If there was ever any doubt before of the acting ability of Robert Redford in his long career as a film star, then “All is Lost” may change many minds. “All is Lost” is very much a film I was not prepared for. I’d heard rumblings that it was basically “Castaway” meets “The Grey,” but that’s a complete misunderstanding of what “All is Lost” is striving for. “All is Lost” has two lines of dialogue, and only one character in it. Even “Castaway” about a man stuck on an island for many years couldn’t help stuffing the film with a slew of performers.
Tag Archives: Drama
Our Top 5 Television Shows of 2013
Admittedly we’re not big TV watchers these days. We’re mostly fans of “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” re-runs, and whatever movie is playing on Syfy in America, but when we do watch, we’re very selective. Most popular shows these days just aren’t appealing to us. But out of the small portion of shows that we do watch, we decided to list five of the series in 2013 that kept us watching and wanting more.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Director Steve McQueen’s adaptation of the chronicle of Solomon Northup’s kidnapping and forcing into slavery for over a decade is extraordinary. It’s absolutely excellent from the opening shot of a group of slaves, Solomon in the middle, right down to the tear soaked finale. “12 Years a Slave” ends up becoming an education for all audiences, and a form of unjust punishment for Northup who was just beginning to soak up his freedom, and found himself imprisoned back in to a personal hell of slavery, torture, and humiliation. I’ve been a fan of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s work since “Melinda and Melinda,” and in “12 Years a Slave” is performance is absolutely astounding.
The We and the I (2012)
What Michel Gondry does is take some of the most realistic and unique teenagers from the South Bronx, plants them on a public bus, and creates what is basically his own “The Breakfast Club” with the aimlessness of “Dazed and Confused.” Every character is put on to the bus by circumstance and come to some sense of realization by the end of the ride that will likely have no effect on their personal lives. In the end, every character in “The We and the I” are victims of peer pressure and their home lives, and are just ships passing in to the night. Filled with a cast of young actors that were cast right out of the South Bronx and honed to work with Gondry for their characters, “The We and the I” is a pretty excellent dramedy about the modern teenager that never sugarcoats their dynamics.
The Dark Companion (2011)
Director Darrell C. Hazelrig’s “The Dark Companion” is an odd animal to make out. It’s darkly comedic, but also kind of grim when you think about it. It’s about a world where humans and puppets live beside one another, and drink in the same bars, and yet puppet Howard’s plight can be interpreted in both ways, when you boil it down. Director Hazelrig has a good time toying with this premise of a puppet that realizes it has a sentient hand up its back, and I like where the story inevitably goes.
Crave (2013)
I really wanted to like Charles de Lauzirika’s “Crave,” because while it is painfully boring, it plants seeds for some chaos and havoc when it begins. The problem is that it never follows through on those seedlings of story potential. At least Charles de Lauzirika doesn’t seem to know how. What could be a demented look at a descent in to darkness turns in to a soapy, dripping melodrama with a hint of violence added all for a very lame pay off.
Within a Blink of an Eye (2013)
Much of what we do and say has consequences. Every step we take in human relationships from body language to even the most minute word has a profound impact on how we see one another and approach our lives. “Within a Blink of an Eye” astutely examines such a factor in the human dynamic, while also examining the concept of fate.