) - A thrilling one man show - Robert Redford stars as 'Our Man' - a nameless figure lost at sea in his final moments, fascinating, thrilling and minimalist.

The Book Thief (***) - A mostly well-made WWII drama that is tied too closely to its source material - a bizarre voiceover narration holds back what is otherwise a strong film with good performances.

The Best Man Holiday (**) - Sincere but ultimately a bit dull, an ensemble drama with lighter moments that breaks no new ground in its 2 hour plus running time. (full review)

Blue is the Warmest Color (***) - Epic in scope with two brave performances, director Abdellatif Kechiche is tells the intimate story of two women coming into their own, falling in love and eventually drifting apart, parts don't quite work even if much feels emotionally accurate.

Captain Phillips (*** 1/2) - A solid thriller from Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks, delivering smart edge of your seat thrills with a chilling conclusion.

Carrie (** 1/2) - A retelling of Carrie lacking the bite of director Kimberly Pierce's previous work, generally a solid genre exercise it lacks the bite we'd hope for from a director this smart. (full review)

Dallas Buyers Club (*** 1/2) - A haunting and vibrant exploration of the early stages of the AIDS epidemic, based on a true story and fronted by brilliant performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

Delivery Man (***) - A funny remake of the French Canadian hit Starbuck with a winning performance by Vince Vaughn as the world's most generous sperm donor. (full review)

Enough Said (*** 1/2) - Another briliant, funny perspective film by Nicole Holofcener led by two very funny and charming performances by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini.

Gravity (*** 1/2) - An impressive technical feat from Alfonso Cuaron, led by a strong, psychological performance by Sandra Bullock. A must see in IMAX 3D.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (***) - Expanding on its original concept Catching Fire dives into further into media criticism providing providing somewhat of a warning in a very entertaining and smart package. (full review)

Last Vegas (** 1/2) - A light, good natured ensemble comedy that's entertaining while delivering exactly what you'd expect - a delightful package with too few surprises. (full review)

Nebraska (****) - Warm, strange and beautiful, a film I'm truly in love with, Bruce Dern stars as an elderly alcoholic, Woodrow in a stunning reflection of the roads taken and not taken in Rural Nebraska.

Oldboy (***) - A solid remake by Spike Lee - fun and violent remaining true to the original, the question remains - why make it, Spike?

Out of the Furnace (**) - Scott Cooper's flawed follow up to Crazy Heart is a thinly painted portrait on a rich canvas - lacking ethnographic research he creates a rather mundane thriller that otherwise showed promise. (full review)

Philomena (*** 1/2) - The true story of a sacked BBC correspondent (Steve Coogan) who teams up with a women searching for her son (Judi Dench) - an entertaining film that hits the cords Stephen Frears is best at hitting.

Some Velvet Morning (***) - Breaking no new ground, Neil Labute downsizes back towards a two-person character driven drama in a contained space with energetic performances by Stanley Tucci and Alice Eve. In theaters and on VOD (full review)

Thor: The Dark World (**) - Painfully boring action film that places disorienting sequences above character development.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas (*1/2) - Not without laughs - including a few cringe inducing ones, this new Tyler Perry outing is lazier than his usual output, made quickly and cheaply. (full review)

OUT OF THE FURNACE **

Scott Cooper's flawed follow up to Crazy Heart is a thinly painted portrait on a rich canvas - lacking ethnographic research he creates a rather mundane thriller that otherwise showed promise.

Out of the Furnace, 110 minutes, director: Scott Cooper ** of 4 stars

Out of the Furnace is a peculiar picture: pure 1970s gritty realism crossed exploring the painfully and continually relevant effects of war including PTSD. The problem is Out of the Furnace offers the potential for a rich portrait wrapped in a thriller concerned in its third act less with character and more with vengeance. Character is the story’s problem – set in the rust belt town of Braddock, PA (as seen in the beautiful Levi’s Go Forth campaign directed by Sin Nobre filmmaker Cary Fukunaga) the film never provides a deep exploration of these characters beyond the research co-writers Brad Ingelsby and Scott Cooper did, likely reading articles in the Bergen Record.

The story pins Christian Bale, who serves time for a deadly DUI against Woody Harrelson’s Harlan DeGroat – described as an inbreed from the Ramapo Hills. Here is where I thought this picture might shed some light on my neighbors – but herein lies the problem – I imagine it’s very difficult to study these folks. So here’s, simply what Urban Dictionary tells me when I google ‘DeGraot Ringwood NJ’

Term used by caucasian people of Ringwood and Mahwah, NJ and Suffern , NY for what were called Jackson Whites, a mixed race people who lived there for 300 years. Mineys now call themselves Ramapough Indians, but are not recgonized as an Indian nation by the feds

They were usually poor and underemployed. They once had jobs in the iron mines until World War II. Once the mines closed, they found jobs at a Ford assembly plant in Mahwah, NJ until it closed.

This is could make the for the subject of a very interesting ethnographic study although I have heard stories about just how difficult an ethnographic study this could be. Cult magazine Weird NJ attempted to unpack the history of the Jackson Whites in a lengthy study tracing blood lines – this would be ripe for documentary filmmaking, perhaps someone from this population will go to college and obtain an MFA in Documentary Filmmaking so that this history can be properly unpacked. Out of the Furnace has been controversial because of precisely what it isn’t – well researched.

Ending this rant I will continue to review the film – but that remains my core problem with it. It portrays a group with a sensitive history as nothing more than a device (kind of like an Adam Sandler movie that portrayed a whole gender as a device – you can see the appalling misogynistic treatment of women in many films but especially Just Go With It).

Out of the Furnace tells a simple story in an interesting place – Braddock, PA reminds me of my travels briefly last winter, teaching in a Rural enclave outside of Erie. Some of the towns I had visited in my travels (keep in mind alone, I didn’t have many friends in town) were a little like Braddock, once functioning engines of commerce with solid middle class jobs wrecked when said jobs moved oversees. This is the stuff of Bruce Springsteen’s last album, of course.

The film’s performances are quite good including Casey Affleck as Rodney, an Iraq War vet who participates in a fight club run by bar backroom numbers runner John (played by Willem Dafoe). When Bale’s Russell offers to pay back John what he’s owed, Rodney instead doubles down setting the story in motion, late in its third act.

The character driven drama which develops rather nicely in the first act runs off the trails in its third, cramming all the action that you see in the trailer into 30-minutes that don’t quite add up along with subplots (like Zoe Saldana’s Lena, Russell’s girlfriend before prison now married to the police Chief played by Forest Whitaker). The Place Beyond the Pines this is not – that film took its time developing three stories that functioned like a chain reaction, slightly flawed that was a glorious film.

Out of the Furnace does a lot right – it’s beautifully photographed and has some strong acting, script and structure is the film’s fetal flaw. Director Scott Cooper has a rich canvas that he has not made the most of.

[Fink on Filmmaking] The 48: On the Front Lines with Monolopolus Productions for 'Before Christmas'

photo credit: Monolopolus Productions / Tal Kissos

The 48 Hour Film Project is not for the faint of heart – nor those that are tittering on the edge of sickness as I found myself about a week ago. Luckily I was with, shall we say, loved ones – folks I’ve worked with before on the set of Ryan Monolopolus’ Before Christmas, which premiers tonight at 7PM at the Pierce Arrow Film & Arts Center (1685 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo NY).

I’ve been an outside observer on the 48 Hour Film project, blogging on behalf of my friends city producers J. Garrett Vorreuter and Rachel Stover for their social network/production company The FVC. I’ve always admired anyone who could put together a project in 48 Hours; typically the contest provides “teams” with a genre, prop, a line of dialogue, and a character they must incorporate into a 6-minute film. The “Holiday” edition, a new one this year, allows you to chose any genre or holiday while throwing in a line of dialogue, character and prop to the mix.

The process is as ungodly as Lars Van Trier’s Dogma 95, and damn nearly impossible especially as it does force one to jump start the creative process via a series of shortcuts (mine, as you’ll read on involved balling up in the fetal position on the floor of some stranger’s apartment and listening to the kind of music I normally have on while writing – Bruce Springsteen and the Gaslight Anthem).

Independent filmmaker involves a series of sometimes shady tactics that get the job done, short cuts that are necessary to get done what you set out to do on the tiniest of budgets – here time and money were the enemies. The 48 Hour Film Project is a trial by fire, but like all productions good planning makes all the difference.

Ryan Monolopolus is above all an assembler of good people – he has a co-producer credit on Brandonwood, my first feature film because he would frequently feed us crew members “you need someone tomorrow, give me an hour – I’ll should have three guys calling you”. With Before Christmas, this was key along his production manager Jeremy Cournyea, who assembled a 20-person team of various units – a meeting two nights before we started almost buckled the floor of the Monolopolus’ home.

Without giving away Ryan’s secrets certain elements including locations had been planned, I was brought in as the co-writer and helping hand – working on the creative side of the project, in essence to ensure the quality was present on the performance/delivery end and especially the dialogue. This was actually increasingly difficult given the technical considerations of the project – our lead was a Muppet-style puppet performed by Cameron Garrity.

So – to review – 20+ people on set, puppets, unknown elements given at a meeting on Friday night, I’m sick and miserable prior to shot one (without having had time to stop at Starbucks for my daily earl grey tea latte) and it’s go time. While we’re getting our matching orders folks have already left their homes in route to our first location – The Market in the Square own in West Seneca for 7PM – the old man goes shopping, alone – really for no other reason than this scene will work in any context.

I head over, after a trip to Starbucks and another stop at the GNC next door for anything that’ll keep me up (after of course downloading the inspiring Icona Pop song “All Night” which is played about 40 times this weekend). We go slightly over Jeremy’s schedule getting the shots right – here’s where I should note one the hardest things to do is to keep two people in focus while dolling – here we had to make a puppet look realistic.

The next set was down at UB for a wide shot that may or many not have worked as well as intended – but I think made the cutting room floor. After a data dump (here’s where things get tricky – Ryan and team decided to in list an editor in NYC to work on the assembly cut – sending out files via UB’s high speed internet) we headed to our second location for a writing meeting – from 1AM to call time (3AM).

After a nap, the set was quickly dressed by a team lead Emily Pumm (many of the folks on this team worked on Dien Vo’s Let The Have It Their Way) with the assistance of Britt Tirabassi – also an undergrad at DMS. Ryan, who I’m convinced doesn’t sleep  - and I sat up planning how we’d incorporates the elements of we were given along with new dialogue that would move the story forward based on the rough outline Ryan conjured up. The story had been intended to be a Krzysztof Kieslowski-style Christmas film in the lonely landscape of Main Street Buffalo – a zone that’s dead really anytime of day save for the Hyatt (which thankfully didn’t mind us using their bathrooms).

And here’s is where I went to work – we had a short period of silence (every time I closed my eyes Ryan would talk to me, Gitmo ought to hire him to torture Al-Qaeda) – and I balled up into a corner with a note pad sprawling down ideas from music that typically inspires me choosing Bruce Springsteen and Gaslight Anthem. The ideas did flow eventually and I returned to my MacBook and final draft to bang out the rest of the script including stuff that would be shot in 12 hours downtown Buffalo.

The apartment stuff was brutal – 20 folks cramped into a decent sized apartment shared by 3 college folks who were more than accommodating. At this point an all nighter was rare – I’ve pulled an all nighter exactly three times in my life: once was prom night where it wasn’t worth it to go to sleep (we were getting on a bus the next morning at 6AM – I stayed up watching episodes of Perfect Strangers on TVLand), the second time was more recently when I had experienced a quazi-heart break and couldn’t go to sleep – instead I stayed up all night and then saw Anna Karenina to cheer myself up, the last incident where I stayed up late was thanks to fitness supplements that I took way too late and paid the price.


I passed out and eventually had to get some sleep – I was sick after all – and headed back to my apartment at 7:30AM, in bed by 8 I spelt till 1PM – I still had the script to finish and I needed to focus on getting healthy. I decided after finishing the script in a half hour to go have a smoothie, a message and a big lunch (I took a lot of flack especially from sound recorder and one of my good friends Michael Bouquard). Back on set we finished various sequences efficiently moving throughout downtown Buffalo in a way that I think those that know downtown will appreciate.

This of course is a little absurd – considering on the day we began I had to see The Best Man Holiday for The Film Stage, which features Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY filling in for the Meadowlands. In fact they morphed the Empire State Building in the background of what would be suburban Western New York. Details, baby, details – the results I think were impressive – featuring a good chunk of Main Street highlighting and really using the abandoned landscape of a city that’s too large for its population.

This is the great thing about making films in Western New York: part of the story that’s not told as well it should be is the availability of many looks within a 20-minute drive of each other. From abandoned downtowns to affluent suburbs, beaches, cornfields, malls – - America, baby. Before Christmas, which I haven’t seen (I wasn’t required to be around to edit on Sunday – instead I slept in and spent 3 ½ hours in a dark movie theater – ie: heaven, seeing Oliver Stone’s JFK on the big screen) – was perhaps the most ambitious undertaking I’ve been apart of. With that said – you should come see it tonight.

Before Christmas premiers tonight as part of the 48-Hour Film Project, Holiday Edition

7PM
Pierce-Arrow Film & Arts Center
1685 Elmwood Avenue  Buffalo NY

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE ***

Expanding on its original concept Catching Fire dives into further into media criticism providing providing somewhat of a warning in a very entertaining and smart package.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 146 minutes, director: Francis Lawrence   *** of 4 stars

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire expands on the original concept, which was a little thin, this time adding a curious amount of media criticism in addition to its political commentary. Thankfully it’s a film that lives and breathes, a smart action film that believe it or not is dialogue heavy, autonomously building towards its showdown in the arena.

Director Francis Lawrence has made one of his more restrained films; in fact it limits the disorienting CGI to one sequence that feels out of place, grounding itself in a semi-reality. Screenwriters Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt deserve a lot of credit, the film is far from the brainless entertainment that Thor: The Dark World was, and a heck of a lot smarter than the Twilight series ever was, in short a film with a few strong ideas under the hood.

Front and center is Jennifer Lawrence, as Katniss Everdeen, a forced to be reckoned with: she shared a victory in the last hunger games with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). The powers that be, in a move I don’t completely understand have in essence decided to host a best of Hunger Games called a Quarter Quell, after the victory of Peeta and Katiness spark a rebellion in Panem. The Hunger Games as you’ll recall is a sick sort of tribute where poor folks from various districts come together to fight each other of national TV – it’s like Honey Boo Boo, Duck Dynasty and MMA crossed with American Idol and hosted by Stanley Tucci’ flamboyant Caesar Flickerman. The powers that be include Donald Sutherland as President Snow and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee. Silly names, I know.

The game is rigged and of course in the best of selection Peeta and Katiness are chosen to fight against an eccentric best of set of tributes with a cast that includes Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer as two very brilliant killers who won their Hunger Games by electrocuting the other tributes, amongst others including Jack Quaid and the grandmotherly Ripper (Taylor St. Clair). Thrown into a tropical arena, Peet and Katiness are well equipped with several allies in what turns out to be a rather exhilarating film.

Why does it work so well? The film invests greatly in its set-up – in fact I’d estimate this is half of the film, efficient yet entertaining Lawrence has a made a film that respects its audience while delivering all the thrills you’d expect.

The political allegory and what follows, apparently from what I’ve heard departs slightly from the book (although allegedly not nearly as much as ego maniac Peter Jackson, this one is grounded in a surreal political reality while The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series is just boring). What can be made of this film?

I don’t necessarily read The Hunger Games films as a warning; perhaps they are a warning about idol culture squarely directed towards the young women that make up its core audience. This would wholly imply a US-centered reading of The Hunger Games, in a climate geared towards tribal cultures rebelling against a centralized power that has created a reality TV show to suppress the population. Perhaps we do this currently – narrative is packaged and manufactured, sometimes as a distraction – I’ve certainly had moments where I’ve been too distracted to follow a political condition or a global event.

The 'Hunger Games' is though tied to a political event – the rebellions in the district and the game is essentially a purge for the sins of the rebellion and perhaps this is where it’s a little flawed. A total distraction would be Honey Boo Boo style programming – I’m curious to see what other entertainment content exists in the world The Hunger Games is set in.

PHILOMENA *** 1/2

The true story of a sacked BBC correspondent (Steve Coogan) who teams up with a women searching for her son (Judi Dench) - an entertaining film that hits the cords Stephen Frears is best at hitting.

Philomena - 95 minutes, director: Steven Frears  ***1/2 of 4 stars

Philomena is the extraordinary true story of Philomena Lee, a women forced to give up her son, sold essentially into Church slavery. She ultimately has a good life, suppressing the memories of her Anthony until she receives visions of him. Her daughter, a part time cocktail waitress meets the grumpy Martin Sixsmith (played of course by Steve Coogan) at a party and encourages Sixsmith to meet with Philomena (Judi Dench). Sixsmith is down on his luck, formerly a BBC correspondent in Moscow and Washington DC, he left the Beeb for a position as an advisor to the Labor party, and was recently sacked. Embracing his freedom he freelances, although he’d much rather devote his time to his forthcoming book on Russian history.

Philomena’s story sidetracks him; Sixsmith has become an atheist and feels uncomfortable within the church as he and Philomena return to the convent. Times have changed and the church is, as we gather, become savvier about its PR spin. Of course they can’t fool Sixsmith, who can smell spin from his years in the trenches. Getting nowhere he confirms a rumor overheard in a local tavern near the convent, the records that would show whom adopted Anthony had been set ablaze to cover up the fact children were sold to the only ones that could afford them, wealthy Americans. From a photograph Philomena had been leaked years earlier, Sixsmith traces Anthony, now renamed Michael Hess to the US and they continue their journey.

What follows I will not spoil, the film is a rather remarkable mixture of emotions perfectly in tune. Director Stephen Frears has had one of the most diverse filmography of any filmmaker working today from contemporary works like last year’s misfire Lay the Favorite and the wonderful Nick Hornby adaptation High Fidelity, to touching period films like Liam, Cheri and the excellent The Queen. He blends drama with a lighter touch – telling a story that could have very well had been effective if played entirely straight. What immerges isn’t quite a buddy road comedy, but a drama with lighter elements that this kind of situation may bring. Steve Coogan is, as mentioned, as grumpy as usual – a gifted comedian who has the ability to remain detached, this isn’t he first time he’s played a journalist as you know. Here he plays it straight – someone who takes up the cause of Philomena Lee while he connects the dots on what becomes an allegory for just how secretive and self-preserving an organization like the church is.

The film’s last act is extraordinary with Coogan and Frears nailing just the right tone. Judi Dench gives a superb, genuine performance as Philomena Lee – a complex women who in her later years found happiness haunted by the secrets of her past. Entertaining and engaging Philomena is another strong film from Frears. Similar in tone and spirit to The Queen, it is another complex and engaging, yet intimate and oven very funny character study.

Now playing in NY and LA - opening nationwide on Wednesday.

MINI REVIEWS - Nov 22nd

Here's what's currently in theaters and worth checking out or avoiding this weekend.

Fink on Films uses a four-star scale

0 - offensive on every level
* - dreadful
** - decent
*** - great
**** - outstanding

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12 Years a Slave (****) - An impressive feat of filmmaking from Steve McQueen, who immerses audiences within the experience of Solomon Northup, a free man sold into slavery, an important brutal story that's brilliant even if the presence of Brad Pitt is a tad distracting.

About Time (*** 1/2) - A beautifully told and genuine story about fathers and sons led by newcomer Domhnall Gleeson in a breakout role - so much of things rings true, well as much as movie magic can.

All is Lost (*** 1/2) - A thrilling one man show - Robert Redford stars as 'Our Man' - a nameless figure lost at sea in his final moments, fascinating, thrilling and minimalist.

The Best Man Holiday (**) - Sincere but ultimately a bit dull, an ensemble drama with lighter moments that breaks no new ground in its 2 hour plus running time. (full review)

Blue is the Warmest Color (***) - Epic in scope with two brave performances, director Abdellatif Kechiche is tells the intimate story of two women coming into their own, falling in love and eventually drifting apart, parts don't quite work even if much feels emotionally accurate.

Captain Phillips (*** 1/2) - A solid thriller from Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks, delivering smart edge of your seat thrills with a chilling conclusion.

Carrie (** 1/2) - A retelling of Carrie lacking the bite of director Kimberly Pierce's previous work, generally a solid genre exercise it lacks the bite we'd hope for from a director this smart. (full review)

Delivery Man (***) - A funny remake of the French Canadian hit Starbuck with a winning performance by Vince Vaughn as the world's most generous sperm donor. (full review)

Enough Said (*** 1/2) - Another briliant, funny perspective film by Nicole Holofcener led by two very funny and charming performances by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini.

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (***) - A spirited Bollywood retelling of Romeo & Juliet, unexpected and violent representing various conflicts at the core of Bollywood and its relationship with the West. Fascinating if at times a tad frustrating.

Gravity (*** 1/2) - An impressive technical feat from Alfonso Cuaron, led by a strong, psychological performance by Sandra Bullock. A must see in IMAX 3D.

Jackass presents Bad Grandpa (***) - Sick and twisted, taking the Jackass form and twisting the material into a narrative, Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll deliver big laughs.

Last Vegas (** 1/2) - A light, good natured ensemble comedy that's entertaining while delivering exactly what you'd expect - a delightful package with too few surprises. (full review)

Philomena (*** 1/2) - The true story of a sacked BBC correspondent (Steve Coogan) who teams up with a women searching for her son (Judi Dench) - an entertaining film that hits the cords Stephen Frears is best at hitting.

Thor: The Dark World (**) - Painfully boring action film that places disorienting sequences above character development.

Welcome to the (re)-Launch of FINK ON FILMS!

Welcome to Fink on Films – - I admit I have been not very disciplined about blogging; the fact of the matter is it can get a little discouraging. The purpose of this new project, is to expand upon my work over The Film Stage and the other blogs I’ve started (and abandoned) - random rambles, the blog at johnfinkfilms.com, – a site that is in need of a major overhauling, and of course my original live journal from way back in the day.

I’m hoping to expand upon my work, perhaps even putting my MFA to good use. My thesis “research” included by first feature film and a paper on large format film – this site I hope will allow me furthur unpack whatever research interests I run into along the way in my various cinematic adventures. With that said, I also plan on reviewing here the movies I want to review – movies that require some more thought, attention, probing or are deserving of an overall rant for one reason or another.

There is only so much I can do on Facebook, Twitter, and over at The Film Stage and I expect Fink on Films (a title I’ve borrowed from the good ol’ days at Pompton Lakes High School) can the launch pad along with a Facebook group to aggregate my overall thoughts on the cinema: the past, present and future – perhaps diagnosing hidden movements that are otherwise not always apparent. I expect many of these posts will, as this one has, be written in the odds and ends in the days, over earl grey tea lattes at Starbucks and so forth.

So a bit about me: I’m a filmmaker based in New Jersey and Buffalo, NY – Buffalo is a city I arrived in a little over four years ago to peruse a graduate degree. Buffalo itself will be a topic in a sequent, multi-part feature – but the University at Buffalo Department of Media Study wasn’t my first choice until I met Carl Lee, who assured me that I could in essence do whatever I wanted. This was partly the case and lead to many a colleague extending their “studies” for one reason or another - unlike a “film” school with strict time tables that would box you into directing within a genre, UB is wide open. In fact the majority of my colleagues weren’t filmmakers. In fact the program embraced the rather messy ethos of the city: once designed to carry a larger population Buffalo was in essence an abandoned frontier along a boarder with Southern Ontario. Southern Ontario and the GTA with its booming economy was like taking a trip back in time to 2007, before the economy ground to a haut and everyone was out, shopping and spending money. The good ol’ days. Buffalo by comparison felt perhaps as Mexico does to those in Arizona.

But all of this is encouraging: a wide-open landscape to make art! Yes! Unfortunately my first experience with local cinema wasn’t the best – a romantic comedy with a bunch of problems and little ambition. On the bright side in four years I’ve seen the Buffalo film scene evolve, perhaps, because, and I really believe this: Buffalo is 20 years behind the times. And, most importantly, 1994 had been an excellent year for film.

Regional cinema has always been a fascinating area I have yet to explore – and its one I’m considering probing furthur into: what can we learn about an area from the films it makes? Are brilliant things happening in garages, front lawns, coffee shops, and crappy apartments and so forth all over the country that for one reason or another have been kept away from Sundance and South by Southwest, the kingmakers of indie film? I hope to explore these kinds of questions with this experiment combining my interest in biography and geography – the pure emotion I feel when I drive down the Garden State Parkway toward the shore with Bruce Springsteen’s Sirius channel, E-Street Radio blasting. What ghosts exist in art in places unexplored – in the suburbs of Iowa, the abandoned frontiers of cities like Buffalo and Detroit, or rural enclaves in South Western New York state?

The rush of cinema is why I do what I do – and I hope to share this passion with anyone who checks into this page as I explore both current releases, films that deserve another look, trends in production and exhibition (exhibition a theme of my thesis is something traditional film scholarship overlooks), and other matters on and off screen.

You can subscribe via RSS for updates or interact via our Facebook page. Additionally I’ll be posting updates via twitter (@finkjohnj), and I welcome suggestions for topics worth exploring and screening suggestions (as well as online screeners) via email at johnjfink (at) gmail.com.

Thank you for checking out my blog – I look forward to what’s to come.

-John