The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

As a director, Ben Stiller has always had a tendency to make his films look and feel as “big” as possible. That makes sense when you’re dealing with material like Tropic Thunder, which is actually about making an overblown action movie. However, that tactic ends up working against his adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is so singularly focused on being grandiose that it becomes incoherent. It’s still a harmless, well-meaning creation, and Stiller clearly has an enthusiasm for this material that is infectious even in the worst of sequences. The problem is he’s never able to translate that enthusiasm into something audiences can connect to. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty spends too much time straining for something to say and not enough time actually saying it.

Grudge Match (2013)

The recent careers of Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro haven’t exactly been defined by prestige pictures, so it is saying something that even they should be above Grudge Match, a cynical, laborious piece of so-called “comedic” filmmaking that barely even bothers to shoot for the lowest common denominator. It’s not a surprise that director Peter Segal has two Happy Madison projects under his belt, since Grudge Match similarly piles on the crass, uninspired gags until it abruptly decides it wants the audience to take its characters seriously. The actors look like they’re being held hostage, and the only time the film has any life is when Kevin Hart shows up to do his usual Kevin Hart thing. At least he seems happy to be there. Everyone else wants out, and it’s hard to blame them.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

Sequels often have a difficult time justifying their existence even in the best of conditions, and for whatever reason comedies face an even more daunting uphill battle. As I mentioned in my reaction to the new season of Arrested Development, which I liked more than most, creations like that are often the result of the right people coming together at precisely the right time, and to try and recapture that magic many years later is like trying to grab steam out of the air with your bare hands. The 2004 comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy would seem to be an obvious case of this, since what Will Ferrell and Adam McKay accomplished with that film was so wonderfully bonkers that any attempt at a sequel would undoubtedly feel forced. The greatest challenge facing the belated follow-up Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues would almost certainly be the justification of its existence.

American Hustle (2013)

Right from the very first scene, David O. Russell’s American Hustle establishes itself as a film about deception. It doesn’t take much in the way of brainpower to figure that out, since there seems to be only one honest relationship in the entire thing. As the title suggests, this is an ensemble film featuring characters constantly attempting to play—or “hustle”—each other to varying degrees of success. This first scene is a brief glimpse into all the work that goes into this life of duplicity, as Christian Bale’s greasy con man artfully puts together his "elaborate" comb over for the day of work ahead. It’s a small detail, but it’s a vital one, and it sets up a universe in which no one can be wholly trusted. In American Hustle, there are always ulterior motives at play.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

As filmgoers, I believe the one thing we want more than anything is the sense that a movie is taking us somewhere worthwhile. It must have an clear sense of direction and purpose, and even if the destination turns out to be compelling it’s bound to feel hollow if the journey wasn’t of equal quality. This is the problem that has faced Peter Jackson throughout his return to Middle-earth, and his decision to split J.R.R. Tolkien’s 300-page The Hobbit into three 150-minute blockbusters has come under fire right from the get-go. As it turns out, last year’s first installment An Unexpected Journey was more slog than spectacle, and while it rebounded impressively in the final act it was unable to justify Jackson’s method of adaptation. The new middle installment, subtitled The Desolation of Smaug, is at the very least a considerable step in the right direction. There is still an abundance of filler to be found, and it ends on a frustrating cliffhanger that only accentuates how incomplete these first two installments feel, but with this film Jackson seems much more in command of the overblown epic he is creating. It still doesn’t need to exist as it is, but at least now it is a lot more fun to sit through.

Review Roundup: Prestige Season Edition

Hello, everyone. The end of the year is now upon us, and because of that I’ve decided to finally stop neglecting you all and get back to work. I know I’ve said that several times before, but now I mean it! Really! Anyway, how about I catch up on a few notable recent releases? No? Well too bad, you don’t have a say in the matter. Let’s begin.

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

In the world of the Coen brothers’ new film Inside Llewyn Davis, everything seems to revolve around a single venue known as the Gaslight Café. Every night, a slew of folk acts take the stage and attempt to make an impact in an environment full of performers just like them. One such performer is the eponymous Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), who is so determined to make this his life but cannot find a way to do it for an actual living. He sleeps on a different couch every night, and he gets regular gigs at the Gaslight, but no matter how many times he tries to take a step forward he never actually goes anywhere. This is a phenomenon the film makes explicitly clear, since it more or less begins and ends in the exact same place.

Nebraska (2013)

For a comedy about a father and son road trip, the world of Alexander Payne’s Nebraska feels strangely post-apocalyptic. The roads are barren, the buildings are boarded up, and the few people that are left feel less like inhabitants and more like survivors of some massive disaster that nobody talks about. This is a world without much of a future, but its one redeeming quality is that it has a rather fascinating past. As the action travels from Montana to the titular state of Nebraska, our characters seem to get a clearer view of what their history was like. At the center of it all is a man near the end of his life. He is obviously disappointed in what he has done so far, and when he sees one last chance at leaving an impact he becomes so engrossed that he is unable to see reason. His life has blown by so quickly and without ceremony that he overreacts when faced with even a tiny glimmer of excitement. It’s a rather bleak view of Midwestern America, but Payne is able to find some beauty in it all the same.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Even to those of us who were unfamiliar with Suzanne Collins’ source material, 2012’s original The Hunger Games was a mostly suspense-free affair. It was entertaining enough, and it skillfully introduced audiences to the world of Panem, but the plot itself was predictable and the action sequences were both overly sanitized and often incoherent. It was the cinematic equivalent of a television pilot, consisting of a whole lot of introduction and not much else. Now, with the second installment Catching Fire, the larger pieces of the story’s puzzle are officially set in motion, and the result is a surprisingly bleak and gripping film that shows the first steps of a seemingly impossible revolution. The games themselves remain the least interesting part of the universe, but the stakes are now much higher.

Scooby-Doo (Adventures in Atrocity)

Computer-generated imagery, more popularly known as “CGI,” has done wonderful things for cinema. It has allowed filmmakers to fully realize their complex visions of faraway planets, alien species, and gigantic explosions. Things that were not possible for decades are now possible, and without this new technology films such as Gravity would not exist. However, with every step forward there will inevitably be those that use these newfound powers for evil. One such cinematic villain is Raja Gosnell, and he must be stopped before he does any more harm to himself, others, and various animated television properties from the Hanna-Barbera library.